Certainly one of the most anticipated 3DS games, Bravely Default finally reached the hands of North American gamers on February 7, 2014, compared to December 6, 2013 for Europe and October 11, 2012 for Japan. Granted, this was the updated For The Sequel version, but it sure took long enough. It however did not disappoint and unsurprisingly found its place among the best 3DS games.
Story 8/10
In a world of fantasy where evil forces are gaining more and more ground, Agnes Oblige, the vestal wind, is desperately trying to escape from the Knights of the Eternian Sky planning to assassinate her. Supported by a fairy named Airy, our heroine will attempt to awaken the four elemental crystals, to restore peace to the world and halt the invasion of darkness. She will be joined in this quest by Tiz Arrior, a young man called "the miracle of Norende" after surviving a disaster that destroyed his whole village. The pair soon receives the assistance of Ringabel, an amnesiac Don Juan with a mysterious past, and Edea Lee, the daughter of the Eternian Empire's Grand Marshal. All four will go through a multitude of trials before reaching the Pillar of Light, the only way to save the world according to the prophecy of Airy. Note that behind this relatively common scenario that covers three quarters of the adventure lies a truly surprising outcome, that most players will only discover after nearly fifty hours of gameplay.
Graphics and Sountracks 10/10
Once past the stunning cinematic introduction, players are welcomed by the visual shock offered by this title's amazing graphic direction. First there was the character design that surprised by the fact that, despite aiming for simplicity, perfectly melds the naivety and maturity of the characters. Most will recognize the style of the artist Akihiko Yoshida (Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy XII) that also worked on Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light on NDS, known by many as the main inspiration of Bravely Default.
More surprisingly, the discussions involve dialogue bubbles, quite similar to those seen in the mythical Vagrant Story, which immediately gives an attractive stamp to the game. But most would agree that the most surprising aspect of the graphics clearly lies in the beauty of non-hostile environments than we are led to see in the game. When entering each village, each city, the character first appears very distant point of view, allowing the player to appreciate the scenery as a whole before zooming in on the character. Words fail to describe the rendering of these environments, boasting a successful sketch effect which is reminiscent of the sumptuous Saga Frontier 2 we were all delighted to discover at the time on PlayStation. And again, this is nothing next to the impact left by the fantastic soundtrack of Bravely Default. This is especially true for the soundtrack by Revo (of the Sound Horizon band) showcasing tracks of stunning quality that will make those of Nier and Xenoblade pale in comparison. Whether visual or auditory, the immersion in the fantasy world of Bravely Default is immediate and contributes greatly to the desire to walk through this world for hours and discover all the secrets it contains.
Gameplay 9/10
In this section dedicated to the combat system Bravely Default, you will see that there is a pretty amazing thing in common between this RPG and the F-Zero series. But before that, lets start by recalling the basics of the gameplay of this title. Drawing largely on the Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light on DS, the game system involves a variety of jobs (24 in total, mostly being optional and hidden) allowing the players to juggle at their own leisure from one class to another. Depending on their needs, players can switch to any class at any moment, including the Templar, Monk, Black Mage, Ranger, Ninja or SpiritMaster. To make the customization easier, the characters have access to the different passive abilities they have unlocked for the various classes, and may also all the moves and abilities they have unlocked for one specific class. Thus, characters with Knight as their main class can certainly use White Magic to support the party, or use the talents of Piracy to deal more damage and debuffs. Of course, there are limits to the number of passive abilities characters can use, and a Knight using White Magic will not heal as much as a White Mage. Another interesting but recurring element is the dual wielding of weapons. 2-handed weapons excludes, characters can hold a weapon in each hand, with no restriction to the weapon type. Thus, a character can use both a Katana and a Knife, or a Rod and a Staff, at the same time.
So far, there is admittedly nothing original, but it is recognized that this system of jobs opens many opportunities in terms of evolution, especially as most classes are well camouflaged and involve completing various quests that are more or less difficult depending on the progress of the player in the main adventure. Serving as side quests for the game, the optional jobs and the steps required to obtain them entertain players quite well throughout the story. The Summoner job, for example, lets you enjoy lavish cutscenes that accompany each invocation, every single one of them requiring the characters to prove their worth to a formidable hermit with the power to wipe out the whole party in a single hit. Every minute spent in Bravely Default is also an opportunity to accomplish something without it being imposed on the player. This is proven by the tutorial, presented in the form of optional mini-quests that allow the players to become more familiar with the gameplay while getting various useful awards.
