Earlier than the sport was launched, we received an opportunity to ask a few of the members of that very group about bringing the sequel to life. We spome with producer Masashi Takahashi, character designer Naoki Ikushima and author Kakunoshin Futsuzawa about matters comparable to drawing inspiration from the sport’s predecessor, the evolution of the HD-2D fashion, and who everybody’s favorite character is…
Nintendo Life: Octopath Traveller was a giant success for you, what impressed you to revisit the idea for a sequel, and the way trustworthy did you wish to keep to the core of the unique recreation?
Masashi Takahashi (producer): We have been completely delighted that the primary Octopath Traveler was a giant hit and so many individuals performed it! Though we have been very grateful for that success, it truthfully did put loads of stress on us by way of the second recreation. After we launched the unique Octopath Traveler, I mentioned that it was “a battle towards individuals’s reminiscences of pixel video games they’d performed prior to now”, however this time spherical it was very a lot a battle towards the primary recreation that we created. We aimed to evolve the system moderately than change it, maintaining as a lot of what individuals favored from the primary recreation as doable and making an attempt to completely realise all of the issues that we have been unable to do in it.
Octopath Traveller II takes place in a model new world, Solistia, and going by a few of the characters, it seems like we’re going to be exploring settings impressed by totally different historic durations. Why did you wish to create a model new world, and what alternatives did this confide in the event group?
Takahashi-san: As implied within the title, it is a recreation about travelling and having fun with a journey. We felt that it was important to set Octopath Traveler II in a very new world to be able to give the participant that feeling of pleasure and anticipation when exploring it, questioning what lies down the following path or who might be residing within the subsequent city.
Time has handed in a short time, and it has now been 5 years because the first Octopath Traveler got here out. I’m positive there are nonetheless individuals who is not going to have performed the primary recreation, in addition to those that did play it however have already forgotten the story, and this was why we intentionally didn’t have any hyperlinks to the story of the primary recreation, so I can confidently say that followers of the sequence and new gamers will benefit from the content material of Octopath Traveler II while not having to fret about occasions that had occurred earlier than.
In Octopath Traveller II, one of many greatest speaking factors is that there are “extra interplay, together with the ‘Crossed Paths’”. Are you able to inform us extra about how this performs out within the recreation and why you determined to enhance interactions?
Takahashi-san: Half of the rationale for together with these sorts of interactions was as a result of we noticed loads of followers asking for them in Octopath Traveler. The opposite half of the rationale adopted on later as parts alongside these strains naturally took form whereas we have been placing collectively the sport’s construction.
I hope that gamers will respect the brand new interactions in Octopath Traveler II which is able to open alternatives for gamers to discover extra and reveal fascinating details in regards to the townsfolk and characters.
The unique Octopath Traveller was the primary HD-2D recreation, and Octopath Traveller II is the fourth recreation on this artwork fashion. What have you ever realized from engaged on the primary recreation and seeing the fashion evolve in Triangle Technique and Reside A Reside that helped to tell the artwork course of OTII?
I attempted to jot down these characters by dividing off totally different features of my very own persona after which fleshing them out.
Takahashi-san: The entire video games have been produced by the Asano group, however Triangle Technique and Reside A Reside have been truly developed by totally different studios. The style and elegance of every one is totally totally different, so we inspired the groups that have been engaged on them to problem themselves in their very own methods, with out getting caught up on sticking intently to the HD-2D fashion of Octopath Traveler. So I’ve a sense that there was not an excessive amount of different video games when making these titles.
For Octopath Traveler II, we have been in a position to ask ACQUIRE Co.,Ltd, the developer of the primary recreation and the place the sequence originated, to make the second recreation, so I believe you’ll be able to see loads of evolution in it. After we put the “HD-2D” brand on the official web sites for these video games, we replace it every time, so we used model 1.1. for Triangle Technique, model 1.2 for Reside A Reside and went as much as model 2.0 for Octopath Traveler II.
The sequel options the identical eight beginning jobs as the primary recreation. How did you intention to range the character designs and personalities of the forged? Do you’ve a favorite?
Naoki Ikushima (Character designer): The unique recreation was set in a reasonably small space with a powerful medieval European theme, however this time one of many most important design ideas was to have a much bigger world to discover, so we paid consideration to displaying adjustments over totally different eras and having a various number of cultures.
This selection can also be represented within the characters themselves, so we’ve characters like Thronè and Partitio who put on extra city outfits, Hikari who’s from a rustic with Asian stylings and Ochette, who lives with the beastlings. On prime of that, we additionally needed variations between the characters in Octopath Traveler II and their predecessors who held the identical jobs within the first recreation, that have been in keeping with the brand new setting. For instance, the warrior from the primary recreation was Olberic, who was bodily imposing and used his nice energy to swing his sword, however against this, the warrior in Octopath Traveler II is Hikari, who’s bodily small however wins his battles utilizing technical ability moderately than uncooked energy.
The dancer characters are additionally very totally different, so the place Primrose had a darkish and troubled mien to her, her counterpart Agnea from Octopath Traveler II has a very totally different persona and is a vivid and sunny lady. I’ve a powerful attachment to all eight of the brand new heroes, so I actually can’t select a favorite from amongst them. Sorry!
Kakunoshin Futsuzawa (Situation author): I attempted to jot down these characters by dividing off totally different features of my very own persona after which fleshing them out. If I simply made characters that have been fully primarily based on me then individuals would in all probability not heat to all of them that a lot although, so I took care to re-arrange them to make all of them likeable individuals. I like all of them, so I might be comfortable if the gamers like them too. If I needed to choose a favorite then I might in all probability say Ochette. She is an easy individual at coronary heart and is comfortable so long as she has some dried meat to eat.
I’ve written of varied grasping and materialistic characters (particularly the villains), so the uncomplicated Ochette may be considerably comforting to me.
Are you able to let Sq. Enix know we wish to see way more Octopath music in future Theatrhythm DLC? And even an Octopath rhythm recreation!
Takahashi-san: Thanks very a lot!
5 tracks from the unique Octopath Traveler will likely be launched as DLC for Theatrhythm Last Bar Line! These vary from the primary theme to the battle music, so please take pleasure in these tracks crammed with Mr. Nishiki’s ardour when you play the rhythm recreation!
This interview has been frivolously edited for readability.
Our due to Takahashi-san, Ikushima-san and Futsuzawa-san for taking the time to reply our questions. Octopath Traveler II is obtainable on Change proper now.
