Square Enix confirmed that they plan to release more HD-2D RPG remakes like Actraiser Renaissance and Live A Live in the future.
Kodoani.com – Recently, fans of the classic JRPG from Square Enix Looking forward to the news of Square Enix. The iconic JRPG publisher has brought back classic games from the past, as well as releasing new RPGs like Octopath Traveler. Going forward, Square Enix has shown that they have no plans to slow down the remake rate. Games that will include an HD update for Chrono Cross, a remake of Live A Live, and Triangle Strategy will ensure fans are also looking forward to it. But Square Enix’s plans don’t end there.
Square Enix recently started a podcast with the producers behind its biggest classic JRPG projects, including Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default’s Tomoya Asano, Live A Live’s Takashi Tokita and Triangle Strategy’s Yauaki Arai. The SQEX Asano Development Teams Radio podcast is not intended to be an announcement or disclosure, but the trio is not tight-lipped. During the conversation, they casually admitted that Square Enix plans to continue working on future HD-2D releases and remakes.
Asano says that the plan to focus on HD-2D releases and remakes comes directly from Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda and starts with a list of potential candidates. Asano describes starting by ditching games like Mahjong and focusing on Super Famicom (SNES) titles. The first two games on the list are decided to be Live A Live, followed by the recently announced Actraiser Live A Live remake, while the Actraiser Renaissance launches in September 2021.
The list, of course, has certainly continued from there. Live A Live and Actraiser Renaissance are just the first two games approved. What’s next for Square Enix’s HD-2D plans remains to be seen. Even so, the hint of other JRPG SNES potentially making headlines is sure to get a lot of interest from Square Enix fans. Secret of Evermore, Illusion of Gaia, Front Mission, Romancing SaGa and Chrono Trigger are full of potential.
A bigger question in the future, even bigger than which game will be next, is what format the game will be in. Actraiser Renaissance has completely redesigned the original game’s visuals, while expanding the game in a meaningful way. Live A Live is retaining a significant amount of the original game’s visuals, but overhauling it with a new vibrancy visual. Meanwhile, Chrono Cross will be a very standard remaster. Square Enix’s choice of format determines the quality of the experience, which are interesting in their own right.
However, it is important that Square Enix is willing to bring back its classic games. There are so many great games from both Square and Enix in the past that the younger generation of gamers never had access to. Of course, older fans of the JRPG will also be delighted to have a different experience again. We look forward to hearing more about Square Enix’s plans for a JRPG remake in the coming years.
Theo: Kodoani.com
