Bravely Default

 3DS
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 693 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 557 out of 693
  2. Mixed: 81 out of 693
  3. Negative: 55 out of 693
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  1. DeadlyCreeperH
    Jul 15, 2023
    0
    I would say this game ruined my life but that would be an understatment. My wife adored this game, though I didnt understand what the fuss was about. Unfortunantly within the hustle and bustle of my busy life and demanding high paying job (6 figures a year) I did not notice that she was starting to develop an addiction. A few years ago, she was driving back from work. Playing this on herI would say this game ruined my life but that would be an understatment. My wife adored this game, though I didnt understand what the fuss was about. Unfortunantly within the hustle and bustle of my busy life and demanding high paying job (6 figures a year) I did not notice that she was starting to develop an addiction. A few years ago, she was driving back from work. Playing this on her 3DS, she was so absorbed she was not paying attention to the road. She crashed... The medical bills she endured were so large she was practicly dead to me. I divorced her within the week and grived the relationship like she was dead. This game ruined my life.… Expand
  2. Vladamir8
    Jul 4, 2023
    10
    fantastic game with the best video game soundtrack ever. the story is also one of the best
  3. Videogamessuper
    Jun 24, 2023
    9
    Tremendo video juego en todo aspecto. El sistema de combate fue muy innovador para su tiempo e influenció a Octopatraveller, música increible y personajes carismaticos. El único pero es que pese a que la historia es divertida, la forma en que se utiliza alarga el juego demasiado pasando eventos similares una y otra vez.. no es del todo malo pues hace que puedas llegar a obtener el nivel 99Tremendo video juego en todo aspecto. El sistema de combate fue muy innovador para su tiempo e influenció a Octopatraveller, música increible y personajes carismaticos. El único pero es que pese a que la historia es divertida, la forma en que se utiliza alarga el juego demasiado pasando eventos similares una y otra vez.. no es del todo malo pues hace que puedas llegar a obtener el nivel 99 de una manera ''no común'' y siempre con variaciones. Pero no me terminó de convencer ese pequeño detalle.… Expand
  4. Thumaz
    Apr 24, 2023
    7
    I love final fantasy, i've played almost all of them, when i saw this game i thought i would like it, and i did for like 3/5 of the game. The jobs are fun to mess around, soundtrack and art direction are absolutely amazing and the story is nice at first. But then the difficulty spikes, and spikes a lot and the game becomes too grindy for me, even in normal difficulty (i've started on hardI love final fantasy, i've played almost all of them, when i saw this game i thought i would like it, and i did for like 3/5 of the game. The jobs are fun to mess around, soundtrack and art direction are absolutely amazing and the story is nice at first. But then the difficulty spikes, and spikes a lot and the game becomes too grindy for me, even in normal difficulty (i've started on hard you see) and im being almost killed by random trash enemies on chapter 4, the balance team really messed up on this one.… Expand
  5. Sterrewiggelary
    Nov 12, 2022
    10
    A truly vital RPG for everyone to play. While the latter part of the story may seem tedious and repetitive, they pay off is exquisite.
  6. hector_bcn98
    Nov 4, 2022
    9
    Suma ciertas mecánicas originales al sistema clásico de lucha por turnos de RPG, ofreciendo un videojuego de altísima calidad y una historia de una duración a la altura de los más grandes. Pico de dificultad elevado y jodido como pocos. Bravo.
  7. attemptatreason
    Mar 4, 2022
    8
    I got the not true ending, which I'm satisfied with. I know you get the true ending by listening to Airy but it was too painful to know i'm falling into a trap. Otherwise, this game is fantastic. It has a pretty straightforward system for dialogue with full voice acting and movement around the map. I think the map design was amazing, I loved Florum and Anchiem, felt really unique and theI got the not true ending, which I'm satisfied with. I know you get the true ending by listening to Airy but it was too painful to know i'm falling into a trap. Otherwise, this game is fantastic. It has a pretty straightforward system for dialogue with full voice acting and movement around the map. I think the map design was amazing, I loved Florum and Anchiem, felt really unique and the themes/plot was integrated in the map design such as the citizens turning the cog wheels and the whole town was about cogs. It had a really strong core - good turn based, classes with a unique system (such as stat changes based on class and equip ranks) and the abilities. Somewhere along the lines the game becomes obnoxiously difficult at random places - with the main story line being easy AF - for example, Ch 7 Crowne was literally 2x harder than the final boss. I would have liked to see the sub quests LATER ON explored more - such as the vampire castle, what are these dragons and why am I killing them? The location and markings for the dragon were so cool and exploring for them was awesome but what are they? Also, I thought the amount of times I would end up at a crystal awakening it, going to the pillar of light and repeating I was going to go crazy... Not to mention hearing the same dialogue and awakening things. Opening knocked it out of the park ~prior to the vampire castle 9.1/10; 5-10 hours after that and after doing a few new worlds 8.5/10. Overall with the ending and slow pace and repetitive endings 8.1/ 10.… Expand
  8. MisterCrux2
    Oct 10, 2021
    8
    I was really disappointed from Bravely Default they told me it was the heir of Final Fantasy it is, but is the heir of the very firsts Final Fantasies, not the heir of Final Fantasy VI, and those games aged orribly. This game really looks like it was born old, the story is really boring it has quite good dialogues but what happens is so basic and derivative, it's all a we have toI was really disappointed from Bravely Default they told me it was the heir of Final Fantasy it is, but is the heir of the very firsts Final Fantasies, not the heir of Final Fantasy VI, and those games aged orribly. This game really looks like it was born old, the story is really boring it has quite good dialogues but what happens is so basic and derivative, it's all a we have to purificate the crystal so we go to that city, but to purificate the crystal we need the dress so we go talking to the sage to know where it is, he says the item is in the cave, than we go to the cave. Everything is so classic and seen already, the best part are the optional dialogues but they're never really fun or deep. And this continues until near the end in the last part there's a plot twist that makes the story slightly interesting that was the only part that made me actually feel like I wanted to know how it continues, even if that plot twist wasn't really well played. Also I really appreciated that Ringabel in the last part becomes serious before he was so annoying, he couldn't end a phrase without making moves on the girls, it was so repetitive to see him doing that every single time. The game also has a couple of plot holes, the greater one is having Edea betraying the army and his father at the beginning, how is possible that a girl that was always told that the vestal is an enemy that would cause great pain to the world if her mission is fulfilled suddenly decides to betray her side and her father only because her collegue wasn't acting fine? Also in the last part there's something you can do to change the course of the events be smart and find out how to reach that final. Anyway what the game gains in the story in the last part is lost in the gameplay that becomes incredibly boring and repetitive. I also expected great things from the battle system, it looked very strategic, but it turned to be extremely basic and simple I imagined one had to use brave and default strategically, but in practice the best strategy is always making the characters attack four time when they can and let another character save bp so he could heal the others if there's need. It would have been a lot better if you could know before if the opponent was going to brave or default than you could decide strategically what to do and you wouldn' mess with the frustration of attacking four times an enemy who defaulted.
    Also the battle can become boring because they're so long and you have to press a lot of buttons to tell them what to do every turn. The boss battles especially are very long boss have tons of hp. Luckly there's an auto battle option where the characters repeat the last action you chose, but observing that the autobattle is able to win most of the fights just show how repetitive and no strategic the battle system is. I appreciated how the subquest are, they don't have a vast variety but they're near always quite well written and they give you jobs as a reward. Also the world is well done, the world map remembers the one of the old Final Fantasies and it isn't linear, but probably it was possible to do better, on the other side the dungeons are very simple they have a boring level design, sometimes they have very basic puzzles. The thing I enjoyed the most from this game is the art style it's really nice and enjoyable    … Expand
  9. AJCk19
    Jul 12, 2021
    8
    This game could have easily got a perfect score. But (and not to spoil it) the ending will agitate you.

    Besides that, it takes our favorite turned based jrpg formula, and improves it immensely. By allowing you to turn off random encounters or even increase it. Provides such a ease of life situation. You can also change the difficultly at any time. Lastly, the main feature of storing    This game could have easily got a perfect score. But (and not to spoil it) the ending will agitate you.

    Besides that, it takes our favorite turned based jrpg formula, and improves it immensely. By allowing you to turn off random encounters or even increase it. Provides such a ease of life situation. You can also change the difficultly at any time. Lastly, the main feature of storing your turns, to then do more damage, is satisfying!    … Expand
  10. Tabbou
    Jul 10, 2021
    10
    Un j-rpg comme beaucoup ?
    Oui mais clairemment au dessus des autres à l'époque, une histoire avec des personnages attachants, des paysages et graphismes très beaux pour de la 3DS, un système de combat simple et efficace pouvant aller du mode manuel au mode automatique, une avance rapide sur les combats possible, un choix varié de classes et de skills à débloquer petit à petit
  11. KingGilda
    Mar 25, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So I missed this game originally, bought it as prep for Bravely 2.

    Are you kidding me? How can this game get any more than a 7!?
    Repeating the same bosses again and again? Are everyone just plain stupid?
    Have you ever heard about works of fiction/art/video games, that had time travel, and/or parallel universes? You know how, like, they weren't repetitive, annoying, lacking originality, and super frustrating?
    Yes. What the hell is wrong with this game? same bosses four times!? What's going on??? BAD GAME DESIGN!    … Expand
  12. OliRock92
    Feb 22, 2021
    2
    The job system is very cool as it lets you customise your character and build the party you want and think up strategies with how in character help one another. The Brave/Default system though is just game breaking. It's dumb. The usual Final Fantasy "Defend" command now gives you an extra turn to move later and the Brave command lets you use up to 4 turns st the same time. Simply broken.The job system is very cool as it lets you customise your character and build the party you want and think up strategies with how in character help one another. The Brave/Default system though is just game breaking. It's dumb. The usual Final Fantasy "Defend" command now gives you an extra turn to move later and the Brave command lets you use up to 4 turns st the same time. Simply broken. The story. Amnesia, girl who slowly realises she's wrong, 4 crystals of the elements. You played any Final Fantasy prior to 7? You've played this game basically. I know it's a throw back, but honestly, I'd rather go back to the old school Final Fantasy for the 3rd or 4th time again than play Bravely Default, it won't be as repetitive. And here is the game's bigges problem. Basically, the game takes about 15 hours to beat but...MINOR SPOILER HERE ALTHOUGH IMPORTANT TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING!!! OK, so you finally awaken the last crystal, you've done it! Well, something happens and without saying too much, the world is reset. You need to redo what was the 1st half of the game 8 MORE TIMES to finally see the ending, which is nothing even good. 8 MORE times you'll need to go through the bosses with very little change in dialogue. They basically make you play the game 9 times to see the ending. RPGs are repetitive and it's something I accept from my favourite game genre. But this is absolutely ridiculous. The plot twist is not even shocking. You see it coming very early on. This game is just not worth your time. Repetitive and mediocre. If you want a game like this though with a deep job system, I highly recommend Final Fantasy 3 (DS version) or Final Fantasy 5, any version. Bravely Default was made by the same team and uses the same artstyle as FF3 DS (sole reason I boughy BD) but do yourself a favor, go play FF3 DS instead. You'll thank me and yourself later.… Expand
  13. SouthernSpearow
    Feb 17, 2021
    2
    It's refreshing to see people have the same thoughts and reactions to this game as me.

    It starts off promising with decent story, interesting combat mechanics, and cool character abilities. However,as soon as you get through the main story once... you get to do it 4. More. Times. I spent over 25hours grinding and leveling up just to repeat the same thing 4 more times. This game is    It's refreshing to see people have the same thoughts and reactions to this game as me.

    It starts off promising with decent story, interesting combat mechanics, and cool character abilities.

    However,as soon as you get through the main story once... you get to do it 4. More. Times. I spent over 25hours grinding and leveling up just to repeat the same thing 4 more times. This game is repetitive with no good story and hours of grinding to stand a shot against the final boss.

    Promising combat but predictable story repeated for hours on end. Buy a fire emblem game or something instead of this.    … Expand
  14. Subject98
    Feb 7, 2021
    4
    I will admit, I'm very picky about turn based RPGs and hardly ever play them. There are some that I like but this one hit and doubled down on pretty much every gripe I have about this genre.

    On top of tons of job grinding, this one has time management mechanics and even a pay to win microtransaction they threw in there, how any of that is supposed to be fun or enhance the gameplay in    I will admit, I'm very picky about turn based RPGs and hardly ever play them. There are some that I like but this one hit and doubled down on pretty much every gripe I have about this genre.

    On top of tons of job grinding, this one has time management mechanics and even a pay to win microtransaction they threw in there, how any of that is supposed to be fun or enhance the gameplay in any way is beyond me.

    Even if you do get a good party going, the late chapters have battles and boss fights so unbalanced that you're forced to loop the same actions until the boss is dead, somtimes for over half an hour. If you step outside of that loop even for one turn then you're probably dead.

    I can usually stick with an RPG of this size if the story is interesting enough but I barely remember any of what happened. I think I cared less about the characters the further I got.

    This is one of those games that is so confident the player wont mind it's endless repetition that it continuously adds more and more ways to be a slog on top of it. After dragging my feet to the end of the story, I find out they want me to go around the world and beat all the major bosses again, not once, but like six more times before I can access the final dungeon and true ending. No thanks.

