Talking Point: Is It Time For HD-2D To Take A Break?

I think the visual style can be stunning when done right, but it has certainly lost its... uniqueness. I'd prefer to see HD-2D-esque styles like in the recent Star Ocean remake. Experiment with new ways of presenting classic pixel art with modern effects.

Favorite game in this style? Triangle Strategy, easily. Absolutely incredible game. I felt like I was a kid playing on my PS1 again.

There’s not THAT many of them, right? But I guess it would be better to give them a rest before everyone gets burned out on them, like those increasingly over abundant Metroidvanias lately.

I personally don't mind the visual style, they could keep using it indefinitely and I'd be fine with that.

But I do agree with the concerns about cost and development time. If we can get one HD2D Chrono Trigger or a slick port of Trigger plus a few other hard to access gems (Xenogears, Vagrant Story) for the same development time/cost I'd choose the latter.

My answer is the same as LavenderShroud.

I like this style but prefer it for newer games. Triangle Strategy is amazing. A lot of the older games still look great. Chrono Trigger is perfect and doesn't need a visual upgrade. FFVI doesn't need a remake either.

I don’t care for the games that have come out in this style, but I do care about 2D gaming and its perception in the industry. When Sega management doubts a Sonic Mania type game existing in the future because it wont bring them the returns needed for that brand when appearing in that style, that’s a real problem. Since the era of polygon graphics, the industry has been quick to flip the switch on 2D gaming, making it very impermanent as a style choice. There are multiple reasons for this but chiefly it’s that marketing a 3D game has the most consequence in the modern media landscape. I’d like that to change somehow. Hopefully when we talk about 2D, it’s done after establishing that it is a necessary core experience in gaming, no matter the lighting ‘post-effects’ or what have you that may or may not need to go.

I think it's a great way to introduce younger generations to older games. I think for that reason it encourages Square to bring back these old games more than they would without it. Of course I want the OG versions (well the DS version for Chrono Trigger) of Xenogears and Chrono Trigger on Switch as well, but think it's much more likely for them to come in HD-2D form, and that's amazing too.

Also, I think the article understates slightly the evolution of HD-2D. Octopath Traveler I looks very distinct from Dragon Quest 3 Remake in my opinion, and Live a Live does as well - I think they all keep their distinct personalities despite all being HD-2D, so to me there's no danger of them all looking "two similar". It reminds me of how the pixel art of Square and Enix evolved over the SNES generation - each respective company had a style of pixel art they honed and changed over time for different games, despite still being distinctively their own. I want HD-2D to keep going and changing and evolving as it has done since Octopath first got revealed.

Honestly, HD-2D is just plain inferior to 3D graphics, people only ask for HD-2D remakes because they don't believe that companies will do a good job with a more ambicious type of remake

A Chrono Trigger remake would be way better with 3D graphics, because some 8-bit pixels wouldn't do justice to Akira Toriyama's artstyle. I don't even know what's the point in using pixel art nowadays, they were supposed not to look pixelated in old TVs.

Also, that Bloom effect that square Enix use is awful, and makes all HD-2D games looks soulless.

A break would be good after I get Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy Tactics in 2D-HD. 😁

Remake Phantasy Star IV in HD-2D, then we can take a break.

> HD-TooMuch?
[laugh track]

No I want my Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 HD-2D games. My dream games...
The chances are very slim, but I will still hope about it actually happening.

That recently Star Ocean remake is on my Top-10 (or even Top-5, why not Top-3?) list of the best looking game ever., for me then.
I'll take a new Japanese HD-2D game over a generic western 3D third-person game in all days which we like gets +10 of these on every months now, which all looks the same.

I really hope that they continues with HD-2D on Nintendo's next console.

Love it! It gives new purpose to reintroduce older games to be remade for modern audience and newer generation of gamers.

I think it looks good, but part of its appeal is admittedly its novelty, and that is wearing a bit thin. That said, there's really nothing wrong with a style existing and being used. If it's the right fit for the game, then use it, if it's not, then don't. I wouldn't turn away from a game because of it, but the newness has faded to the point I also won't check out a game because of it, as the striking nature of HD-2D is kind of gone, now.

It's fine, but no longer eye-catching.

No.

Not until they do a proper remake of Final Fantasy VI in it.

Yes, all the games look the same.

