Octopath Traveler and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake producer Masaaki Hayasaka expressed a desire to see Final Fantasy VI redone in the HD-2D style during an interview with Inverse.
Final Fantasy VI, or what was originally known as Final Fantasy III in North America, was the last mainline Final Fantasy game to use pixel art.
Hayasaka responded with the following when asked about games he’d like to see in HD-2D:
“It’s not that we have concrete plans for this, but personally I would have to say Final Fantasy VI. Octopath Traveler—the first HD-2D title—was developed while referencing FFVI, as it had the highest quality pixel art. I would love to see how the game we referenced would look with the HD-2D art style.”
“Because this art style itself was created while referencing such titles, it’s highly compatible with games originally made using pixel art. This compatibility is probably why people feel this style is a match made in heaven with these types of remakes.”
However, working with the style is not an easy task, as he’d explain later on when asked about challenges faced while updating Dragon Quest III in the HD-2D style:
“The quickest way to explain this is by comparing the first teaser we released three years ago against the latest trailer. I’m sure you will find everything to be different, from the map size to the characters’ body proportions. We get asked why things took so long since the first announcement, but the fact that we needed this much time speaks to how intensely involved the process of applying HD-2D graphics to Dragon Quest 3 truly was.”
“Some say that because HD-2D is pixel-based and this game is a remake, it should be easier to produce, but that is far from the truth! In my opinion, this style requires a higher level of artistic sensibility, and a remake faces more project-level limitations compared to a brand-new title, making the difficulty extremely high. After all, the expectations from the fans of the original game are a monumental hurdle we must work hard to meet.”
Other highlights of the interview include Hayasaka mentioning that expanding the player base was one of their goals with remaking the Dragon Quest Erdrick triology, that the team didn’t “cut much” out from the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, and a brief message for fans looking forward to the rest of the trilogy remakes:
“I still cannot share any information about Dragon Quest I & II, but we are diligently working on the remake[s], so please look forward to it.”
Source