    The only big positive I would give Bravely Default is that it's beautiful to look at. I think seeing all the diverse locations and set pieces was the driving force for me to keep playing as far as I got. It's just a shame the rest of it had to be so tedious.    … Expand
  15. BeeSting1
    Jan 1, 2021
    8
    A lot of grinding, but deep job system.

    Good - the shop was done very well. I could easily see which items were equipped, directly compare their stats easily allowing me to conclude which items have been obsolete, without having to exit shop and pull up a menu. This is probably the best shop menu I've encountered. - the voice acting is great, but because the characters are so    A lot of grinding, but deep job system.

    Good

    - the shop was done very well. I could easily see which items were equipped, directly compare their stats easily allowing me to conclude which items have been obsolete, without having to exit shop and pull up a menu. This is probably the best shop menu I've encountered.

    - the voice acting is great, but because the characters are so chibi, it'a a bit hard to take the more serious dialogue serious.

    - speeding up battle is nice.

    - Being able to adjust encounter rate is very nice. Adjusting difficulty at any time is useful too.

    - being able to use a heal (treat) even after blind is nice.

    - the camera angle is actually very well placed. I can see across various rooms in dungeons, saving me time exploring dead ends. The auto zoom out during no inputs also helps

    - the background is like a big water painting. Pretty cool.

    - a fast way back out of the dungeon at the end is a very good inclusion, since there's no shop or healing station before the dungeon boss

    - auto play is nice

    - the jobs and abilities learned give a vast amount of ways to battle

    - being able to go back at any time during command selection is convenient

    - the game remembering my last command selection between battles is very convenient. Makes grinding very fluent

    - the new item section is really convenient for checking item details right after I picked it up without having to rummage through all the items for it

    - voice acting is great

    - hitting left and right in analog to see status effects of enemy and ally parties is very convenient

    - the little clue guess who killer of the commander was interesting.

    - the JP requirements for jobs at later levels we're sets very well. Such that I couldn't grind random encounters in a short time to gain the levels and acquire do really good abilities. this kind of forced me to progress in the story, and fights bosses to get the big JP boost

    - its satisfying figuring out my own job combinations and beating tough bosses

    - this is an interesting story about the grey area between right and wrong. And the impossibility of trying to make everyone happy. There is no ideal world where no one suffers. Where one person gains, another loses.

    - the party's growing uncertainty in their own beliefs stirs questions of my own and makes me want to find out the other side of the story. The side that doesn't want the crystal awakened

    - being able to equip new weapon and armor during battles is cool

    - after having accomplished my jobs set up and attained all the abilities I want, it's a good feeling applying it in tough battles and seeing it work.

    - at first I was very skeptical about having to reawaken the crystals again. But having airy explain the ritual again it hinted at the potential option 2 continue hitting x to break the crystal, which is pretty interesting and unexpected. To me, breaking the crystals was a way to end the game earlier, for those who do not want to grind the same battles again. But at the same time by triggering the finale, I missed out on the whole multiple worlds lore. It's an unfortunate dilemma.

    - the story is really interesting once the multiple world story arc begins, but the game played becomes completely repetitive and stagnant because the same enemies are rehashed only with more HP and higher attack power. I wanted to continue so that I could progressed in the story but I did not want to grind the same enemies over and over again. Had the game introduced new enemies, new areas, and new scenarios in the other worlds then I would have been inclined to continue with the game since it would be fresh and not a repetitive grind. But unfortunately every area is virtually the same, only with different wild encounters and some different cutscene triggers. - airy being evil was an unexpected twist. Didn't expect the whole crystal awakening was a bad thing either. The game did mask it as a righteous ritual really well. Further disguising her was her cute and cheery look and attitude. Plus her presence on the bottom screen. - I also like how the game gave me a lot chances to stop hitting x during the ritual. - the game made me question what it had made me initially believed. It made me trust the crystal orthodoxy, then turned the table. - I like how there are hints of airy being not gemuine, where she slips up and focuses on awakening crystals over even agnes - I think by the time I reached chapter 7, the developers probably assumed that I knew airy was evil and likely also assumed the player just wanted to go on to more chapters out of curiosity. Even the cutscenes are just rehashed Bad - wish there was an auto attack all, if I selected 4 braves. Against random enemies I usually just use all brave and mash attack. If there was an auto select option, it woulda saved me time    … Expand
  16. phyzx
    Dec 22, 2020
    5
    I was so excited to play this game. It had everything I kinda wanted in a jrpg. In many ways it was 10/10 for me. But I honestly can't ignore how bad the last half of the game was. I don't ever write reviews but I honestly regret buying this game because of how bad and pointless the story got. This is the first game that I really disagree with the general consensus on. It does have a goodI was so excited to play this game. It had everything I kinda wanted in a jrpg. In many ways it was 10/10 for me. But I honestly can't ignore how bad the last half of the game was. I don't ever write reviews but I honestly regret buying this game because of how bad and pointless the story got. This is the first game that I really disagree with the general consensus on. It does have a good list of pros, but it gets repetitive and lazy. If you haven't bought this game yet...I think you should spoil the story for yourself before you decide to buy it.… Expand
  17. Maarten95
    Nov 22, 2020
    9
    Strong points: soundtrack, gameplay with many diverse classes and story

    Weakpoints: graphics and the dialogue (a bit to childish at times)
  18. Galix
    Apr 27, 2020
    7
    Un jrpg que contiene todos los elementos que cualquiera buscaría en un juego de este tipo pero con algunos lastres que hacen que no sea para todo el mundo.

    Lo bueno: - Sistema de combate dinámico y divertido. - Gran variedad de trabajos que ofrece al jugador un amplio arsenal de posibilidades. - Banda sonora muy buena y en general muy buen apartado artístico. Lo malo: - La    Un jrpg que contiene todos los elementos que cualquiera buscaría en un juego de este tipo pero con algunos lastres que hacen que no sea para todo el mundo.

    Lo bueno:
    - Sistema de combate dinámico y divertido.
    - Gran variedad de trabajos que ofrece al jugador un amplio arsenal de posibilidades.
    - Banda sonora muy buena y en general muy buen apartado artístico.

    Lo malo:
    - La historia es un sinsentido.
    - Tras el capítulo 4 el juego se basa en repetir los combates contra los mismos jefes una y otra vez, siendo la mayoría combates opcionales. Si los haces te llevará horas, probablemente acabes cansado de los jefes y no obtendrás ninguna recompensa (no dan experiencia ni objetos especialmente relevantes). Si no los haces verás como te pasas la mitad de los capítulos del juego en cuestión de minutos.
    - Siguiendo con el apartado anterior, los capítulos 7 y 8 parecen estar de relleno. La historia no avanza lo más mínimo y lo único interesante son los combates opcionales contra grupos de jefes, los cuales son peleas muy duras y, nuevamente, sin ninguna recompensa. Me parece una forma terriblemente artificial de alargar la duración de un juego.    … Expand
  19. Trey82
    Mar 3, 2020
    2
    Xenogears. THis game reminds me of xenogears.
    Because it starts off exceptionally ~ the intro isnt awful, the characters seem okay.
    Gameplay isnt bad. The scenery and towns look great.It LOOKS like this is going to be a great journey. An hour in: Alright the combat is getting old. Its free to sleep in the first Inn, so this feels like a pokemon game ~ just keep going back to town after    Xenogears. THis game reminds me of xenogears.
    Because it starts off exceptionally ~ the intro isnt awful, the characters seem okay.
    Gameplay isnt bad. The scenery and towns look great.It LOOKS like this is going to be a great journey.
    An hour in:
    Alright the combat is getting old. Its free to sleep in the first Inn, so this feels like a pokemon game ~ just keep going back to town after a good grind. Repeat. Repeat.
    The story gets so much worse. How did we get that airship? Whats with the terrible stereotypes? He wont stop talking about womanizing.. but in a non-charming way.
    She wont stop trying to get rid of us. The fairy always chimes in with 'BUT YOU SUCK SO INCREDIBLY BAD AT NAVIGATING! You got lost on a path that literally has no wrong way to go.'
    Grinding. Grinding.
    The job system is kinda.. not good at all. FFT and Disgaea really spoil someone for other games.
    I beat xeno gears once. If I knew then what I knew after beating it.. I would have never started the second disk/second half of the game.
    Knowing that, I quit after the final boss. You. and I. Have better. Things to do. Than believe. There is. A true. Ending.    … Expand
  20. Ryuail
    Feb 1, 2020
    9
    A wonderful handheld RPG, Music and art style are phenomenal! Customization and battle mechanics are superb! I think the only drawback it has is the looped nature of the 3rd act.

    Push through though and you'll be rewarded with one of the most satisfying ending I've seen in a game like this since Persona 3.
  21. vodkaffee
    Dec 12, 2019
    8
    The job and battle systems are great, the music is amazing, also this games has so many new ideas i never saw on an jrpg, like change your ultimate attack names and send it to help friends online, which actually ties to the plot really well, the bad thing is the voice acting and dialogue are not great, the story is very good but the game makes it SO repetitive, this game could be half asThe job and battle systems are great, the music is amazing, also this games has so many new ideas i never saw on an jrpg, like change your ultimate attack names and send it to help friends online, which actually ties to the plot really well, the bad thing is the voice acting and dialogue are not great, the story is very good but the game makes it SO repetitive, this game could be half as long and it would be better; a
    Also the use of music in battle and how you can combo it with other ultis with huge speed to get a lot of advantage is crazy and loved the idea.
    I would say is a must play but dont expect a minblowing story, let's say is like Final Fantasy 5.    … Expand
  22. spicysmoochy
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    The perfect jrpg, sumblime OST and art My favorite videogame, great characters.
  23. Fer_O
    Nov 15, 2019
    10
    Wonderful game, a JRPG masterpiece with so many hints and flavors a-la Final Fantasy but quite different and fresh! This has to be one of my all time favorites! I totally love it!
  24. Poochingus
    Nov 14, 2019
    8
    Rarely does a game I've never heard of make me a diehard fan. I cannot say how much of a hidden gem this was when I first played it. I bought a physical copy and a few months later everyone discovered how great it was, and being out of print, people turned heads and wondered why that was.

    I'll tell you why. Solid gameplay, beautiful design, excellent story. Gameplay of this game is    Rarely does a game I've never heard of make me a diehard fan. I cannot say how much of a hidden gem this was when I first played it. I bought a physical copy and a few months later everyone discovered how great it was, and being out of print, people turned heads and wondered why that was.

    I'll tell you why. Solid gameplay, beautiful design, excellent story.

    Gameplay of this game is amazing. It is just the old jobs system, but mixing and matching aspects makes it fun, as well as the simple yet exciting brave/default mechanic. Store up extra turns to attack on a character by defaulting which is just a fancy way to say, block this turn. Next turn that character has an extra turn to take, meaning they can attack twice. That is what braving is. When you use brave, you use an extra turn. However you can brave to go into debt for several turns. Meaning that if you don't defeat the enemy and your whole party goes 2 turns into debt with brave, you will be helpless for 3 turns in a row! It truly becomes a resource of its own, with many classes and abilites giving you extra turns, or costing you an extra turn for a more powerful attack. Enemies can also use this mechanic, so watch out!

    The art is charming, like a hand painted set from a fairytale. The character designs are a sort of chibi design to make up for the 3DS and its lack of horsepower, and doing so increases the charm of this game somehow, while keeping game performance at the same time.

    Rough around the edges yes, this game wasn't expected to be anything special. But the solid classic final fantasy combat mixed with what is honestly the best story I've seen out of square to date(I really can't say much lest I spoil it). This game is a sleeper hit. Sadly though it does have more filler than it should, and could easily give you more than enough play time without it(My first save file clocked in at almost 90 hours). The value is here for the price.

    It is polished for the most part overall, and has a shocking amount of voice over for a 3DS game. Sadly the audio of voices is compressed somewhat to make it fit, but the performances of the actors is top tier save for the memeable "mrgrgr" moments....that...that isn't how onomatopoeias work love...

    Music is top tier too. Whereas some games have nice, but ultimately forgettable music, bravely default tunes are catchy and emotionally engaging.

    So go out and play this game if you are an RPG fan, you will have a blast!    … Expand
  25. Dormarth
    Oct 24, 2019
    8
    A solid old School RPG with a great class system pulled out of the old Final Fantasy games like FF3. The game is not to much of a grind with good balance until the late game where a dark knight build can decimate anyone. However, part of l the charm of the game is to find the best builds and explore new builds. The story is fairly generic but, without spoiling anything, does go in aA solid old School RPG with a great class system pulled out of the old Final Fantasy games like FF3. The game is not to much of a grind with good balance until the late game where a dark knight build can decimate anyone. However, part of l the charm of the game is to find the best builds and explore new builds. The story is fairly generic but, without spoiling anything, does go in a direction I wasn’t expecting.

    However, the game does have shortcomings, half-way through the game becomes very repetitive and the story is put on hold, there are also micro transactions which are fairly easy to ignore but worth noting for anyone who wants to pick it up. Building your own town is slow and is fairly tedious, you don’t have much input into the town apart from deciding when to level up a shop.

