關於 sending love your way meaning ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

Video - Tasha’s Pei-Pei

I don’t know a single Mandarin . So does Dr Halina but yet we send our girls to SJKC .
Why ? - Because we understand the importance of Mandarin .
It will be an advantage for the girls in years to come .
Furthermore it’s good to master many languages including Arabic and French.

But for those who plan to send your kids to a SJKC School ...it takes lots of effort and commitment .
Firstly you are unable to teach them .
You don’t really know what they are learning as all subjects are in Mandarin.
They certainly need extra classes.
Bella & Tasha have extra classes 4x a week .
They usually able to truly speak & write fluently when they are in Standard 3 .
Anything earlier - don’t expect too much .
It takes time for them to adapt as Mandarin is a tough language .
Bella is quite proficient in Mandarin but Tasha is getting there .

Different pronunciation will bring about different meaning .
It’s challenging but will be totally worth it.
Sending to SJKC from an early age is the only way for them to be fluent .
That’s the best way - surrounded by Chinese friends and environment .
Also I loved SJKC teachers - they are as strict as can be .
Memang garang - Haha

Just sharing
Salam Everyone
Love As Always
PS - Adam & Noah will soon go to a Chinese
Kindergarten too . So will Eusoff & Emelia .
That’s the plan .
Read all the plans for my kids in ‘ My Way Of Parenting’ Book .
Only at Shopee - drsheikh.os (Link at Bio)

ประชาชนที่รัก

โคโรน่าไวรัสได้เปลี่ยนแปลงชีวิตของเราไปอย่างมาก ความเข้าใจในสภาวะปกติของชีวิตประจำวัน ของการอยู่ร่วมกันในสังคม กำลังถูกทดสอบอย่างที่ไม่เคยเป็นมาก่อน

พวกท่านนับล้านคนไปทำงานไมไ่ด้ ลูกหลานไปโรงเรียนหรือสถานอนุบาลไม่ได้ โรงภาพยนตร์ โรงละคร และร้านค้าต่างปิดตัวไป และสิ่งที่อาจจะลำบากยากเย็นที่สุดคือ เราจะไม่ได้พบหน้ากันอย่างที่ควรจะเป็นตามปกติ

แน่นอนว่า ในสถานการณ์แบบนี้ เราทุกคนล้วนกังวลสงสัยว่า "จะเกิดอะไรขึ้นต่อไป"

ข้าพเจ้าจึงได้มาพบกับทุกท่านในวันนี้ เพราะข้าพเจ้าประสงค์จะบอกกล่าวต่อท่านว่า

ในฐานะสมุหนายก และเพื่อนร่วมงานของข้าพเจ้าทุกคนในรัฐบาลสหพันธรัฐ ท่ามกลางสถานการณ์เช่นนี้

นี่คือส่วนหนึ่งของประชาธิปไตยที่เปิดกว้างของเรา
ที่เราจะทำให้การตัดสินใจทางการเมืองโปร่งใส และอธิบายต่อประชาชน
ว่าเราจะสร้างการสื่อสารการลงมือทำของเราให้ดีที่สุดสุดกำลังของเรา
ให้ทุกท่านได้เป็นส่วนหนึ่ง มีความสัมพันธ์ร่วมกัน

ข้าพเจ้ามั่นใจอย่างหนักแน่นว่า เราจะจัดการงานครั้งนี้ได้สำเร็จ
หากประชาชนทุกคน มองว่าเป็นหน้าที่ร่วมกันของพวกเรา
ดังนั้น ขอให้ข้าพเจ้ากล่าวย้ำอีกครั้งว่า

"นี่เป็นเรื่องจริงจัง โปรดได้เอาจริงเอาจังกับเรื่องนี้เช่นกัน"

นับแต่การรวมชาติเยอรมัน ไม่สิ นับแต่สงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง
ไม่เคยมีความท้าทายใดจะคุกคามประเทศของเราได้มากขนาดนี้
ซึ่งทำให้เราต้องร่วมมือกันอย่างเข้มแข็ง

ข้าพเจ้าขออธิบายสถานการณ์ของโรคระบาดในประเทศของเราในปัจจุบัน
และสิ่งที่รัฐบาลสหพันธ์และรัฐบาลแห่งแคว้นได้กำลังลงมือทำอยู่
เพื่อปกป้องทุกคนในชุมชนของเรา
เพื่อลดความเสียหายที่มีต่อเศรษฐกิจ สังคม และวัฒนธรรม

แต่ข้าพเจ้าก็ยังอยากจะบอกต่อท่านถึงเหตุผล ว่าทำไมความช่วยเหลือของท่านจึงจำเป็น และบอกถึงสิ่งที่ทุกคนสามารถช่วยเหลือกันได้ในยามโรคระบาดเช่นนี้

ข้อมูลของข้าพเจ้าได้มาจากคำปรึกษาของรัฐบาลกลาง ร่วมกับสถาบันโรแบร์ต คอช นักวิทยาศาสตร์และนักไวรัสวิทยา

การวิจัยอย่างเข้มข้นกำลังดำเนินไปทั่วโลก แต่ในตอนนี้ยังไม่มีวิธีรักษาหรือวัคซีนที่จะต่อสู้กับโคโรน่าไวรัสนี้ได้ ดังนั้น ตราบที่ยังเป็นอย่างนี้ สิ่งเดียวที่ทำได้ และเป็นแนวทางปฏิบัติของพวกเราทั้งหมด คือ

"การชะลอการระบาดของไวรัส"

เพื่อถ่วงเวลาให้ยาวนานข้ามวันเดือน และเอาชนะด้วยเวลา
เวลาที่วิทยาศาสตร์จะพัฒนายาและวัคซีน
และโดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่ง เวลา
เวลาที่จะให้ผู้ป่วยได้รับการรักษาและหายดีมากที่สุดเท่าที่จะทำได้

เยอรมนีมีระบบการแพทย์ที่ยอดเยี่ยม อาจจะเป็นหนึ่งในประเทศที่ดีที่สุดในโลก
ซึ่งนำความเชื่อมั่นมาให้เรา
แต่เมื่อโรงพยาบาลของเราเต็มล้น
หากในระยะเวลาอันสั้น ผู้ป่วยเข้าโรงพยาบาลมากเกินไป
ผู้ป่วยที่ติดเชื้ออย่างรุนแรง

สิ่งเหล่านี้ไม่ใช่เพียงตัวเลขสถิติ
แต่คือคุณพ่อ คุณปู่ คุณตา
คุณแม่ คุณย่า คุณยาย
คนรักของเรา
พวกเขาคือผู้คน
และเราคือชุมชนที่อยู่ร่วมกัน
ซึ่งทุกชีวิต ทุกคน มีคุณค่า มีความหมาย

ในโอกาสนี้ อันดับแรก ข้าพเจ้าอยากจะขอกล่าวถึง
เหล่าแพทย์ พยาบาล ผู้ปฏิบัติงานในโรงพยาบาลและบุคลากรที่ทำงานสาธารณสุขทุกท่าน ผู้ยืนอยู่ในแนวหน้า พวกท่านได้พบกับผู้ป่วย พบความรุนแรงของการติดเชื้อ และเช้าวันรุ่งขึ้น พวกท่านก็ยังต้องไปทำงานอีก

