Developer(s): Silicon Studios, Square-Enix
Publisher(s): Square-Enix, Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Bravely Default – Review
Bravely Default is a new game developed by Square-Enix for the Nintendo 3DS. The game goes back to the roots of traditional turn-based JRPG, while still feeling fresh. As with the other amazing games brought to the 3DS this year (like Fire Emblem: Awakening, Pokémon X and Y, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, …) Bravely Default is one that should be added to your collection. Let me tell you why:
Story
Bravely Default’s story is very similar to the old, authentic Final Fantasy games. The story is about a world called Luxendare that relies on the power of the four Crystals: Wind, Water, Fire and Earth. The story leads off with a mysterious power trying to destroy the Wind crystal and a group of crystalists trying to bring the Vestal of Wind, namely Agnés, to safety.
The Wind crystal isn’t the only thing that is being swallowed into the darkness, but also the other three. This causes the world to rot and leave the people to die because of various natural disasters. Such a disaster also occurs in the village of Nerende, home village to Tiz. A big hole appears out of nowhere, swallowing the village and its population, including Tiz’ brother. Only Tiz survives and goes to find a place to stay. Along the way he meets up with Agnés, who is traveling to see what kind of events are taking place in Luxendare. Together you meet lots of enemies, people who will help you along your journey and your comrades, all to save the four crystals from the darkness and bring prosperity back to the world.
Not only the story, but also the characters, Agnés, Tiz, Edea and Ringabell are interesting. Each characters has his/her own backstory, and develops him/herself along your journey .
Since this game is an rpg, there is a lot of dialogue involved. Sometimes you might find yourself annoyed at the interruptions the game gives you while playing. Luckily, you have the option to skip through certain events, but not all of them.
Graphics
The graphics in Bravely Default are nicely done on the Nintendo 3DS. The cutscenes look polished, the 3D function is well-done and the game looks very mature.
The art style looks similar to those of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and the remake of Final Fantasy III on the Nintendo DS, making the characters look rather chibi-ish and cute.
Sound
The music and sound in Bravely Default captures the story and setting of the game quite nicely. The music is memorable and clear, much like how other games of Square-Enix have been.
The voice acting is done well for both the Japanese voices and the English voices. Yes, you do have the option to choose which one you want to listen to, so if you do not enjoy the English voice acting you can switch to the Japanese one instead, and vice versa.
Gameplay
The game stays true to the traditional turn-based combat system that is typical for many JRPGs. But it also introduces a new unique and interesting twist to it: the Brave and Default mechanics. The Brave mechanics allows you to take up more than one action in a single turn, while the Default mechanic acts like a Defense option that saves up your Battle Points (BP for short). BP are needed in order to act, which restore by 1 point every single turn. The Brave option allows you to make use of stocked BP and allows you to act more than once during your turn. This, however, has a risk to it: just as you can stock up your BP to a max of 3, you can also go up to minus 4. This means that if you take the risk and use up all your BP at once (a max of 3 additional BP can be used in one turn), you might not be able to attack for a couple of turns. Also keep in mind that you are not the only one that has the ability to use this system: your enemies can too. In other words: the game makes use of a risk-reward battle system.
Aside from the Brave-Default mechanic, this games retains the classic Job System from previous Final Fantasy games. By completing sub-quests, you get Asterixes that allow you to change the class of your characters to up to 24 different classes (e.a. White Mage, Black Mage, Monk, Valkyrie, Dark Knight, …).
The game also makes use of the various capabilities of the 3DS, like allowing you to save up SP drinks by keeping your system in sleep mode. SP drinks can be used during battle at any time you want, allowing you to take up an extra turn when you are in a pinch. Keep in mind that once you use these drinks and still die in battle, you won’t get back your points when restarting the game.
Conclusion
Bravely Default stays true to the popular traditional turn-based combat system, while still feeling fresh thanks to the introduction of various unique and game-hooking elements. While the story might seem familiar to other JRPGs, it keeps you intrigued and makes you want to know what is going to happen next. The only problem that I see with this game, is that it might not be the game for everybody, due to its turn-based combat. The many dialogues might also scare off people who want to keep on playing without too many distractions.
If you love the traditional Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games, and you own a Nintendo 3DS, then you should definitely play Bravely Default, as it is one of the best games available on the system.
Bravely Default - Review,
No Comments