    Overall it’s a solid game worth buying for any RPG fan.    … Expand
  26. new2dsxl
    Sep 6, 2019
    9
    There’s much to be said in praise of Bravely Default, perhaps too much to fit into a single review. What must be relayed, however, is that Bravely Default stands as an absolute triumph of both game design and the reinvigoration of old concepts, claiming its rightful place as a giant in the JRPG genre that will surely be remembered as a classic in years to come. Any 3DS owner with even aThere’s much to be said in praise of Bravely Default, perhaps too much to fit into a single review. What must be relayed, however, is that Bravely Default stands as an absolute triumph of both game design and the reinvigoration of old concepts, claiming its rightful place as a giant in the JRPG genre that will surely be remembered as a classic in years to come. Any 3DS owner with even a fleeting interest in role-playing games and a desire to get lost in an incredible, engaging adventure would be doing themselves a huge favour by picking up Bravely Default without delay.… Expand
  27. Enkindled
    Jun 2, 2019
    10
    Here me out, please! This game is one of the best games I ever played in my life and I played a colossal amount of games for the past 30 years (on every console and PC). I am not someone who writes tons of reviews, but for this one I must.

    The good: - Great artwork; - Charismatic characters and nice social interactions between protagosnists; - Innovative Strategic gameplay and    Here me out, please! This game is one of the best games I ever played in my life and I played a colossal amount of games for the past 30 years (on every console and PC). I am not someone who writes tons of reviews, but for this one I must.

    The good:
    - Great artwork;
    - Charismatic characters and nice social interactions between protagosnists;
    - Innovative Strategic gameplay and customization;
    - Intelligent and great plot twists;
    - Awsome humor that dont affect the storytelling of serious moments;
    - You realy connect with the characters;
    - Old school style of RPG, like the SNES Final Fantasy, but with modern mechanics;
    - Balanced difficulty.

    The bad:
    - Soundtrack doesnt really stands out, but its not bad;
    - Like any RPG with and old school base, sometimes you may get lost, but not for too long.

    This game is innovative in its Job systems. Although many other RPGs are based on Jobs, Bravely Default transformed this old systems into something fresh. You have tons of Jobs that grants yo passive and active abilities that completely makes your characters unique. The Bravely - Default system of battle (hence the name) is completely new and intelligent, changing the flow of battles in a whole new way, not seen before.

    The story is addicting, emotional and fun, you will not see the time pass. And, if you are like me, you will be please to know that there is no "crafting system" **** You just buy gears and thats it.

    Don't lose the change of playing this game, its a gem.    … Expand
  28. gq_foine
    Feb 8, 2019
    10
    WOW! I can't believe I missed this game till now! Where was I in 2014 not playing this game? I am baffled how I missed this game till now.

    This game is absolutely the BEST RPG on the 3DS. The overall gameplay is fun with turn-based setup. So here is my quick review of the game - Graphics - 10/10 because the 3D the artwork and design is so amazing Gameplay - 9/10 - Standard    WOW! I can't believe I missed this game till now! Where was I in 2014 not playing this game? I am baffled how I missed this game till now.

    This game is absolutely the BEST RPG on the 3DS. The overall gameplay is fun with turn-based setup. So here is my quick review of the game -

    Graphics - 10/10 because the 3D the artwork and design is so amazing
    Gameplay - 9/10 - Standard Turnbase
    Sound/Music - 9/10 - Characters voice are wonderful and music is little bland but overall nice.
    Characters/Story -10/10 - Absolutely amazing! Wow! How did I miss this? Plot twists but typical JRPG style . The characters are very warm and likeable! I love it!

    I have played a lot of RPGs on the 3DS but this takes the cake and everybody who is into Turnbase-JRPG games will understand how beautiful this game actually is! I am looking forward to the part 2.. What I really like about this game is the actual 3D! I don't usually turn on my 3D thing but this game is so amazing with it! I LOVE IT! 3DS Masterpiece 10/10!    … Expand
  29. Da3_who_knows
    Jul 4, 2018
    7
    To be honest I have only finished this game from the third try. At first I found it too difficult. It was my first game of this kind so I was a bit confused in the beginning. However there is a big big problem with this game. Whose idea it was to make gamers do same things over and over again? Not once not twice but freaking 6-7 times! This game mechanics was the most repulsive thing aboutTo be honest I have only finished this game from the third try. At first I found it too difficult. It was my first game of this kind so I was a bit confused in the beginning. However there is a big big problem with this game. Whose idea it was to make gamers do same things over and over again? Not once not twice but freaking 6-7 times! This game mechanics was the most repulsive thing about this game. I liked the music and game design a lot. A LOT. this was one of the things that made me wanna finish this game. I read many reviews saying that many gamers did not like the characters in this game. Well that is just unacceptable! (inside joke). In my opinion they were decent. I really liked many of them and reading the dialogs and watching their relationship developing was another thing that kept me going. So If you are a fan of JRPG and all do not hesitate go and check this game out. As for the others... well... good luck and may the force and determination be with you.… Expand
  30. dragoneric
    Mar 22, 2018
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What can I say about this game that made buy a 3DS just to play it? Just that it was worth it, the only issue s to reawake the crystals a lot of times, the story is good, you care about the characters and I never got tired of the gameplay.… Expand
  31. OberiousLocke
    Jan 12, 2018
    0
    Huh, an interesting looking game that tries to break from the normal style of turn based combat. This might be worth a look.

    -Launched for full price
    -Includes any form of microtransaction.

    Nevermind.
  32. Dreonas
    Oct 4, 2017
    7
    I am not a fan of JRPGs or regular RPGs at all, but I must admit that I enjoyed a little bit this game; in fact, it is the first SquareEnix game that I finish.

    The battle mechanics were fine, the jobs were useful and versatile, the artwork was cool and the soundtrack was almost a masterpiece. The bosses were quite a challenge, but after the "deja vu sequence", they were boring. The    I am not a fan of JRPGs or regular RPGs at all, but I must admit that I enjoyed a little bit this game; in fact, it is the first SquareEnix game that I finish.

    The battle mechanics were fine, the jobs were useful and versatile, the artwork was cool and the soundtrack was almost a masterpiece. The bosses were quite a challenge, but after the "deja vu sequence", they were boring. The english dub was awful, so I recommend to play it with the original japanese voices.

    Maybe one of the main reasons why this game has many mixed and negatives reviews is for the way the plot unfolds. The beginning was mysterious, charming and amazing, but the other half is repetitive. Enjoying this game relies 100% in choosing "the right path", while taking the other one feels like a penitence in the purgatory. Perhaps punishing the players that way wasn't the best idea.    … Expand
  33. syscro
    Sep 17, 2017
    9
    Wow wow wow.
    Cuando lei de este juego me dijeron que era una renovación del antiguo RPG como otros tantos anteriormente se habían proclamado, así que no le tenia demasiada expectativas, lo cual me dejo con la boca cerrada.
    Excelente 10/10 OST, el modo furia con sus temas personalizados, los temas de Boss y los de las ciudades, todo me recuerda el apogeo de los RPG de SNES. Los    Wow wow wow.
    Cuando lei de este juego me dijeron que era una renovación del antiguo RPG como otros tantos anteriormente se habían proclamado, así que no le tenia demasiada expectativas, lo cual me dejo con la boca cerrada.
    Excelente 10/10 OST, el modo furia con sus temas personalizados, los temas de Boss y los de las ciudades, todo me recuerda el apogeo de los RPG de SNES.
    Los personajes excelentes, ademas de contar con una dificultad acorde a lo que quieres se siente demasiado bien el poner tus propios limites y que con esto te sientas satisfecho.
    Si quieres recordar los RPG de antaño con una jugabilidad fresca este juego es recomendado.

    - Lo malo
    El juego se divide por capitrulos y a la mitad de esto y para darle un contexto al juego abusaron mucho de la capacidad de los jugadores, ya que al terminarlo se siente que te llevaron de la mano porque era posible que perdieras en la historia, cosa que sucede pero de mala manera, ya que peligra su recepción por haber realizado esta practica a cierto tipo de jugadores.

    En resumen un juego muy bueno como los RPG de SNES, pero desde la mitad se transforma en algo monótono hasta llegar a los últimos 2 capítulos que son el cual vuelve a comenzar el juego.    … Expand
  34. carlvazq_
    May 6, 2017
    8
    It could have been perfect, but to lengthen the game a bit more than it should, the story get a bit repetitive in some chapters. Even so, it is one of the best games of 3ds and a JRPG that creates a young and brilliant saga for the world of videogames.
  35. Sephiroth_X
    Apr 29, 2017
    8
    Well, bought this game when it came out but just now finished it, and im GLAD I played it! has some of the best tradition of the golden era of rpgs (16bit) going on and refines it a little bit.

    Graphics/art: The towns are marvelous with hand drawing on them, thats the best part, the map is generic and boring so are the dungeons, character art is ok, look way better in the 2d hand drawn    Well, bought this game when it came out but just now finished it, and im GLAD I played it! has some of the best tradition of the golden era of rpgs (16bit) going on and refines it a little bit.

    Graphics/art: The towns are marvelous with hand drawing on them, thats the best part, the map is generic and boring so are the dungeons, character art is ok, look way better in the 2d hand drawn inspired from the game.

    music : is good, nothing special, no tune will be glued to your brain, and here´s a downer, after 70 hours listening the same battle music all over again perfectly makes me never want to play this game again! but overall the tunes are ok.

    story: is good, the first 30hours are boring and generic, was really worried it wasnt truly going anywhere and the characters also felt boring and simple until things evolve and everything becomes more loveable. but that also has a lot to do with:

    gameplay: the complex job system and overall battles are the best aspect of this game, truly gets challending in normal mode after 50 hours or so.. its been a while since I found such a challenging rpg that truly requires startegy to win. That leads me to the most controversial aspect of the game. Have you seen the movie the groundhog day? (very minor spoiler) well it does it to you by replaying parts of the game over and over, maybe one or two times would been great and integral to the story, but after 4 you really start to wonder wtf was goign on...until you accept it (my case) as central to the narrative of the game, also some dialogs change to keep things fresh and you get to see different perspectives that blurry the line between the good and the bad guys, that was very well done. (altho 2 times were more than enough to repeat everything in my opinion!)

    Overall this is a great game and a must play for old rpg fans dont miss it ever!    … Expand
  36. LifeHistory
    Apr 28, 2017
    8
    This is my very first Turn-Based game. Even though am an old gamer and played hundreds of games. But I never was a turn-based fan.
    This game was something else because the combat was kinda fun and the story and the characters are good enough to make you keep playing. It has some good art to it and nice music. A must play for a Turn based fan specially if you own a 3DS.
  37. Balorer
    Dec 21, 2016
    8
    I liked Bravely Default a lot started a simple and nice RPG and got more complex aas time goes on. Good history and enjoyable characters.
    I did end the game and obviously see the problem people have with the "2° Part" of the game but still even with this still a good game that i enjoyed and had fun.
  38. TemplarGR
    Sep 10, 2016
    0
    There are 2 possible reasons this overrated trash got such high metacritic scores from so called "professionals":

    1) They never completed this game. After all, this game is huge, and we all know reviewers play their games on easy and never spend more than 2-3 hours before writing a review. I suppose if you look only at the first few hours, this game is a blast. It managed to deceive me    There are 2 possible reasons this overrated trash got such high metacritic scores from so called "professionals":

    1) They never completed this game. After all, this game is huge, and we all know reviewers play their games on easy and never spend more than 2-3 hours before writing a review. I suppose if you look only at the first few hours, this game is a blast. It managed to deceive me too.

    2) They were bribed, or scored it highly because of Square and Nintendo

    The game has good production values, nice visuals and really nice music. It is a blast to play early on, and the gameplay system is not bad at all.

    But, the problem with this game is that:

    1) It is a boring grindfest. It is very long to properly complete, very repetitive with tons of backtracking. And most random encounters are boring, you can disable them but if you do, you won't be strong enough for the bosses.

    2) The story is typical kiddie anime trash. With some added weeaboo waifu perversion. As an adult gamer, i cringed a lot.

    Also, i didn't like the village minigame it had.

    All in all, a solid 60 game that somehow exploded on metacritic for no reason. Giving it a 0 for balance.    … Expand
  39. DreamCore
    Aug 28, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ** SPOLER BELOW **

    To summarise, the game is a straight spit in the face.

    True, the first part of the game is amazing, but that's where it stops. The developer apparently ran out of money and decided to just have you repeat the same four bosses four more times. When I got to this part I stopped playing for a month before I decided to actually bother with finishing it. As it turns out, this was a big mistake as after killing the bosses 4 times you meet a boss that is literary impossible to beat. Even with all my characters at lvl 65 and beating everything to this point without too much trouble I literary get one/two shotted in the second phase of the boss. There is nothing I can do, and you can't go back to levelling up. You're stuck with no way to finish the game. Note that this is on EASY difficulty, don't even want to think about Normal or Hard. I wasted hours doing the repetitive part to be faced with this...

    Do yourself a favour and stay away from this game. It simply ain't worth it.    … Expand
  40. CrazyPhilosoph
    Jun 28, 2016
    0
    This is the first game in my life that made me feel insulted. I am sorry, but if a game developer expects me to play through a game 5 times (with virtually no change at all) in order to complete one, freaking ONE, playthrough then you didn't do your job. It would not be that bad if there was at least something new with each cycle, but no. The characters become even more stupid and theThis is the first game in my life that made me feel insulted. I am sorry, but if a game developer expects me to play through a game 5 times (with virtually no change at all) in order to complete one, freaking ONE, playthrough then you didn't do your job. It would not be that bad if there was at least something new with each cycle, but no. The characters become even more stupid and the story comes to a halt as gracefully as a train wreck. The first half is alright, even though the battle system is somewhat boring. But of course people love it, because it is a Final Fantasy clone. This game is the only game in my life, where I don't understand why it is so beloved, most other games I can see why, but not here.