สำหรับผู้คนแล้ว สิ่งที่ท่านทำนั้นยิ่งใหญ่เหลือเกิน
ข้าำเจ้าขอขอบพระคุณจากใจจริง

เป้าหมายของเราคือ การถ่วงเวลาที่ไวรัสจะแพร่กระจายไปทั่วเยอรมนี
เราจึงจำเป็นต้องลดการใช้ชีวิตนอกบ้านให้มากที่สุด แน่นอนว่าต้องเป็นไปอย่างสมเหตุสมผล ให้ประเทศของเราดำเนินงานต่อไปได้

ทรัพยากรในการดำรงชีพ ต้องรับประกันว่าจะมีเพียงพอ และกิจกรรมทางเศรษฐกิจจะเป็นไปตามปกติให้มากที่สุด

แต่สิ่งใดที่จะเป็นภัยต่อผู้คนจำนวนมาก สิ่งที่จะก่อความเสียหายต่อบุคคลหรือชุมชน เราต้องลดลงตั้งแต่บัดนี้ เราต้องลดความเสี่ยงในการติดเชื้อให้ผู้อื่นให้เหลือน้อยที่สุด

ข้าพเจ้าทราบดีว่า มาตรการนี้ยากลำบากเพียงใด ไม่มีงานกิจกรรม ไม่มีงานออกร้านค้าขาย ไม่มีคอนเสิร์ต และในตอนนี้ ไม่มีการไปโรงเรียน ไม่มีการไปมหาวิทยาลัย ไม่มีการไปสถานอนุบาล ไม่มีการละเล่นในสนามเด็กเล่น ข้าพเจ้าทราบว่าการปิดทุกอย่างดังกล่าวมา ซึ่งรัฐบาลกลางและรัฐบาลแคว้นเห็นพ้องต้องกัน นั้นได้แทรกแซงชีวิตและความเป็นประชาธิปไตยของเรา

เป็นการจำกัดเสรีภาพอย่างที่ไม่เคยเป็นมาก่อนในสาธารณรัฐของเรา

แต่ข้าพเจ้าขอยืนยันกับท่านทั้งหลายว่า
สำหรับข้าพเจ้าที่ได้ต่อสู้อย่างหนักหน่วงมายาวนาน เพื่อให้ได้เสรีภาพในการเดินทางและเคลื่อนย้ายถิ่นที่อยู่

การจำกัดสิทธินี้เป็นเพียงมาตรการในสถานการณ์จำเพาะอย่างยิ่ง
ในระบอบประชาธิปไตยที่เราไม่พึงกระทำการตามอำเภอใจ
และจะเป็นเพียงระยะเวลาชั่วคราวเท่านั้น
เพราะในเวลานี้ เป็นวิธีที่ขาดไม่ได้ในการรักษาชีวิตคน
ด้วยเหตุดังกล่าวนี้ ตั้งแต่ต้นสัปดาห์ การตรวจคนเข้าเมืองบริเวณพรมแดนและการจำกัดการเข้าเมืองจะมีผลบังคับใช้

สำหรับทางด้านเศรษฐกิจ บริษัทใหญ่และเล็ก ร้านค้า ร้านอาหาร คนทำงานอิสระ เป็นเรื่องยากลำบากที่จะดำเนินการต่อไป และในสัปดาห์หน้า จะยิ่งลำบากมากยิ่งขึ้น

ข้าพเจ้าขอรับรองว่า รัฐบาลของเราจะทำงานอย่างสุดกำลังเพื่อบรรเทาผลกระทบทางเศรษฐกิจ โดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่ง การรักษาตำแหน่งงาน
เราสามารถและจะใช้ทุกสิ่งที่มีเพื่อช่วยเหลือธุรกิจและคนทำงานในการทดสอบที่ยากลำบากนี้ และทุกคนจะมีอาหารอย่างเพียงพอในทุกเวลา หากชั้นวางสินค้าว่างเปล่าลง จะถูกเติมให้เต็ม

สำหรับผู้ที่กำลังซื้อสินค้าในซูเปอร์มาร์เก็ต ข้าพเจ้าขอยืนยันว่า การเก็บตุนเสบียงเป็นเรื่องสำคัญ แต่การกักตุนไว้เป็นจำนวนมากนั้นไม่พึงเกิดขึ้น การกักตุนเกินต้องการนั้นไร้ประโยชน์ และเป็นสิ่งแสดงถึงการขาดจิตสำนึกร่วมอย่างร้ายแรง

และข้าพเจ้าขอขอบพระคุณ เหล่าบุคคลที่ได้รับคำขอบคุณน้อยครั้งนัก
เหล่าผู้ที่นั่งอยู่หลังเครื่องเก็บเงินของร้านค้า
เหล่าผู้ที่เติมสินค้าให้ชั้นวางของ
พวกท่านได้ทำงานที่สำคัญและยากลำบากที่สุดงานหนึ่งในเวลานี้
ขอขอบพระคุณประชาชนทุกท่านที่ทำงานให้ร้านค้าทั้งหลายยังเปิดอยู่ได้

ต่อจากนี้เป็นเรื่องด่วนที่สุดสำหรับข้าพเจ้า
มาตรการทั้งหมดที่รัฐบาลดำเนินการ ล้วนมีจุดประสงค์
หากเราไม่ใช้มาตรการที่มีประสิทธิภาพที่สุดในการหยุดยั้งการแพร่ระบาดอย่างรวดเร็วของไวรัส คือพวกเราทุกคน
เราทุกคนสามารถติดเชื้อไวรัสได้อย่างเท่าเทียมไม่แตกต่างกัน
ดังนั้นเราต้องช่วยกัน

อันดับแรก เราจึงต้องจริงจัง แต่ไม่ตื่นตระหนก
ไม่โทษกันเองว่าไม่ทำตามบทบาท เพราะทุกคนนั้นขาดไปไม่ได้
ทุกคนล้วนสำคัญ ต้องอาศัยความพยายามของพวกเราทุกคนไปพร้อมกัน
โรคระบาดครั้งนี้ทำให้เราเห็นว่า เราอ่อนแอเปราะบางแค่ไหน
เราต้องพึ่งพาอาศัยผู้อื่นมากเพียงใด

แต่ก็เป็นโอกาสให้เราป้องกันตัวเองและคุ้มครองผู้อื่น สร้างความเข้มแข็งร่วมกัน ทุกคนมีความสำคัญ

เราต้องไม่ถูกประณามว่ารับมือกับการแพร่ระบาดของไวรัสอย่างเฉื่อยชา เรามีวิธีแก้ไขรักษา แม้เราจะต้องเว้นระยะห่างระหว่างกัน

