Written by Yoko Taro (Director of NieR Automata)



The most important thing in making game design is “imagining” . The world consists of 2 things, “I” in the center and “Others” around it. A collection of “Others” is the rest of the world.


The act of expressing and manipulate the heart of others is like throwing stones to someone’s sea of mind, making ripples. However, since I don’t know the heart of others, I need to “imagine” what the ripple looks like.



Here’s a picture searched with the keyword “sexy”. Some people think that this is sexy, but perhaps there are a lot of exposures and some people might feel uncomfortable. Some people might also think that it’s strange to wears flashy outfit when swimming.

A picture can cause a different kind of ripples in the hearts of others. And it’s important to imagine this. To the utmost, a kind of belief thinking “a girl in swimsuit is sexy” is not an imagination but a delusion.



However, the ripples that arise in the hearts of others can be manipulated. Here’s a picture of cute kittens. Some people might think that they’re cute and adorable. But for the people that have an allergy to a cat might afraid of them. Then here is when I put the caption “Abused and abandoned kittens”. the atmosphere of the photograph is changed so much.



With this, a lot of people will feel sorry for the kitten on the photograph. If that was a picture of a masculine man they probably would not think that way. Analyzing this, if there’re weak things being put in an unreasonable circumstances, people will think that it’s a poor thing. In another word, you can manipulate others’ minds by attaching captions in it.



When there’re two people. One thinks “Anime is cool” and the other thinks that “Anime is awful”, the correct answer is “Both are correct”. As others’ minds are varied and it is impossible target everyone, a mass or a niche strategy must be considered carefully. In addition, if you want to do something unique, you must understand the standards.

Based on above’s analysis, it is necessary for creators to know what their battlefield is. And after you fully understand the battlefield, then “You can make a Mess of it”.



Et pendant ce temps au USA