    I am sorry for the rant, but this made me feel like the developers didn't care and that gamers like anything as long as it is like 'the good old JRPG' (apparently they were correct about that).    … Expand
  41. lasmas
    Jun 6, 2016
    9
    Affter 50 hours and the game completed i have to say the following:

    Good: -Job class -Freedom on the map -Enemis -MUSIC -Boses models and type and mechanics -Optional boses and quest (red mage best) BAD -Norende village I found that this was a core thing affter 30 hours .... Regular -Story: Chapter 5 6 7 are more a filler and ussles but they can be skiped fast. The    Affter 50 hours and the game completed i have to say the following:

    Good:
    -Job class
    -Freedom on the map
    -Enemis
    -MUSIC
    -Boses models and type and mechanics
    -Optional boses and quest (red mage best)

    BAD

    -Norende village I found that this was a core thing affter 30 hours ....

    Regular

    -Story: Chapter 5 6 7 are more a filler and ussles but they can be skiped fast.

    The final boss was perfect so this is the final score.

    Gameplay: 7
    Graphics: 9
    Music: 10
    Online: 8 send and recibe moves to help you in batle can be op as hell or usles
    Story: 8

    FINAL SCORE: 8.5

    Recomeneded to all people who want to play a classic RPG in turns.    … Expand
  42. Rekiotsu
    Jun 1, 2016
    8
    Quite good, at the beginning this was great, but towards the end the story got quite confusing which kind of a unmade the greatness for me, thus overall I finished this game kind of disappointed. Still, technically this game was great at least, and story little bit better when you clear some things reading stuff from internet. This to say, worth playing.
  43. Sylviaheathers
    May 31, 2016
    8
    Bravely default? Where to start?!

    The end, many people complain about the 'messenger from hell has a sister' bit at the end (no details or spoilers) People please remember this game has a sequel! That explains everything and conjoins both stories Even so many believe this is because of marketing and such but using the konami code reveals a pre meditated and created set of characters.    Bravely default? Where to start?!

    The end,
    many people complain about the 'messenger from hell has a sister' bit at the end (no details or spoilers)
    People please remember this game has a sequel! That explains everything and conjoins both stories
    Even so many believe this is because of marketing and such but using the konami code reveals a pre meditated and created set of characters.

    Secondly I move to the middle to end sections.
    You may follow the accepted ending but despite the horrid grinding from the rest of the chapters I do not recomend this, you will not get your moneys worth

    Or you can follow the true ending with it's 'repetitive' chapters and subtly named (title) plot twists
    If you chose to do this then you can extend the length of your gameplay considerably, even so you will probably cringe at the protagonist's stupidity.

    The bosses are repeated many times over and I cannot help but wish they at least changed their tactics

    I only wish the antagonist was as created in as much depth as his minion and wasn't just evil for the sake of it.

    At the start the characters are slightly rushed disapointingly and even though if you have played this game and hate agnes remember she is still a better fighter and a more rightous that we would be if we resided in Luxendarc!

    So moving on to graphics, music and voice acting etc

    amazing, when in town it is advised to play with full 3D on but can be skipped for over world, cut scenes and dungeons.

    Oh my gotch the music is crazy, sadly for bravely second end layer the composer is not the same but even so, wow just wow.

    Voice acting wise it really isn't bad, sometimes even on auto play it is a bit awkward

    If someone was being cut off during a sentence they would stop and then let the other speak, almost as if they wished to be stopped
    Could have been better but it makes them more realistic.

    Character wise I love them all and i can't wait to see them again but I have not played many ff games or rpgs with strong casts that interact with you (kinda a pokemon person)

    Also they do not overly push the bravely second feature onto you!
    even for bravely second it's not a craze, and considering the gameplay time of this JRPG filling up your sp meter is nothing!
    And who doesnt want a lil extra cash, give them some credit!

    So basically my last point is the combat mechanics
    Brilliant, and the use of jobs are crazy good,
    Worth pkaying on hard mode defininetly

    So why do I still rate it as an 8?
    Even with the stupidity of the character and repetition this game feels like a proper package deal
    I feel like we don't appreciate the time and money put into these games, with everything this game does wrong it still can put a lot of games to shame!
    If you want something repetitive get yourself a rouge-like dungeon game because compaired to that this is a craze filled master piece and we need to appreciate it!

    Hope you enjoyed this review
    And I hope it helps

    Happy gaming! Xx    … Expand
  44. Sharpshooter188
    May 20, 2016
    8
    Right then. I'm gonna try to keep this short and sweet. Definitely a great throwback rpg from the yester years of Final Fantasy. Pretty likeable characters and plot. Albeit a bit simple at first with the plot. Art direction is good, spells look nice and flashy.

    A LOT of optional boss rebattles. The story is charming in it's simplicity up until the 5th chapter I believe. The game is 8    Right then. I'm gonna try to keep this short and sweet. Definitely a great throwback rpg from the yester years of Final Fantasy. Pretty likeable characters and plot. Albeit a bit simple at first with the plot. Art direction is good, spells look nice and flashy.

    A LOT of optional boss rebattles. The story is charming in it's simplicity up until the 5th chapter I believe. The game is 8 chapters long. From the 5th to the 8th chapter (with the exception of the finale) the game is completely redundant and I reeeeally had to push through and make myself complete it.

    You essentially have to do the same thing 4-5 times until something changes. Can't say much more without spoiling. Overall, I would definitely give the game a 7-8. Well worth your time and especially since the game is cheaper now, I would say it certainly deserves a spot in your 3ds library.    … Expand
  45. sammysanz
    Apr 25, 2016
    10
    Un juego muy grande para la portátil de Nintendo

    Con un planteamiento muy JRpg le ha sabido dar un aire fresco a este genero muy trillado para algunos pero que a mi personalmente me encanta de lucha por turnos, la historia que podría parecer buena como cualquiera de este genero se va volviendo genial con unos diálogos frescos y unos giros en la historia mas que atrayentes, gracias a    Un juego muy grande para la portátil de Nintendo

    Con un planteamiento muy JRpg le ha sabido dar un aire fresco a este genero muy trillado para algunos pero que a mi personalmente me encanta de lucha por turnos, la historia que podría parecer buena como cualquiera de este genero se va volviendo genial con unos diálogos frescos y unos giros en la historia mas que atrayentes, gracias a este juego jugar en una portátil rompe la barrera entre sistemas y no te hace pensar que bonito seria en una consola de "sobremesa" es incluso mejor poder disfrutar de este pequeño tesoro en una portátil la cual puede acompañarte en cualquier momento.

    Geniales voces y mejor banda sonora que acompaña al juego que mezcla guitarreo con algo mas clásico que sin duda recordaras mucho tiempo

    Obra maestra que hay que jugar SI o Si    … Expand
  46. TsukasaHiiragi
    Apr 2, 2016
    3
    Grindy, repetitive and has micro transactions. Should I continue? At least the game looks nice... as for the micro transactions, you can somewhat bypass that by leaving the game on in sleep mode - but still, its not a good system and reeks of a cash grab.
  47. manveru1986
    Mar 26, 2016
    9
    First jRPG I genuinely enjoy. Great story, deep characters, and manageable fights. Also, the graphical style is nice and looks pretty good on handheld device.
  48. var_stark
    Feb 23, 2016
    5
    As many said, this game is beautifully crafted, it is a new hope for turn based rpg, cool combat system, amazing bso, classes leveling... it lacks some exploration though. but the main problem for me is the second half of the game, instead of closing the narrative arch, or maybe just trying to swell the plot and explain the few important plot holes they decided to enlarge the life of theAs many said, this game is beautifully crafted, it is a new hope for turn based rpg, cool combat system, amazing bso, classes leveling... it lacks some exploration though. but the main problem for me is the second half of the game, instead of closing the narrative arch, or maybe just trying to swell the plot and explain the few important plot holes they decided to enlarge the life of the game by just repeating the main story with a few side quests, the worst thing is that the characters doesn't even try to do something about it they just do the same things until you complete all the bosses once again. It is obviously a lazy way to extend the game time, and it's annoying cause you just can't simply skip everything and go straight to the end, you have at least to re-kill the main bosses. Dude, i did it once, and it was hard, why do i have to do it all over again? did i do something wrong? why are you punishing me? that's not how a game should work, if i wanted to repeat the game i would simply restart the game and start all over again just for fun, but like this, it really looks like a punishment " Congratulations, you got to the end, but the bad guy won, so now YOU just have to do everything again, but harder this time" please no.… Expand
  49. moothemagiccow
    Feb 8, 2016
    5
    Almost a great game. If you stop playing at the end of Chapter 4, you've basically completed the game.
    The story is kind of dumb, the dialogue is terrible, the voice acting could be better, but the game itself? It's incredibly fun. Leveling up, getting new classes, learning skills and fighting bosses using the brave/default battle system is challenging and rewarding.
    But at the halfway    Almost a great game. If you stop playing at the end of Chapter 4, you've basically completed the game.
    The story is kind of dumb, the dialogue is terrible, the voice acting could be better, but the game itself? It's incredibly fun. Leveling up, getting new classes, learning skills and fighting bosses using the brave/default battle system is challenging and rewarding.
    But at the halfway point, you're asked to literally repeat the game's main goals. Then once more. And again. And you just want it all to stop. And all the challenge of fighting the same bosses becomes routine. Dull. Annoying. It's like being given a sports car on the condition that you only use it to deliver mail.    … Expand
  50. Reagan0
    Jan 1, 2016
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Yes, you've heard it a million times, the battle system of Bravely Default is to die for. It's a very strong spin on an archaic but arguably timeless RPG system. Not only do you have the emblematic Brave and Default features, but you also have Special moves, which play a unique minute-and-a-half battle theme for each character and give them bonuses until that theme ends. There's also a feature that lets you pause time and fire out a single move at once. The game is also a low-key city-builder (or village-builder) that lets you rebuild a town that is destroyed at the beginning of the game, all the while providing you cool pluses for doing so.

    On top of this, the art style of this game is wonderful and diverse. It's definitely a game you can play in 3D, at least as well as you can on the 3DS. You can see the grooves and the texture to the mountains and the buildings, which look hand-colored. There's profoundly amazing work on this game's art.

    On the other hand, THE SECOND HALF IS AWFUL.

    So, if it was better localized and the plot wasn't so vapid and repetitive, I'm sure I would like this game a lot more. Granted, I'm more on the casual end, but let's just say during the second half you might never want to play this game again. The ending is so convoluted and contrived. It makes Kingdom Hearts flip the damn table. (credit to Kingdom Hearts: at least they keep the whole story in one piece, and actually do it well).

    The game spends the first four chapters exploring different sections of the world that are easy to digest and explore over time. They each have their own world to them, and at the end you fight a certain boss.

    During the beginning of the second half, you have explored the entire map. You have to go back to each world and do a certain part of the story over again, then fight those certain bosses over again. Then, you do it again. And again. AND AGAIN.

    Maybe I played it wrong by rushing through the game. But then again, why is there even a wrong way to play it? The moral of the game, and they tell you this at every critical moment so it's not quite a spoiler, is this: Always question things. The ending of this game did not answer many of the questions I had. Questions like, why do you want me to buy Bravely Second points with real-life money? Isn't that pointless if the game has an end? Isn't that actually a horrible game mechanic that ruins the experience? Also, if I am supposed to question things, why do you throw a cop-out ending at me when I finally break the chain and destroy a crystal? Furthermore on destroying crystals, why didn't you give me the option to do that from the very beginning? Why did you give me training wheels and cap it immediately upon "Stop! That's it!" then take that away later on? How was I supposed to catch on with that cap preventing me from doing it every time until it became practical to the game's development? Speaking of things from the very beginning, if you're going to give me a means of exploring the entire world at the very beginning, then why do you just throw cutscenes at me telling me to go back whenever I'm just exploring and having fun with your world? And why do you expect me to be satisfied with an ending that is freaking ridiculous as this one? The theme of worlds constantly eating one another like the Greek Ouroboros symbol is cool, just like the rest of the game's art, but the script doesn't add up even a little! So many things happen at once that don't even fit together well! The entire game is explained with random explosions of exposition, and then it's all just thrown at you at once at the very end over a VERY monotonous boss chain! And that fairy MUST have said something other than "Thanks for stopping my sister's evil plan" in the original Japanese game. That is such a cop-out line. Why does the messenger of hell have a sister? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?! And if Tiz actually died in the eruption at Norende and the only reason, why does Bravely Second feature him? Is this some other world? Because the way you made me fight THE SAME FOUR BOSSES FOUR TIMES IN A ROW WITHOUT A HINT OF DIFFERENCE MAKES ME NOT WANT TO EXPLORE ANY MORE **** WORLDS ANETRUIANEITUYAIUTENHRI