But back to our daring comparison between Bravely Default and the famous F- Zero. For this, we need to talk about the Brave & Default system after which the game is named. To spice up the the fights that took on a rather classic turn-based look and add a good dose of tactics, the developers had the brilliant idea of involving the Brave and Default options. Brave allows the characters to perform several actions within the same turn, going up to a total of 4 actions, assuming that they have the required number of brave points.. Conversely, the Default command will allow the character to defend for that turn, and save up their Brave Points (BP) for future uses within the same battle, noting that only up to 3 Brave Points can be saved (4 with the use of a passive ability), and characters will always start battles with 0-1 Brave Points. Most actions will only use 1 BP, leading to a total of 4 BPs for four actions, while others will add their own BP costs to the calculation. The Valkyrie class for example is highly dependent on BPs and may use up to 8 BPs in a single turn.
Now those that haven't played the game yet may be wondering how 8 BPs can be used when the maximum a character can hold is 4. Well, upon passing 0, the Brave Points go into the negatives. With a negative BP count, a character cannot perform any action, not even default, although one BP is restored at the start of each turn. Thus, a character with -3 BPs will be unable to perform an action for 3 whole turns, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. As you can guess, this is not a good strategy to use against bosses, where it is recommended to save up to the maximum of Brave Points before unleashing a flurry of attacks. There are however certain ways to work around this, as the Performer comes with two abilities that allows it to increase the Brave Points of a character, or the whole party. And of course, while simply using all your BPs on the first turn isn't a great tactic against bosses, it works great when fighting normal enemies, allowing the party to sweep a whole mob on the first turn. Those who were faced with the dilemma of using the energy points at the risk of having their airship explode in F-Zero will recall this feeling.
Another element that most did not expect to find in Bravely Default was the feature that offered the possibility of fully altering the gaming experience at all times our gaming and to any extent by changing the difficulty of the game, the encounter rate, and whether the characters would get experience points or Job points from battles. While the goal was to help make the game more customization in regards to the difficulty, and while it cannot be denied that this will make the game easier for many, I cannot help but feel that most of these options should have been left for a New Game + (or at least for after chapter 5, for obvious reasons). Indeed, the possibility of turning off the enemy encounters can be pretty tempting, and will allows players to breeze through any dungeon without encountering a single enemy.
The most original, and certainly one of the most interesting features of the game however lies in reconstructing Norende. Indeed, we are informed early on of how Tiz lost his birthplace, and how his ultimate goal is reconstructing it. While some will call this a mini-game, I will call this the ultimate side quest of Bravely Default. To rebuild Norende, the players will have to assign a set number of villagers, that can be obtained from the demo and from StreetPasses, to the reconstruction of different stores and facilities that will unlock new items and abilities upon completion. The rebuilding will only take place while the game is active, although the counter will keep going even is the 3DS is closed and left on standby. While this may sound boring on paper, this concept proves itself to be quite addictive, especially since it can boost shops levels high enough to receive equipment or really interesting objects. Moreover, rebuilding Norende offers additional benefits and major features of the game that we will further discuss below, the Special Moves, and Sleep points.
As mentioned above, reconstructing Norende in Bravely Default unlocks Special Moves. These are special abilities that deal far more damage that conventional moves, and can easily be customized to hit a specific elemental or type weaknesses in enemies and bosses. The Special Moves are however restricted to specific equipment, with each type (swords, knives, rods, etc) being limited to 3 different Special Attacks. However, as the the maximum damage that can be done the traditional way is 9,999, some may find it trivial. This is where Sleep Points come in. Sleep points allow players to enter a special state known as Brave Second during battles. During Brave Second, time stops, and even players with negative BPs can act. However, the biggest benefit of Brave Second lies in the fact that the damage cap is raised from 9,999, to 999,999, allowing special moves to deal their full damage. Sleep points can however only be bought, or obtained while the 3DS is in sleep mode, making it essential to use Brave Second wisely. Conversely, the importance of personalized special moves is all the greater when you consider that you can prolong the effects of these attacks by chaining from one character to another.
The multiplayer, like in most RPGs, is rather limited. Players can receive up to 4 villagers from each other, and any job ability learned by friend can be used the characters of a players, so long as they have the jobs unlocked. However, the most interesting part of the multiplayer of Bravely Default is the Summons. Indeed, by using the Send command, players can register any attack they performed during that turn, and allow their friends to use it through the Summon command. While any of their friends can summon their attacks, they are limited to using it only once, making it more appropriate for bosses.
Conclusion 9/10
An old-style J-RPG that we rarely see anymore, Bravely Default For The Sequel is a must have for fans of the genre. Despite a rather classic plotline and dungeons that clearly received less attention that towns and villages, the enormous life span of the game, the great gameplay elements, the gorgeous cut scenes and outstanding soundtrack easily earns this title a place among the best RPGs released in the past decade.