I honestly don't see a problem with having more games run the HD-2D Style, it's a great modern throwback but I can understand why some may not like it.

I do agree I don't want them to only rely on HD=2D but it is so much better than your average game release visually that wanting less of it is absurd.

No I need less of generic 3D games if anything. There are so many games on Switch that look like they pull the bare minimum for graphics for a "modern" looking Switch game (see: Secret of Mana remake or half of the DQ spinoffs, let alone many games outside of SE) with nothing visually exciting, or on the other systems you'll see Unreal Engine 5 game that no one will remember exists 2 minutes after they saw it. There's countless games like that all the time, some of which FROM SE, fix that stuff then we can complain about a once per year scenario HD-2D, that doesn't even look the same across every release.

Also the next Pokemon remake should just blatantly rip off the style instead of whatever mid nonsense they tried for the D/P remake, because 3D Pokemon RPGs have NEVER looked as good as the DS games anyway.

May I throw a monkey wrench in the works?

I was always a sucker for 2.5D platformers in the PS1-PS2 era. Klonoa was a gorgeous game largely because it embraced the contrast between sprites and polygonal backdrops. It felt both charmingly antique and contemporary.

Although I'm always thrilled to see retro remakes trying something new, instead of redoing the whole engine with exponentially higher tech and making the game feel less genuine (lookin' at you, Crash N-Sane Trilogy), it's been weird to see HD-2D remakes come up exclusively in the RPG space. Imagining what a game like Donkey Kong Country 2 or Gunstar Heroes would look like with this treatment is actually much more thrilling to me-- but then, that just speaks to the kinds of games I play. Heck, Marvel vs Capcom 2 did it so well back in the Dreamcast days, it's kind of hard not to see that treatment continue to work.

Ultimately, the better thing would be to seriously consider this aesthetic for new IPs. As some have mentioned in the comments, though, it's hard to expect that kind of visual shrewdness from AAA publishers, which leaves us reliant on the indie scene... which mostly sticks to fully 2D games for the sake of resources. Damn though, I would love to see 2.5D come back!

Six games in almost eight years is "too much"? I'm not sure if this even warrants an answer.🙄 How does a gamer crowd with an attention span like this even survive the incremental evolution of yearly sport sims?

Asking for HD 2D games to take a break is like asking for 3D games to take a break.

I really love the style of octopath traveler 2. The sound, voices, battle system and effects.
Its just genius!

I love the visual style a LOT. But it needs to be applied to more than RPGs. I haven't bought a single 2D-HD game because of the gameplay, not the graphics.

There will always be a place for 2D characters on 3D backgrounds, but this "HD-2D" brand has gotten too formulaic. I prefer other looks featured in this article like Sea of Stars, or fully pixeled games like Tengo Project is making.

For me, there's too much shadow in all the games up to Dragon Quest III, the text sizes are always way too small, and the UIs are never integrated in the pixel style.

I feel like an entirely straight remaster of Xenogears or maybe even FF Tactics would end up Looking sorta HD-2D by default. Might as well polish it a little from there, but I don't think they'd need the full conversion treatment.

It works just as well as any other style when the art direction is strong, like in the Live-a-live remake, that game always had a strong visual identity and I think the more colorful aesthetic translated to the style perfectly.

2017 - remake every RPG in HD-2D!!
2024 - is eight games too much?

No, HD-2D doesn’t need to a break. In fact, I’d say Dragon Quest barely qualifies, since it seems to use a lot of standard polygonal assets. Of course the market will have the last say, but in my opinion, it’s a beautiful art style that can have just as much freshness going forward as pixel art did for an entire generation (and continues to).

Trends can get tiresome of course, and breaks can be warranted. But give me another 30 HD-2D games first; then we’ll talk.

I haven't played a game I have liked in this art style, but is that the art styles' fault or mine. I generally don't play, or tend to like, many 2d rpgs. My buddy gave me unicorn overlord and I may play that over the holiday break. I have tried the octopath demo, and liveAlive demo.

I’d love a Pokémon game in this style.

As long as it means Chrono Trigger is coming, keep the HD-2D train rolling.

Haven’t played any of them, or anything pixels really, but the amount of all of them combined I feel will shrink a little when the Switch 2 fully replaces the Switch and can run modern looking games.

Not to say they’ll go away entirely, people like 3DS quality graphics on their handhelds, but less so that we won’t need to bother with articles like this.

