https://www.gamespot.com/articles/octopath-traveler-devs-talk-modernizing-classic-rp/1100-6459927/

A new demo for Octopath Traveler lets you experience all eight prologue stories in anticipation for the Nintendo Switch release on July 13. The stylized retro RPG pays homage to Super NES classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6, but it strikes a considerably darker tone. At E3 2018, producer Masashi Takahashi and director Keisuke Miyauchi told GameSpot what influenced this new take on old tropes, and how they've been updated.

The serious tone was punctuated in the very first demo, released last year. The story of Primrose, a dancer, touched on themes of sexual abuse and human trafficking. It was jarring, given the cute, doe-eyed sprite work and classically styled battle system, to see a story that many older RPGs it imitated would have implied at most.