Bravely Default Review

[Zera]

Bravely Default is a turn based RPG developed by Silocon Studio and published by Square Enix. The game originally released in Japan on October 11, 2012, and an updated version (subtitled "For the Sequel" in Japan) was released internationally in late 2013 and early 2014. This is a review of the updated version.

(This review contains a... somewhat significant spoiler. There's an even bigger spoiler that I don't mention, but you've been informed. Special thanks to Integrity for pointing this out.)

To sum up Bravely Default in the bluntest terms possible, it is basically what Final Fantasy III would be if Final Fantasy III was made today. You have four heroes on a quest to awaken four elemental crystals of light from the darkness and save the world. Along the way you'll explore towns, dungeons, and a world map, while battling monsters in random encounters via turn based combat.

Now that's all well and good, but Final Fantasy III came out 25 years ago - so what makes this game different? For starters, the presentation is top notch, with some great artwork fleshing out the varied locales you'll visit. The soundtrack is excellent too, although a couple dungeon themes get repeated several times and it would have been nice to have one or two more.

The battle system is very similar to the one in FFIII. Every turn each of your four characters can attack, use an ability or item, or run away. There are two significant improvements, however. First is the Brave and Default system that the game is named after. Defaulting lets you defend for a turn and gain one Brave Point, or BP. Braving lets you consume up to three BP to perform that many extra actions. You can even Brave if you have no BP, but then you’ll be left vulnerable until it reaches zero again. This is a great system for two reasons. First, it gives the player a risk vs reward option, since they can perform a first-turn sixteen-attack blitz with the risk of being a punching bag for a few turns. Second, it makes defending an option that is not only viable, but desirable. The Brave and Default system adds depth to the game, especially since enemies and bosses can utilize it as well.

Speaking of bosses, there are quite a lot, and most of them are "asterisk bearers" that have specific jobs. When you defeat them, you'll get those jobs, which are the second source of depth in Bravely Default. Just like in FFIII, each character can have one job that determines their stats, affinities for weapon and armor types, special free support ability, and job command that enables unique abilities in battle. Unlike in FFIII though, each character can also have a secondary job command and support abilities from different jobs. This is similar to the job system in Final Fantasy Tactics, and it can be fun figuring out how to combine abilities from unrelated jobs to create powerful effects. For example, the dodge-happy Ninja class can benefit from the Red Mage support ability Turn Tables, which increases BP by 1 for every successful evasion. There are many staple Final Fantasy jobs like Knight, Thief, and Black Mage, but there are also some original jobs like Merchant, Spell Fencer, and Pirate.

Bravely Default is definitely one of the better RPGs in recent memory... for Chapters 1-4, that is. After Chapter 4, you've defeated the bosses, awakened the crystals, and saved the world. But the game continues with Chapters 5-8. Normally, I like it when a game spontaneously doubles in length, but the way Bravely Default handles it is mediocre at best. Instead of visiting a new world, Chapter 5 has you visit a parallel world. While this is technically a new world, it's 95% identical to the previous, with the only difference, other than tougher enemies across the world map, being that all progress from the previous world does not exist. So basically, you have to replay the entire game. It isn't as nightmarish as it sounds though - you still have your airship from Chapter 4, enabling fast travel across the world and turning Chapter 5 into a boss rush of sorts. But its annoying to spend an entire chapter backtracking through dungeons you've already cleared, just to fight bosses that you've already defeated.

I can live with one chapter made entirely of recycled content, but then Bravely Default pulls the same trick again - three times! For what it's worth, every chapter brings something new to the table. Chapter 6 has a big sidequest at the end for the final job in the game, and Chapter 7 has battles where you fight three or more asterisk bearers at once. Chapter 8 expands upon the group boss battles from Chapter 7, with a gauntlet of tough 4 vs 4 battles. What's interesting is that the bosses will actually use specific moves and work together effectively, teaching you strategies that you can use yourself. After Chapter 8 you meet The End, which consists of one dungeon and an epic final boss. After beating the game you;ll unlock a teaser for Bravely Second, the sequel to Bravely Default which has already released in Japan. You'll also unlock a New Game +, but I can't imagine anyone not being sick of awakening crystals by this point.

The repetition in the second half of Bravely Default is framed very well by the story, but that doesn't change the fact that it's repetition. Repetition leads to boredom, the very thing I play videogames to avoid. Apparently, someone didn't get the memo from Game Design 101. If I were the leader of a game development group, and some guy walked up to me and said "Hey, let's make Chapter 5 a repeat of Chapters 1-4! And Chapters 5-8 will all be the same thing with minor differences!", I would simply fire him on the spot. Or slap him in the face. Or both. In either order. And it sucks, because if Chapters 5-8 didn't exist, or were fused into one or two chapters, it could totally work.

Bravely Default can be a good RPG, but definitely not a great one. The first half of the game is great, but the ludicrous amount of repetition in the second half completely destroys any replay value and any chance this had of being a classic. I would recommend this to those that enjoy turn based RPGs and have a high tolerance for padding.

