I became so enthusiastic that I finished playing all the songs in the band's score. Once I learned the chords, I realized that if I knew these melodies, I could play the song I wanted to with my original accompaniment. “My teacher taught me the chords when I took the band's sheet music to a piano lesson. “When I was about 12, I fell in love with the music of a Japanese band called Spitz,” Nishiki recalls. Although he began learning the piano at five years old, he didn’t care for it much back then - but things changed as he grew older. I love old RPGs, so I wrote music that would not disappoint me, and I believed players of the game would enjoy it as well.” Nishiki’s belief turned out to be correct - the soundtrack was universally praised by fans and was nominated for Best Score/Music at The Game Awards in 2018.įittingly for a game that takes its cues from the past, Nishiki drew much of the inspiration for Octopath Traveler from his childhood. “The gaming experience from my childhood is deeply related to the basis of that effort.

“It was necessary to evolve the music from the old RPGs,” Nishiki says. Related: Octopath Traveler: Alfyn’s Story Was Actually Better Than Primrose’s Story If You Break It Down It’s easy to see what Nishiki means when he discusses the challenge. The result is a combination of retro pixel art and detailed modern environments with glistening water, shimmering snow, thick shadows, trees that sway, and so much more. HD-2D is a term created by the developers behind Octopath Traveler to describe its unique visual style, which sees the graphics engine combine 2D sprite work with 3D visual effects. The challenge with Octopath Traveler’s music is that, just as the HD-2D gave the player that feeling, the music had to do the same.” “I thought the graphics were a wonderful mix of both nostalgic and new.

“I think the most distinctive feature of Octopath Traveler is the amazing graphics created by HD-2D,” Octopath Traveler composer Yasunori Nishiki tells me.

Octopath traveler ost covers