Is Stellar Blade better than NieR? The NieR director certainly says so.
Yoko Taro, the director of NieR: Automata, praised Stellar Blade pre-release, going so far as to call it "much better than NieR: Automata."
In an interview with IGN, the director of hit Japanese action game NieR: Automata sat down with Hyung Tae-Kim, the director of Stellar Blade at South Korean studio ShiftUp, and talked about the intersection of their games and inspirations.
While some fans seem to be pitting Stellar Blade against the very similar NieR title, the directors behind the projects seem to be overflowing with praise for one another. So much so, Taro went out of his way to say he thinks Stellar Blade is a better game than NieR: Automata.
This shared respect between directors, later led to a NieR: Automata DLC being introduced to Stellar Blade on Nov. 20, 2024. The DLC introduced skins for Stellar Blade's main character EVE to look like 2B and A2.
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"[Stellar Blade is] much better than NieR: Automata" - NieR director
Hyung Tae-Kim and Yoko Taro are far from strangers, and despite some fan-led comparisons between the two directors' work, seem to overflow with praise for one another.
When asked by IGN's Esra Krabbe about what inspired Stellar Blade, Taro makes clear that he's been so often inspired by NieR: Automata that it's hard to point at a specific instance.
But in his effusive praise for NieR's strong woman protagonist and story, he asks Hyung if he approves of the NieR-inspired product that ShiftUp is launching.
In response, the NieR director praises Hyung's early work on the PlayStation 2's Magna Carta: Tears of Blood and says he's been aware of his work since before he directed his first title, Drakengard. He calls Hyung a legendary developer and the two exchange some lighthearted jokes about how Taro should act more superior.
While parts of the internet seem intent on pitting the two titles against one another, the creative heads leading the charge seem to be more than happy to share the spotlight. Stellar Blade launched on April 26, 2024 on the PlayStation 5, and sold over 1 million copies within the first two months.