For the record I don’t want everything remade like FF7 either, that’s too much, but GameCube quality graphics seems a nice happy medium. 😁

I am not even reading this.

Redo FF6, but make the storyline and the world 10 times larger. Redo Chrono Trigger.

After that, maybe we can take a break.

I am still awaiting port of Wandering Sword on Switch. And do not forget there will be Arisen Force: Vonimir soon.

Well it's hard to say it should be over when they haven't released FFVI yet.

And also Chrono Trigger.

Those are literally the two games everyone and their mother are waiting for since the graphical style has been revealed and they definitely should not stop hd2d as long as these two don't exist.

And also I'd love to see how the hd2d style could work with action rpgs. Secret and Trials of Mana would be great using that style. Trials in particular, I know they just released a remake a couple years ago and it was pretty good but in terms of artistic direction it just did not feel like the original did. The hd2d would do wonders to translate that game to a new era of gaming. Heck I'd love to see trigger and FFVI but I don't think there is a single game that would work better than Trials of Mana in hd2d considering the prowess that the original already was. It was basically trying to be hd2d even back in the days.

No, but — and I say this as a huge Octopath fan — the style could be further refined to do away with some of the eye-melting bloom in some areas.

Nah, it's fine. We get hundreds of games a year, in a slew of styles, methods of presentation, etc. We're always going to get regular/non 2D-HD 8/16/32bit coming from the indie scene (as well as from re-releases from Nintendo and the like); having more 2D-HD games among the plethora of normal games is fine.

I'd love a pokemon game in this style.

Only one studio does it and it is their distinctive house style and they have varied it quite a lot. I don’t particularly think the implementation of Octopath and DQ3 is that much the same.

Feels like telling the Persona team hey maybe it’s time you knock it off with the loud colors, there are other art styles.

If people keep buying it, sure, go with what moves products. I personally can't stand it, didn't like it from the start. It's a weird sort of uncanny valley between the crispness of the past and glossed up overpainted 3D of the current day. If Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger or Earthbound or whatever is next for that style it'll be a hard pass for me but the originals will always be gold, so what do I care if someone wants to plunk $60 down for something that already exists in near perfection. Not to mention the remakes always bring up the question of altering content. I'd rather see a full on remake in a totally new style, even if it still mimics the original very closely like with Link's Awakening, than this bizarre halfway point that visually either puts me off or puts me to sleep.

I would never want HD 2D visuals to be slap dashed onto it every single pixel based type of game, but as long as it is used tastefully used to good effect and not abused, then I am perfectly fine with seeing it forever.

There can never be enough of anything, ever.

I remember back in the SNES days when people grumbled about there being way too many Mascot Platformers, and journalists would give anything to kill the genre off, completely.
And then Donkey Kong Country happened.

Never stop doing anything, ever.

Your poll on which is our favorite style is missing some games, what about that Star Ocean game, and what about that Hundred Hero’s game? I want to see HD2D to continue evolving.

I've never been fond of the art style anyway but I've rapidly grown to loathe it. Just looks like vomit to me, the characters always look completely out of place against the overly detailed backdrops, it's a mess, the name is stupid, and it's used entirely too much.

Nah, not really.

I actually didn’t really like the style before but when I saw live a live is when It really grew on me, I think it works for remaking older rpgs, it keeps the pixel look while making it look new.

There is also still several games I would love to see get this treatment, chrono trigger, mother 2 and 3 are one of most wanted, I just think they would look great in the artstyle.

TLTR: Nope, I love em.

I've said for a while that even though I like HD-2D in neo-retro games like Octopath, it's not a style I want to see any games remade in. The combination of sprites and 3D models makes it feel more like a parody of pixel art than an evolution of it. In my opinion, a remake should either be the ultimate version of the original game; faithfully improving and building on the gameplay and art style as much as possible without abandoning it, or a reboot; showing what a game might have been if it was made for the first time today, rather than trying to replace it. Anything else feels disrespectful to the original work.

I’ve been needing this article. The return of Live A Live did a great deal for me, but I see the HD-2D style as a massively overhyped flop.

Even if flop probably cannot justifiably be used in this context, both original series in the style (Octopath and Triangle Strategy) are below average in their respective genres (I hear a lot of praise for Octopath 2, admittedly I skipped it after having been burned twice) and the idea of remaking beloved classics like Chrono Trigger frustrate me.

