The upcoming Live A Live remake was only deemed possible thanks to the success of fellow HD-2D title Octopath Traveler.
In an interview with Famitsu (translated by Nintendo Everything), Takashi Tokita – director of the 1994 Japanese RPG Live A Live and its upcoming remake – talked about how the project came to be.
“I’ve pushed internally for a remake or sequel a number of times, but the circumstances never quite worked and the idea was abandoned,” said Tokita. “One of the big reasons we were able to create the remake was because we joined up with Mr. Asano’s team, who was responsible for the HD-2D Octopath Traveler from four years ago.
HD-2D refers to a style of game that uses both pixel graphics and 3D backdrops in its visual design. Both Octopath Traveler from 2018 and Triangle Strategy from this year used the style, with Square Enix developing both games and this upcoming remake.
“When we were planning the project, we wondered if we could use HD-2D to create a Live A Live remake, and after discussing with them we made it a reality,” Tokita continued.
“As an outside observer, Octopath Traveler left a big impact on me. It made me realise that sort of an approach would be possible. I think that a full 3D remake of the game would have changed the look of the game too much, but an HD-2D remake fuses the beauty of pixel art with the unique effects possible with 3D.”
Tokita went on to add that Live A Live’s many time periods and focus on science fiction may better lend itself to 3D, but added that “HD-2D allows for a lot of variety, which is something we kept in mind from the very start of development.”
The Live A Live remake is coming to Nintendo Switch on July 22.
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