What do you think of the HD-2D titles that have been coming out over the last six years or so? They were the creation of Square Enix, and as of yet, that’s the only publisher/developer trying to make games in that style. It’s a unique mix of pixel art with 3D backgrounds to try and make the world “pop” more than ever before. The whole genre started with Octopath Traveler on the original Nintendo Switch. However, since then, numerous other titles have come out with that visual aesthetic, and more are definitely on the way, especially given some of these titles’ big sales success.
However, if you’re fearing that Square Enix will just “crank them out until we’re tired of the visuals,” you can actually breathe a sigh of relief on that front. Producer Masaaki Hayasaka, who headed up the recent Dragon Quest 3 remake that used the HD-2D style, noted to Bloomberg that the higher-ups at the company are “constantly unsure” of how many games of this nature to produce, and thus, they’re trying to find the “right balance” to ensure they don’t flood the market:
“If we were to release too many games in succession, that would lead to people being bored of those games. On the flip side, if there’s too much of a span between launches, that can also lead to the series not seeming as vibrant and robust anymore. It’s a sensitive topic. It’s something that even my supervisors are constantly unsure and mulling over.”
That’s a good thing for more than one reason. Not the least of which is that Square Enix has made questionable moves over the last few years that have seriously hurt the company, including trying to “recreate” a certain gaming style that Nintendo did, and it backfired on them in more ways than one. Let’s also not forget how the publisher tried to focus on certain key titles, thinking that they would sell many millions of units, and then the games didn’t meet expectations. Oh, and yes, the publisher also has a bad reputation for setting too high expectations and hurting game franchises that gamers love as a result.
So, their deciding to take things “slow and steady” with its HD-2D titles is a great move in more ways than one. That goes double when you recall that the most recent one has likely sold over a million units just in Japan. If they can keep that kind of love and quality up, things will go well with them with this particular set of games.
