During Square Enix’s E3 live coverage, NieR: Automata Director Taro Yoko, Producer Yosuke Saito and Director Takahisa Taura provided lots of information about the title’s gameplay, story, characters and more.

• The gist of the story is that aliens invaded Earth and deployed machine life forms to the surface. Mankind was exiled to the moon, but create androids to fight on its behalf.
• The story isn't only about war. There are so many things going on, and Taro Yoko would like gamers to find out what it all means when they clear the game.
• The team is working towards a global simultaneous release in early 2017.
• Most of the battle mechanics are finished, and they're being fine tuned to make them more fun. The team is working on the RPG elements and on the story cutscenes.
• The survey held at the NieR concert, fans expressed appreciation for the music of the new game.
• 9S isn't really a close friends with the protagonist 2B, they're more like acquaintances. 2B is a battle-type android, while 9S is a scanner-type. The way they control when you play them is slightly different due to their abilities. Their movements are about the same, though.
• A2 is the prototype. Her relationship with the others and, and the reasons why her clothes are ripped will be revealed within the game's story.
• The blindfolds are actually goggles, and the androids can see a lot of different things through them. The reason why A2 doesn't have them will also be revealed in the story.
• You "may or may not" be able to control A2. It's still a secret.
• The game is set in the distant future of Earth, so there will be ruins blended with the environment. Buildings are taken over by overgrown nature.
• The recently release artwork was designed by PlatinumGames. They havd done a lot of work to translate it into game assets.
• You'll be able to configure the buttons on the controller.
• You can lock on targets, differently from the first game.
• The bullet barrages will return from the first game, and will happen in many different locations and situations.
• The atmosphere that supports the game is really crucial to the franchise. The team is working on bringing it back from the first game with lighting, texture and more, but also to surpass it with the new game.
• Today Square Enix showcased a resistance camp, where you'll find NPCs, and this is an example of the RPG elements of the game.
• You will be able to buy and sell items.
• There will be sub-quests.
• You'll be able to upgrade weapons.
• The peculiar camera work of the first game will return in the new one.
• It'll be possible to fight within the resistance camp.
• The team tried really hard to give the game a similar feel to the first NieR.
• Even if it's developed by PlatinumGames, the game still includes RPG elements and the team is working really hard on them.
• Outside of the resistance camp, there's an area of ruins. It's the main area similar to the plains in the first NieR.
• In the ruins there are plenty of machine life forms to fight.
• You can assign each of the two weapons freely to square and triangle. You can have an additional set of weapons and you can freely switch between them.
• So far the sword, greatsword and gauntlets have been announced, while the pod take care of long range attacks.
• If you lock on to an enemy the pod will automatically fire on that target.
• The R2 button allows you to evade. You can evade by jumping or in any direction you like with the analog stick.
• If you dodge with the right timing, it'll be a perfect dodge. When you do that, you can launch a special attack.
• Controls are actually pretty simple and anyone should be able to handle them.
• You can attack while gliding with the pod.
• There are a lot of areas in the map that you can jump on and explore, including many ledges that you can climb on.
• You have to change your strategy depending on the enemies you fight.
• There are also flying enemies.
• Large enemies are protected by armor plates that you need to break.

At the end of the livestream, a prototype of a statue for 2B was also showcased, and you can see it below.