I think this article points out that Star Ocean looks amazing for having taken a different style and I concur! It’s a beautiful game!

I think Sea of Stars looks better than any HD 2D game!

When we talk about remaking Final Fantasy 6 in this style i feel like that is my nightmare scenario for opportunity cost. On this website we recently talked about that idea in an article maybe a month ago, and I was proud to not have been the only one to suggest a remake in the vein of the DS 3&4 four remakes!

Im the biggest hater of this style, and im proud lmao. Thanks for the platform to do my thing!!!

I think old games look better and much more natural, especially on a CRT television. For the most part Square Enix can not make good games anymore anyway or they just ruin their old franchises with remakes, like they did with Final Fantasy VII, so they can keep doing what they are doing. I will find something else to play.

I don't much like the way HD-2D mixes the two styles (2D and 3D). To me, the diorama-type worlds just seem too dramatic and intense. The shading tends to be heavy and overdone. I do love 2D though, it's just that I prefer the very detailed pixel art games to the HD-2D style. I would love more games that seemed like they were made for the 32-bit systems, such as Sega's System 32.

Dear gaming industry

There are too many HD - 2D games nowadays. Please eliminate three interlectual properties

I am not a crackpot.

Sincerely, Nintendo Life.

Here's a wild idea..

They could try making new IPs instead of just remaking them in a different style.

I like how it looks though, haven't played any games with it besides OT demo though.

For me at least it is my favorite presentation of 2D pixels that isn’t NEOGEO art. Most of the indies that are popular look “off” to me and I love the 3D set pieces and the distance scaling. Likely because I don’t have depth perception and it kinda makes me feel like I do. Anyway it’s one company that has tons of other output and they only do this for certain games. I absolutely want more games in this style. Especially if they do all of dq 1-6. But I also love the new IPs such as Octopath and Triangle Strategy. I don’t think I would want them in another style. Granted I like squeenix’s 3D remakes as well.

Taking a beloved classic and doing it in HD-2D is both a love letter to older fans, and a gateway for newer fans to enjoy those stories. Kinda want a Link to the Past done this way, though I suspect the original is already perfect, and the visuals wouldn't add a whole lot.

I’d love a Secret of Mana HD-2D. Probably not gonna happen since they put out that abomination remake a few years back. Man that game sucked.

HD2D is cool and there certainly isn't too much. If this industry can pump out sci-fi games, medieval games and military shooters left and right, I think HD2D deserves to have its place.

I hear the argument in the article, and I respectfully disagree. If the industry could live through the brown-gray-shooter-era of the PS3/360 generation, I'd be more than happy to have a pocket of it carved out for me and my people with the HD-2D style for years to come.

Chrono Trigger is on my shortlist of best games I've ever played. I agree that it still looks good, and it doesn't need a HD-2D remake. But we're talking about a medium of premium-priced entertainment here - if we're gonna start greenlighting only the games that are "needed", it would all crumble overnight.

So I'll take one Chrono Trigger HD-2D remake with an orchestral soundtrack, achievements, and maybe a few more endings, please. But by all means, please keep making new stuff as well. I have money I've earmarked for Octopath Traveler III as we speak.

Dragon Quest 3 HD was pretty much the only game that looked GOOD with that style.

Oh, I don't know really. It's fine, just don't go overboard. I'd prefer that the most definitive 2D RPGs get that treatment. If Square Enix said that they were only going to release two more HD-2D games, Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, I'd be completely satisfied.

But you know, it would also be kinda cool if SE throws out the super-realistic graphics and makes a Final Fantasy XVII in HD-2D.

I have never liked the HD-2D style. It takes all the beauty and charm of pixel art and ruins it by adding excessive lighting effects and other visual garbage. I don't want my pixel games to have half the screen obscured by blur and bloom. Why not simply make a beautiful 2D game?

But what I really want is re-releases of the original versions of older games. I do not wish to play another remake of a Final Fantasy title... I wish to play the original version.

“Is it time for hd 2d to take a break?”

No. I love it, keep going, I say!

I think the HD2D trend is ok-ish.... for those older RPG of yesteryear.... it's great! Many of those older RPGS are locked to older hardware that's already on life support. After time they will no longer (legally) to play/own these games!!!