ข้อแนะนำของนักไวรัสวิทยานั้นชัดเจน
ไม่จับมือ
ล้างทำความสะอาดมืออย่างสม่ำเสมอ
อยู่ห่างกันอย่างน้อย 1.5 เมตร
งดเว้นการติดต่อกับผู้อาวุโส เพราะพวกท่านมีความเสี่ยงสูงสุด

ข้าพเจ้าทราบดีว่ามาตรการดังกล่าวนั้นยากลำบากยิ่งนัก
โดยเฉพาะในห้วงเวลาที่กดดน เรายิ่งอยากอยู่ร่วมกันใกล้ชิด
อยากดูแลกันอย่างชิดใกล้
แต่ในเวลานี้ น่าเสียดายที่การทำตรงกันข้ามเป็นสิ่งที่ถูกต้องกว่า
เราจำเป็นต้องเข้าใจว่า ตอนนี้ การห่างไกลกันคือการแสดงความห่วงใย
การเยี่ยมเยือน การเดินทางที่ไม่จำเป็น ล้วนแล้วแต่อาจทำให้ติดเชื้อได้
และไม่ควรเกิดขึ้นในเวลานี้
และนี่คือเหตุผลที่ผู้เชี่ยวชาญกล่าวว่า
ปู่ย่าตายายและหลานๆ ยังไม่ควรเจอกัน

ผู้ที่หลีกเลี่ยงการพบปะโดยไม่จำเป็น จะช่วยเหล่าผู้คนที่ยังทำงานในโรงพยาบาล ที่กำลังดูแลผู้ป่วยที่เพิ่มขึ้นทุกวัน นี่คือวิธีที่เราจะช่วยรักษาชีวิตคนได้

เป็นเรื่องยาก ที่จะไม่ทิ้งใครให้อยู่เพียงลำพัง ที่จะดูแลคนที่ต้องการความเอาใจใส่ดูแล ในฐานะครอบครัวและสังคม เราจะหาทางร่วมมือกันช่วยเหลือซึ่งกันและกัน

ในตอนนี้ได้มีวิธีการมากมายที่สร้างสรรค์ เพื่อต่อสู้กับไวรัสและผลกระทบทางสังคม
มีเหล่าหลานๆ ที่บันทึกพ็อดแคสต์ส่งให้ปู่ย่าตายายของพวกเขาได้ฟัง ให้รู้ว่าพวกท่านไม่ได้อยู่ตามลำพัง

เราทุกคน จะหาทางแสดงความรักและมิตรภาพ สไกป์ โทรศัพท์ อีเมล หรือแม้แต่กลับมาเขียนจดหมายกันอีกครั้ง

จดหมายไปรษณีย์ทั้งหมดจะได้รับการส่งถึงอย่างแน่นอน

มีข่าวเล่าถึงการช่วยเหลือเพื่อนบ้านที่สูงอายุ ซึ่งไม่สามารถออกไปซื้อของได้ด้วยตัวเอง ข้าพเจ้าแน่ใจว่าจะมีมากยิ่งไปกว่านี้อีก!

เราจะแสดงให้เห็นว่า ในความเป็นสังคม เราจะไม่ทิ้งให้ใครอยู่เพียงลำพังคนเดียว

ข้าพเจ้าร้องขอต่อท่านว่า โปรดจงได้เคารพกฎที่กำลังจะออกมาต่อจากนี้
เรา ในฐานะรัฐบาล จะตรวจสอบแก้ไขอย่างต่อเนื่อง เพื่อให้ทันต่อเหตุการณ์ที่เปลี่ยนแปลงไปอย่างรวดเร็ว และเราจะทบทวนตอบสนองมาตรการต่างๆ เพื่อให้ทำงานได้ในทุกเวลา และแน่นอนว่า เราจะอธิบายให้ทุกท่านรับทราบในทันที

ด้วยเหตุฉะนี้ ข้าพเจ้าจึงขอย้ำต่อท่านว่า "อย่าหลงเชื่อข่าวลือใดๆ!"
นอกจากข่าวสารจากทางการ ซึ่งเราจะแปลออกเป็นหลายภาษา

เราเป็นชาติประชาธิปไตย
เราไม่ได้ใช้ชีวิตอย่างถูกบังคับ
แต่อยู่ได้โดยการแบ่งปันข้อมูลความรู้และความร่วมมือกัน

นี่คืองานชิ้นประวัติศาสตร์
และจะสำเร็จลงได้ด้วยการร่วมมือกัน

ข้าพเจ้ามั่นใจเป็นอย่างยิ่งว่า
เราจะข้ามผ่านวิกฤตครั้งนี้ไปได้
แต่ด้วยผู้เสียหายจำนวนเท่าใด?
เราต้องเสียคนที่เรารักไปมากเท่าใด?
คำตอบนั้นอยู่ที่สองมือของเราลงมือทำ

ในตอนนี้ เราจะร่วมคิด ร่วมทำ ไปร่วมกัน
เราสามารถยินยอมรับข้อจำกัดต่างๆ แล้วเผชิญหน้าไปพร้อมกัน
สถานการณ์ตอนนี้หนักหนา แต่ก็ยังเปิดกว้าง
หมายความว่า ทุกอย่างขึ้นอยู่กับวินัยของทุกคนที่จะปฏิบัติตามกฎและดำเนินการให้สอดคล้องกัน

แม้ว่าเรายังไม่เคยประสบเหตุการณ์เช่นนี้มาก่อน แต่เราจะกระทำอย่างจริงใจและมีเหตุผล เพื่อที่จะรักษาชีวิตผู้คนไว้

โดยไม่มีข้อยกเว้น ขึ้นอยู่กับเราแต่ละคน และเราทุกๆ คน
ได้โปรดดูแลตัวเองและคนที่ท่านรัก

ข้าพเจ้าขอขอบคุณ

- อังเกลา แมร์เคิล, สมุหนายกแห่งสหพันธ์สาธารณรัฐเยอรมนี
แถลงข่าวทางโทรทัศน์ต่อสาธารณชนเยอรมัน 19 มีนาคม 2020

ธีรภัทร เจริญสุข แปลจาก https://youtu.be/F9ei40nxKDc
Beloved people.

Coronavirus has dramatically transformed our lives. Understanding the normal condition of everyday life of social coexistence is being tested like never before.

Millions of you go to work. We can't go to school or kindergarten. Cinemas, theatre and stores are closed. And the thing that may be the hardest thing is that we won't see each other as usual.

Of course, in this situation, we all worry, wondering ′′ what will happen next

I have come to meet with all of you today because I want to tell you that

As the Prime Minister and all my colleagues in the federation government amid this situation.

This is part of our open-minded democracy.
That we will make transparent political decisions and explain to the public.
That we will build our communication, action to the best of our strength.
Let everyone be part of the relationship together.

I am confident that we will manage this job successfully.
If all citizens considered our shared duty.
So let me repeat again that

′′ This is serious, please take this seriously too ′′

Since German unification, no, but WWII.
Never had a challenge to threaten our country so much
Which makes us strong together.

I would like to explain the plague of our current plague in our country.
And what the Federal and Regional Government are doing.
To protect everyone in our community
To reduce the damage to economic, social and cultural.

