Naoki Ikushima burst onto the scene in 2018 with the release of Square Enix's HD-2D turn-based love letter to classic RPGs, Octopath Traveler. His gorgeous, painterly art perfectly suits the diorama-style environments and pixel-perfect characters. Since then, he's stuck with producer Tomoya Asano to work on Bravely Default II and the latest game from the famous Square Enix producer, Triangle Strategy.
Nintendo of Europe brought this gorgeous video, which was published last week, to our attention via Twitter. In the video, Ikushima draws the strategy RPG's protagonist Serenoa Wolffort and his betrothed, Frederica Aesfrost, standing atop a cliff and staring into the distance. The "sketch", as the video puts it, is nothing short of stunning:
Triangle Strategy might be a heavy game, full of political struggles and difficult decision-making, so this drawing should give the characters a little bit of light before the oncoming darkness. We're jealous we can't paint anything this pretty!
In our review of Triangle Strategy, we're full of praise for the visuals and performance for the game, and as an overall package, "this one barely puts a foot wrong."
Let us know what you think of the game's art, or Naoki Ikushima's work in general, in the comments.
[source youtu.be, via twitter.com]
Comments (8)
Incredible art for what is an incredible game.
Over 20hrs in and it's certainly a GotY contender for me 😊
Love the artwork in the game, the handrawn look really appeals to me.
I wish I could draw like that. I struggle to even draw stick figures in proportion.
Its amazing! I have yet to play the game, but it sure makes them (the characters) look beautiful!
I absolutely love Ikushima's style. Watching this has inspired me to try pen on paint.
Whoa he draws really fast.
Beaitiful art for a beautiful game. Just finished one of the four endings after close to 40 hours of gameplay. My favorite game so far this year.
@Quarth wow I had no idea there were 4 endings. I’m about 25 hours in and loving it.
Love his art style too. The cover art is so great. I hope he continues with the team! Wish his style was integrated into the actual character models for BD2. I really don’t like their proportions (and I love me some big head classic rpg style)
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