Story 8/10
In a world of fantasy where evil forces are gaining more and more ground, Agnes Oblige, the vestal wind, is desperately trying to escape from the Knights of the Eternian Sky planning to assassinate her. Supported by a fairy named Airy, our heroine will attempt to awaken the four elemental crystals, to restore peace to the world and halt the invasion of darkness. She will be joined in this quest by Tiz Arrior, a young man called "the miracle of Norende" after surviving a disaster that destroyed his whole village. The pair soon receives the assistance of Ringabel, an amnesiac Don Juan with a mysterious past, and Edea Lee, the daughter of the Eternian Empire's Grand Marshal. All four will go through a multitude of trials before reaching the Pillar of Light, the only way to save the world according to the prophecy of Airy. Note that behind this relatively common scenario that covers three quarters of the adventure lies a truly surprising outcome, that most players will only discover after nearly fifty hours of gameplay.
Graphics and Sountracks 10/10
Once past the stunning cinematic introduction, players are welcomed by the visual shock offered by this title's amazing graphic direction. First there was the character design that surprised by the fact that, despite aiming for simplicity, perfectly melds the naivety and maturity of the characters. Most will recognize the style of the artist Akihiko Yoshida (Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy XII) that also worked on Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light on NDS, known by many as the main inspiration of Bravely Default.
More surprisingly, the discussions involve dialogue bubbles, quite similar to those seen in the mythical Vagrant Story, which immediately gives an attractive stamp to the game. But most would agree that the most surprising aspect of the graphics clearly lies in the beauty of non-hostile environments than we are led to see in the game. When entering each village, each city, the character first appears very distant point of view, allowing the player to appreciate the scenery as a whole before zooming in on the character. Words fail to describe the rendering of these environments, boasting a successful sketch effect which is reminiscent of the sumptuous Saga Frontier 2 we were all delighted to discover at the time on PlayStation. And again, this is nothing next to the impact left by the fantastic soundtrack of Bravely Default. This is especially true for the soundtrack by Revo (of the Sound Horizon band) showcasing tracks of stunning quality that will make those of Nier and Xenoblade pale in comparison. Whether visual or auditory, the immersion in the fantasy world of Bravely Default is immediate and contributes greatly to the desire to walk through this world for hours and discover all the secrets it contains.
Gameplay 9/10
In this section dedicated to the combat system Bravely Default, you will see that there is a pretty amazing thing in common between this RPG and the F-Zero series. But before that, lets start by recalling the basics of the gameplay of this title. Drawing largely on the Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light on DS, the game system involves a variety of jobs (24 in total, mostly being optional and hidden) allowing the players to juggle at their own leisure from one class to another. Depending on their needs, players can switch to any class at any moment, including the Templar, Monk, Black Mage, Ranger, Ninja or SpiritMaster. To make the customization easier, the characters have access to the different passive abilities they have unlocked for the various classes, and may also all the moves and abilities they have unlocked for one specific class. Thus, characters with Knight as their main class can certainly use White Magic to support the party, or use the talents of Piracy to deal more damage and debuffs. Of course, there are limits to the number of passive abilities characters can use, and a Knight using White Magic will not heal as much as a White Mage. Another interesting but recurring element is the dual wielding of weapons. 2-handed weapons excludes, characters can hold a weapon in each hand, with no restriction to the weapon type. Thus, a character can use both a Katana and a Knife, or a Rod and a Staff, at the same time.
So far, there is admittedly nothing original, but it is recognized that this system of jobs opens many opportunities in terms of evolution, especially as most classes are well camouflaged and involve completing various quests that are more or less difficult depending on the progress of the player in the main adventure. Serving as side quests for the game, the optional jobs and the steps required to obtain them entertain players quite well throughout the story. The Summoner job, for example, lets you enjoy lavish cutscenes that accompany each invocation, every single one of them requiring the characters to prove their worth to a formidable hermit with the power to wipe out the whole party in a single hit. Every minute spent in Bravely Default is also an opportunity to accomplish something without it being imposed on the player. This is proven by the tutorial, presented in the form of optional mini-quests that allow the players to become more familiar with the gameplay while getting various useful awards.