But I want to tell you why your help is needed and tell you how everyone can help each other in this plague.

My data is obtained from federal consultations with Robert Cosh Institute, scientists and virusist.

Intense research is going around the world, but currently there is no cure or vaccine to fight this coronavirus, so as long as this is the only thing that can and is our guideline.

′′ Slow down the viral outbreak ′′

To delay long over the days, months and overcome with time.
Time for science to develop medicine and vaccines.
And especially time
Time to get the patients treated and recover as well as they can.

Germany has an excellent medical system, probably one of the best countries in the world.
Which brings us faith.
But when our hospital is overflowing
If in a short period of time, too many patients admitted to hospital.
Patient with severely infected.

These are not just statistic numbers.
It's father, grandfather, grandfather, grandfather.
Mother, grandmother, grandmother.
Our lover.
They are the people
And we are a community together
Every life has a value for meaning.

On this occasion, I would like to mention.
Doctors, nurses, hospital practitioners and public health workers standing in the front line. They meet patients, facing the brunt of the infection and the next morning you go to work.

For people, what you do is immense.
I thank you sincerely.

Our goal is to delay the virus will spread across Germany.
We therefore need to reduce outside living. It must be reasonable for our country to carry on.

Livelihood resources must guarantee that there will be enough and economic activity will be most normal.

But what's a threat to many people, what's going to damage our individual or community must be reduced. From now on, we have to minimize the risk of infections to others.

I know how tough this measure is. No events, no stores, no concerts, and no school, no university, no kindergarten, no play in the playground. I know that all of these closures come to the government. Central and the government of the Agreement has interrupted our lives and democracy.

Limiting freedom like never before in our republic

But I assure you all,
For me, I have fought hard for a long time to obtain freedom of travel and move my habitat.

Limiting this right is just a measure in a very specific situation.
In a democracy we don't have to act on a whim.
And will only be a temporary period of time
Because at the moment, this is an indispensable way to save a person's
For this reason, from the beginning of the week, border immigration and urban restrictions are mandatory.

For economics, big and small companies, shops, restaurants, independent workers are hard to carry on and next week will be even harder.

I assure you that our government will work hard to relieve economic impact, especially to maintain job title.
We can and will use everything we have to help businesses and people working on this tough test. And everyone will have enough food anytime if the shelf is empty.

For those who are buying products in supermarkets, I confirm that keeping supplies is important. But a lot of hoarding is not happening. Hoarding over need is useless and represents a strong lack of conscience.

And I would like to thank those who received little thanks.
Those who sit behind store cashiers
Those who fill up the shelf
You have done the most important and difficult job at this time.
Thank you to all the people who work for the stores still open.

From now on, it's most urgent for me.
All measures the government implemented have a purpose
If we don't take the most effective measures to stop the viral epidemic, we all are.
We can all be infected with the virus equally. No difference.
So we need to help each other

Firstly, we must be serious but not panic.
I don't blame each other for not following the role because everyone is absent.
Everyone is important. We all have to put our efforts together.
This plague shows us how vulnerable we are.
How much do we rely on others

But it's an opportunity for us to protect ourselves and protect others. Build strength together. Everyone is important.

We must not be condemned for dealing with the epidemic of the virus. We have a cure even if we have to distance ourselves.

Viralist advice is clear.
Not holding hands.
Wash, clean hands regularly.
At least 1.5 meters apart
Refrain from contacting elders because you are at highest risk.

I know that the measures are tough.
Especially in the times that we push on, we want to be together closer.
I want to take care of each other very close.
But at this time, unfortunately doing the opposite is more accurate.
We need to understand that far away from each other is showing concern.
An unnecessary visit to travel can cause an infection.
And shouldn't be happening at this time
And this is why experts say
Grandparents and grandkids still shouldn't meet

Those who avoid unnecessary meeting help those working in hospitals who are taking care of patients everyday. Here's how we can save lives.

It's difficult not to leave anyone alone to take care of those who need care. As a family and society we will find a way to help each other.

Now there are many creative ways to fight viruses and social impacts.
There are nephews who recorded podcasts sending to their grandparents. Let's know you're not alone.

We will all find a way to show love and friendship. Skype, phone, email or even back to write letters again.

All postal letters will definitely be delivered.

News of helping an elderly neighbor who can't afford to go shopping on their own. I'm sure there will be more!

We will show that in society we will never leave alone alone

I say to you, please respect the rules that are coming out.
We, as a government, will continually investigate and resolve to keep up with the rapidly changing events and we will review the measures to work anytime and of course, we will explain to you all immediately.

For this reason, I repeat to you, ′′ Do not believe any rumors!"
Apart from official news we translate into multiple languages

We are a democratic nation.
We don't live life forced.
But live by sharing information, knowledge and cooperation.

This is a historic piece.
And it will be done by collaboration.

I'm very confident that
We will cross through this crisis.
But with how many victims?
How much do we have to lose someone we love?
The answer is at two hands. Take action.

Now we will think, join together.
We can consent to the limitations and confront them together.
Current situation is heavy but still wide open
It means everything depends on everyone's discipline to follow the rules and act accordingly.

Although we haven't experienced this before, we will act sincere and reasonably to save people's lives.

Without exception, it's up to each and every one of us.
Please take care of yourself and your loved ones

I thank you.

- Angle Merkel, Prime Minister of Federal Republic of Germany
Press conference on television on German public 19 March 2020

Theiraphat Charoen Suk translates from https://youtu.be/F9ei40nxKDcTranslated

"橫尾先生你傾向於在你的遊戲中有個悲傷的結局（除了《尼爾 自動人形》），這是為什麼呢？

橫尾：我想啊，玩家在遊戲中的旅程中殺了那麼多的敵人，但自己卻迎來了一個Happy Ending，這很奇怪，所以我之前遊戲的主角都有著不幸的結局，我覺得對他們來說有個Happy Ending是不對的。

不過對《尼爾 自動人形》來說，對2B和9S來說，從被給予生命，他們殺了很多人，但也被自己殺了很多，很多次，有著無數次的輪迴。我認為這已經把他們殺死敵人的罪給贖了，幸福結局對他們兩個來說更合適一些。"

【尼爾：自動人形】是好遊戲，2B很可愛～

Talking To Yoko Taro, PlatinumGames' Takahisa Taura, And Composer Keiichi Okabe About Life, Death, And Opportunity

This interview with《Nier: Automata》director Yoko Taro and PlatinumGames' designer Takahisa Taura was first conducted in March of this year. Square Enix then offered gameinformer another chance to talk with Taro again, this time with Keiichi Okabe to speak more about the game's creation, music, and design philosophies and we are taking this opportunity to combine both until-now unpublished interviews together.

At the start of the first interview, Taro Yoko, whose pen name is appropriately Yoko Taro, was surprisingly quiet. He took a gulp from a bottle of Diet Pepsi and looked me straight in the eye to say something. I myself looked to the translator, who laughed at whatever Yoko said. She began "Yoko-san wants you to write about how expensive the food and drinks are here, if you can. He says it's way too much."