    Sorry, sorry. I do really like the battle system of this game, and it drives it through a very cool game, up until the second half, which throws everything likeable about it out the window by making you fight the same bosses over and over again ad nauseum. I don't like that at all. It makes me profoundly frustrated just thinking about it because this game could've been so much better. This was supposed to be the game that would modernize this archaic genre and give it entirely new characteristics, like art and modern mechanics and 3D, and it just ruined so much inspiration at the end. At this point, "6" is a generous rating. You'd better be careful, game. Otherwise I might grow wings and start counting down to this review's Ouroboros-like destruction.    … Expand
  51. jaytomten
    Nov 18, 2015
    4
    If you had to finish this game to rate it the score would be much lower. The second half of the game is a major grind that adds very little to the story or game play. I don't recommend this game to anyone of my friends.
  52. Underpants158
    Oct 15, 2015
    8
    A game that starts off as a very cliche jrpg complete with elemental crystals, pure hearted lead character, and a bunch of under 20 year olds on a mission to save the world. It takes awhile for the story to get interesting and the characters to develop (i'm talking about 30 hours in) but boy what a payoff it is when they do. The default/brave system is a good enough gimmick tacked onto theA game that starts off as a very cliche jrpg complete with elemental crystals, pure hearted lead character, and a bunch of under 20 year olds on a mission to save the world. It takes awhile for the story to get interesting and the characters to develop (i'm talking about 30 hours in) but boy what a payoff it is when they do. The default/brave system is a good enough gimmick tacked onto the traditional jrpg combat system and the game allows you to change the difficulty and encounter rate. Judging from these last two features it would appear that the developers wanted to make a game more palatable to the modern gamer aka no grinding. However that is not the case as even on easy mode you will need to grind levels to progress. An other factor that really holds the game back is the end, when the story is getting good, nearly all of your gameplay is backtracking. Backtracking is necessary for the story they are telling but it felt like a chore and just after you have completed the chore of grinding. It is still a game worth playing and I am very excited for Bravely Second as a result of playing this game I just felt that those aspects held it back from being a true masterpiece.… Expand
  53. Aozz101x
    Sep 22, 2015
    9
    i could never get into this game,
    Bravely Default is one of the beautiful RPG games on there,
    The game concept is interesting, and game itself is fun, but at the end it really not my cup of tea, and maybe even the sequel won't be ether.
    9/10
  54. Ophenix
    Aug 31, 2015
    4
    This game isn't worthy of the 8.5 it has imo.
    The graphics is stunning and the battle system is cute but the plot is so horrible it pained me to play it.
    The characters are so one dimensional they boarder at satire. It isn't funny but it keeps trying and the princess, the second party member you get, is the most lazily written POS I've seen in a long long time. Vanille from FF13? She's    This game isn't worthy of the 8.5 it has imo.
    The graphics is stunning and the battle system is cute but the plot is so horrible it pained me to play it.
    The characters are so one dimensional they boarder at satire. It isn't funny but it keeps trying and the princess, the second party member you get, is the most lazily written POS I've seen in a long long time.
    Vanille from FF13? She's worse. She makes no sense and keeps harping on about nothing with a voice that makes you want to throw your 3DS out the window.
    I couldn't get past the 4th or 5th city, it was just THAT bad.
    If you need something to play on a flight or just don't care about the plot at all you can give this a try, otherwise pass.    … Expand
  55. Imamadkirby
    Aug 30, 2015
    8
    I have always had a soft spot for square-enix when it comes to rpgs. After so many disappointments after squaresoft merged, I had about given up till this game. The battle system is something fresh and having job classes to level gave an added depth for me. I would recommend this to anyone who has a 3ds and loves turn based rgs.
  56. mr_dad
    Aug 28, 2015
    9
    You can turn off the random battles!

    Since modern Final Fantasy is obsessed with turning itself into an action RPG series (with varying degrees of success), Bravely Default is a proper return to turn based JRPGs of the 16bit era. The story is nothing original, but still handles it's themes of tolerance and loyalty very well alongside a likable cast. The amount of customization in the    You can turn off the random battles!

    Since modern Final Fantasy is obsessed with turning itself into an action RPG series (with varying degrees of success), Bravely Default is a proper return to turn based JRPGs of the 16bit era. The story is nothing original, but still handles it's themes of tolerance and loyalty very well alongside a likable cast. The amount of customization in the job system, coupled with the deeply strategic new "Brave/Default" system, makes the gameplay feel wonderfully familiar yet a huge step towards the future for classical JRPGs.

    And guys, you can turn the random battles off!

    THE GOOD
    + Seemingly unlimited customization.
    + So much humor and personality that has been sorely lacking in many recent JRPGs.
    + You will never get tired of this glorious soundtrack. Never.
    + Adjustable difficulty and encounter rate. Seriously, I cannot emphasis how welcome this is.
    + The final chapter is wonderful.

    THE BAD
    - The premise is pretty standard.
    - The last several chapters (excluding the TRUE final chapter) redefine the word "repetitive."    … Expand
  57. sumi9lives
    Aug 2, 2015
    1
    I'm not entirely sure why this game has such good reviews. Play it for more than an hour and you'll find it's really, really, really bad.

    In the first hour, the game seems promising, the story seems epic and quite classic, reminiscent of the NES Final Fantasy games, the battle and job system remains fresh with a few new twists to the standard turn-based combat. It goes all downhill    I'm not entirely sure why this game has such good reviews. Play it for more than an hour and you'll find it's really, really, really bad.

    In the first hour, the game seems promising, the story seems epic and quite classic, reminiscent of the NES Final Fantasy games, the battle and job system remains fresh with a few new twists to the standard turn-based combat.

    It goes all downhill from there shockingly quickly. The story and character development is utter garbage. Each of the four party members is a one-dimensional caricature and all interactions amongst the characters harp incessantly about their single defining trait. Every single conversation can be summed up below:

    * Main Character mentions how important the mission is
    * Female sidekick gets angry
    * Male womanizer makes some comment about women
    * Female sidekick gets angry again
    * another dude still has no clue why he's in this group

    ...Yeah.

    The battle system is interesting at first. Too bad it gets old extremely quickly with uninspired character abilities as well as repetitive enemies. Strategy boils down to either everyone using "brave" to bum rush the enemies in round one or everyone using "default" three times and then bum rush the enemies.

    The dungeons are extremely simple, boring, and tedious to go through.

    The villains are just as one dimensional as the PCs.

    NPCs and side quests feel like you're playing fetch quests in WOW.

    Seriously, everything in this game is awful. Don't play this game. I'm really and truly stumped why this game has positive reviews... I feel like most of them are from people who played the game for an hour, because it does take more than an hour to see how bad the game really is. I put in 25 myself... for some reason I had no other games to play and wanted to subject myself to torture.    … Expand
  58. iipotato
    Jul 22, 2015
    8
    If you're prepared for loads of grinding and a whirlwind of emotions, welcome to Bravely Default. Bravely Default is the first of the Bravely Series, but don't think that it's bad BECAUSE it's the first of a series. This game has set high standards for Bravely Second.

    Pros: - The soundtrack is AMAZING. Consists of music that involves a variety of instruments, from violin to piano to    If you're prepared for loads of grinding and a whirlwind of emotions, welcome to Bravely Default. Bravely Default is the first of the Bravely Series, but don't think that it's bad BECAUSE it's the first of a series. This game has set high standards for Bravely Second.

    Pros:
    - The soundtrack is AMAZING. Consists of music that involves a variety of instruments, from violin to piano to electric guitar and so much more.
    - The story characters, such as the main 4 players and the bosses, all have a story. The asterisk bosses aren't just there to beat; as you play through the entire game, you will discover their backstories, and will find several bland or intricate.
    - Addictive battle system. Before getting this game, you really won't understand by just watching trailers; you have to actually play it yourself.
    - Variety of job combinations to experiment from. (Ninja/Spellfencer is my personal fave.)
    - I need to say this again. The music. Is. Fantastic.

    Cons
    - BELIEVE WHEN PLAYERS SAY THERE IS A LOT OF GRINDING. Because it is entirely true. At some point in the game, you make yourself have to. Many even work to max out the job skills and the levels for weeks and weeks.
    - LONG game. Will take you approx 70-100 hours to beat. (This can be viewed as pro if you enjoy long storylines though).
    - Known to be repetitive at a point in the game, but it really isn't. It depends on how you choose to play and view the chapters. I personally liked the "repetitive" part of the game more than the beginning.
    - Isn't really a game you'd want to play twice. One file will feel enough already.

    Get Bravely Default if you want to experience a hefty-yet-satisfying storyline, but don't if you aren't willing to spend HOURS on a game.    … Expand
  59. Carlitoxic
    May 18, 2015
    9
    Of this game could be said that it is from squaresoft, not from Square-enix. A beautiful story with great characters, and a modern combat system. This RPG remembers the great timming for Super Nintendo and PSX RPG.
  60. Johnnyfaye-Hero
    Apr 1, 2015
    7
    A flawed Master piece: Bravely Default is a wonderful game that has a great turned based battle structure that allows you to manipulate the flow of the game by speeding up or slowing down the random encounter of monster. The game also has an amazing hand drawn background with the 3DS graphics the game looks stunning and also has an interesting story line and ideas but seems to drop offA flawed Master piece: Bravely Default is a wonderful game that has a great turned based battle structure that allows you to manipulate the flow of the game by speeding up or slowing down the random encounter of monster. The game also has an amazing hand drawn background with the 3DS graphics the game looks stunning and also has an interesting story line and ideas but seems to drop off quickly. Around half way the game just story of stops and rewinds , which at first is very interesting, but the game literally makes you do the exact same thing over again. It would possibly be a 10 if it wasn't for the fact that the game literally just stops and makes you do everything over again, same posses, same levels, everything with a few different conversations thrown in. Everything else about the game is fantastic, Bravely is a wonderful hand drawn game with few major mistakes thrown in. Some people find these flaws too much and stop playing it. I guess this would be the same as the ending of Windwaker where you have to go find the 8 pieces at the end. It seems tacked on, it seems like a weak attempt to extend the game. This means that Bravely Default is a good game instead of a classic...… Expand
  61. Titannumber20
    Mar 15, 2015
    8
    This game is , in my opinion, one of the best games of 2014. The battle system, from which the game derives is name, is very innovative. Other than the standard options, you have a 'Brave' and a 'Default' option. Using the 'Brave' option, you can attack multiple times in a turn and by using the 'Default' option, you can bide your time and attack. This makes for some interesting strategicalThis game is , in my opinion, one of the best games of 2014. The battle system, from which the game derives is name, is very innovative. Other than the standard options, you have a 'Brave' and a 'Default' option. Using the 'Brave' option, you can attack multiple times in a turn and by using the 'Default' option, you can bide your time and attack. This makes for some interesting strategical choices.
    This game also has a huge selection of jobs, each job being unique and having its own unique abilities and attacks. This offers even more choices to the player as you can play the game the way you want.
    This game also has a good story and a large amount of game time.
    One of the major flaws of this game is the repetitiveness of the second half of the game. Without spoiling too much, you are forced to repeat the same tasks over and over again. This just takes away all the momentum of the story and it turns out the be a grind. I almost stopped playing the game at this point.
    But I kept plugging away and I finally did finish the game, and the ending proved to be worth it.
    This major flaw alone should make the game get a 7/10, but honestly, I had a lot of fun with this game, and I have decided to award it an 8/10.    … Expand
  62. edwartexe
    Mar 11, 2015
    6
    the game is okay but it serves many problems in its story. there are quite some plot holes and the main characters are plain and one dimensional, they just dont get enough focus. only ringabel gets decent development but its mostly due to one of the bosses. in this game almost every single human boss is more interesting than the 4 mc ( which is specialy jarring due to Tiz, the playerthe game is okay but it serves many problems in its story. there are quite some plot holes and the main characters are plain and one dimensional, they just dont get enough focus. only ringabel gets decent development but its mostly due to one of the bosses. in this game almost every single human boss is more interesting than the 4 mc ( which is specialy jarring due to Tiz, the player character, being absolutley un-nessesary... if he was not there the story would be the same). the twist was not that great ... surprizing but shallow in the end because the main bad guy has no real motive for being evil ... it just is evil for the sake of being evil and not in an interesting way.
    the gameplay is great. its the only good reason why to play this game, its combat system is deep and strategy plays a bigger role than grinding. tons of choises and posible playstyles are there. however this is an rpg from the FF serie and when the gameplay is better than its story it somehow feels cheap. but whats more cheap is the fact that after ch.4 half of the game consists on backtracking and killing the same bosses over and over for no justifiable reason other than making the game longer... they didnt even bother to change their attack patterns so they become pushovers by the time you fight them again ... and again and again.
    summary: the combat system is great and an example of great turn based combar, but the story is bad and so are the character developments. i dont really consider it worthy of so much praise its been given    … Expand
  63. beezle13
    Feb 28, 2015
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Recently I just finished Bravely Default and all I have to say is... Wow. From the job system, to the colorful new Brave/Default combat system, and the intriguing story, it's a blast and enjoyable for any fan of RPGs. The artwork and most of the music is gorgeous as well.

    The cons? About halfway through the game it feels like Square hit a budget wall and cops out by having you re-do the four crystal awakenings 5 times! (For the TRUE ending anyways) This sadly brought my amazement to a grinding halt as the 16 extra crystal awakenings felt tedious as all hell with little story or character development during it all.

    So why did I give it an 8? It's still a blast. Towards the end it picks up speed again and throws in a few interesting twists and has a mindblowing last boss fight that I thoroughly enjoyed.

