The Square Enix team remastering Tactics Ogre for PS5, PS4 has revealed it had the chance to use the HD-2D art style made popular by titles like Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. However, the developer decided not to change the visual style since it believes "really high-quality, awesome looking 2D pixel art" was part of the original PS1, PSP game's appeal. As such, Square Enix wants to retain that look and simply modernise it.
Speaking with IGN (via Eurogamer), producer Hiroaki Kato said the studio played around with the idea of making the graphics 3D, but it wanted the remaster to please the fans. "So to bring that sort of resolution and that sort of fidelity to new hardware and new technology was a lot of effort. But yeah, I think we did it." One big change in the remaster, though, is the implementation of full voice acting.
While Kato says it was a difficult task, he believes Square Enix has achieved it. "We want to do our best to make it sound real, to convince players that they're really witnessing this kind of human story, this human drama... so we put tons of effort into realising that." Some of the script has gone through rewrites to reflect this, but the story itself remains the same.
With Tactics Ogre Reborn skipping the HD-2D art style, it means PS5, PS4 players will have to wait even longer before experiencing it for themselves. The only two games confirmed for the two systems that will sport the visual look so far are Octopath Traveler II and the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. The latter hasn't been seen since its announcement well over a year ago.
[source ign.com, via eurogamer.net]
Liam grew up with a PlayStation controller in his hands and a love for Metal Gear Solid. Nowadays, he can be found playing the latest and greatest PS5 games as well as supporting Derby County. That last detail is his downfall.
How stupid it means yeah we want to do the bare minimum and let you pay for it.
I was wondering why they hadn't gone for that style. Fair enough I guess.
I was just talking to a friend at work about this an hour ago. I struggle hard these days to enjoy turn based games. I used to live on them when I was younger, but these days they're just not for me. I can't really explain why or what changed. Dragon Quest XI looks amazing for example, but I know I'd bounce off of it because of the combat system.
But games like Octopath Traveler II and the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake I think will pull me in regardless. They just look so nice. Like they were made with bottled nostalgia or something.
Their mistake. I hope the FF Tactics remaster looks better.
It's the right decision. High quality pixel art looks way better than HD-2D.
@Flaming_Kaiser You seem to have misread “a lot of effort” as “bare minimum.”
Good choice! Really dislike the HD-2D trend.
This rationale would make sense if they had retained the original pixel art, but they haven’t. They’ve taken the stunning original graphics and run them through an AI upscaling filter, so now it looks worse than the original. Very bad choice.
@Doctor-Moo Yes, literally this, thank you. Everyone who I've talked to who even likes this series says all the new screenshots look awful. HD 2D would've been much better & I'm honestly wondering why anyone would think this gross upscaling is anything more than just the team choosing the cheapest option for a remaster.
@prince_myshkin And here I thought I was the only one that disliked the HD-2D stuff.
@jcboyer515 I totally agree with you 100 % its a lazy and a insult how stupid do you think we are.
@Rossif3r Why remaster it then? Whats the use here is the same game with no extra effort.
@Flaming_Kaiser Oh, I'm not saying they should or shouldn't remaster it. I just don't particularly care for the HD-2D stuff.
@jcboyer515 Exactly. I’ll be skipping this version unless they include an option to switch to the original graphics.
Have you seen the iOS/Android port of FFT: WotL? It looks amazing. They did a tasteful job updating some of the graphics while keeping all the original sprites. It proves that Square Enix is capable of doing these rereleases well. But this one’s a huge step back.
@Rossif3r No dude, there’s a whole group of us. We’re three at the moment - four if you can wanna put your money where your mouth is.
The original pixel art is good enough for me. Just increase the resolution and it's fine.
They used that trash AI upscale u see alot of older games use megaman battle network is using this as well and it looks soo soft and ugly same as this. this does not look good it look like a blurry mess.
Not everything needs to be hd-2d guys. This still looks looks good for what it is.
they did the bare minimum with this remaster. it looks like a basic upscale with a smoothing filter turned on to hide the original's low resolution. in other words, we get the ugly, vaseline look here. hopefully there is a way to turn that off in the settings. they would have been better off not saying anything about this but instead they have brought attention onto themselves and their lack of effort.
I'm glad they didn't go the HD-2D route. I find that graphic style alright but its not something I wanna see being used and done to death.
@Rossif3r That my idea why remaster if you are bit going to do a lot it or the price should reflect it.
Just play it on a PSP/VITA, that one is sharp, this new version looks horribly blurry and noisy.
I haven't played the original, but HD-2D graphics always look unpleasantly like they were designed by someone who grew up using a LCD to play 16-bit games and therefore doesn't expect the smoothing/blending effect of the CRTs the games were designed for.
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