[The following interview contains some spoilers for Nier: Automata, including the game's final ending.]

With Nier: Automata, you guys won a Game Developer Conference award. How do you feel about that?

Yoko: We heard it was a user's choice award where the players themselves select the winners, so I'm just really happy that the players have selected our game for winning the award.

How did PlatinumGames and Yoko-san first meet on Nier? Why did you decide on that project versus something like another Drakengard or a new IP as a whole?

Taura: I loved the previous Nier title, I was actually went to Square Enix saying "Please let us create a Nier sequel, because you haven't done anything with it for a long time." At the same time, there was coincidentally Saito-san, the producer for Nier: Automata, talking with Yoko-san that they wanted to do something together. It just so happened that it was the right time, right place and we met for the first time when we started this project.

When you started working on the Automata, did you know what it was going to be? Did you have an idea in your head of what a Nier sequel would look like after the first game?

Yoko: Not at all, I had no ideas for a sequel in mind. When I first heard that we might do a collaboration with PlatinumGames, the image I had of them is that they only create Sci-Fi action games. When I thought of that, I thought of what part of the Nier storyline might fit in with that Sci-Fi action gaming sequence, I selected the themes for Automata because I felt it just fits in with the PlatinumGames style.

PlatinumGames has a reputation for fast, often-challenging action games, but Nier: Automata is a lot easier. Was that intentional to keep it closer to the first Nier or perhaps a consequence of trying to make PlatinumGames action more mainstream?

Taura: That's actually exactly the reason why. Saito-san from Square Enix told us when the project started that, since the original Nier has a lot of female fans and a lot of non-action gamer fans, to make the game as fun and accessible as possible to people who aren't accustomed to playing difficult action games. We always thought of making the game into something that's fun to play for newcomers to the action game field, but also to the more experienced players as well.

One of the usual tropes of PlatinumGames is that, as the game goes on, it tends to escalate more and more to an explosive finale. Nier: Automata kind of messes with that formula a little bit by Ending A being a little bit more subdued and low-key and then goes up again and again until it finishes with endings D and E. Is that something you had to work with Yoko-san about, where the escalation and pacing would best fit the gameplay?

Taura: In terms of like a climax or increasing the difficulty level toward the end, it's not that different from our other titles, or at least we didn't feel like it was that different. The one major difference was that this was the first game that I've at least worked that had the leveling up element in it. So as long as you level up your character, the boss would be easier to defeat, but if you don't, then some of the enemies toward the end of the game would be very difficult. For me, the balancing between the difficulty level of stages and bosses versus the levels the player might be was the difficult part in creating this game.

One thing that we really had it easy with in this game is that Yoko-san's scenario and Okabe-san's music, once it's mixed into the battle, makes a really menial and indifferent battle sequence suddenly becomes this dramatic and grandiose battle with everything at stake, so I felt like that really helped elevate our battle sequences as well. We did have an easy time thanks to that!

With Automata, you started appearing at press conferences and as part of the marketing of the game, whereas previously you never did that. When you appear in public, you have been wearing a mask of Emil from the first Nier title. Why Emil specifically?

Yoko: Hmm. One of the answers I can give is that, and I do have a little more that I want to elaborate on, is that for one Emil in the previous title is just a strong character on its own, so it's more like an iconic image or character for Nier as a series. Another part of the answer is that Emil actually holds a great secret of the part of the Nier world and it's not all revealed with the games I've created so far. I'm not sure if I'll have an opportunity to disclose that secret, but if I do, I might one day create a game that delves more into why it's Emil and why I continue to wear Emil's mask.

I don't know if either of you can speak to this, but the trailers for Nier: Automata were a little misleading. They showed A2, who you play as late in the game, but with short hair, so she looked like 2B. Was that something you decided, to show those scenes but not make it clear who it was?

Yoko: There were trailers like that?

There was one specifically showing A2 fighting Hegel like that.

Yoko: Ahh, yeah. There's no reason! We weren't trying to hide A2 or mislead anyone, it just happened to work out that way.

Taura: We made so many trailers at some point we kind of didn't care what we showed.

Oh, wow, that's going to shock a lot of fans in the Nier community. People really believed in the theory that you were hiding A2 in plain sight the marketing.

Yoko: Haha, but it might not be the correct answer. Like Taura-san said, we made so many trailers that we can't remember them all, so I'm definitely happy to take the credit without remembering why.

Taura: Yeah, let's say we intentionally did that. For the fans. It might be true.

Yoko: But I can say, in one of the trailers is A2 fighting one of the Engels, one of the big robots. She actually has long hair in the trailer, but in the actual game, it's after she cut her, so she would have had shorter hair. That one was actually intentional, because we did not reveal before the game that A2 would cut her hair, so we actually made a scene specifically with long-haired A2 to take that trailer. So that's that shot was kind of a lie.

In the Automata DLC, the CEO of Square Enix Yosuke Matsuda, as well as PlatinumGames boss Kenichi Sato, are boss fights. Where did that idea come from and how did you get them to approve it? How did they react when you asked them?

Yoko: Haha, oh yeah.

Taura: The development team went to Square Enix and said "Please let us use him in our game!" Their reaction was initially saying "Uhm, are you sure you want to?"

We were thinking for a while of what we could do with the DLC, because we didn't have a lot of time to develop it, so we wanted to do something fun with it. When we were thinking about it, we saw that Final Fantasy XV used a character model of president Matsuda in one of their marketing assets. When Yoko-san saw that, he reached out and asked if maybe we could use that in the game at Platinum. We said that, if we get the character models, we could definitely use them for something in the game. We reached out to Square Enix and they gave us the model and we were able to use that character model for a boss fight.

If it was just that you were able to fight the CEO of Square Enix, then it would have just been the same as what Final Fantasy XV did, so we had to think of ways to spice that up even more. So we had PlatinumGames' CEO Sato-san appear in the fight as well. We also included background music that arranged their voices, we included their voices in the music, just to add a little bit more and beat out Final Fantasy XV. That BGM track is Matsuda-san and Sato-san's debut single. We didn't even get permission from them, so it's an unofficial debut single, and those are much rarer.

Speaking of crossovers, did you know that Nier fans have been trying get Katsuhiro Harada of Bandai Namco to put 2B in Tekken? Is that something you guys would want to do? [Note: This interview was conducted before 2B was announced as a Soulcalibur guest character.]

Yoko: For us, if we were asked, we would gladly say yes to anything for money. We're open to any kind of opportunities for anything, ever. Even if it's Candy Crush, if they want to use 2B, we will say yes, please go ahead and use her.

Actually, speaking of doing anything for money, you've never created a direct story sequel before, they've all been loosely tied together and many years apart. Saito-san has already said there will be another Nier game, if the characters are popular enough, would you create a direct sequel to Automata or would you change the characters and location again?

Yoko: I haven't thought about it once! Taura-san, where would you want to create a new game?