Sure we have emulation, but that's basically a huge Grey area that's mostly illegal.... (unless your dumping your own games collection to your own hard-drive and not sharing them with anyone) unless you bought said rooms directly from the publisher, which let's just face it, sega is the rare company in that regard. Sure other companies sell rooms electronically over the web to play in emulators with intention from day0 of development.

So with all that being said.... there are a fair good amount of games that could stand a little updating to make playable on current and next generation hardware. Hamster has been doing awesomly with the NeoGeo ip's, not through all of them yet, but they are getting there!!!

Vanillaware is one of those companies that wasn't mentioned in the article, that really stands out against what was going on from the 7th generation, believe they started the trend.... maybe?

Regardless, older RPGS definitely need it. Quite a few of the older sidescollers, shooters, beat em-ups, and the more obscure arcade games all make great candidates. I personally don't want to see all those old 2d games made 3d, because alot of them wouldn't translate very well without completely changing the games contexts.I could see using 2.5d translations of some of those older games. Even then, there's only so much we all will be willing to purchase without them being batched together in a collection.

If the industry is out of solid ideas, then, sure let's see what we can get that already worked... sometimes even not that well from the programming side. ... but graphically the games were great.

Let's not forget all the games that never left JP and there is literally 1,000s of those, all the way back to the Famicom, Famicom disk system, super Famicom, Gameboy/Gameboy Advance and so on just from a Nintendo aspect.... if you put NEC or Sega in that pile or SNK, Taito, Midway.... all those companies had awesome 2d games that we have hardly any access to just in the console releases.... the arcade games might as well be laced in unobtainium because emulation most times is the only way there.

Absolutely not! We've gotten some of the best games of recent years thanks to this and I'm sure there's plenty morre to look forward to in the future. I like how the votes are more or less evenly split between the five games too, goes to show how great they all are.

I don't think it's overused but i do feel it's a bit overrated

I think the style is fine as long as they try to do more than the bare minimum with it. Octopath 1 and Triangle Strategy worked but, compared to something like DQ3 where it felt like they put extra effort to make the areas feel new and unique instead of "X with a new coat of paint". I feel something would've been lost if DQ3 had been remade entirely in 3D.

Marble Madness HD-2D would be for me!

I think this is a non-issue. Some games lend themselves to certain art styles compared to others. If every game, from DOOM to FIFA (or whatever it’s called) was in HD-2D, then there’s a problem.

Let’s enjoy the diversity of graphical styles, including this one

Chibi 3D style, please.
Like FF 3 & FF 4 NDS style or Dragon Quest 10 Offline.

I’d love to see Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and A2 in HD that’d be amazing.

@Overzeal Okay. Now THAT would definitely be awesome!!

We won't have enough until they remake Chrono Trigger, Terranigma, Bahamut Lagoon and FFVI, at least!

It’s time for it to hit 60fps on nintendo consoles. This could have been a gorgeous artstyle if it ran properly.

This was a weird take

If you're tired of something, you should take a break from it. Not request that it take a break from you, and everyone else in the world.

I think it's fine, just stop putting that label in the title. If it weren't for that, we'd just look at it like any other visual style. No one thinks half a dozen entries in a visual style is too many.

Nope. I like this art/graphical style. My only criticism is that I wished it was used in more genre's. I would love to see a HD-2D racing game or a platformer.

I see we're going to regurgitate this same article before and after every major release now huh

I really enjoyed Triangle Strategy but I don’t think HD-2D brought anything to the table there. In Octopath, you move through these beautiful backdrops and it was stunning. Triangle Strategy is far more static, and it didn’t impress in the same way. Liked it more in Live a Live, but still there’s not the same sense of exploring environments as in Octopath. Yet to play Octopath II or DQ III, but I definitely will. Should work better in those, as there’s more travel, unlike TS and LaL.

I played Triangle Strategy and Octopath II and loved them both. I like the art style a lot but it could use a bit of a change up. Maybe something similar but with a more detailed, hand-drawn look. The real draw for me though is the music. Octopath II has one of my favorite OSTs of all time.

Octopath Traveler II is the only one on the list I've played, and it's beautiful, so I guess I like the art style.

Personally, I think the problem lies with there being way too many rpg games coming out too close to each other.

I'll be honest, this one is a bit of an odd take!

what is that trex from in the cover?

Why would HD-2D games need a break when there are only a handful of games in this graphical style, HD-2D is very far from being over saturated and I think this visual style has untapped potential.