First Half: 8/10 (Great!)

Second Half: 4/10 (Bad!)

Overall: 6/10 (Inferior!)

Edited July 3, 2017 by Zera

[Integrity]

lol sick job spoiling the game's major plot point in your review

i mean anyone who's reading this to decide if they want the game probably doesn't know enough of the plot or they'd probably know if they wanted the game, what's this lending? :P

[-Cynthia-]

While the 'second half' of the game is rather repetitive, calling it a second half is somewhat misleading. The amount of required content one has to do in Chapters 5-8 to progress the story and receive the 'true' ending is pretty minimal- just the temple bosses 4 times each. They don't get that much harder really, so you can do the whole thing in 2 hours or so.

I think people burn out because they feel the need to do all the asterisk fights in 5-8 as well while these battles don't really offer much in terms of rewards and are very skippable.

Edited May 21, 2015 by -Cynthia-

[Jedi]

RPGs by their very nature are usually quite repetitive, I haven't played the game yet but it sounds pretty standard to have to backtrack for everything.

[-Cynthia-]

You can also disable random encounters at any time and two of the temples have very easily accessible boss rooms (and the other two aren't that bad). It's still a questionable design decision, but it doesn't drag down the game as much as reviews say IMO.

[Zera]

While the 'second half' of the game is rather repetitive, calling it a second half is somewhat misleading. The amount of required content one has to do in Chapters 5-8 to progress the story and receive the 'true' ending is pretty minimal- just the temple bosses 4 times each. They don't get that much harder really, so you can do the whole thing in 2 hours or so.

I think people burn out because they feel the need to do all the asterisk fights in 5-8 as well while these battles don't really offer much in terms of rewards and are very skippable.

I had a veeery good feeling someone would mention this. Here's my response -

Making the content of your game optional.....doesn't change the fact.....that it's the content of your game.

- and the only mandatory content in Chapters 5-8 is SIXTEEN repeat boss fights. At least the asterisk bearer rematches give you extra story tidbits.

[-Cynthia-]

I had a veeery good feeling someone would mention this. Here's my response -

Making the content of your game optional.....doesn't change the fact.....that it's the content of your game.

- and the only mandatory content in Chapters 5-8 is SIXTEEN repeat boss fights. At least the asterisk bearer rematches give you extra story tidbits.

Even a number of those boss fights are optional too- you can end the game in Chapter 6 (or even 5, but it makes more sense in 6) if you want. You'll get a different ending, but it's not actually mandatory to do all the chapters to complete the game. I didn't like the repetitive boss fights, but the hour or two of repetition in a 40+ hour game is pretty inconsequential.

Complaining about the optional content in a game being boring seems to me like complaining about easy mode being too easy. If you don't like it, stop doing it- Bravely Default has plenty of content without the asterisk battles in later chapters. People are too used to being completionists and that's why they had more of an issue with it than I did IMO.

[Zera]

As it turns out, I am both a completionist and someone who want's to fight the true final boss. Shocking, isn't it?

By the way, I feel that criticizing optional content is warranted here since a very large portion of Bravely Default can be skipped. The "bare bones" game wouldn't be worthwhile.

[-Cynthia-]

Well, I feel like there's a fair difference between the optional content in Chapters 1-4 and the ones in 5-8. 1-4(and the Conjurer job quest) give totally new story and new job classes which can be very important strategically. 5-8 give a few meh items...some of the scenarios are interesting I guess but a lot of the story content is repeated as well.

Personally I beat the game at Chapter 6 then went back and did 7+8+true ending.

Edited May 22, 2015 by -Cynthia-

[Rapier]

You can also disable random encounters at any time and two of the temples have very easily accessible boss rooms (and the other two aren't that bad). It's still a questionable design decision, but it doesn't drag down the game as much as reviews say IMO.

You said it doesn't take more than 2 hours. 2 hours of killing the same bosses over and over again (iirc, 20 times). Well, yes, this part is bad. The asterisk fights are the best part imo, because they're the only ones with something new for the player to see.

Aside from this, I liked the game and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes JRPGs, especially FFIII and FFV.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Rapier

[Lord Raven]

This game definitely does a lot of things right, but the second half was not one of them.

At least some of the later optional bosses are interesting, but it's a very easy game to break in two once you get some of the cheaper skills in the game and learn to coordinate around that. I forget what it's called but it basically lets you stop all damage for two turns.

Loved adjusting the encounter rate though, because i get sick pretty easily of random encounters and it tests my patience.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Lord Raven

[Zera]

At least some of the later optional bosses are interesting, but it's a very easy game to break in two once you get some of the cheaper skills in the game and learn to coordinate around that. I forget what it's called but it basically lets you stop all damage for two turns.

You're thinking of the Spiritmaster ability Stillness, and yes, it can be broken.

My Hero + Mimic + Stillness + Hasten World = Invincible