The original Octopath Traveler turned many people’s heads when it came out a few years ago. One reason was that the now classic RPG featured eight main characters with eight unique storylines that players could enjoy in any order they chose. Another reason it got a lot of people’s attention was because of the visual style. It mixed 2D sprites with 3D backgrounds to create a visual style that is now prominent in the genre. The HD-2D style has already been in other Square Enix titles, so the pressure is on with the upcoming Octopath Traveler II to make the game and visual style pop even more.

In an interview with Famitsu, Producer Masashi Takahashi and director Keisuke Miyauchi talked about the game’s engine and how they aimed to improve upon what they did before with the sequel. They noted how they wanted a higher level of “density” for the pixels so that if you took a screenshot of the game, it would always look good. They even referenced a classic RPG as a perfect example of this:

“By envisioning the beautiful pixel art scenery they drew back then – the trial scenes in Chrono Trigger, for example – we aimed to raise the bar of expressiveness with HD-2D by making art that would be picture-perfect no matter when you screenshotted it.”

After the first game’s success, the Acquire team, under Square Enix’s banner, said they were asked to do tech talks about the HD-2D style, and they realized something when they did. They realized that much like nostalgia would “blind people” to how good or bad a game from the earlier console generations looked, so too was it happening with their titles. So they made a goal with Octopath Traveler II to ensure that the “rose-colored glasses” couldn’t be looked through: they had to make the game look even better than the first one, no discussion.

One way they’re going to do that is through the camera angles. The previous game only had an angled top-down camera that we used to see everything. But thanks to a new engine, things will look different in the sequel:

“It’s processed differently internally as well, since while we used scripted events last time, this time we used the Unreal Engine’s features, doing things like we would for a 3D scene.”

Other changes include the designs and heights for the characters. In addition, you’ll notice a lot more emotions portrayed by the characters. Furthermore, the battle animations have been improved so that each skill has a unique animation.

The team is putting all they have into Octopath Traveler II so they can make it the best HD-2D game ever made. We’ll find out on February 23rd if they succeeded.

Source: Famitsu