Sacrifire and Thread of fate is amazing visual style and i really love it.

Hd-2d is reminiscent of SNES/PS1 era and if you like to sit back like childhood it's really relaxing imo.

3d game is presenting more realistic today but it's too much smt we need to cool our eye with the simple art style but beauty enough to let the imagination fly.

I bet the average number of letters typed per comment is much higher here than in other articles.

It probably reflects you all's love for this kind of games.
You know, the kind that uses lots of words, turn-based combats, and other features that have always seemed to me so awkward in a video game.
I'd play D&D, or similar games led by fierce and stubborn bearded guys eating Doritos, or even read/play Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone books if I wanted to feel the thrill entailed by the roll of 12-sided dice.

To make a long and perhaps clumsy post short : I just never understood why video games would dumb themselves down to dealing with something so "unvideogame-like".

So remaking them in HD-2D does not make them any more relevant in my FF-proof eyes.

And there it is : my longest comment here, ever.

Just curious, what were the FF 1 and 2 releases on PSP?

Some people seem to prefer other pixel art styles more, but I'm the opposite.

I love Team Asano's HD-2D and find that other similar styles just don't hit the same, including Star Ocean. It feels off somehow by comparison.

Sea of Stars looks pretty good, but HD-2D feels more polished. And from the looks of Octopath Traveler 2 it just keeps getting better.
But as someone who loves Team Asano's titles, I'll agree that I'd rather they kept on making their own stuff, like Bravely Default rather than stuck on remake duty. Live A Live was fun but still dragged down by older and, dare I say, outdated game design and was a pain to play at times. I'm wary of playing older RPGs due to things like this, but I love the direction Team Asano takes with their own titles.

If most of the dev work is outsourced and Team Asano can make remakes and their own stuff at the same time then that's fine too. But if it means less original titles then I think we have a problem.

Thinking more positively, since SE didn't announce anything new at TGA, I hope that means they'll have a major presence on the Switch 2 when it's revealed! I'm so excited!

Well, let me put it this way, Triangle Strategy is a brilliant game that I loved to play multiple times, BUT the art style was a really bad choice for a such a story-driven game. HD-2D simply couldn’t translate what was going on with the depth needed plus it got really boring to watch the long cutscenes after a while.

In other words, HD-2D is beautiful yet it IS NOT a silver bullet for old-style games, the same way the hyper-realism should not be the default for AAA games. Studios should try different art styles to figure out what works best for each game.

There hasn't been that many. Sure the novelty has worn off, but it is just a stylistic choice. It is like saying "no more realistic-looking polygon games". Some people might want that, but there are also far more of those than there are HD2D games.

Blerg! Someone is writing just to meet their word count quotas.

There isn't even that many HD-2D and they manage to all be a little different from each other visually. I have no idea what this article is about aside from putting a little salt out there.

Cry a little more please next time.

There are what, five of them? That's not much. 3D games one the other hand have been overdone to hell and back since they were first conceived. If something needs to take a break, it's those.

Now give me a Terranigma remake please.

Kylo Ren needs to be here saying MORE

Not so much for them getting the style, but I would like to see them release versions of older RPGs that never made their way outside Japan, such as Live A Live's situation. I'm not a huge emulator player, and it was nice to get this game. It was new to me. I'd absolutely pick up other classics that I never was able to play before, especially when it never was released.

As an older gamer, I am LOVING the updated hd-2d art style along with the updated QOL features. Reliving childhood to a degree. It’s like a dream come true for me, remaking games in their old style but with modern conveniences and enhancements. I love it! Keep em comin!

I want secret of mana redone this way.

I don't think they're done until Ken Griffey Presents Major League Baseball (1994) gets remade in HD-2D

Too much? I don't see people complain about too many games with realistic 3D graphics or cel shaded graphics. We don't say "hey, brakes on the sci-fi aesthetics" and "ugh, tired of all these pixel games."

No one complained when most big games all had the same graphical aesthetic: realistic 3D with over the shoulder POV. Uncharted 4, The Last of Us, Spider-Man, God of War, Resident Evil 2-4 Remake, Alan Wake, RDR2, Jedi Fallen Order...

HD-2D is barely a thing right now. Let it shine.

Give me RPG Maker HD2D!
Seriously though 2D turn based RPGs are so fun and this style embraces the history of those. Not every game needs to look realistic.

