Dragon Quest 3 remake producer wants Final Fantasy 6 to get the HD-2D treatment because it has "the highest quality pixel art"

Final Fantasy 6 was fairly recently touched up for the 2023 Pixel Remaster, but apparently that isn't enough for Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake producer Masaaki Hayasaka.

The long-awaited remake of Dragon Quest 3 finally released last week to largely positive reviews, with the bulk of the praise going to the beautifully redrawn pixel art that Square Enix popularized with Octopath Traveler and which is now the studio's go-to style when making sprite-based games. 

Asked by Inverse which game in Square Enix's catalog he'd most like to see get the same treatment, Hayasaka chose the 1994 RPG Final Fantasy 6, namely because its lovely pixels were reference points while making Octopath Trveler.

"It's not that we have concrete plans for this, but personally I would have to say Final Fantasy VI," Hayasaka said. "Octopath Traveler—the first HD-2D title—was developed while referencing FFVI, as it had the highest quality pixel art. I would love to see how the game we referenced would look with the HD-2D art style.

"Because this art style itself was created while referencing such titles, it's highly compatible with games originally made using pixel art. This compatibility is probably why people feel this style is a match made in heaven with these types of remakes."

Tempering expectations for a potential Final Fantasy 6 HD-2D Remake, Hayasaka added that working with this unique art style demands a "higher sense of artistic sensibility."

In a separate interview, Hayasaka said he'd "love" to do more HD-2D remakes generally, but expressed concern that Square Enix is oversaturating the market with nine related releases in seven years.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

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