Square Enix had a few tidbits to share for the upcoming sandbox RPG, Dragon Quest Builders 2, in an interview in this week’s issue of Famitsu magazine that includes talk on cross-platform functions and more. [Thanks, Ryokutya2089.]

Here are some quotes from the interview with the developers:

“When we couldn’t decide on how to make Dragon Quest Builders 2, it was Yuji Horii who told me ‘Players that liked the first game will purchase 2 so you can’t change its foundation, if it comes out as something else they’ll be let down,’ and that really cleared up my troubles. From that day onward, we went with a powered up version of the first game. Up until then it was really rough.”

“We had a lot of trouble having the residents in the game ‘recognize’ what you’re doing and ‘respond’ accordingly.”

“There’s an exceptionally talented AI programmer at Koei Tecmo, and he was a huge boost in making the character reactions and movement.”

“The RPG parts that made the previous game fun won’t be going away. It will be enhanced.”

“For the island (Empty Island) there are residents that are set to move there after you meet them in the story. Once you clear the game you’ll be free to add any character you’d like. If there are characters you don’t care for, you can send them back to their home islands, or you can have randomly created residents,or if you want to go to an extreme then you can even make it into an island full of bunny boys.”

“The Bulletin Board system uploads to the same Bulletin Board, regardless of PS4 or Switch. You can also use islands made from both hardware too.”

“At the office, we created a server system exclusive to Dragon Quest Builders.”

“We decided to pick that up since we don’t want the wait for the first DLC to be too long. After that it’ll be based on fan demand.”

Dragon Quest Builders 2 releases in Japan on December 20, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The game is headed West in 2019. Check our previous report for a look at its new island called the Island of Endless Battle.