Taura: Actually, when I brought my concept document to Square Enix about a Nier sequel, I wanted to write a story about that prologue portion in the first Nier game. You know the beginning of the game, where you're kind of in Tokyo, in an area that's more modern? I kind of want to delve into that storyline a little bit more. So if I'm allowed to create a new Nier title, that's what I want to create. But that's just me speaking as a fan of the series, so I don't think that will actually happen officially.

Yoko: When I actually heard about that idea from Taura-san when we first started this project, I felt that it would be very difficult to make a modern recreation of Tokyo because it's the city that we constantly see every day. You just notice differences in the lies that we put in there, so I felt it would be very difficult to do to recreate a city that we know and see so much. But now that I know that PlatinumGames is such a good studio that they most likely will have that power and talent to be able to create that kind of video game world, I think that might be an option. Whether or not we'll do that is a different question, but it is a viable option.

One of the things you said before the release of Drakengard 3 was that you wanted to call it Drakengard 4 and just let people figure out what the theoretical Drakengard 3 was supposed to be. That's similar to what you did with Automata where the game takes place 10,000 years after Nier and people who played the first game were more confused than new players. Was that an intentional idea or something you've wanted to do for a while?

Yoko: It's not that I brought over that idea to Nier: Automata, the greatest reasoning why I did this is because I wanted players who haven't played the original title to enjoy Nier: Automata so you can enjoy the game without knowing anything about the previous game. That's the biggest reason why we took a storyline that's so far in the future that it really didn't have anything to do with the previous title.

A common through-line for Yoko-san's games is flowers: the lunar tear in the Nier series, the flower in Zero's eye in Drakengard 3, is that symbolizing anything in your games or is it just visual imagery you like?

Yoko: Well, I do like flowers in general, but yes, there is a greater meaning to it that I have with these flowers. It's the same as Emil like I talked about earlier, I just haven't revealed it anywhere. There is a meaning, which is why they keep on coming back in my games, but I haven't revealed it anywhere yet.

With the last Nier game, you had said that you built the game on the concept of people being okay with murdering people who are different. With Nier: Automata, the games actually became more fun to play and control and touch, do you think there's a danger in giving people that sense of ease in killing enemies in the narrative?

Yoko: In the previous title, I actually feel like I overdid that a bit. I did want to portray that enemies have a reason to live and a reason to fight on their own as well, but I feel like I forced that idea that I had in my mind a little bit too much on the players. So for Nier: Automata, I did not want to focus on it, I didn't want to impose my feelings and thoughts. I actually feel that it's fine if some people feel it's fun to kill in our games. If that's all that they feel from the game, then it's fine, because its their freedom to feel what they want from the game. To answer your question, I think that it's fine to have that happen.

Taura: I actually have the same answer, too. I feel like if it's fun to fight, that's great as a game designer. But if you feel bad to kill these cute little robots, that's fine with me as well. I feel like different people will have different reactions to the game and they will feel differently when they play the game, so I'm actually happy to create a game that creates those kind of differences within the players as well.

Yoko: That's a really good question for us, because if players felt that it was way too fun to kill these enemies that it started making them feel guilty, that's something we didn't really aim to do. Just as we mentioned earlier, I'm really happy that players were able to take it on their own and experience it on their own, then we didn't just provide something for people to take it as-is on face value. I feel like it's great that the players are now taking the game and experiencing it on their own and trying to figure things out on their own.

There was a time after 2B was revealed that people were asking you about her design on Twitter and you answered that you just like sexy ladies. That quote has become pretty famous and attached to you and a lot of people are reading into it. Is that a thing you still believe, would you ever take the quote back, or would you have ever changed 2B's design?

Yoko: [laughs] Don't straight men like cute girls? Isn't that common knowledge? I didn't realize that was a quote.

A lot of people use you as an example as a developer that just says what is on their mind.

Yoko: Before we released the game, on Twitter, because so many people were sending me 2B fan art, I said that "Send me a zip file of all your erotic fan art!" When I tweeted that out, my number of Twitter followers jump from 20,000 to 60,000 just with that one Tweet. I actually think it's because I did something that's more of a taboo in the western world where I talked about sexuality or gender that openly on Twitter, but that's actually...so, I do know that what I said did not just creative positive buzz and there's some negative buzz around it as well, but I feel like it kind of has to do with the Japanese culture where we're not too strict about gender and sexuality and being more open about talking about those things.

I think it's the same thing as reading manga as an adult, it's a little bit different when you think about it because in Japan that's more common, it's not considered something weird or something outlandish. With that kind of feedback that I get from fans, I just feel like it's the difference in culture between Japan and the rest of the world.

That is something you tend to tackle fairly often. Drakengard 3 was partly about sex and sexuality treated casually within the game's universe, is that something you feel doesn't translate across all regions?

Yoko: I actually don't think [translating across regions] has a lot to do with sexuality. I don't think it would have sold more copies of Drakengard 3 if I took away aspects of sexuality or added more in there. I feel that Nier: Automata sold well because we worked with PlatinumGames, so I don't think that has anything to do with a sexual nature.

For the original Nier, there was a lot of information on the periphery of the game like books with background information and short stories that answer questions raised in the game. Automata even had a stage play predating the game. Do you think it's harder for western fans to grasp the whole stories of these games when there's Japanese-exclusive media about it expanding the lore?

Yoko: Of course we can't localize everything because we have limitations in budget, so it's really difficult to do all of that, but I actually think there really isn't a need to know everything, either. The meaning I have behind Emil's mask or the flowers you asked about, like I said it's not revealed in the game at all or anywhere else yet, but no one really needs to know that to enjoy the game or enjoy the world or enjoy the game. More than gaining knowledge, I want players to cherish the experience they have when playing the game. It's more about that instead of the knowledge they could have for every question. Of course the theatrical stage play was more of like a YoRHa spinoff, but you don't need to know that to enjoy the game. Every piece, like the books and the stage play, is made in a way so that you can enjoy it by yourself, so you don't need that extra knowledge to enjoy it.

It may add a little bit depth to the knowledge that you have, but you don't necessarily need to have it. I do understand the otaku mentality that you want to know everything, you want to have everything answered, you want to collect everything, but I don't see the value in knowing everything. For example, just in real life, you might not know everything about the politics that surrounds the world or even in your own country, and there's really no point in knowing everything that happens in the world. Maybe a lot things, but not everything, right? What's more important is how you interact with people around you, immediately around you, and I think that's the same with video games. You don't really need to know everything that happens in the world to enjoy it.

Of course I do respect the freedom that the players feel as well, so if you do get mad that we can't localize everything in America, or America never gets everything, that's also something to be respected and I do understand the frustrations surrounding that as well.

When Nier: Automata released, it did so in a three-month timeframe that several other big Japanese games came out in the U.S., like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Yakuza 0. A lot of people started heralding those games as a return of Japanese development in the west. What do you think about going from fairly niche games to what some people consider the tip of the spear of modern Japanese development?

