Bravely Default series

[Caite-chan]

Has anyone played any of the games from the Bravely Default series? I know I played the one on the 3DS when I happened to come across it as a demo and wanted to try something other than Pokemon for a change and fell in love with the demo and couldn't wait for the game to come out. Also Ringabel is all mine for the taking! xD

I tried the demo for Bravely Default 2 and honestly wasn't all that thrilled with it and it kinda turned me off. Though it just came out last month I almost want to give it another try with the actual game this time.

 

[Adam Levine]

finally a thread where i can be myself

I've grown attached to the Bravely series ever since...four years ago? Such a charming little series with simple yet fun gameplay and a lot of potential for broken builds. One of my favorite things about the series is its rich cast of characters, coupled with all-around great exposition and voice acting. Can I keep Edea if you're keeping Ringabel?

I played and finished Bravely Default II a few weeks ago, and it's a solid game. Quite different from the first two games, but I enjoyed it. If you're not that interested in the game's plot, I think it's a good game with a decent difficulty (give or take a few difficulty spikes). I really like the worldbuilding too, even if the towns aren't as creative as the ones in Luxendarc.

 

[pkmin3033]

I've played all three, and...eh. It's a very mediocre series that relies heavily on your nostalgia for classic JRPGs to sell itself. Which isn't neccessarily a bad thing because the gameplay is fantastic and it really sucks you in, but all three games overlook that fondness for classic JRPGs also comes from a strong narrative and cast, and these games...do not have that. By any stretch of the imagination. The original was let down by that frustrating loop, and Second and II were both just painfully vanilla in the stories they told and the cast they had. I can excuse a lot of things for good gameplay, but the mediocrity in storytelling here means the satisfying gameplay loop isn't quite enough for me to regard this series with anything more than mild indifference.

Also, the voice acting is a very mixed bag. It ranges from "just competent enough" to "who did they pull off the street for this?" and, whilst it's not Trials of Mana remake or Yuri Lowenthal levels of bad, it does grate on the ears at times with certain characters. In II especially.

 

[Nah]

I remember being fairly interested in the first one prior to its release, got it, then had to force myself to finish it. I give it points for being a game that actually bothered to make grinding less of a chore and I sometimes like games giving their own unique flavor to turn-based combat (Persona 5, the first 2 Paper Mario games, etc). But the main party was pretty bland for the most part and the plot didn't really do it for me either. Worst part though was the looping part, that's when I had to force myself to finish. It was so terribly boring, drew the game out for no reason and it was particularly annoying to watch the party just not question why this was happening, especially Ringabel after he finally got his memories back. Like, I know that you could fight the asterisk boss people again each time to get more of their backstory and whatnot, but I vaguely recall some boss battles not being fun (I know I had to look up a guide for the final boss), and there's better ways to deliver character development or world building than Groundhog Day.

 

[Devalue]

Agrees with Nah. Soured interest in any future games. Adds two points:
1. Excellent music. Particularly liked Wicked Flight.
2. Never knew what support abilities to focus on without looking up builds. Demanded a lot of grinding or poor pairing without doing so. Rarely seemed obvious what classes gelled well.

 

[Desert Stream~]

I 100%ed Bravely Default
it was pretty painful
I did really enjoy the game, the jobs are super fun to mix and match and you can come up with some interesting combinations and stuff, and although the characters fell into some pretty heavy tropes they were still enjoyable imo.
Just don't 100% it :)

Haven't tried second or II yet but I will someday. Also: The soundtrack is a bop

 

[Bay]

When the first Bravely Default game was released, I was recommended the game from two friends. After finishing the game the first time, I was a big fan. I admit the time-loop stuff almost made me stop but after seeing the ending on Youtube I rammed through the rest of my playthrough. I used to like the main four heroes of light but then I fell out of love for them and actually preferred the asterisk bearers due to their expanded backstories during the timeloop chapters.

Bravely Second's main story I enjoyed and luckily no dragged-out timeloop, but the pacing was still iffy on some parts and the new subquests were a hit or miss. I love the new jobs and chain-battles though, and the ending's gimmick was great in my opinion. The music while not top-tier like the first BD game I still like a lot.

I'm going through Bravely Default II right now, in the middle of Chapter One and I'm liking it quite a bit so far. I'm like overlelved and mastered several jobs already haha. Freelancer's Body Slam and JP Up passive for the win. There are a few things I'm a bit upset about like no way to turn off battle encounters when you wanted, and the new way to do chain-battles is a bit getting used to. I'm also mixed on BD II's dialogue compare to the first two BD games. I actually watched the story on Youtube and I have thoughts on, mainly the endgame, that but I'll leave them out for now.