Bravely Default may just be one of my favorite RPGs I've ever played. At the time of this review, I've played through and beaten this game 4 times now, and it's far from my last. I first played Bravely Default in 2015, and my life changed ever since. This one 3DS game is probably one of the games that has the biggest influence on my life.
Bravely Default's strongest selling point is its Jobs System, and it is one of the most engaging systems I've encountered. The Jobs System basically functions as classes for your characters to choose from, and there's 24 jobs in total, each with unique affinities, abilities, and support skills tied to them. While there's a lot of customization that can be done with that alone, you can select a secondary job for each of your characters! With that, you can produce an outrageous amount of unique party combinations, allowing for individual playthroughs to have wildly different parties. While some combinations are definitely better than others, it's really fun to try and experiment what could work. And on top of all of this, each job grants support skills that you can then add to your characters. These can be specific stat modifiers, unique abilities, or certain in-battle quirks. While I also would say some support skills are definitely better than others, I wouldn't say it to the same extent as job combinations. But this all comes together to create some of the most interesting and open customization in any game I've ever played! There are noticeable limits, but there doesn't feel like there is any.
Combat is also really fun! The game takes such a simple mechanic, but polishes it to such an amazing extent, that of course being the game's namesake, Brave, and Default. Defaulting is the game's guard, but every time you Default, you gain a Brave Point. This leads into Brave, where you can Brave up to 3 times, allowing a specific character to act 4 times per turn. There's a back and forth of building up your Brave Points, and using them to act more often. However, it's not as basic as that. Some abilities are dependent on BP amount, and some use BP to be used. Sometimes you'll have to use your Brave Points early in order to respond to a boss' attacks. And you also don't need Brave Points in order to use Brave, though that comes with the risk of not being able to act for a number of turns. This all leads into a beautiful balancing act of knowing when the stockpiling your Brave Points, and when to use them! This is neglecting the fact that every enemy also have Brave Points of their own to use!
Now, I love the story. But I can't really talk about it in this review. I tend to keep my reviews relatively spoiler-free, and for a game like this, I don't want to spoil it at all. But having now played through this game in full 4 times, the story is so much smarter each time. The game really is able to throw you for a loop, there's some really good red herrings in this game, and some great foreshadows that you probably will only notice on a repeat playthrough. I really think Bravely Default's story is well crafted. And on top of that, I really love the characters. Of course all of the major bosses you come across are really fun characters, but the main four are so fun. They have an amazing chemistry between them, and it makes all their interactions so worthwhile to me.
And this leads into what Bravely Default has been most criticized for, which is the game's second half. Now, I constantly see criticism about Bravely Default's second half, and how it is both tedious and repetitive. And yeah, it is, but it's used in such a way that I can't help but compliment for that. I think the game wants you to be frustrated and annoyed, because I think the game is purposefully testing the player. In the absolute start of the game, a characters says to you, the player "say that you'll stay, 'till the very end". And with the first half of the game, that half of the game tests the resolve of the main cast. I feel like it then evolves in the second half to be a test of resolve for the player. And though I won't describe how, the game tries to convince you to stop playing it, which I think works in tandem with the tedium and repetition. While I see where people are coming from with their criticism, I can't help but see it in a positive light, as a really good design choice.
And speaking on that, Bravely Default has so many amazing Quality of Life choices that I think other RPGs really should take from. For one, Bravely Default allows you to control the odds of random encounters! It ranges from double the encounter rate to no random encounter at all. And it's so nice because when needing to level grind, double the encounter rate is perfect, but if you're already far enough leveled, you can turn off random encounters to not have to deal with them! Level Grinding is so easy as well, I was able to max out every single job, and get to level 99 for each character rather easily. For one, depending on what occurs in battle, you can get some bonuses, and the more you fulfill those parameters per each battle, the boost gets larger and larger, meaning you can gain levels super easily. And on top of that, a certain support skill you can obtain in the later half of the game makes grinding an absolute JOKE. Bravely Default has some of the best Quality of Life choices in any RPG I've played, and it kinda sucks that neither of its sequels really have the same choices made.
And there's so much more I could talk about for Bravely Default. I could talk about the game's story for hours on end, especially with the game's ending, which I still get hyped over in every playthrough. And I've yet to even mention the amazing soundtrack made by REVO! Bravely Default to this day is still one of my favorite games of all time, and I beg for people to give this game a chance. I absolutely love this game.