Every holiday season I ask Santa for an HD-2D remake of Phantasy Star IV, and every year I am disappointed.

Another terrible Nlife take. It's Alana. Figures...

How is Star Ocean 2nd Story not HD-2D?
Are you just making up your own rules?
Because it’s ‘different’?

Until I get Chrono Trigger I don't want HD-2D to go anywhere.

lol this article is nonesensical! Why do t you complain that 99% of all games are made in Unreal Engine?

"They're great - not my favourite, but I like seeing it"

"Not bad, prefer other pixel art"

i voted the latter. the former "won" by a landslide, no contest, over all.

they look like two different answers, but if you read them carefully, they mean the same thing:

"They're great - not my favourite" is more or less the same as "Not bad,"

and "not my favorite" itself is more or less the same as "prefer other pixel art."

makes me wish id just said the former. not that it matters, at all. anyway. ✌️ this is actually imo one of the better polls, and i enjoyed the article (though i do not accept its premise.) thank you.

@ElkAtreides

I don't see people complain about too many games with realistic 3D graphics or cel shaded graphics. We don't say "hey, brakes on the sci-fi aesthetics" and "ugh, tired of all these pixel games."

are you serious? i've seen both of those opinions expressed in these comments sections, plenty, for sure. ✌️ I'm not trying to be argumentative but I'm just saying, it's out there.

"HD-2D is barely a thing right now. Let it shine."

this, i agree with. according to the very article, it's a handful of games, and then some other games that are close to looking like those games, big whoop. 😄✌️

@Arcticpandapopz

"I would love to see a HD-2D racing game or a platformer.". 🫠

@Siegdroid Well I think we had enough of it on the Switch.
The Switch 2 on the other hand is a platform where they could likely get the engine running decently.

What’s the game shown with someone on a bike?

@Diablo that's the Liva A Live remake.

I completely agree with this article. HD-2D is an awesome way of saying "Hey, this is a new game with retro inspirations". Because as the article points out, Octopath Traveller and Triangle Strategy are both games that evoke the old while still moving forward, so a visual style that does the same fits them perfectly.

Nope. Keep them coming. At most we see two games a year. I don't have a problem with that. Especially when there are other titles I would like to see get the treatment.

It's not unique or new anymore, but so what? Why I would I want them to stop? It's usually better looking than straight 2D. Devs have to be careful to make sure the 2D and 3D styles actually mesh - I have seen some games where the characters feel too disconnected from the rest of the world.

Also I could do without the lens flares.

Having a laugh with this one, for me please F**king stop openworld, soulslike, metroid Vania, roguelike clones. Sick to death of the *****.

This article deserves its fair share of criticism, but a lot of the commenters would benefit from at least skimming it first.

@PinderSchloss
'HD-2D' is a term that Team Asano coined for their pixel art games. So it specifically means stuff like Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy and the remakes they made. It's not to say that stuff like Star Ocean isn't HD, but as far as I know, only Team Asano says 'HD-2D'.

@-wc-
Maybe it's obvious, but I think the former option means that it's not your favourite art style out of every possible video game art style. Whilst the latter refers to pixel art styles specifically.
At least, that's how I interpreted it.

@DDFawfulGuy

*"Maybe it's obvious, but I think the former option means that it's not your favourite art style out of every possible video game art style. Whilst the latter refers to pixel art styles specifically.
At least, that's how I interpreted it."

hey, thanks for considering what I was trying to say, and taking a swing at it, too. ✌️👍

I think itcs a bit of a distinction without a difference, when it comes to adding a whole polling option to a pretty straightforward "yes/no" question. Perhaps they aren't saying the *exact same thing, but to me it's a shade of difference too close to muddy the results with, with one of them (the one i picked) amounting to a rounding error that really should just be lumped into the larger number.

Awful take, IMO.

I was gonna say they should take a break, but then you got me dreaming with the idea of a Xenogears remaster. Been meaning to try that one out, despite not really liking JRPGs much.

@-wc-
Oh, I see what you mean.
Yeah, creating too many options in a poll with similar answers can muddy the results.
I think Nintendo Life may be too used to creating a lot of options in their polls for some reason. Which would fine if the question was complex and each option was more distinct.

