Octopath Traveler 2 Interview: Making Good On Aesthetic & Expectation

receive Octopus Traveler 2 has been going strong, with many praising the formula’s development for the success beyond the expectations of its predecessor. As a tactical RPG with turn-based combat gameplay and classic style graphics, Octopus Traveler 2 Being a niche headline is a catchy title. In fact, however, its unique blend of aesthetics, clever gameplay, and serious storytelling has increased its appeal.

That said, it’s by no means a sure thing Octopus Traveler 2 Comments will be helpful. While the proof of concept was initially appealing, improvement is still needed. After its debut, it’s easy to see how the team has approached this issue – combining a lot of fan feedback on the original with some deeper, more interwoven stories – but it has Is it really that simple?

rant screen Recently interviewed members Octopus Traveler 2 The development team discusses what it takes to make a game of this scale. Anyone interested in the game will find some interesting stuff in their answer, but basically the main issue seems to be that focusing on making a fun game will help create natural solutions to other problems.

How Octopath Traveler 2 delivers on its promise

Screen Rant: The characters of Octopath Traveler II are clearly different from their predecessors. What thought process was there to make sure they stood out from the previous game’s heroes?

Naoki Ikushima, Character Designer: The previous title was set in a slightly small medieval European-style area, but this title is set in a larger world, so we’re aware changing times and diversity of cultures.

Contrary to previous titles, one can see Throné and Partitio in an urban style, Hikari living in an Asian inspired country or Ochette living like a beast. Also, while the Olberic swordsman of the previous titles was a large, powerful swordsman, this game’s swordsman Hikari, despite his slim build, his strength is not. shine more. The previous Primrose’s dancer has a dark temperament, while the one in this piece, Agnea, is as bright as the sun – although the profession is similar, we distinguish according to the worldview of the current work.

In Octopath Traveler II, the stories interact with each other in a more engaging way. Is it hard to do this for a game that has handled 8 stories to ensure fun?

Kakunoshin Futsuzawa, Scriptwriter: We wanted to give each story a different flavor, so it was possible to write a story based on each character’s concept. For example, when I wrote Temenos, I played a character planning a crime, day and night thinking about a mystery.

Keisuke Miyauchi, Director: I think it’s important to provide variety for each part, whether it’s the way the game is presented or the strategic thinking required for boss battles. To prevent players from thinking they’ve seen events like this elsewhere or that this boss and boss require the same strategy, we’ve designed each chapter to keep the story fresh. , regardless of what character the player is playing at any point in the story. .

Octopath Traveler II retains most of its predecessor’s characteristics in combat. When you have something that works — like a combat system — how do you innovate without changing too much? Is there anything implemented specifically in II from player feedback on the original that would be a big improvement for you?

Producer Masashi Takahashi: The fighting part of the game was also well received in the previous game, so we didn’t make any changes that were radically different from the previous game. However, I believe the Hidden Power added to this title plays an important role.

In the OCTOPATH TRAVELER games, Breaking and Accelerating are key to combat, so they’re certainly the most important, but if your game progresses to a certain point, they can sometimes become standard. The latent power was created to make some dramas there. One might think, “Oh no, if we keep going like this, we might fail!” At this point, the potential energy pot is filled and activated, and at the critical moment a person will return to full. Instead, start by designing enemies so they can now actively do things that make people say “I can’t believe they’re doing this to us!” I’m sure there will be more changes than in previous games, especially in battles against stronger enemies.

While Octopath Traveler II’s visual style is unique and interesting, it also seems to limit what the team can do when it comes to environment building and character design. However, the game’s world is beautiful, and its characters have personalities in pixels–what’s the secret to making these work with something as limited as pixel art?

Miyauchi: I think these limitations create a uniqueness of expression, which is what makes them uniquely appealing. For example, in this series, the camera cannot work on the map when the game is in 3D. However, since this restriction is imposed from the outset, instead of building a uniform map in all corners, we can perform the most convenient “fake” search for a fixed camera. This kind of ingenuity is everywhere, and I think the secret lies in liberal policy. As long as it works well, any method is fine.

Octopath Traveler II is a seemingly simple game – whether because of the graphics or the familiar JRPG combat layout – it becomes more complicated as you dig deeper into its systems and environments . Its musical feel too, it doesn’t really overwhelm the scenes but complements them in a way that gradually makes them memorable or engaging after the scene is over. Is writing music for something like the Octopath Traveler II significantly different from writing music for a different style or art form?

Yasunori Nishiki, Composer: While this is not the case only with HD-2D, with these kinds of pixel art games, the information that can be conveyed is limited, both in terms of good and bad visuals, compared to 3D games.

To complement this, music is certainly full of information, so through melody and composition we create the character’s expression, the emotion conveyed, the temperature of the environment, the smell – if applied in a 3D game set up for music. And then, when it’s the music, it sounds more engaging and informative than the 3D game tracks.

The interesting thing about these pixel art games is that the visual limitations leave a lot of room for the player’s imagination. This also greatly affects the direction of the music. This is especially prominent in event scenes, for example, say there is a sad event scene, playing sad music. That kind of music is specifically designed to be played in sad scenes, so of course it will play in other similarly sad scenes.

Oddly enough, even with the same song, we perceive it differently depending on the scene and the player doesn’t feel any dissonance about it. I believe this works because the pixel art leaves room for the player’s imagination, and if the same song is used in multiple game events with rich 3D visuals, at worst it has can cause the player to shutdown. This is because once the described emotion has been identified, the 3D image is conveyed to the player, so the music has to be fine-tuned to match.

My answer is long lol, but we are aware of the differences and try to play to their strengths.

Games with smaller casts or tighter storylines can easily establish themes throughout the first few hours. In Octopath Traveler II, the team couldn’t even guess for sure how a given player’s character would start out! How do you set the scene for a story when you don’t know who will be the player’s “main character”?

Miyauchi: It is important to clarify the purpose of each character in the journey. For Hikari, it will be a journey to regain her country, and for Throné, it will be a journey to kill both mother and father. Because there is a premise that can be expressed in a phrase, whether you start the game as a character or join the party, you can enjoy the middle of the game without losing the focus of the game. story.

What is the main goal of Octopath Traveler II?

Takahashi: I’m sorry I can’t say anything profound, but this game is for multiplayer and enjoy it to the fullest!

What does a successful release look like to the team?

Takahashi: Sorry, I answered the same. Lots of people play this game, have fun and nothing else!

Source: Square Enix/YouTube

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How Octopath Traveler 2 delivers on its promise

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