Thanks to Christian on Twitter, I’ve learned that Hooked has made yet another NieR:Automata interview, this time from the recent Gamescom 2016 in Germany! Check it out below!

And here are a few things that they discussed:

• The game was never delayed. The staff had always imagined a 2017 release, but the media was always asking or expecting Automata to be released in 2016, so that is reason for this disconnect. An actual delay is when you have an exact release date which is changed to a later date.

• Yoko Taro has always wanted to make a stand-alone shooting game, but Square Enix always denied his requests. This is why he likes to put in as much shooting scenes as he possibly can. He likes to throw in a bunch of different game genres into one. That being said, Automata will have much more shooting aspects than the previous title, so have fun imagining what might be in store!

• The team wants to put on a similar concert, like what was held in Japan this past spring, internationally, but nothing can be decided yet until they have a sense of how many people are likely to attend such an event. Once they see how well NieR:Automata performs, then they will be able to decide on future events; this includes other spin-off titles like an anime series or another stage play.

• There will be multiple versions of particular songs that are sung by different individuals. The boys choir that was used in the previous NieR cannot be used again because all of the boys are older now and cannot produce the same tone; therefore, other younger voices will be occasionally used. Okabe Keiichi also sporadically provides the vocals.