HD-2D Costs More Than You Think

You probably look at HD-2D and see a cheap way to cash in on 16-bit nostalgia. Tomoya Asano, producer on Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, told 4Gamer it costs more than you'd think.

Why would flat sprites cost that much? And why do they look so good under all that light?

Early Octopath prototypes reused sprites from Final Fantasy VI while the team tested lighting. The sprites stay flat, but the world around them is fully 3D. Point lights make the characters cast shadows, then tilt-shift, depth of field and volumetric fog do the rest.

I think it works because it looks like how you remember old games. The real ones were blurrier.

Final Fantasy Resonance comes out October 22 and uses the same look. Has the diorama effect run its course for you, or are you still in?

Octopath Traveler II is a good place to start. Add it to a shelf if you're curious.