NieR: Automata Anime Will Not Follow The Game's Story, Says Director

If it’s not going to follow the game it’s supposed to be based upon, why do it at all?

It’s only getting an anime because the games were popular enough to warrant one. If you want to do a new original story then don’t scam fans into thinking it’s going to be based on the games.

Why do I had a feeling the anime would sucks? Imagine watching Street Fighter only to realize Ryu is not the main character.

It's incredible that directors never learn or listen.

Since when did anyone want an anime based on a video game "changing things around" ? Remember when TMNT did that?
So you all wanted to see your favorite characters like Krang etc. but no... make way for the samurai and this guy on a horse.

@Serpenterror I agree with your overall point, but I find your example funny since Ryu isn't even the main character in all the mainline Street Fighter games (Unless you are referring only to the original Street Fighter instead of the series, in which case disregard).

It’s obvious from the comments above me that you people never played a single Nier/Drakengard game in your life and you don’t know who Yoko Taro is and what his storytelling is like lol

@AnnoyingFrenzy
So who is the main protagonist if not Ryu?
He's massively figuring as the central character in the opening sequence of Super Street Fighter 2.

lmao all the b8lets being like "hurr durr why bother if it's not 1 to 1 to the game???". I'd rather watch something unique than the same plot but in a different format.

@Aneira I was looking at if from a story perspective, and I can't really speak for Super since I didn't play it, but in the original Street Fighter 2 the main character was Guile or Chun Li. Ryu has pretty much nothing to do with the plot. I don't believe he was in the opening for the game either. This is even reflected in the live-action movie where Guile is clearly the protagonist. Street Fighter 3 the main character is definitely Alex, especially if we are using the opening as our basis of measure. Street Fighter 4 has Ryu as an MC, but along with plenty of other people as well. Ryu is definitely the face of the franchise though, no arguments there. My only point was that if there was an anime based on the Street Fighter franchise, Ryu being the MC is not a given seeing as the story of the games hasn't always focused on him either.

An adapttion has to change things around, or there is no point in doing it, IMHO. If I want the exact same story as the game, I can just play the game again. Not to mention that it would be kind of hard to translate a game that has 26 different endings directly into a linear anime.

The sides present in this comments section bring the Castlevania animated series to mind. As a big fan of the franchise since the beginning, I still managed to enjoy the series as it kept a good balance of maintaining the familiar while still mixing things up enough to not be boring to those who've played through the stories before.

I think the NieR anime is going for that same balance, to please both newcomers (like me, as I've never played a game from the franchise before) and those who've already played through the stories. That ought to be a good thing if so.

Did the comments above forget that Nier;Automata had multiple routes/endings or have they not actually played the game?

Think of the anime as just another route.

@countzero There’s actually only four canon endings, and those endings are in a linear fashion aside from ending B. All the other 23 endings are just simply non-canon jokes.

Well, it's okay I guess as long as the story is good and not too different from the game.

@Xellen except there’s only two routes, and it depends on who you pick at the end of the game. Other than that, all the endings in Automata aside from 4 or 5 are non-canon, and those which are canon are in a linear fashion, telling one coherent story.

I think it's fine for the anime to not have 26 different endings lol one concise story from start to finish will probably be for the best.

It's probably a good idea to A. not follow the game's story and B. tell people ahead of time.

It was never gonna be a 1:1 adaptation since the game really makes the most out of the medium it was designed for, coming from Yoko Taro I expect all kinds of bizarre changes. Maybe folks should play the game before getting mad that the anime will be different lol.

@AnnoyingFrenzy And that is why it sucks both the movies and the animated series. Street Fighter fans at that time didn't like Guile as the main character, they want more of Ryu and Ken like in the animated movie. The original garbage Street Fighter 1 game doesn't had jack based on it, only SFII going forward did and of all of those 8/10 of those sucks. In all the mainline Street Fighter game Ryu and Ken were the main characters, sure they're not that specific game's chosen one (ala Cole Young from MK) the story is focus on but they are still there. What you're trying to tell me was the chosen characters, I'm not talking about the chosen ones (Guile, Chun-Li, Sean, Alex, Luke, Kairi, etc.), I'm talking about main ones who mainstay the series from day one (or two going forward). There's no guaranteed that those chosen characters will be around in later games but Ryu and Ken should be or else it won't be called Street Fighter.

@Chubby_Man_X Automata is one concise story though. There’s tons of endings, but only about 5 are actually canon, and they all happen one after another in an order that you’d expect from any other video game with a story. They’re called “endings”, but they’re really just chapters or parts.

@VoidofLight Indeed, you're right. What I meant is that in the anime they can tell the complete story in one go and show all characters and points of view from start to "ending e".

So what is canon? The anime or the game?

@PunkRx_Lockly Game most likely, seeing as Yoko Taro was directly involved with it.

I have high hopes for the Nier anime. After Cyberpunk Edgerunners, the bar for videogame anime adaptations has been set high.

@VoidofLight Yoko Taro is directly involved with this anime as well.

@Itachi2099 Yeah, but I don't think he's really involved with the writing process for it.

Didn’t like the game, but I was interested in the story. So I will check this out. Cartoons are fun.

In other words Yoko Taro gonna Yoko Taro. Given that all the other tie ins to this are considered word of god then in some way this is still gonna be canon. As long as it isn’t as convoluted as drakengard’s universe I am good.

Will it not have the same music as well?

Fans: "I just want a retelling of the game I have already played to re-experience the story I already know"
Yoko Taro: "yeah, screw that, you will get something new, as retelling the same thing all over again bores me"
Love that guy
I think Taro-san to be right by the way.