Written by Guggs
On October 16th 2024, 8-Bit Adventures 2 gets its long awaited console release. The game, released on Steam 18 months ago to overwhelmingly positive reviews, was a decade in the making. Developer Joshua Hallaran spoke to us about the challenges faced in development, the quality vs. quantity equation & much more – and it soon became clear that he couldn’t be keener to introduce new players into the world that he and three others have created.
Hi Joshua, thank you for speaking to us! We’re looking forward to 8-Bit Adventures 2’s console release. How does it feel to finally be bringing it to console and to the eyes of a new audience?
J: It’s both incredibly exciting and, after all this time, a huge relief! I originally hoped to launch on consoles at the same time as PC, as I wanted everyone to be able to play 8-Bit Adventures 2 regardless of platform. But the delay meant we were able to refine the game through updates, so console players will have the best possible experience from launch day!
For those that don’t know the team behind the game consists of just four people, with three of you based on different continents! How was that when it came to the creative process?
J: I was lucky to work with three of the most talented, professional people out there. We were all on a similar page creatively, and there were very few disagreements or even revisions. Everyone was trying to go above and beyond – whether that was Sebastian (our composer) experimenting with new sounds and techniques for the music, Jerram (our artist) developing his vibrant “NES+” visual style, or Sufyan (our programmer) adding ingenious, future-proofing features to his systems.
We all trusted each other to know what worked best in our respective fields, while adhering to a central vision, so that made the project harmonious.
Development on the sequel started almost a decade ago. When a development cycle lasts that long, typically there are often challenges along the way. What do you feel was the most difficult to navigate and what kept you motivated?
J: The hardest thing with a long development cycle is motivation. You get tired of looking at the same things, playing the same game over and over, and being locked into a design plan you wrote many years before. I never actually lost my passion for the game, and I did feel the project was coming together. But as development dragged on, I started to feel the burn-out – among other personal challenges like loneliness and the passing of a family member.
Support from family, friends, and fans helped a lot with motivation, as did seeing the amazing work that the other team members were producing. But most of all, those challenges deepened my desire to create a game which would make people feel happy. That was always the reason I’d wanted to develop video games, and I had this almost absolute faith that 8-Bit Adventures 2 would achieve that goal – I just had to finish it!
It’s clear that you’ve been inspired by JRPGs of yesteryear, but this isn’t just a love letter to those games, there’s so much that helps give the game its own identity. What do you feel helps 8-BA2 establish its own footing and how did you achieve that?
J: With 8-Bit Adventures 2, I wanted to build on the past without being limited by it. Through our art and music, we’ve tried to create an aesthetic which feels familiar yet fresh – giving the game a distinct audiovisual identity. For example, we use the limited NES colour palette to create our sprites, but we don’t restrict the number of colours on-screen at once in the game. This results in a more vibrant, detailed look, compared to genuine NES games.
The concept of the game is also quite unique. 8-Bit Adventures 2 takes video game concepts and applies them as elements in a fantasy world. For example, our villain is the Glitch – a being which was never meant to exist yet has the power to distort the world in impossible ways. A world which is governed by an omniscient central computer. This gives the story a distinct flavour, without veering into Meta narrative. Ultimately, though, the plot is driven by the characters, so I think it’s the personalities of our cast which give the game its strongest identity.
The battle system is built on a foundation of elements from Final Fantasy X, Mother 3, and Chrono Trigger, but it also includes a few more unusual ideas like the Augment system and party-wide Omega Burst bar. Swapping characters mid-battle is also a central mechanic, and the way we’ve handled it opens strategies which utilise your whole 7-character party in a single fight. That gives battles (particularly in towards the end of the game) a distinct feel in 8-Bit Adventures 2.
When you look at everything that’s gone in to making the game, what are you most proud of?
J: I’m proud of the incredible work of our team, of our amazingly supportive fans who stuck with us for so many years, and (to be totally honest) of myself for sticking with the project and getting it done. But most of all, I’m proud of how the game has resonated with players, particularly on an emotional level through the characters. The stories of classic JRPGs like Final Fantasy have always connected with me on a deep, personal level, so I’ve been thrilled to see that kind of reaction from players of 8-Bit Adventures 2.