Personally the industry needs a break from Soulsborne games more than it needs a break from HD-2D

I don't think this is an issue. Back then in 16-bit era we had lot of games with similar visual (due to system limitation). I don't mind going ahead for all 2D-tiled base games (including remake of 16 ones) to use HD-2D or its variants.

It doesn't need to be novel to vindicate itself; HD-2D is a great visual style because many gamers still want beautiful pixel art, as well as other old-school styles implemented with lush visuals.

What needs to be done right is hitting the right niche, because it is indeed a niche preference. But when devs hit the nail on the head, HD-2D still produces some of the most brilliant games on consoles.

What I would enjoy is a Bravely Default HD-2D remaster, except with the standard DS polygons instead of BDII's pasty character art, which was a complete miss in presentation for my personal tastes.

I haven't bought or played any of them yet. Had considered Triangle Strategy though. Tactics Ogre Reborn I don't think counts does it?

Either way I do think that if used well, the techniques, the colours, the locations, the level design it can be good, they can obviously go further like Star Ocean 2 remake did but it varies how much depth or expanding on it they want to go with too for the visual style and depth of that in 2D/3D or 2D with the HD like enhancements.

Seeing Pacman Championship Edition and going oh they can expand on things past consoles couldn't with speed and other aspects for game modes is cool so doing so with HD 2D is nice to see on a visual side as well.

But yeah I haven't seen that many to get sick of it and I haven't played any of them yet so I don't really have much to say other than an outside view in and I find them fine enough still from an outside view.

It depends on the price.

If they are doing only 2D HD, they should be released as budget games.

They should not cost the same as Zelda Tears, Xenoblade games, Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher etc.
A 2D HD remaster have nowhere close to the development cost as the games above.

Respectfully, Alana? My answer is no.

Chrono Trigger, the Mana games, the Final Fantasy Tactics games, all would be ripe for 2D-HD remakes. They're gorgeous, and frankly? I don't care how many there've been. I want more because I wanna keep polishing greats like Chrono Trigger (can you tell I want an HD-2D remake of Chrono Trigger?).

Even better? NEW games that come from those franchises that use the HD-2D style! Octopath Traveler is great and deserves its notoriety. But that doesn't mean other franchises can't have fun with it. Can you imagine a true sequel to Chrono Trigger (there it is again) in the 2D-HD style? So we can get the awful taste of Chrono Cross out of our mouths?

@DDFawfulGuy Ok but talking about how it’s different is just adding words.

So we have 6 games, three of which are the same franchise and one is not ‘actually’ HD-2D
That means we’re talking about how three different games are too much, which makes it even worse.

No.

Your comment is too short etc

Nope, I like the style, I hope squareenix remake chrono trigger and ff6 with HD-2D too 😃

I think for Octopath Traveler sometimes the style wasn't entirely fleshed out and it doesn't really help, especially the background blurring is more of a hindrance. But overall I really love the style and can't get enough of it. I wish Nintendo would use this style for some older games.

@ibookboyuk
Yet they've remastered "Gish" and "Siamese Dream".

@PinderSchloss
I'm sorry, I'm not really sure what you're talking about.
How you made 6, soon to be eight, different games into three is beyond me. You can't just say different games are one game because they're part of the same series or franchise.

If you want to say you think it's silly that someone would think '6-8 games in a certain art style is too much and needs a break' then just say that.

Also the market will decide if something is too much. Otherwise whole genres would have died by now.

A little odd this. HD-2D is just another way of portraying or potraying visuals, usually remade ones. There isn't any reason to not continue with it and add it to the various choices of expressing/implementing visuals. There are barely any games that have this anyway

@DDFawfulGuy I was talking about the poll options presented here.

@DaniPooo I wouldn’t count on the Switch 2 being very powerful. Remember that Switch was already severely outdated when it released.

@PinderSchloss
Hmm, then yeah. I have no clue what you're talking about.
Doesn't help that there's 3 different poles.
I've already expressed my opinion on this article and the polls.
If you want to continue this conversation I'm afraid you'll have to articulate your reply a bit better so I can understand.
But it's not a big deal, so don't worry about it.

@PinderSchloss That depends on what you compare it with.
I expect something close to PS4 level of performance with some level of Raytracing capability which would be far beyond what the Switch has.

I, for one, absolutely HATE the HD-2D style. In my opinion, it looks really jarring and ugly, and I wish we could put it to rest.