Triangle Strategy producers Tomoya Asano and Yasuaki Arai revealed how the team was able to include Square Enix’s unique HD-2D visual style in their current game in a recent interview with Japanese publication 4Gamer.
Despite the visual style’s apparent simplicity and straightforward execution, they remarked that it “costs more than you’d expect” and that finishing development in such a short period of time needed the assistance of teams that had previously worked with the technology.
4Gamer interview translation
Even though HD-2D is a new method, the quality stays similar regardless of the creator. Before real production begins, I believe a rigorous inspection is performed. “Dragon Quest III” and “Live A Live” are two of the games you’ve announced that utilise HD-2D. – Is there any knowledge transfer between these titles?
Asano: Of course. The teams from previous championships shared knowledge with the younger ones. We promote the sharing of information among development businesses if they have information that they believe may be valuable. There’s no reason why a form of expression that was employed in an older title can’t be used in current ones.
We discussed ‘correct’ HD-2D earlier; have you put together a comprehensive bible or anything like for it?
Asano: No, we haven’t put anything together like that. Because the manner in which it is conveyed varies each game, the HD-2D taste will be somewhat different each time. The ambience of the ancient segment of Live A Live, for example, will be different from the sci-fi setting. Thanks to the new concepts we’ve come up with, our breadth of expression has expanded.
One thing that has perplexed me is why no other developers have attempted anything similar to HD-2D. As independent games grow in popularity, the number of games that use pixel graphics has risen, and I would have assumed that the approach could be applied to such games as well.
Asano: It’s probably worth mentioning that it’s more expensive than you may expect. In that regard, it’s a terrific fit for Square Enix’s next projects. It’s possible that if other firms duplicate it, they won’t earn anything.
About Triangle Strategy
A tactical role-playing game that will put your beliefs to the test.
As Serenoa, heir of House Wolffort, command a company of soldiers in a complicated storyline where your choices make all the difference. Key decisions you make will support one of Serenoa’s three principles — Utility, Morality, and Liberty – which together make up his worldview and determine how the tale unfolds. When confronted with extremely critical choices, numerous characters will weigh in by voting on the Scales of Conviction. The alliances you choose and the choices you make now will affect the destiny of whole countries, as well as the continent of Norzelia itself.