But back to our daring comparison between Bravely Default and the famous F- Zero. For this, we need to talk about the Brave & Default system after which the game is named. To spice up the the fights that took on a rather classic turn-based look and add a good dose of tactics, the developers had the brilliant idea of involving the Brave and Default options. Brave allows the characters to perform several actions within the same turn, going up to a total of 4 actions, assuming that they have the required number of brave points.. Conversely, the Default command will allow the character to defend for that turn, and save up their Brave Points (BP) for future uses within the same battle, noting that only up to 3 Brave Points can be saved (4 with the use of a passive ability), and characters will always start battles with 0-1 Brave Points. Most actions will only use 1 BP, leading to a total of 4 BPs for four actions, while others will add their own BP costs to the calculation. The Valkyrie class for example is highly dependent on BPs and may use up to 8 BPs in a single turn.
Now those that haven't played the game yet may be wondering how 8 BPs can be used when the maximum a character can hold is 4. Well, upon passing 0, the Brave Points go into the negatives. With a negative BP count, a character cannot perform any action, not even default, although one BP is restored at the start of each turn. Thus, a character with -3 BPs will be unable to perform an action for 3 whole turns, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. As you can guess, this is not a good strategy to use against bosses, where it is recommended to save up to the maximum of Brave Points before unleashing a flurry of attacks. There are however certain ways to work around this, as the Performer comes with two abilities that allows it to increase the Brave Points of a character, or the whole party. And of course, while simply using all your BPs on the first turn isn't a great tactic against bosses, it works great when fighting normal enemies, allowing the party to sweep a whole mob on the first turn. Those who were faced with the dilemma of using the energy points at the risk of having their airship explode in F-Zero will recall this feeling.
Another element that most did not expect to find in Bravely Default was the feature that offered the possibility of fully altering the gaming experience at all times our gaming and to any extent by changing the difficulty of the game, the encounter rate, and whether the characters would get experience points or Job points from battles. While the goal was to help make the game more customization in regards to the difficulty, and while it cannot be denied that this will make the game easier for many, I cannot help but feel that most of these options should have been left for a New Game + (or at least for after chapter 5, for obvious reasons). Indeed, the possibility of turning off the enemy encounters can be pretty tempting, and will allows players to breeze through any dungeon without encountering a single enemy.
The most original, and certainly one of the most interesting features of the game however lies in reconstructing Norende. Indeed, we are informed early on of how Tiz lost his birthplace, and how his ultimate goal is reconstructing it. While some will call this a mini-game, I will call this the ultimate side quest of Bravely Default. To rebuild Norende, the players will have to assign a set number of villagers, that can be obtained from the demo and from StreetPasses, to the reconstruction of different stores and facilities that will unlock new items and abilities upon completion. The rebuilding will only take place while the game is active, although the counter will keep going even is the 3DS is closed and left on standby. While this may sound boring on paper, this concept proves itself to be quite addictive, especially since it can boost shops levels high enough to receive equipment or really interesting objects. Moreover, rebuilding Norende offers additional benefits and major features of the game that we will further discuss below, the Special Moves, and Sleep points.
As mentioned above, reconstructing Norende in Bravely Default unlocks Special Moves. These are special abilities that deal far more damage that conventional moves, and can easily be customized to hit a specific elemental or type weaknesses in enemies and bosses. The Special Moves are however restricted to specific equipment, with each type (swords, knives, rods, etc) being limited to 3 different Special Attacks. However, as the the maximum damage that can be done the traditional way is 9,999, some may find it trivial. This is where Sleep Points come in. Sleep points allow players to enter a special state known as Brave Second during battles. During Brave Second, time stops, and even players with negative BPs can act. However, the biggest benefit of Brave Second lies in the fact that the damage cap is raised from 9,999, to 999,999, allowing special moves to deal their full damage. Sleep points can however only be bought, or obtained while the 3DS is in sleep mode, making it essential to use Brave Second wisely. Conversely, the importance of personalized special moves is all the greater when you consider that you can prolong the effects of these attacks by chaining from one character to another.
The multiplayer, like in most RPGs, is rather limited. Players can receive up to 4 villagers from each other, and any job ability learned by friend can be used the characters of a players, so long as they have the jobs unlocked. However, the most interesting part of the multiplayer of Bravely Default is the Summons. Indeed, by using the Send command, players can register any attack they performed during that turn, and allow their friends to use it through the Summon command. While any of their friends can summon their attacks, they are limited to using it only once, making it more appropriate for bosses.
Conclusion 9/10
An old-style J-RPG that we rarely see anymore, Bravely Default For The Sequel is a must have for fans of the genre. Despite a rather classic plotline and dungeons that clearly received less attention that towns and villages, the enormous life span of the game, the great gameplay elements, the gorgeous cut scenes and outstanding soundtrack easily earns this title a place among the best RPGs released in the past decade.
