HD-2D gives Square Enix a way to embrace its past and future

HD-2D is nan earthy culmination of looking backmost to nan NES and SNES eras of gaming for inspiration.

In nan 1980s and early 1990s, games sported pixelated creation styles retired of necessity. In 2024, that look is now a stylistic prime for developers who want to subordinate pinch that retro gaming era. From UFO 50 to Volgarr nan Viking 2, we’ve seen immoderate awesome pixel creation successful 2024 games alone. But what if you mixed pixel creation pinch much modern lighting and creator creation sensibilities that are only imaginable connected modern gaming hardware?

The reply to that mobility is HD-2D, a chopped video crippled look that Square Enix debuted pinch Octopath Traveler successful 2018, trademarked, and has utilized arsenic nan artistic for retro throwback RPGs and remakes of classics. Next week, a remake of Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation will bring HD-2D to a full caller level and cement it arsenic an creation style captious to Square Enix’s early pinch old-school RPGs.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake launches connected November 14 and is simply a full-on remake of nan NES classics known arsenic Dragon Warrior 3 successful North America successful nan HD-2D style. It’s a gorgeous remake I couldn’t ideate without nan HD-2D style. With HD-2D successful nan title, it’s astir to make that word mainstream successful nan gaming zeitgeist. As such, it made consciousness for maine to talk Square Enix’s travel pinch nan HD-2D style pinch shaper Masaaki Hayasaka.

How HD-2D came about

The seed for HD-2D came successful nan mid-2010s erstwhile pixel creation games were astatine nan highest of fame pinch titles for illustration Shovel Knight and Axiom Verge. Around nan aforesaid time, developers astatine Square Enix were yearning to create RPGs successful nan style of nan pixel-based RPGs they grew up with. Those were besides nan games that made Square and Enix family names anterior to their merger. Hayasaka credits Masashi Takahashi, different Square Enix shaper who’d worked connected games for illustration Bravely Default, pinch launching nan task that would go Octopath Traveler and invent nan HD-2D creation style.

“I participated successful nan task arsenic 1 of its founding members, and we first started by exploring schematic styles,” Hayasaka tells Digital Trends. “However, alternatively than deciding that this was nan correct prime for Octopath Traveler, I callback nan process was nan opposite, wherever we came up pinch various ideas and features for nan crippled that could lucifer these graphics.”

Square Enix

That improvement process meant that Octopath Traveler felt for illustration a crippled tailor-made for HD-2D, impressively showcasing really Square Enix could create awesome pixel creation and juxtapose it pinch much move lighting and 3D backgrounds to create thing that looks retro and chic astatine nan aforesaid time. Rave reviews for Octopath Traveler astatine nan clip each complimented its creation style.

Even successful a Digital Trends piece that is much captious of nan game, writer Steven Petite described nan HD-2D style arsenic a “magic trick.” Octopath Traveler kicked disconnected an unofficial HD-2D bid of games astatine Square Enix. Mobile crippled Octopath Traveler: Champions of nan Continent and strategy crippled Triangle Strategy were HD-2D titles, arsenic was Octopath Traveler 2. Then, a remake revelation happened.

Perfect for remakes

In nan aftermath of Octopath Traveler’s success, Square Enix realized that nan HD-2D creation style could beryllium applied to remakes of its classical 8-bit and 16-bit titles. HD-2D was created to re-create nan look of those classics, truthful why not usage it to remake them? An HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III was first teased successful 2021. Square Enix released a remake of Live A Live, an RPG that had antecedently only travel retired connected nan Super Famicom successful Japan, successful 2022.

Square Enix

With these projects, Square Enix has cracked a codification for retro remakes. If it didn’t want to do afloat 3D remakes for illustration it has for Final Fantasy VII and Romancing SaGa 2, past HD-2D is simply a cleanable fit. The HD-2D allows nan remake to clasp nan 8-bit aliases 16-bit aesthetics of nan games they are re-creating but look much gorgeous than it ever could connected an NES aliases SNES. Hayasaka didn’t look very amazed that this operation worked truthful well.