    TL;DR- New job system, new combat, interesting plot, good music, slow tedious patch for a chunk in the middle. Worth getting? Yes.    … Expand
  64. dingdong
    Feb 16, 2015
    6
    When I first picked up the game and played through the first half of the story, I thought this would be an easy 9/10 review. It *almost* reminds me of the good ol' JRPG days, with great character building and tweaking (see FF job systems), and pretty decent story, too. But that all ended for me once I hit the half-way point of the story. I don't want to spoil anything but the second halfWhen I first picked up the game and played through the first half of the story, I thought this would be an easy 9/10 review. It *almost* reminds me of the good ol' JRPG days, with great character building and tweaking (see FF job systems), and pretty decent story, too. But that all ended for me once I hit the half-way point of the story. I don't want to spoil anything but the second half of the game is such an utter disappointment - incredibly repetitive with zero incentive to the story - to really keep plowing through. Bummer.… Expand
  65. ejoseph
    Feb 15, 2015
    9
    i loved this game. i just wish the last half of the game was cut out. can't wait for bravely second. awesome gameplay mechanics. i want more. bravely second will be the best game ever if it doesn't have repetitive last half of game.
  66. ChanReview
    Feb 15, 2015
    8
    If you like Final Fantasy and every other typical Square Enix game, then this is for you! Graphics and art is absolutely stunning and the script is well done. Voice acting, one voice in particular, left much to desire; however voice is based on personal opinion. Game play is smooth, the option to adjust encounter rate was GENIUS (no zubat cave yay) and the dungeons were at a good length.If you like Final Fantasy and every other typical Square Enix game, then this is for you! Graphics and art is absolutely stunning and the script is well done. Voice acting, one voice in particular, left much to desire; however voice is based on personal opinion. Game play is smooth, the option to adjust encounter rate was GENIUS (no zubat cave yay) and the dungeons were at a good length.
    Lost points on unnecessary repetitiveness and character development and relationships was lacking. Only felt a real connection to one particular character.
    In saying this, I did not let go of this game for 3 days straight.    … Expand
  67. Mystril
    Feb 14, 2015
    10
    Bravely default is a gem. I have finally come around and warmed to JRPG's and this is one of the better ones out now (modern releases). If you like JRPG's aswell this one should be in your gaming catalogue. ATM. I can't wait for the second one, go buy this one asap.
  68. Reace14
    Feb 7, 2015
    7
    Half of the game is repeated... not once, not twice... but over and over and over again. It's a cheap and lazy way of extending the game's play time. A HUGE flaw in an otherwise decent JRPG with a mediocre story but excellent class and ability system. The battle system and gear selection force a little more strategy into boss fights than I am accustomed to in JRPGs, and was one of theHalf of the game is repeated... not once, not twice... but over and over and over again. It's a cheap and lazy way of extending the game's play time. A HUGE flaw in an otherwise decent JRPG with a mediocre story but excellent class and ability system. The battle system and gear selection force a little more strategy into boss fights than I am accustomed to in JRPGs, and was one of the bright spots in an otherwise typical game. Learning the strategies for each boss was a lot of fun... even if they weren't exactly difficult. Only once or twice did my entire team wipe. Even the few times I did lose and reload from the last checkpoint, it was a simple matter of changing up gearjobsabilities to adjust to a new strategy. I would have scored it higher had I not had to replay certain parts of the game multiple times! Ridiculous.… Expand
  69. crazycrab
    Jan 2, 2015
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bought this game expecting a masterpiece RPG, instead what I got was a huge disappointment. The plot, dialogues and characters are poorly written. The world map and dungeons are poorly designed. The job system and music are this game’s only redeeming points.

    The story is not just cliché, but also a poorly told cliché. The world is crumbling and no one seems to be doing anything except the 4 main character. The sea has become rotten and everyone just casually mentions it like nothing. There is no chemistry between the party members, how the party came together is also rushed and sloppy. The dialogues, most of the times are painful to listen at.
    Cities are beautiful but lifeless, the world map and dungeons both seems generic. Cities or countries are not explained at all, kings acts like fools with no regard to the rest of the world.

    The hometown can be rebuilt simply by assigning people to construct buildings? And seems to only serve the party’s shopping benefit. When I tried using the SP in a battle, the main character actually said some promotional words which is sad instead of funny.

    Auto battle function is clumsy, enemy’s information is hidden by a left analog stick toggle which is very unnecessary. Weakness must be examined. Brave and Default mode does bring something new to battles but that’s about it. To acquire new jobs you must go through various sub-story which only means more nonsense dialogue and plots that hurts your common sense and sense of humor.

    Played until chapter 2 in which the party decides to enter a beauty contest? That’s all I can bear. I guess the plot might develop and twist as the game progress but from what I’ve seen in the first 2 chapters, I want no part on what is about to happen next in the story.    … Expand
  70. cidgrad01
    Dec 18, 2014
    10
    Considering how awful the Final Fantasy 13 series has been, I was afraid Bravely Default would be yet another disappointment from Square Enix. I am happy to say my fears were unfounded. Bravely Default is an amazing RPG that channels the best of the Final Fantasy series without feeling like it is standing on its shoulders.

    It’s as if Squeenix drafted a team of long time Final Fantasy    Considering how awful the Final Fantasy 13 series has been, I was afraid Bravely Default would be yet another disappointment from Square Enix. I am happy to say my fears were unfounded. Bravely Default is an amazing RPG that channels the best of the Final Fantasy series without feeling like it is standing on its shoulders.

    It’s as if Squeenix drafted a team of long time Final Fantasy fans and let them put whatever they wanted into the game (except the name Final Fantasy in the title). I went in expecting a shallow time-waster that would feel like a FF5 clone. This is not true at all. My biggest surprise is how much I enjoyed the story and grew to like the characters. The overall tone is more lighthearted than, say, FF7 but B.D. still manages to deliver a fun narrative that keeps you playing. This includes surprisingly sharp dialogue and genuinely funny exchanges (such as Edea’s pronunciation of “Mrgrgr!” and her frequent bickering with Ringabel).

    The narrative is not the only thing that will keep you playing, though. Everything else is great, too, from the voice acting to the music, visuals & gameplay. The whole brave/default system is a brilliant idea which breathes new life into turn-based combat. It goes very well with the large number of jobs you can unlock.

    I could go on for quite a long time naming all the features I love about this game, but suffice it to say that you will like it if you are an old school Final Fantasy fan or a RPG fan in general. If you already have a 3DS it is a must play and if you don’t have one and like RPGs, you should think long & hard about getting a 3DS. If Squeenix is going to continue sinking the FF series into the toilet, then B.D. is a wonderful start for a new series that can be its successor.    … Expand
  71. montero
    Dec 12, 2014
    3
    I would describe this game with a single word: "repetitive". And it's not about lvl grinding. It's because you do the same stuff, beat the same bosses and keep reviving the crystals until it is painful and boring to death.
    This game was very promising during the first chapters: graphics are very nice, all dialogs are voice-acted, battle dynamics are good, and the job system is somewhat    I would describe this game with a single word: "repetitive". And it's not about lvl grinding. It's because you do the same stuff, beat the same bosses and keep reviving the crystals until it is painful and boring to death.
    This game was very promising during the first chapters: graphics are very nice, all dialogs are voice-acted, battle dynamics are good, and the job system is somewhat traditional but you can live with it. There are some awesome skills to obtain and everything was going so nice...
    But as you progress in the game, everything gets recycled and monotone. The end is extremely dissapointing. I completed the game but I really cannot recommend it.    … Expand
  72. midway23
    Dec 10, 2014
    6
    While the art style and new interesting take on the battle system make "Bravley Default" stand out from other JRPG's, its gameplay mechanics still feel incredibly outdated by today's standards. While some fun can be found, the absence of a decent story and the inclusion of near terrible voice acting, makes me question if this game was really worth going through.
  73. saxo27
    Nov 12, 2014
    4
    I feel terrible giving this game a low score. I very much wanted to like this game. However, the felt quite slow, the art style was a bit too dark at times and the characters were not appealing. I can understand how some players can love this game and I can see the effort and care the developers put into the game. From my perspective, I give it a low score. But, I can see someone playingI feel terrible giving this game a low score. I very much wanted to like this game. However, the felt quite slow, the art style was a bit too dark at times and the characters were not appealing. I can understand how some players can love this game and I can see the effort and care the developers put into the game. From my perspective, I give it a low score. But, I can see someone playing it and falling in love with it. Enjoy.… Expand
  74. pinball123
    Nov 8, 2014
    9
    This would be a 10 if it weren't for the second half. Simply a must play game for JRPG fans. The story and production is perfect in this game. Play it if you like JRPGS
  75. oathkeepings
    Nov 4, 2014
    10
    Beautiful game art, amazing soundtrack. Great for anyone who loves the classic, turn-based RPG feel. Large selection of jobs to choose from, amazing story line. What more can anyone ask for?
  76. ACM3PTS
    Oct 30, 2014
    9
    If you have a 3DS you should give this game a try. It's soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard, the gameplay is challenging and addictive, and the job system is awesome. The story is good, nothing spectacular but good, and the characters are likable. By far the best thing in the game is the combat system and the smart enemy AI, they make the boss battles amazing. They also added theIf you have a 3DS you should give this game a try. It's soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard, the gameplay is challenging and addictive, and the job system is awesome. The story is good, nothing spectacular but good, and the characters are likable. By far the best thing in the game is the combat system and the smart enemy AI, they make the boss battles amazing. They also added the option to lower or turn off random events which is a great inclusion for the casual market.… Expand
  77. Hey-its-Hudson
    Oct 22, 2014
    4
    So I have just completed Bravely Default after 96 hours. Now for my final thoughts about this game, a game that at the start I loved and would recommended it to anyone, but that love quickly turned sour as the game progressed past chapter 5 into nothing more than garbage. Although it did redeem some of its credibility back near the very end, it still felt like wasted potential. But all mySo I have just completed Bravely Default after 96 hours. Now for my final thoughts about this game, a game that at the start I loved and would recommended it to anyone, but that love quickly turned sour as the game progressed past chapter 5 into nothing more than garbage. Although it did redeem some of its credibility back near the very end, it still felt like wasted potential. But all my hopes laid on the ending, if the ending was satisfying I could let it pass, maybe all that hardship could be left behind, but no, bravely default up until the very end managed to stay a disappointment and I would not recommend this game. If I had to rate this I would give it two ratings
    Chapters 1-4 I would give it a 9/10
    Chapters 5-9 I give it a 4/10
    This game had solid characters, combat and fun bosses but then it just destroyed all that build up and made everything you do seem pointless and unrewarding. I hope all is fixed in its squeal Bravely Second, cause that combat and style is the only thing that is keeping me invested in buying it.    … Expand
  78. dman4380
    Sep 10, 2014
    8
    Bravely Default is a fantastic game. A traditional jRPG in nature, it also brings its own distinct style to the genre, and is sure to please fans of older Final Fantasy games. The story revolves around four youngsters brought together to protect the world from darkness. It's effective and engaging, although it does get repetitive in the latter half of the game. The soundtrack is excellent,Bravely Default is a fantastic game. A traditional jRPG in nature, it also brings its own distinct style to the genre, and is sure to please fans of older Final Fantasy games. The story revolves around four youngsters brought together to protect the world from darkness. It's effective and engaging, although it does get repetitive in the latter half of the game. The soundtrack is excellent, sporting many beautiful tracks. Bravely Default also has some of the nicest-looking graphics on the 3DS. The characters are chibi-style, and do not look harsh against the backdrops, containing some of the most beautiful hand-drawn backgrounds and locales I have ever seen. The gameplay is turn-based and in the same vein as older Final Fantasy games, with an extensive Job system allowing for great character customization. The uniqueness of its gameplay comes in the "Brave" and "Default" actions, which allow for stacking of commands in a single turn to decimate foes. For want of criticism, the game feels stretched and overlong, bosses have sudden and huge difficulty spikes, and the voice-acting can grate. If you're willing to overlook this, though, you're lloking at one of the best jRPGs in recent memory.… Expand
  79. BasilZero
    Aug 23, 2014
    10
    Game: Bravely Default
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: Squareenix/Silicon Studios System: Nintendo 3DS (3DS) Total Score: 95/100 Value Score: 9.5/10 • Story: 8/10 • Characters: 8/10 • GamePlay: 10/10 • Graphics: 9/10 • Sound: 10/10 • Music: 10/10 • Length: 10/10 • Replay Value: 10/10 • Player Value: 10/10 Pros +Colorful cast of characters +Very Original Storyline +Game    Game: Bravely Default
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: Squareenix/Silicon Studios
    System: Nintendo 3DS (3DS)
    Total Score: 95/100
    Value Score: 9.5/10

    • Story: 8/10
    • Characters: 8/10
    • GamePlay: 10/10
    • Graphics: 9/10
    • Sound: 10/10
    • Music: 10/10
    • Length: 10/10
    • Replay Value: 10/10
    • Player Value: 10/10

    Pros
    +Colorful cast of characters
    +Very Original Storyline
    +Game plays like classic Final Fantasy series
    +A lot of great aspects from the FF series such as the items, equipment, magic spells, enemy cameos, summon cameos and story elements
    +Job system is like a mixture of FF3/5's job system with FF9's leveling up system
    +A lot of customization such as changing enemy encounter rate, difficulty, speed of battles
    +A lot of social player features such as the ability to send your skills over to a friend
    +Unique mini game where you can rebuild Norende town which can yield to powerful items and extra boss battles with unique monsters
    +New Game+ is included with more than 1 ending
    +Well designed environments and overall design
    +Great sound effects and a fantastic sound track
    +A lot of replayability and length in the overall game

    Cons
    -Some of the characters seem generic or just too annoying
    -Storyline builds up great but somewhat becomes repetitive second half of the game with few people may hating this aspect although it brings somewhat of a few differences    … Expand
  80. Hakuiin
    Aug 19, 2014
    10
    When I first got the game, I was a bit shaky because of the odd title. So when I started playing it, I was amazed. Each town has wonderful art and the battle system is very unique. It has many different jobs and abilities, making no team the same, and adds a lot of variety.
  81. kasparius
    Jul 17, 2014
    5
    I'm giving it 5/10, because the customizable battle system is absolutely wonderful and the graphics are great for 3DS, the streetpass town progression was a great idea, however it ceases being of any use after a few hours in the game, and that's really too bad.

