In 2013 (!), Sq. Enix launched a recreation in Japan for the 3DS referred to as Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, which (after a modest replace) finally acquired a Western launch as simply Bravely Default. On the time, the corporate had been focusing improvement sources way more closely on video games it believed would attraction extra strongly to Western audiences, and the builders have been shocked when followers responded with overwhelming positivity to a launch that they anticipated to flop abroad. Now {that a} handful of direct and religious sequels have since been made, Sq. Enix returns to the place all of it started with Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster. Although not precisely a complete overhaul, this remaster stands as a strong refresh of this JRPG traditional.
Bravely Default takes place on the planet of Luxendarc, which sits getting ready to chaos because the 4 elemental crystals that preserve steadiness have been consumed by a mysterious darkness. You start the journey as a boy named Tiz, whose complete village was destroyed within the devastating cataclysm that adopted the crystals falling to darkness, and shortly pair up with Agnes and her cutesy flying fairy companion. As a member of the crystal orthodoxy, Agnes shares that she’s on a mission to cleanse the darkness from the crystals and restore steadiness to the land, kicking off a quest to save lots of the world whereas evading seize from the forces of the Eternian Duchy.
What begins as a relatively rote JRPG plot slowly turns into one thing way more attention-grabbing with the introduction of sure controversial plot twists later within the recreation. Suffice it to say, the story isn’t what it initially seems to be, and whereas the execution of these controversial plot components may have maybe been accomplished higher, I recognize how the builders sought to upend expectations. It’s, on the very least, a memorable plot, which is excess of many ‘inoffensive’ JRPGs can say.
Gameplay in Bravely Default attracts heavy inspiration from the traditional period of Closing Fantasy, however with a splash of recent polish and tweaks to make issues move extra easily. Working example, enemy encounters are nonetheless random if you’re out in dungeons or the overworld, however you possibly can simply regulate the encounter charge on a variable scale to both double the norm if you wish to go all out whereas grinding or to zero if you happen to simply need to discover with out being interrupted each couple of minutes by one other gang of mooks.
The blueprint is acquainted in that you just nonetheless discover an overworld, battle enemies in turn-based fight, develop your celebration, and delve into dungeons for loot and boss fights, but the builders clearly thought of how they might modernise sure features of the loop.
The fight system is arguably probably the most lauded side of Bravely Default, largely because of the enjoyable and artistic means that it approaches enjoying with the economic system of a normal turn-based battle system. On any character’s flip, you possibly can select to ‘Courageous’ to borrow as much as three additional turns (and thus three additional actions) out of your character’s future self to utilise proper now, however doing so will create a deficit wherein that character then spends as much as three turns fully idle and open to any enemy retaliation.
On the opposite finish, the usual ‘defend’ possibility is changed with the ‘Default’ command, wherein your character defends and shops an additional flip motion that may then be spent later by way of Defaulting.
In follow, this results in a dynamic battle system that rewards cautious planning and technique as you cautiously weave between urgent the assault and falling again on defence. A random encounter with a pack of low-level goons will be simply wiped in a single flip by having each character Courageous and go all-in on the offensive earlier than your foes even get an opportunity to reply.
In the meantime the opening minutes of a boss combat could also be finest navigated by having your designated healer Default for the primary few turns to fill up on additional actions to make use of later for when the entire celebration will get broken by a robust AoE assault. I appreciated the elevated company that this fight system affords, because it results in way more attention-grabbing battles with mightier foes as you fastidiously steadiness the turns that every character shops and spends.
One other standout characteristic right here is the Job system, which rapidly provides you fairly a bit of fabric to work with for teambuilding. As you progress the story and full facet content material, you’ll gather ‘asterisks’ that every grant you a brand new Job that brings with it a singular mix of latest instructions, assist talents, gear aptitude, and stat allocations. Every celebration member can independently stage every of the Jobs, rising their proficiency and unlocking extra highly effective talents as they progress.
