There are so many other fantastic styles of pixel art. You may have looked at that list earlier and asked, “Where's Star Ocean: The Second Story R?” Well, it's not HD-2D. It's similar, but not at all the same – the lighting is different, the camera angles are different, and it's pixel art only different enough. I'm glad Gemdrops took a different route for what was a brilliant remake.
But looking beyond Square's oeuvre, you only have to look at various indie titles to see how wide-ranging pixel art can be. Sea of Stars' best asset is its visuals – they're stunning, a veritable SNES-style kaleidoscope of pixels and color just above 16-bit.
Team Ladybug is another developer that delivers amazing pixel art, especially in Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth and the upcoming Blade Chimera. Fluid animations combined with these highly detailed sprites and backgrounds make for some amazing looking games. Check out our list of the best pixel art games on Switch to get a sense of the variety I'm talking about elsewhere.
In most cases, I'd be happy if Square Enix simply remastered many of their classics. No, I don't want Vaseline filters over pixels (I'm looking at you, Grandia HD), I want something that lovingly preserves and enhances the art we already have. The Pixel Remasters are a good example – I know they're not for everyone, but I love the way the colors stand out in these versions. Even if Final Fantasy VI's Opera scene somehow switches to HD-2D 'style'. But a better example could be I, IIand IV re-releases on the PSP, which I think are the most beautiful versions of those games.
The HD-2D is meant to evoke the past – and, at this point, it seems people want it to deliver the past, classic games they thought they remembered. Nothing wrong with that, but some visual variety would be nice. They don't all have to be Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, full 3D, new music, new writing, etc., but I'd like to see some different styles. Remasters, reimaginings, remakes, whatever.
Remastering and remastering games isn't cheap or easy, and HD-2D itself is expensive – Octopath and Triangle Strategy producer Tomoya Asano said so in an interview a few years ago, which is why you don't see it everywhere. But at the moment it is quite prevalent.
HD-2D should be reserved for Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. These are two games that, to borrow something Lena Raine said about music and nostalgia, “bring [retro] in conversation with today so that you still get inspiration, but carry it forward”.
I have no doubt that Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake will be beautiful. I will play it. And I'll probably like the way it looks. But I don't want Square Enix or other developers to rely on one visual style. Give us something else. You could even just port Chrono Trigger or Xenogears to the Switch – I would very I'm happy with that, and I'm sure many other people would be too.
What do you think of the HD-2D style after almost eight years? Would you like to see Square Enix remake more games with it, or do you think that's enough? Vote in the polls below and share your thoughts in the comments.