    However this is where it ends, the story is absolutely bare bones and the characters have zero charisma and the humor is    I'm giving it 5/10, because the customizable battle system is absolutely wonderful and the graphics are great for 3DS, the streetpass town progression was a great idea, however it ceases being of any use after a few hours in the game, and that's really too bad.

    However this is where it ends, the story is absolutely bare bones and the characters have zero charisma and the humor is abysmal and offensively dumb. A very disappointing game, if they re-use the battle system within a good game, I would love to tackle it. As it stands after about 8 hours of the game, I decided that it just was not worth my time.    … Expand
  82. merchers
    Jul 14, 2014
    3
    The game starts out rather interesting and the battle system is a new spin on turn-based fighting, but the dialogue is cheesy, the characters make terrible decisions that alienate them from the player, and the game loses all of it's steam about halfway through. After the halfway mark all boss battles are recycled multiple times and the player is forced to defeat them again and again withThe game starts out rather interesting and the battle system is a new spin on turn-based fighting, but the dialogue is cheesy, the characters make terrible decisions that alienate them from the player, and the game loses all of it's steam about halfway through. After the halfway mark all boss battles are recycled multiple times and the player is forced to defeat them again and again with very few variations, leaving you frustrated and unmotivated. It's very disheartening knowing exactly what is going to happen in the next 10 hours of gameplay. I quite liked the game at the start but ended up absolutely resenting it.… Expand
  83. TrueJustice123
    Jul 7, 2014
    10
    Okay, first off. This game, is my favorite Video Game of all time, and it is very hard to even get on my top 10 list, so you imagine how amazing this game is for me. Admittedly, I'm a sucker for RPGs, but this is more than a typical RPG.

    First off, the Visuals, absolutely gorgeous. There are a lot of minute details that are so fun to notice, such as noticing Anchiem has no earth    Okay, first off. This game, is my favorite Video Game of all time, and it is very hard to even get on my top 10 list, so you imagine how amazing this game is for me. Admittedly, I'm a sucker for RPGs, but this is more than a typical RPG.

    First off, the Visuals, absolutely gorgeous. There are a lot of minute details that are so fun to notice, such as noticing Anchiem has no earth underneath it, and is just hanging from its sides. There isn't much to say about the visuals except for the fact that they're absolutely stunning.

    The music. While it never stood out to me, it is still a very nice soundtrack that I wouldn't mind purchasing at all. Also, the Voice Acting is very well done. Anyone who says otherwise... Mrgrgr...

    The story... If I did explain even the first 30 minutes, I'd go way over the 5000 character limit. So, I'll explain just the intro. You are greeted by a little fairy, and she asks you to go on a journey, and to never leave. Not much choice with this game, or... At all... She assumes you say yes and thanks you, and you are introduced to our four main characters through the most beautiful cutscene in gaming. You see a Girl, wielding a sword, and you hear her explain herself. "I am Edea Lee" are the first things you hear. She is battling a Master of the sword and loses, she then is given a blade by the Swordsmaster after hers is broken, and then sent off. She is the daughter of the Templar, but you don't quite know who that is until later on. You then are introduced to a man in a city, he says he has no memory, but says his name is "Ringabel", which I greatly enjoy the pun of, he is introduced as a "ladies' man". You then see a girl in a temple. "I am Angés Oblige." You hear. She then says she is the "Vestal of Wind", whatever that means. (You find out later.) She is praying to a Green Crystal. (The Wind Crystal, it's a Final Fantasy-esque game, what did you expect?) Then it turns a black and seems to explode. You hear "Protect the Vestal!" and all the Torches lighting the area go black. You then are introduced to a young man, "My name is Tiz Arrior." you hear. He lives with hid Brother, Til, in the village of Norende, living a calm, peaceful life. Suddenly, the city starts being consumed by an abyss forming from the inside out. Tiz and Til run, but Til falls, Tiz manages to grab his hand and attempts to pull him up. Til says to his brother, "Let me go! We'll both fall at this rate!" and Tiz still keeps trying, but he loses his grip, and his brother falls... An amazing way to introduce you to the characters, huh? The rest of the story gets even better, especially with all the side-quests giving you bonus parts of the story (along with new jobs).

    The Gameplay is where the game shines its brightest, so, I'll start with the selling point of the game, the Brave and Default system. You have Brave Points, every action requires one Brave Point and you get a Brave Point at the end of a turn. You can use Brave up to three times per turn, allowing for a maximum of 4 actions per character. Default is the guard of this game, but not only that, but it doesn't cost Brave Points to use, so you can accumulate Brave Points over time. You can also Brave from the beginning and go into the Negative, but until you're back out of negative BP, you can't act. Also, there's SP, which is BP on steroids. You can accumulate SP by putting your DS in Sleep Mode while Playing, and every 8 hours, you get 1 SP. s with BP, you can get a maximum of 3 SP, and also go into the negatives. What makes SP so special is that you can use it at any time. Also, while attacking with SP, you can go over the damage limit of 9,999 and go all the way up to 999,999 damage in one attack, which is easy in no way, shape, or form. Also is the Job system. These are the incentives to doing side quests, unless you want the story like me. You can get ~9 jobs through the main story, but with side quests you can get all the others for a total of 24 each character can have 2 jobs at the same time, one primary, the other secondary. The primary job grants the look of the character and a passive ability and can level up. The secondary only has the battle commands for that job. You can switch jobs at any time, allowing for a lot of customization. Along with attack commands, when a job levels up you can unlock a support ability, which is an equip-able passive skill. You start with one support slot and unlock 4 more throughout the story. Some abilities take up more than one slot. A support skill can be used regardless of what job you are, whether you are using the job that it is from or not. The entire job system allows for so much character customization and I love it for that. There's also an equipment system and item system, generic Final Fantasy stuff. But the equipment is more like Dragon Quest 9's equipment system, minus effecting the character's look (minus costumes).

    So, yeah. My favorite game, and why. Do yourself a favor and buy it.    … Expand
  84. erhanz
    Jun 30, 2014
    8
    Finished this 3DS game last week. And i must tell you that the game is great. I mean square enix is back to the basic again. I guess we'll see more great games from Square Enix soon.
    The story start with Tiz, a normal villager who suddenly lost his entire village and family to a great chasm, leaving a big hole on where it used to be. And soon after that, he met Agnes, the Wind Vestal who    Finished this 3DS game last week. And i must tell you that the game is great. I mean square enix is back to the basic again. I guess we'll see more great games from Square Enix soon.
    The story start with Tiz, a normal villager who suddenly lost his entire village and family to a great chasm, leaving a big hole on where it used to be. And soon after that, he met Agnes, the Wind Vestal who is looking for a way to fix what happened, together with her fairy, Airy. So, can Tiz & Agnes find out what happened and fix it? Play and find out about it.

    Plus point:
    - Oldschool RPG. I mean, this is the kind of RPG we are looking for now. A turn based one, with a great adventure waiting. It's a basic RPG, which makes it good.
    - Great plot. I mean you totally won't see that coming. The reason for the Great Chasm, the reason why the Marshall wants to kill Agnes, and the mastermind behind all of this? It's kinda mind blowing.
    - LOTS of jobs to choose. I mean like LOTS of it. From Ninja, Swordmaster, even Vampire. This just makes the game enjoyable. People can find their own style with the job they likes. So everyone can have a different experience when playing the same game.
    - Dual voice! Which is awesome. Finally Square Enix understands the need of their gamer. Hearing those cute voice of Edea is just awesome!

    Minus point:
    - Even though it has a great plot, the execution is kinda bad. I mean can you stand the same story, and the same pattern for 4 chapters straight? That's just crazy and makes it boring at one point.
    - The world is too small, and not enough adventures. I thought that the journey would be much longer and would took us to lots of different places, but i was wrong. The world map is small and has limited place to explore.

    The Verdict: Bravely Default is great classic RPG for us. If you have 3DS, just grab it. But i must remind you first, the game gets boring at some point. Also, the story isn't as simple as you think. You gonna need a little thinking to understand it. The game is totally fun, and refreshing. 8.5 for this game.    … Expand
  85. SenshiV
    Jun 20, 2014
    4
    I feel sorry that many people commented on this game before finishing it. The game is great at the beginning, it's almost perfect. Then it becomes repetitive as hell and I am not specifying how to make the comment spoil-less, but I ended up hating it. Going over and over the same bunch of things reading the same dialog repeatedly with a little bit of something new that is totallyI feel sorry that many people commented on this game before finishing it. The game is great at the beginning, it's almost perfect. Then it becomes repetitive as hell and I am not specifying how to make the comment spoil-less, but I ended up hating it. Going over and over the same bunch of things reading the same dialog repeatedly with a little bit of something new that is totally irrelevant or could have been added to some other part in the game....I also believed it was the return of classic Final Fantasy as much that I called this game Final Fantasy Beverly Default, but I repeat, after the first half, i only wanted to throw away my 3DS to a solid wall and break it. *badwordhere* developers who tough doing that over and over was a good idea, hope you never make a game again..or do, but only make a 'first half' and them just leave it as it is.… Expand
  86. CorazonAzul
    Jun 18, 2014
    9
    In an ages-overdue delivery, Square-Enix finds dignity and declares not to have forgotten what a good J-RPG is. Surprisingly well intact, Bravely Default attentively caters to difficulty mongers and story-lovers alike. Rivaling or topping previous great J-RPG works among the expansive DS library, problems are few and achievements are high.
  87. HappyPizzaMonk
    Jun 17, 2014
    10
    This is the best Japanese RPG ever. It has the best turn based combat ever and a great cast of characters. Better than any game on Playstation Vita. Get it now.
  88. wubala
    Jun 12, 2014
    8
    First of all I like the BP combat system, adds a little bit of variety to your classic turn based rpg.
    The rebuilding of the town to unlock items and being able to send and receive moves to your friends is also kind of neat.
    The SP idea is cool (you get 1 point per 8 hours in sleep) but I don't like the idea of being able to buy 'SP drinks' with real money. Please leave the micro    First of all I like the BP combat system, adds a little bit of variety to your classic turn based rpg.
    The rebuilding of the town to unlock items and being able to send and receive moves to your friends is also kind of neat.
    The SP idea is cool (you get 1 point per 8 hours in sleep) but I don't like the idea of being able to buy 'SP drinks' with real money. Please leave the micro transactions to phone games.
    This game really utilizes the 3D and it looks great.
    Really my only issue with the game is that the story and dialogue is god awful.    … Expand
  89. chaos50
    Jun 5, 2014
    9
    Great game that harkens back to older Final Fantasy before it went to all flash and little substance. A Final Fantasy game just without the name. Probably more FF than 13 I'd say. The only minor flaw in the game is its ending (at least if you are going for the True Ending). The last 2 chapters are nothing but a big long boss run. You'll probably want it done by end of Chapter 6 rather thanGreat game that harkens back to older Final Fantasy before it went to all flash and little substance. A Final Fantasy game just without the name. Probably more FF than 13 I'd say. The only minor flaw in the game is its ending (at least if you are going for the True Ending). The last 2 chapters are nothing but a big long boss run. You'll probably want it done by end of Chapter 6 rather than 8. Still at least play it until chapter 6 and then perhaps find the “not so true ending” and be done with it.