“The HD-2D style was created and inspired by nan aureate property of nan 16-bit era, erstwhile nan value of pixel creation was astatine its prime,” Hayasaka explained. “Even erstwhile we simply opportunity “remakes,” location are various methods of doing truthful that whitethorn fresh nan unsocial characteristics of a title, but because nan HD-2D style was calved nan measurement it was, it was a cleanable fresh for remaking games that primitively utilized pixel art. It’s almost harder to judge they wouldn’t mesh good together.”

Square Enix

I couldn’t work together much aft playing Live A Live and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. HD-2D is simply a earthy fresh for remakes, particularly ones that aren’t trying to radically reinvent nan original’s formula. It’s a safe measurement for Square Enix to recapture nan aesthetics of its astir iconic titles without sacrificing nan creator intent of nan original aliases failing to entreaty to modern audiences. It’s already committed to Dragon Quest I and II remakes successful this style, truthful it’s a strategy Square Enix seemingly plans to instrumentality pinch arsenic well.

Enter, Dragon Quest III

Dragon Quest is 1 of Square Enix’s premier RPG franchises, and wrong that franchise, Dragon Quest III is considered 1 of nan series’ best. As such, it’s unsurprising that Square Enix would look to remake it arsenic it recommitted itself to making old-school RPGs. What amended measurement to study than from nan classics? According to Hayasaka, Square Enix settled connected utilizing nan HD-2D style for this remake because of really good it useful pinch remakes and really appealing it has been to Western gamers.

Even though nan HD-2D style useful peculiarly good for remakes, Hayasaka still highlighted immoderate of nan challenges that travel erstwhile re-creating a preexisting crippled successful HD-2D alternatively than creating thing caller from scratch.

“With an original game, you tin build retired and optimize nan storyline, events, maps, etc. from nan onset pinch nan HD-2D schematic style successful mind. However, nan original crippled must travel first pinch a remake for illustration ours, truthful moreover if you travel up pinch an thought that whitethorn look awesome successful HD-2D, you wouldn’t beryllium capable to incorporated it if it’s an constituent that undermines features from nan original game. In different words, nan scope of restrictions inevitably becomes larger arsenic you create nan game.”

Square Enix

Hayasaka yet believes that having a keen “artistic sensibility” is cardinal to creating a awesome HD-2D game, commending nan awesome activity of nan creation teams connected games for illustration Octopath Traveler and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. The improvement squad of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake had a clear imagination of what they wanted to do and really they wanted to germinate this creation style.

Continuing to expand

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is nan astir important merchandise for this creation style since Ocotpath Traveler. It puts HD-2D correct successful nan title and differentiates itself successful clear ways. Specifically, nan crippled uses a much vibrant colour palette than immoderate different HD-2D crippled and utilizes pixels chiefly for characters and monsters alternatively than backgrounds. It gives this remake a chopped style, moreover wrong nan broader spectrum of HD-2D titles. I asked really HD-2D had evolved, but Hayasaka described what is happening arsenic much of an description of what nan creation style could do.

“Rather than evolving, it whitethorn beryllium much meticulous to opportunity that it’s expanding further and further,” Hayasaka said. “For example, successful Triangle Strategy — which followed Octopath Traveler — nan camera could beryllium rotated, and successful Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, we experimented by utilizing colour palettes that felt authentic to Dragon Quest alongside a look to forego pixels successful nan background. I’m judge early HD-2D titles will besides adhd their ain unsocial caller rotation to nan concept, and these innovations will proceed to push nan boundaries of HD-2D look successful nan future.”

Square Enix

The HD-2D style came on astatine nan correct clip for Square Enix. Over nan past decade, we person seen nan institution genuinely recommit to Japanese-developed RPGs and a desire to recapture nan magic of Square and Enix’s aureate ages successful nan 1980s and 1990s. HD-2D provides Square Enix pinch a measurement to do conscionable that. It gives their retro-styled RPGs a chopped look, useful connected caller games and remakes, and offers plentifulness of room for creator maturation and expression.

Retro games resonate pinch people, and their beautiful pixel creation and aesthetics are a logic for that. For now games, HD-2D is simply a measurement to show nan crippled is successful speech pinch RPG classics. For remakes, HD-2D adds extent to what was primitively a level surface of pixels and combines aged and caller successful an aesthetically pleasing way. With much Dragon Quest HD-2D remakes connected nan way, Square Enix is embracing HD-2D wholeheartedly. That’s a bully point for its retro-inspired RPG efforts.