Bravely Default's strongest selling point is its Jobs System, and it is one of the most engaging systems I've encountered. The Jobs System basically functions as classes for your characters to choose from, and there's 24 jobs in total, each with unique affinities, abilities, and support skills tied to them. While there's a lot of customization that can be done with that alone, you can select a secondary job for each of your characters! With that, you can produce an outrageous amount of unique party combinations, allowing for individual playthroughs to have wildly different parties. While some combinations are definitely better than others, it's really fun to try and experiment what could work. And on top of all of this, each job grants support skills that you can then add to your characters. These can be specific stat modifiers, unique abilities, or certain in-battle quirks. While I also would say some support skills are definitely better than others, I wouldn't say it to the same extent as job combinations. But this all comes together to create some of the most interesting and open customization in any game I've ever played! There are noticeable limits, but there doesn't feel like there is any.
Combat is also really fun! The game takes such a simple mechanic, but polishes it to such an amazing extent, that of course being the game's namesake, Brave, and Default. Defaulting is the game's guard, but every time you Default, you gain a Brave Point. This leads into Brave, where you can Brave up to 3 times, allowing a specific character to act 4 times per turn. There's a back and forth of building up your Brave Points, and using them to act more often. However, it's not as basic as that. Some abilities are dependent on BP amount, and some use BP to be used. Sometimes you'll have to use your Brave Points early in order to respond to a boss' attacks. And you also don't need Brave Points in order to use Brave, though that comes with the risk of not being able to act for a number of turns. This all leads into a beautiful balancing act of knowing when the stockpiling your Brave Points, and when to use them! This is neglecting the fact that every enemy also have Brave Points of their own to use!
Now, I love the story. But I can't really talk about it in this review. I tend to keep my reviews relatively spoiler-free, and for a game like this, I don't want to spoil it at all. But having now played through this game in full 4 times, the story is so much smarter each time. The game really is able to throw you for a loop, there's some really good red herrings in this game, and some great foreshadows that you probably will only notice on a repeat playthrough. I really think Bravely Default's story is well crafted. And on top of that, I really love the characters. Of course all of the major bosses you come across are really fun characters, but the main four are so fun. They have an amazing chemistry between them, and it makes all their interactions so worthwhile to me.
And this leads into what Bravely Default has been most criticized for, which is the game's second half. Now, I constantly see criticism about Bravely Default's second half, and how it is both tedious and repetitive. And yeah, it is, but it's used in such a way that I can't help but compliment for that. I think the game wants you to be frustrated and annoyed, because I think the game is purposefully testing the player. In the absolute start of the game, a characters says to you, the player "say that you'll stay, 'till the very end". And with the first half of the game, that half of the game tests the resolve of the main cast. I feel like it then evolves in the second half to be a test of resolve for the player. And though I won't describe how, the game tries to convince you to stop playing it, which I think works in tandem with the tedium and repetition. While I see where people are coming from with their criticism, I can't help but see it in a positive light, as a really good design choice.
And speaking on that, Bravely Default has so many amazing Quality of Life choices that I think other RPGs really should take from. For one, Bravely Default allows you to control the odds of random encounters! It ranges from double the encounter rate to no random encounter at all. And it's so nice because when needing to level grind, double the encounter rate is perfect, but if you're already far enough leveled, you can turn off random encounters to not have to deal with them! Level Grinding is so easy as well, I was able to max out every single job, and get to level 99 for each character rather easily. For one, depending on what occurs in battle, you can get some bonuses, and the more you fulfill those parameters per each battle, the boost gets larger and larger, meaning you can gain levels super easily. And on top of that, a certain support skill you can obtain in the later half of the game makes grinding an absolute JOKE. Bravely Default has some of the best Quality of Life choices in any RPG I've played, and it kinda sucks that neither of its sequels really have the same choices made.
And there's so much more I could talk about for Bravely Default. I could talk about the game's story for hours on end, especially with the game's ending, which I still get hyped over in every playthrough. And I've yet to even mention the amazing soundtrack made by REVO! Bravely Default to this day is still one of my favorite games of all time, and I beg for people to give this game a chance. I absolutely love this game.