Etrian Odyssey X interview details redesigns and tweaks to old characters/monsters, general updates, and the design process

Famitsu recently published an interview with Sasazu Hiroshi of Atlus, who is the art director of Etrian Odyssey X. Hiroshi talked about a number of details on the upcoming title, and we've got the rundown of info below.

- Hiroshi handles some 2D-related things like art direction for dungeons, maps, town facilities and backgrounds
- he also works alongside character designer Himukai Yuuji, and oversees 3D parts like monsters, animations, and dungeons
- Hiroshi handles deciding what new elements should look like puts out the requests for new designs
- background art is handled by Bamboo, who worked on Etrian Odyssey V and Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2
- Hiroshi says that he particularly likes the town backgrounds, due to the airship elements and the world-tree
- various town facilities’ backgrounds such as the tavern and inn have many details in them
- monster designer Shin “Jason” Nagasawa provided detailed designs for the modelling process
- the team is focusing on replicating the art as faithfully as they can, and are trying to make it so that monsters can stand out
- the team is trying to include properties of the animals that the monsters are based on
- Hiroshi is referring to illustrated animal encyclopedias while modelling them
- Nagasawa has the final say on these designs
- the monsters of III were designs that made full use of 2D, and their return for X will retain what makes their designs interesting
- additional designs for these classic monsters were requested, with Nagasawa adding refreshing new elements
- Himukai had a difficult time with the Hero due to its importance as the face of X
- clothes and armor on the young adult versions of the Hero were redone multiple times
- deciding on the finer details of the child version’s designs required all the designers to work together
- the young adult versions are already heroes, while the child versions are trying to become heroes
- the clunky belt, and the bright green on the alternate color of the male child hero are supposed to look like a child playing
- the female child hero’s clothes are supposed to look like a school uniform
- the team decided on the new color schemes by thinking of themes
- the new Gunner colors are chosen to look more militaristic
- the new Bushido (Ronin) colors are chosen to look like Japanese yokai
- all of the new color schemes are more modern and “catchy”
- most of the characters in the game are adventurers gathered by the princess
- most of them have appearances that associate them with a particular job class
- Himukai paid special attention to returning characters, designing them to look a bit older
- because it had been previously stated that Silica was actually a princess, they initially gave her a new, more opulent outfit
- the team eventually redid this outfit completely and gave her a costume similar to her old one
- the team also did more work on the art of metallic surfaces, and the armor of the soldiers in X are the shiniest in the series