Bravely Default is a game with a weird name, but an extremely familiar taste. Like an old, familiar shirt that you used to love back in the day, but put away because you wore it so much that the seams began coming loose and you didn't want to tear it into tatters. Bravely Default is a new name for a game series that literally everyone knew about, and almost as many loved... Final Fantasy. Intended to be a sequel to the Nintendo DS game, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, Bravely Default evokes a very familiar imagery with its usage of Firaga and Holy to the plot elements of the world's balance revolving around four magical crystals.
Bravely Default is a turn based Japanese RPG. I say this first because, while there are those who greatly enjoy this style of game, there are also a lot of people similarly turned off by such a thing, preferring a more action-packed or organic experience. Those who aren't dissuaded by the game being a turn based RPG should definitely read on, though, because this game has easily one of the most different combat systems when approaching a traditional turn based RPG in years. The game's name, Bravely Default, was actually derived from the nomenclature used in the game's combat system: Default allows a character to guard and reduce received damage, passing their turn without doing an action to stock up an additional BP for their next turn. Brave, on the other hand, lets you use BP to perform attacks, heal spells and various other actions.
What is most interesting here is the fact that you can take an advance on future BP up to three times- Since characters begin battle with 0 BP, players can immediately borrow up to 3 future turns at once to do four consecutive attacks per character for a quick win, all at the risk of defaulting on their loan (get it?) and risking defeat if the enemy survives because your characters now has to skip 3 turns in a row. The kind of depth this combat system allows is pretty impressive, even though it sounds fairly basic on the surface. Players can spam attacks during random battles because skipping future turns won't matter if the fight is won on the first- however, when players come across bosses that are also able to Brave and Default, a lot more strategy is needed in order to overcome the foe. Some stronger foes may be extremely difficult to take down if the healer can't go into negative BP ranges to heal up the party before a big attack, while other bosses may do severely damaging attacks for multiple turns, requiring that players make smart use of the Default command to reduce damage, spending their BP on attacking, healing and buffing all in the same turn.
Another important segment of the game lies in its job system. Your party of four characters can each use one of 24 different jobs to overcome foes, and those jobs extend from some Final Fantasy favorites, such as Black Mage, White Mage and Thief, but also some more unusual jobs like Merchant, Pirate and even a Vampire class. Some jobs will rely on their abilities to do damage, some focus on healing, some boost stats or have various other effects. Characters are able to level up each of these jobs to learn new abilities, up to 14 in each, and players are able to select support skills from a job they have unlocked, which can lead to a Black Mage still having access to White Mage abilities to round out a moveset.
Speaking of, there are a number of conveniences players may notice as they're going through the game: You're able to modify the encounter rate, turning them off altogether or doubling the random battles you come across. Players who want to grind are also able to turn off EXP, money and job point gain if you don't want to make the game too easy.
The aesthetic values of Bravely Default are gorgeous and will probably be the first things new players notice: The backgrounds are incredibly well designed, looking like watercolor or oil paintings, and even the character models aren't too shabby. The music is among the best composed soundtracks anyone will find on the 3DS while the voice acting isn't so bad in English, but there's always the option to use the Japanese VA track if you'd prefer.
All in all, it's a pretty great game. There is a pretty hefty amount of down time during Chapters 5 and up because the game requires you go back through the temple dungeons again in order to progress the story.... 4 more times, and the story doesn't really change much until reaching the third or so time, so I could imagine this would turn some players off.
All in all, I'd recommend this game to just about anyone. It's a very solid turn-based RPG, and if you're among the crowd that likes to dungeon crawl to great music then Bravely Default is most likely the game for you.
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Reviews with images
Excelente incluye español
Pese a que es la version destinada a Malasia, el cartucho es region usa e incluye todos los idiomas correspondientes a esa version, incluido el español.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2014
Platform For Display: Nintendo 3DSEdition: Collector's EditionVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2014
Platform For Display: Nintendo 3DSEdition: Collector's EditionVerified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Kelsey ward
It's an ok game
Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2023Platform For Display: Nintendo 3DSEdition: Collector's EditionVerified Purchase
Oscar
Excelente compra
Reviewed in Mexico on August 26, 2018Platform For Display: Nintendo 3DSEdition: Collector's EditionVerified Purchase
Iss Mare
Artículo nuevo
Reviewed in Mexico on March 4, 2024Platform For Display: Nintendo 3DSEdition: Collector's EditionVerified Purchase
Iss Mare
Reviewed in Mexico on March 4, 2024
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Mike
I hope they make more turn based RPGs
Reviewed in Canada on August 6, 2022Platform For Display: Nintendo 3DSEdition: Collector's EditionVerified Purchase
Julio César Rodríguez
Gran juego
Reviewed in Mexico on March 23, 2021Platform For Display: Nintendo 3DSEdition: Collector's EditionVerified Purchase