I wanted to take a moment to talk about the soundtrack. What was it was like working with Sebastián Cruz again? & which do you feel are standout tracks?
J: Sebastian is the best! He and I have been working together since 2012, and I’m immensely grateful that he’s stuck with me all this time. He always wants to push his music further, and I almost never have to request a revision on one of his tracks. His music absolutely elevates every moment of 8-Bit Adventures 2, and even after listening to it for thousands of hours in testing, I’m still not tired of a single track!
Choosing standout moments is hard, because you never know what people will gravitate towards. “Sands of Time” is one of my (and Sebastian’s) personal favourite tracks, which I’ve seen fans bring up as well. And “The Nihilist King” theme was a smash hit in our Gamescom 2020 trailer; we received an absolute deluge of positive comments about that piece!
But I do think the tracks “Our Power” and “Journey’s End” from the conclusion of the game are especially powerful in context. The former makes me stand up and punch the air every time I face the final boss (especially the part at 1:03), and the latter is a nearly 6-minute composition strewn with leitmotifs from across the game and filled with so much emotion; I honestly think it’s a masterpiece.
Sitting at around 30-40 hours to finish depending on whether you focus on just the story or whether you’re exploring and finishing everything available to you, there is a lot packed in here. How difficult was balancing the quantity vs. quality equation that can often prove difficult, especially when it comes to RPGs?
J: That quantity vs. quality equation is a large part of the reason the game took so long to develop! It was my first time planning a game of this scale, and I didn’t realise how long it would take to develop so many environments with bespoke assets and cutscenes at this higher level of quality (compared to my previous games). That resulted in me committing to both quality *and* quantity – at the cost of a lengthy development.
In general, though, solving that equation comes down to pacing and how you use the content you have planned. I don’t like asking the player to backtrack or do repetitive tasks, but I do try and make sure they get the most out of each dungeon and town. Some dungeons are heavier on big set-pieces and story moments, while others focus on simple exploration and combat. That second type helps to fill out the game without requiring as much development time as the first type, but both styles are enjoyable when well-designed.
Something that can often weigh down an RPG are repetitive enemy encounters. What can you tell us about your approach to those and what did you do to make sure combat felt as refreshing as possible?
J: 8-Bit Adventures 2 features almost 100 unique enemies, so there’s a good amount of variety. But even more importantly, the number of battles the player encounters is curated. Because enemies exist on the map and there are no random battles, players will only have to fight a set number of foes per dungeon. Enemies can be revived at will if you want to grind, but for most players the number of encounters is pre-set, allowing the game to keep moving at a good pace.
As for combat itself, it comes down to speed, variety, and strategy. I wanted to make sure that battles didn’t drag on, and to provide players with a wide range of options. This begins in the menus outside of combat, where players can customise their characters with powerful Accessories and Augments. Then in battle, every character has their own set of unique abilities, as well as a range of team-up attacks.
Additionally, on-the-fly character swapping means the entire party is accessible in every fight. If a character gets low on HP, then rather than healing them, you can just swap them out (without wasting a turn) to keep the battle moving. Or you can swap in someone with an enemy’s elemental weakness to quickly finish the fight.
Without giving too much away, we know that there is DLC planned which is currently scheduled for 2025 . Are you able to talk to us about that?
J: Absolutely! The planned DLC will be completely free for players and will add a new 50-room dungeon accessible after finishing the story. In this dungeon, the player will have to hunt down powerful super bosses with some unique mechanics – by far the most challenging enemies in the game. But it’s not just dungeon-crawling; there’s a town, new upgrades, new music, and several story sequences which add more to the lore and characters. I’m hoping it’ll be a great ‘thank you’ present for players who buy the game!
Finally: Do you have a message for people awaiting the game’s release on October 16th?
J: When you work on a project for so long, the most frightening thought is that no one will play it. But I truly believe we’ve made something special here. Whether it’s the story, the characters, the art, the music, or the battle system, I feel there’s something valuable in 8-Bit Adventures 2 for every kind of JRPG fan. If you want to see more games like this in future, please consider supporting our work. Thank you all so much and I sincerely hope you enjoy the game!
8-Bit Adventures 2 is available on the (Xbox Store) and you can read our review of the game by clicking on the link below.