Yoko: First and foremost, just to speak about having so many good titles in that timeframe, my thought was "Are you people trying to kill me with this?!" In Japan, Horizon came out first, then it was Nier, then Zelda, and I think in the west, it was Horizon, Zelda, then Nier in North America. So we're literally sandwiched between those two with a two-week window in between each and they were all very similar to us in the futuristic setting. Especially for Zelda, it was one of the titles we copied in the first place, so I really felt like they were trying to kill us at the time.

Personally, not even thinking about Nier: Automata during that time frame, I was running around excited about all the fun-looking games coming as a gamer myself.

Hideki Kamiya [PlatinumGames] has once said that Nier: Automata saved Platinum. Is that something you agree with and how has the relationship been between PlatinumGames and Square Enix?

Yoko: Speaking from my perspective, of course Taura-san will likely know more about it internally at PlatinumGames...Kamiya-san, he's very laid back on Twitter, but when you actually really talk to him, he's a very serious person and very sincere. I guess Nier: Automata did generate sales for them, because I received a direct letter of gratitude from him saying "Thank you very much for creating a great game." I don't even know if we saved them or not in that sense, but just receiving that kind of message from was just very heartwarming and I was just really happy that I was able to provide such a game for them.

Taura: You could make the headline of your article "Yoko Taro Saved PlatinumGames" and that's definitely true.

Yoko: It's a very true headline.

Why do both of you think that Nier: Automata was more successful than Yoko-san's previous games or most other PlatinumGames titles?

Taura: Mainly because PlatinumGames' sensibilities were much better than Yoko Taro's.

Yoko: I actually think it's the Square Enix brand, the name Square Enix gives a more reliable feeling to an otaku type of title. PlatinumGames' strong name being known for making really good action games and I think the combination of the two really helped. This time with Nier: Automata, we sold about 2.5 million copies and the previous title we sold around 500,000. For the last game, we weren't really in the red, but it wasn't exactly a success either. We have these passionate fans that really supported the time from announcement and the series as a whole. Of course for Automata, too, we had a very passionate fan base including the media and including yourself that gave impressions and articles that helped make the game into a success, so I'm just really grateful for the fans and media alike that really supported the title and were passionate about it.

[The remainder of this interview took place a few weeks later with Taro Yoko and Nier: Automata composer Keiichi Okabe. Okabe is also known for his work on both Nier titles, Drakengard 3, Tekken, and contributing some tracks to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Before we started recording, Yoko said it will be okay if I asked Okabe most of the questions and I remarked that I wouldn’t want to make him jealous. He paused for a moment and then said it doesn’t matter because he would get paid either way.]

You two have been working together for a long time, I was curious how much the music composition is tied in with the writing. One of the city themes in Nier: Automata uses similar composition to a track in Nier. Does that come from the writing or the musical identity of the series?

Okabe: Since Yoko-san is I feel the type of person that doesn't want to do the same thing over and over again, even if he did receive praise for what he did previously, I kept that in mind while I was composing music for Nier: Automata. I also wanted to have some kind of connection that you would feel as a player between the previous title and this one, so I used similar tones from previous titles or from the previous game. It might not be exactly the same, but I used some similar types of music lines from the previous title so that you might feel that kind of connection.

But we do have tracks that are arrangements of previous tracks from older titles, but that was mostly for fan service.

I kind of wanted to drill down a little bit this time and get to the core of your philosophy of why and how you make games. If you had to pick a reason to hold up and say "This is why I make video games," what would that be?

Yoko: I feel that video games, amongst all the different entertainment mediums, have the most freedom in what you can do as a creator. For example, in a film, if you are able to control movement, then that's no longer a film in my eyes. In video games, you could have film-like cutscenes and videos, you could have them going on forever as much as you would like as a creator. That kind of freedom to do that is what I really wanted to do and I feel like video games are what provide me that option, even if I never do it.

Is there any kind of message you use games for that you want to convey to your audience or anything you want them to hear from you? Or do you prefer to let them take whatever interpretation they get from your games?

Yoko: It's the latter. I would want our players to freely interpret what I've created just on their own, to grasp something for their own. I feel that's one of the interesting aspects of video games is that you are able to freely interpret what's being shown to you. I also feel like the players make the game whole by playing it. The action of playing the game I feel has meaning in itself and because of that I want the players to find something from the game, feel something from the game, for themselves.

Nier: Automata won a number of awards, Okabe-san you won best music at The Game Awards, Automata won the audience award at GDC. Is there any pressure to appeal a more mainstream audience with your next game?

Okabe: For a popular title that will be played by many, it doesn't really matter what kind of genre you put out musically. I will still be interested to compose music for those if possible. I would have to take a different approaches to those kind of mainline titles, whereas for Nier, I felt that the music can be more geared toward a core audience where only those who would understand the music would play it. But at the same time, once you understand, I want you to be deeply affected by it. That's what I aim for with Nier. If I am to work on a way more mainstream title next time, I will have to change that mindset I have as a composer, but that would be something I'd like to challenge myself more. To answer your question, yes, I'd like to try that, but I'd also do whatever kind of jobs I'm assigned to.

Yoko: For me, my games I actually think are really niche. How Nier: Automata was so successful was actually just a coincidence. To make a successful game is something that I can't really aim to do, so I think that I'll probably return to my small and dark corner, my niche corner, with my successive titles.

Who would you both consider your inspirations for writing and composing?

Okabe: For me, it's obviously more of a composer than a writer, but I don't really focus on one person. I tend to just try to get music here and there and have a wide net. I am greatly affected by people who I've listened to in my youth, like Japanese composer Ryuchi Sakamoto, Ennio Morricone who creates film music, and also pop music like Michael Jackson and Madonna. I am affected by those as well.

Yoko: I have received inspiration from a lot of things, but I think personally expressions in film or any like visual production is something I'm deeply affected by. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, that was really a strong influence on me. Also, the drama series 24, the way that they incorporate speedy and complicated constructions of storylines was something that was very new at the time. Just throughout the timeline of visual production, I think there's a sudden burst of evolution, and I think that "that" moment in a title that does that just greatly affects me and becomes an inspiration for me. But I feel that can be said for the rest of the world.

Lately, anything that Christopher Nolan creates I think is very intriguing where he tries to include deep knowledge and thoughtfulness into what he creates. I'm very interested in this new wave of evolution.

Last year, with the release of Animal Crossing on mobile, you talked on social media about how it was your favorite game of the year because you created a narrative where the characters were all unwillingly imprisoned in the camp. Do you often create your own narratives for games?

Yoko: I do that for some games and I don't for others. Off and on, I guess. It's a lot easier to create my own storyline per se for a more primitive game. For example, in Zelda: Wind Waker, you start off with a grandma and your sister living on an island and it's really happy and joyful and there's really no reason for Link to get out of there and fight Ganondorf because you're already living happily. You don't need to get out of that happiness. As a gamer, I felt the kind of sadness to have to leave that happy island life.

In Dragon Quest [V], you have to choose who you want to wed, and I felt that I couldn't really get into liking either of the characters. I also couldn't find the point of having to decide who I want to marry, so I just at that instant I turned off the game and said "My journey ends here!" My mind narrated "The three of them went on the journey and lived happily ever after, the end." That was my ending for Dragon Quest V.

