Midori has some great rumors about what’s going on with Team Asano.
On Twitter, she made these statements:
“Dragon Quest HD-2D and Octopath Traveler are not the only new titles Team Asano is developing right now.
There is another title in development from Team Asano. It is a title that is a sequel to a previous title.
This is unannounced information.
And I am not saying Team Asano are developing Octopath Traveler 3 right now.
i mean the ports for more platforms.”
To summarize, Midori says Team Asano has another game in the works, and she isn’t referring to a new Octopath Traveler game. She says it will be another sequel, and actually, it’s a port for an existing game to new platforms.
Team Asano’s reputation precedes itself, as perhaps the best game studio today specializing in 2D HD turn based video games. We already know that Team Asano is working on new ports for the two Octopath Traveler games, as well as Dragon Quest HD-2D, which supposedly covers the first three Dragon Quest games.
Midori did not specify that the port they are working on is of previous Team Asano titles, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to review their curriculum vitae.
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes Of Light is widely regarded as the first Team Asano title, even if the team had not been formally designated as such. That game has remained on the Nintendo DS since its 2009 release. While some fans have ways of playing the game, any which way they can, fans will certainly welcome an HD-2D remake on modern platforms.
Bravely Default and Bravely Second, built on the foundations of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes Of Light, where the games that put Team Asano on the map. Both of those titles have remained exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS, and are ripe for the HD-2D treatment as well. Bravely Default II did come to the Switch and Windows, but it’s still ripe for releasing on PlayStation and Xbox.
Their Live a Live remake initially released on the Nintendo Switch in 2022, and then came to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows via Steam in the following year. This would also be a plum release for Xbox platforms, given the novelty of Square Enix bringing this forgotten classic back. It may not sound as ambitious as other ports, but it’s no less worthy a title.
Team Asano could be remaking any of these games, or working on a port of some other Square Enix title. As many fans point out, Triangle Strategy could have been easily been replaced with modern remakes of Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. There’s also some unfinished business with Xenogears, a game that literally shipped without a finished ending. Team Asano is not lacking for potential projects here. I kind of look forward to Square Enix giving us another pleasant surprise like Live a Live.
