This isnt the first time youve played around with deleting save data. Why do you feel this is such a big deal for players? Why offer this sacrifice?
When I was young, I was playing Dragon Quest. As I was shifting the cartridge around, my save data completely disappeared. I was very shocked about it, but my parents didnt share that kind of sentiment. They didnt understand what the issue was. We were talking about the same exact thing, but my parents didnt understand whereas I was extremely distressed about the situation. That made me question what the difference was between the reactions to the same situation, which was kind of the origin of the idea.
Theres also another reason thats more recent. When I was developing the original NieR, that was when a lot of people were starting to post their gameplay videos on YouTube, and that was gaining a lot of popularity at the time. It became a slight issue, at least least in Japan, because a lot of people were experiencing games just by viewing them.
I am accepting of this. I understand that, as technology evolves, there are going to be new ways people enjoy different mediums. That said, for people who are paying full price for a particular game, if theyre experiencing the same thing as someone whos just watching it on YouTube, I dont feel that is quite right. So, I believe this particular experience is a special experience that only people who play through the game are going to really understand. I believe that it adds value to the players experience. This is something that people who are just watching wont quite understand to the same degree as people who have spent time and played through the game.