However the actual attention-grabbing bit is available in if you realise you can successfully equip a secondary job to a personality, permitting them to combine the talents and skills between jobs that they’ve gained proficiency in.
For instance, the Spiritmaster has a capability that diminishes injury output, however bolsters restoration magic. Pair this with the restoration magic casts of a White Mage, and you may have a chosen healer who can punch fairly a bit above their weight by way of the heals they’ll put out.
The Job system was clearly designed for gamers to seek out exploitable synergies like this to abuse, and pairing this with the leeway that the courageous and default system provides results in fight that constantly feels contemporary as you discover new methods to ‘break’ the sport.
As a re-release of a decade-old recreation, each the most effective and worst a part of Bravely Default HD might be that not a complete lot has modified about it. Apart from issues just like the anticipated visible bumps and a few cute new minigames that use the Change 2’s mouse mode, that is virtually precisely the identical recreation that you may play in your 3DS all these years in the past.
On one hand, it speaks to its timeless high quality that there wasn’t a complete lot the builders felt they wanted to vary—it was an awesome recreation again then and it’s nonetheless an awesome recreation now. On the opposite, there’s a lingering feeling that extra may’ve been accomplished to make this remaster extra of a definitive model, maybe by means of the inclusion of one thing like the additional facet story or epilogue Monolith Mushy has added to its current Xenoblade remasters.
Even so, these minigames are sort of cool, they usually do a very good job of demonstrating among the Change 2 mouse controls’ potentialities. The primary, Luxencheer Rhythm Catch, acts as a rhythm recreation wherein you management two cursors (one in every hand) that you just manoeuvre across the display screen to catch beats as they pop up. The opposite one, Ringabel’s Panic Cruise, locations you behind the sophisticated controls of the airship and challenges you to juggle a number of duties as you steer the ship, restore occasional injury to varied elements, and regulate issues just like the AC and radio in response to celebration member requests.
Each minigames jogged my memory a little bit of the sort of facet content material that you just’d discover in most trendy mainline Kirby video games—they’re enjoyable, bite-size distractions that supply up a pleasant palate cleanser from the bottom recreation. They clearly aren’t the principle draw and there’s a relatively restricted quantity of content material to discover right here, however additionally they have extra depth than it’s possible you’ll initially assume and take a good period of time to grasp all the things.
Plus, they aren’t completely remoted from the principle recreation—though you possibly can initially bounce into the minigames from the title display screen, progress within the marketing campaign finally results in you unlocking new content material in each. And when you’ve handed a sure level within the story, your efficiency in these minigames is rewarded with forex you should utilize to purchase particular gear and gadgets.
Visually, Bravely Default HD does a modest job of updating the memorable visuals of the unique, though that is hardly a huge overhaul. Every thing runs at a easy body charge and the bite-sized worlds look nice in HD, notably the richly detailed, painterly look of many cities and dungeons. But it’s additionally clear that the identical squat and simplistic character fashions from the unique launch have been reused right here, they usually can look a bit fundamental when blown up on the large display screen of even the Change 2 handheld display screen.
Bravely Default HD is not an unpleasant recreation, nevertheless it’s additionally removed from a showcase of the added energy of the brand new Change 2, and we will’t assist however marvel why a model of this remaster couldn’t have been produced for the unique Change.
Conclusion
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster is a strong replace of certainly one of Sq.’s best trendy turn-based RPGs. Its mixture of a versatile job system, dynamic fight, and unexpectedly attention-grabbing story makes for an journey that no followers of the JRPG style will need to miss out on, particularly any such followers that loved Staff Asano’s more moderen work on the Octopath Traveler duology.
That in thoughts, there isn’t actually something new on this remaster that justifies the value of a double dip—if you happen to already put a whole lot of time into this one on the 3DS again within the day, I’d warning you to first think about simply how badly you need to spend your cash on what in the end quantities to little greater than a pleasant visible bump. All the identical, Bravely Default was and nonetheless is a superb RPG; if you happen to haven’t had the prospect to present this one a shot but, this port is an effective way to see what the fuss is about.
