Octopath Traveler 2 Devs on Series Goals, the First Game Skipping PlayStation, and More | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

We think Octopath Traveler II is a fantastic RPG, and so we were delighted to be given the opportunity to interview two of the game's key developers. Director Keisuke Miyauchi and producer Masashi Takahashi were kind enough to answer our questions about the sequel's improvements, its development, and why the first game isn't available on PlayStation platforms.

Push Square: Firstly, can you give us a brief overview of what Octopath Traveler II is all about? What did you want to achieve with this RPG sequel?

Masashi Takahasi, producer: We were absolutely delighted that the first Octopath Traveler was a big hit and so many people played it! Although we were very grateful for that success, it honestly did put a lot of pressure on us in terms of the second game.

When we released the original Octopath Traveler, I said that it was “a battle against people’s memories of pixel games they had played in the past”, but this time round it was very much a battle against the first game that we created. We aimed to evolve the formula rather than change it, keeping as much of what people liked from the first game as possible and trying to fully realise all the things that we were unable to do in it.

The first Octopath Traveler isn't available on PlayStation platforms, but its sequel is. Why did you decide to make Octopath Traveler II a multiplatform release?

Takahashi: Of course we have heard all the Octopath Traveler fans out there asking for a PlayStation release and the team also wanted to challenge ourselves to try to get the game on as many platforms as possible. Apart from that, we made the decision internally after observing the sales of other titles.

Have you thought about releasing the first game on PlayStation?

Takahashi: We