Around the release of Drakengard 3, you spoke about how it's not possible in this industry to make a six-minute game and sell it for $60, no matter how good those six minutes are. Is this something you still think?

Yoko: That analogy was given to explain that, no matter how much you try to make a game really good, there's a limit to what you can do. If you are to create a six-minute game, because you can't go through a lot of different stages, you would have to create one stage. Which means that you could really refine the quality of that one stage without having to put in a lot of money into it and a lot of manpower into it. Also, because it's only six minutes, you can't really have too many characters in it, so you could focus on one or two characters at max. By doing that, you could refine the quality of those two characters. But because you're time-limited, no matter how much you refine the quality of the world around you or the characters, if you're limited to six minutes there's just so much you could do that the game won't become good at all. That was an example for me to say that there's a limit to what you can do in video games.

Okabe-san, in the music for a lot of Yoko-san's game, you use constructed or uncommon languages, is there a specific reason for that?

Okabe: [laughs] Yeah, for one, because it is Nier: Automata, Replicant, and Gestalt, they all take place in a unique world, even though they're in the timeline of our current world, it's so much in the future that it should feel kind of foreign. That's one of the reasons why I went for language we can't understand, but another is that, in games in the past, game directors actually got mad at many occasions for including vocals into the soundtrack. They were saying that it would become too distracting from the gameplay and would distract the player. It was considered more of a taboo, so for Nier, I included vocals in there without a language you could understand more for the sound that you get from the words. It wasn't to convey any meaning of what was being said, but more for a sound impact.

Yoko-san, you tend to have very sad endings in your games, with the exception of Nier: Automata which is as happy an ending as you can get with most characters dying. Why do you tend to write toward more sad endings and do you feel like Automata's happy ending fit the game better?

Yoko: The reason why I created endings that end on a death is because, until now I was creating games where you would kill a lot of enemies, but I've always felt that it doesn't feel right when the protagonist has a happy after they've killed so many enemies during the course of their journey. That's why in Replicant and Gestalt, or my previous titles, the protagonist pretty much ended up dying because I didn't feel like it was right for them to have a happy ending. But for Nier: Automata, 2B and 9S, from the time that they were given life, they've been killing a lot of enemies, but they've also been killed by them many, many times, and regenerated many times. They've actually been killing each other, which you find out at the very end, many, many times as well. So I felt that kind of cleansed them of their sins for killing so many enemies, which made me feel that a happy ending was more fitting for those two.

Do you feel like that cycle of violence and death and the consequences of that are human nature?

Yoko: I think the reasons why we kill in video games do kind of shine light on what's kind of broken within humanity or humans in general. We want peace in the world, but we also enjoy killing others in video games, like shooting guns in video games. I think that's karma in a sense for humans, the way that video games grasp the true essence of humanity, whether or not that's what they were aiming to do.

Is there a series that you know, like Persona or Yakuza or anything like that, that either of you would want to work on?

Yoko: A series or anything?

It can be anything.

Yoko: Personally, it's not a Japanese title. I'd actually love to see how western titles are developed, because I have no insight into how they're made. There was a moment in time where I felt that it might be fun join a western development to see how things run. Of course there's the language barrier that would make it difficult for me to do that, but generally speaking I feel that western storytelling follows kind of a similar route for all the stories that western mediums create. I would feel it fascinating to find out why western games use certain flows and storyline arcs.

Okabe: I'm kind of a fanboy myself, so there is a part of me that wants to work on major titles like Dragon Quest. I feel that if I do work on those titles, the pressure of working such a known title would be just too big and because there is a part of me that really loves that series, I feel like I would try to skew my music in a way that would fit into that series instead of trying to create music that I think is good. I don't feel like I would be able to bring out the best quality in my music if I worked on those big titles, because of that pressure and because of the image I have of those titles in my mind. Currently, my want to work on those major titles and the part of me that's telling me I shouldn't do it are about equal.

Were either of you surprised by Nier: Automata's success?

Yoko: [in English] Oh yes.

Okabe: For me, I live in Tokyo and developer PlatinumGames live in Osaka, so we did have quite a distance in-between, like literal physical distance between us. From the moment that I created the music to when I was able to see it next, there was a big gap in time, so when I was able to my music in the game for the first time, the game was pretty close to finished, they were almost done with development. At that moment, I thought "Maybe this one might sell?" But at the same time, I didn't think it would become this big of a success, I always thought it might do better than the previous titles, but it was like a hunch that I didn't feel until this time in Yoko-san's titles. I did have some kind of a gut feeling that it might do well.

The last song of Automata, Weight of the World, had a chorus with the entire game's development staff at PlatinumGames and Square Enix singing along to encourage the player. Why did you decide on that for the final song of the game?

Okabe: I didn't remember this, I actually forgot about it for a while, but Yoko-san actually came to me telling me that he wanted a chorus at the end of the game pretty early on in the development process. I apparently made disgruntled face at him and did not remember why I even made that face or even that I made that face. After a while, I actually remember why I had such a reaction with the disgruntled face, because there's a couple of different types of choirs, but Yoko-san likes the more classical choir, so when he requested that he wanted a choir, I thought he wanted that classical type of choir at the last part of the game. At that moment, I thought "Well, that doesn't really fit in with the game plan, I don't really want to do that," which is why I had that expression on my face. After we talked about it, Yoko-san mentioned that wasn't really what he was going for, he said that because that last scene is all about all these different people helping you, he wanted everyone to sing, he wanted it to feel like everyone is singing there with you as you play.

When I thought about doing that, and I actually agreed that might be a good idea, because in Nier: Automata all the choir vocals that you hear in the game, it's actually recorded by a small group of singers, I just overlapped their voice so it sounds like a big choir. Because that last part of the game is more about you playing amongst a lot of people, I felt that taking that approach again of overlapping voices again would not really work. So I reached out to the dev teams because they were working on that part and I thought it would be a good idea to have them put themselves in the game as well. I also thought that they don't need to have a good voice, it's just to give that feeling that you're playing with all these developers.

Development teams from Square Enix, PlatinumGames, and also some composers from my company who didn't work on Nier: Automata are singing in it as well. There's also children of PlatinumGames developers and their family actually singing in it as well. That was the reasoning behind why we decided to do that at the end.

Has there ever been, in all your games you've made, an idea you had that you had to be talked out of?

Yoko: For the first Drakengard, I had an idea of [Japanese pop-star] Ayumi Hamasaki, like her character model, wearing all-silver spandex, like a giant version of her descending from the sky and you would fight against her by music. Everyone else on the staff shut it down. It does still leave that kind of music game essence kind of in there, but the part Ayumi Hamasaki comes out in silver spandex has been taken out.

Isn't that kind of similar to Drakengard 3's actual ending?

Yoko: Similar, but I actually wanted to go for something funny, or shockingly stupid. But no one would let me.

Source：
https://www.gameinformer.com/…/talking-to-yoko-taro-platinu…