    Pros:
    1) Great gameplay
    2) Excellent customizations (difficulty and random encounters can be set on the fly)
    3) Great combat / Brave / Default tactics
    4) Good class customizations

    Cons:
    1) Last 2 chapters
    2) Cheesy (even daft) main characters who can't think logically... (well the game tries to justify it but its pretty obvious they aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

    Conclusion:
    Get this game if you have any small interest in RPGs especially JPRGS. Actually … you probably already bought it if you are a fan of JRPGs. Everyone else should give it a try. Wished they would make a proper console (not handled version) or at least vita with better graphics (cant blame the game as the hardware limited this)    … Expand
  90. Epiternal
    Jun 3, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What I'm about to say might shock some people, but, Bravely Default was not THAT amazing. I gave it an 8, yes, because it was a good game, what it was not however is "OMG the best thing since sliced bread" or "The rebirth of the classics or whatever". What it did is just take good elements from older games and keep them good, more accurately as the spiritual successor to Final Fantasy and the 4 Heroes of Light, it basically redeemed it. The game has a lot of classic elements like the job system and related skills, many of which are well balanced and you'd find it hard to make it through the whole game without at least using every job once. The combat I especially love, the introduction of 'Brave' And Default', while very obviously forced was a simple and highly effective inclusion, it's nice to able to get weak enemies out of the way easily by braving the stuffing out of them. Other than that though the game doesn't have much else to offer, aside from the Dark Knight every job related character is a personified embodiment of their job and after fighting them a million times in the the most thoughtlessly included back and forth timeline in the history of video games I quickly learned to hate them, though I can appreciate them for what they were and how they changed based on the same situation with different variables. That was my only major gripe with the game, the going back and forth through the same world, overcoming the same temples, beating the same bosses over and over. yes they changed slightly, but not enough to keep it from getting boring. It was a game that could have benefited from less, if it had gone straight from beating the temples the first time straight to the end I'd have liked it a lot more, granted it wouldn't have made any sense, but it'd be a sacrifice I was willing to pay by the end of the game.
    Overall it was a great game though, would highly recommend to all RPG fans, just try not to be discouraged when it starts to get boring. Am really looking forward to the sequel: Bravely Second.    … Expand
  91. Wawacoffee89
    May 27, 2014
    9
    Very good Square Enix! Back to the basics. I couldnt beg enough for a traditional, turn based rpg. Now all they need is a console game, and ill be in love again =) This delivers this and much more. Story is awesome, job class intergration with each character plus the more friends you have, the more benefits you get from them. 100+ hour game to do everything. A def play for 3ds owners andVery good Square Enix! Back to the basics. I couldnt beg enough for a traditional, turn based rpg. Now all they need is a console game, and ill be in love again =) This delivers this and much more. Story is awesome, job class intergration with each character plus the more friends you have, the more benefits you get from them. 100+ hour game to do everything. A def play for 3ds owners and rpg lovers.… Expand
  92. Asheciel
    May 27, 2014
    9
    Story: 10/10
    - Intriguing story, always aware of its elements and progression.
    Gameplay: 8/10 - The Brave and Default mechanic during battles makes turn-based fights more vivid and intense. Art: 9/10 - Stylized and charismatic. Characters: 9/10 - Substantial character growth throughout the game, it makes the player wonder about everyone's backstory and relationship to each other.    Story: 10/10
    - Intriguing story, always aware of its elements and progression.
    Gameplay: 8/10
    - The Brave and Default mechanic during battles makes turn-based fights more vivid and intense.
    Art: 9/10
    - Stylized and charismatic.
    Characters: 9/10
    - Substantial character growth throughout the game, it makes the player wonder about everyone's backstory and relationship to each other.
    Sound: 9/10
    - Enjoyable soundtracks; each playable character has her/his own special move theme.
    Enjoyment: 10/10
    - I had a lot of fun playing this game from start to finish.
    The intricate story made the game's characters fascinating and amusing.    … Expand
  93. danech10
    May 16, 2014
    7
    A great experience for about the first 12-15 hours or so, then it gets real boring real fast. The plot devolves into generic RPG fare, the characters start to get on your nerves, and the amount of backtracking put in place to pad out the game's length begins to rear its ugly head as well.

    There's tons of innovative little stuff in the game like Norende and abilink, and the battle system    A great experience for about the first 12-15 hours or so, then it gets real boring real fast. The plot devolves into generic RPG fare, the characters start to get on your nerves, and the amount of backtracking put in place to pad out the game's length begins to rear its ugly head as well.

    There's tons of innovative little stuff in the game like Norende and abilink, and the battle system (on normal difficulty) provides a nice puzzle at each of the boss fights, although most of the grunts can be taken care of in one turn.

    If you don't mind doing a lot of grinding between long stretches of absolutely nothing happening in the plot, then you probably won't mind. If you're the type of player that enjoys leveling up all the job classes fully, then you'll find plenty of opportunity for just that.

    But if you're looking for an interesting story told at a good pace to keep you engaged, you'll be a bit disappointed with BD.    … Expand
  94. Plasmaneedle
    May 15, 2014
    9
    Bravely Default is a landmark JRPG. It's an interesting new take on the turn based battle system allows for whole new layers of depth adding new strategies and making the standard formula more addictive. And the enemies present a challenge which forces you to dig deep into the combat system to find new strategies for taking down enemies. The plot and characters aren't the greatest but theyBravely Default is a landmark JRPG. It's an interesting new take on the turn based battle system allows for whole new layers of depth adding new strategies and making the standard formula more addictive. And the enemies present a challenge which forces you to dig deep into the combat system to find new strategies for taking down enemies. The plot and characters aren't the greatest but they could be worse.… Expand
  95. tharp
    May 13, 2014
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My favourite thing about this game is that you can change the game difficulty and the encounter percentage. It is very similar to Final Fantasy but it's a little better. This game is very good except for the repeating features such as when the 4 characters awake the crystals (which is an in-game feature) over and over again. Also,, the voice acting in English isn't too good but.. I'm okay with it. I would recommend it to anyone 10+.… Expand
  96. ricklongo
    May 2, 2014
    9
    This is the same kind of Japanese RPG experience older gamers will remember from the SNES or PSOne, and I say this in the most complimentary way possible. Everything is here: an apotheotic world-saving plot, quirky characters, turn-based combat and loads of innovative features that should please old fans and new players alike.

    You command a party of four characters with different    This is the same kind of Japanese RPG experience older gamers will remember from the SNES or PSOne, and I say this in the most complimentary way possible. Everything is here: an apotheotic world-saving plot, quirky characters, turn-based combat and loads of innovative features that should please old fans and new players alike.

    You command a party of four characters with different backgrounds: good-boy Tiz, who has witnessed the destruction of his home village; Agnès, vestal of wind, an important religious figure; Ringabel, a mysterious womanizer who has lost his memory; and Edea, daughter to one of the main antagonists. They are filled with personality and there's a lot of character development through the story. Some dialogue sections and cutscenes overstay their welcome, but there are many genuinely interesting moments, usually featuring Ringabel and one of his antics.

    Arguably, the best feature in display is the job system. The game has a very Mega Man-like way of getting new abilities: after they are defeated, some bosses give you their "job asterisk", which allows you to assign that job to any of your characters. Aside from their current job, each character may keep a number of abilities gotten by their previous ones, leading to some great opportunities to mix-and-match in search of the perfect combination.

    There's also great innovation in the turn-based combat with the "Brave" and "Default" abilities: the former lets you take turns in advance in order to act more times on a single sitting, while the latter allows you to "save" action opportunities for later. It works perfectly, and adds quite a few layers of strategy to the tried-and-true formula. Another noteworthy feature is the rebuilding of Norende village, a simple and cool real-time strategy subgame that gives you access to more special abilities, weapons and items. It's also worth noting that the game features microtransactions, but don't worry: they are largely useless, and you can get everything in the game without spending a single extra dime.

    The story is your typical JRPG fare, very reminiscent of earlier Final Fantasy games, and as such isn't terribly innovative. It's usually interesting enough to keep you playing, featuring a lot of twists and turns, and overall avoiding simplistic manichaeism. The world is well-built, but that still doesn't justify the humongous amount of backtracking forced on the player in the late game, which is one of the game's main flaws. The story keeps getting more intriguing precisely at that time, however, which will be a good reason for most players to persevere.

    Filled with content and offering a potentially huge main campaign (at over 100 hours, it is by far my most-played game on the 3DS right now), Bravely Default is a tight package that should keep any RPG fan happy. It's Square Enix going back to its roots and doing more of what they do best.

    Rating: 9.0    … Expand
  97. bearbishop
    May 2, 2014
    7
    This game was fun. Maybe a little too easy on normal once you understand brave system and get some of the better jobs. Now I'm on chapter 5: yesterday's scenery and I'm like WTF. Why on earth would I want to fight almost all of the bosses in the game again 3 Times? I mean sure put that **** in the game for the people who WANT to do it, don't force everyone to do it just to get theThis game was fun. Maybe a little too easy on normal once you understand brave system and get some of the better jobs. Now I'm on chapter 5: yesterday's scenery and I'm like WTF. Why on earth would I want to fight almost all of the bosses in the game again 3 Times? I mean sure put that **** in the game for the people who WANT to do it, don't force everyone to do it just to get the cinematic ending. They really just took what is honestly a game that would take about 45-55 hours to complete and bumped it up to more like 65-75. The other problem is the latter parts of the first part of the game are way too **** easy so I didn't even do any random encounters in chapter 4 so now I'm all under level and the damn bosses only dish out JP in chapter 5. I know I could fix all this, but seriously I was expecting the ending to be badass like FF3 where you just level up a little, collect the best gear, and go own the crystal tower. I just feel a little ripped off, because I would have been excited to finish the game if they had made a proper ending, but now I'm thinking of just playing DQ 6 instead.… Expand
  98. Inryoku
    May 1, 2014
    5
    This game is really fantastic in a lot of ways, like its nice to look at artstyle, the lovable characters, the good combat system with a nice twist and a interesting story. But after playing it for 50+ hours I'm done with it completely before even getting close to the ending because of repetition being a part of the story.... There is nothing worse in video games than having to do the sameThis game is really fantastic in a lot of ways, like its nice to look at artstyle, the lovable characters, the good combat system with a nice twist and a interesting story. But after playing it for 50+ hours I'm done with it completely before even getting close to the ending because of repetition being a part of the story.... There is nothing worse in video games than having to do the same stuff over and over and over again but unfortunately this is what the player is doing for the majority of the game. The Street Pass is completely useless if you're living somewhere with no Bravely Default players around making a rather big part of the game unbeatable. At least everybody can adjust the difficulty depending on what the person wants from this game by making it either pathetically easy or a grind fest for the hardcore gamers with too much time at their hands. If you're looking for an engaging experience from beginning to end you'll be sorely disappointed. I can only recommend this game to people who don't mind seeing the same stuff over and over again.… Expand
  99. ayyyqurl
    Apr 27, 2014
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Fantastic! Just the fresh of breath air that JRPGs needed. While somewhat cliche in some regards (amnesia, anyone?), it's the actual game mechanics and vibrant personalities of the main characters that saves the day. You are a Warrior of Light on your way to revive Luxendarc's crystals with a helpful cryst-fairy to lead the way! What an adventure!

    My favourite aspect of Bravely Default was the Jobs system. Being someone who loved Final Fantasy 5, I was extremely pleased to see its return. What I particularly liked was how you could pair it with another job class for very interesting strategies. Pairing up the right classes can completely revitalize your team, keep everyone's BP above 0, deal 9999 damage *per attack* (try braving four times to instantly take out bosses), and so forth. Yet the classes are so iconic it has retained the old school feel.

    Ever feel like battles drag or you're level grinding? Bravely Default has you covered with a super fast forward option to speed the battle up and an auto-control option where it copies your last few moves. It makes grinding much less painful.

    Story-wise it was just like the classic Final Fantasy games. It does get convoluted a bit towards the end, but hey, it's a Square-Enix game and considered a Final Fantasy reboot, what else was there to expect? However at a certain point, the pacing drops like crazy and it's like replaying the game not once... not twice... not even three times. FOUR times. What the hell? Granted it progresses the story in other fascinating, wonderful ways but couldn't there have been a better way to do it?

    All in all, despite the blips, it's a very fun, entertaining and solid game. I'm excited to see where the series goes next!    … Expand
  100. nkanhai
    Apr 25, 2014
    9
    To be direct, this game satisfied an innate desire to play an evolved yet similar old-school Final Fantasy game from my youth. It may go under a different title, but I assure you this is a fantastic throwback to Squaresoft's jrpg heyday from the SNES/PS1 era.

    Graphics: The first thing you'll notice about the game is how it takes full advantage of the 3DS capabilities, offering    To be direct, this game satisfied an innate desire to play an evolved yet similar old-school Final Fantasy game from my youth. It may go under a different title, but I assure you this is a fantastic throwback to Squaresoft's jrpg heyday from the SNES/PS1 era.

    Graphics:

    The first thing you'll notice about the game is how it takes full advantage of the 3DS capabilities, offering beautiful environments and an excellent 3D effect. The first time you see the zoom-out effect you'll understand what I mean. The graphics stay true throughout, and for my part I never got bored. The character designs do follow a more cutesy type approach, but not to the detriment of the game. I found myself appreciating the artstyle, despite having really disliked the DS remake of FFII (IV) character models. Silicon Studio, the developer of the game (it was published by Square-Enix in Japan, and by Nintendo of America for the rest of the world), shows an incredible amount of artistic talent throughout the game.

    One thing I could have used more of, however, were extra FMV cutscenes.

    Gameplay:

    The most important gameplay element that sets this game apart from your typical turn-based rpg is that there is a option to either attack, Brave, of Default. The Brave option allows you command an extra attack, up to a maximum of 4. The Default option allows you to store up Brave points, also serving as a 'guard' like function, reducing physical damages taken from enemies. At later stages in the game, learning the battle system and how to properly use it becomes essential to beating some of the bigger and meaner bosses. It is an excellent system, and one of my favorite parts of the game.

    The class system is fun and interesting, with new and never seen before jobs that are creative and fun. I never felt compelled to max out all of the classes, and some are far more useful than others. I was also satisfied with the 'special moves' that characters could get after completing a number of actions. These special moves could be customized, which meant that they could be tailored to attack the weaknesses of certain bosses, allowing for more engaging loadout procedures.

    The game does not offer much up in terms of a battle arena or extra gameplay options, which in my opinion could have helped when the game started to feel slightly repetitive.

    Sound:

    The music in BD is excellent. I won't go into too much detail, but the tracks are varied and catchy, without ever getting on your nerves (even after your 30th dungeon crawl to one of the same tunes).

    The voice acting, however, I had some trouble digesting. I found both the English and Japanese voice acting only served to make the characters feel more childish and less accessible from an emphatic point of view. I very quickly turned it off and read the text instead. Some people seemed to enjoy the voicework, so I suppose this is purely objective.

    Story:

    This is where I'm sort of mixed, opinion-wise. I didn't love the story, but I didn't hate it either. It was a competent attempt at delivering a kind of scifi yet not storyline. Where it failed was in the character interactions, and more importantly, in keeping a steady and focused sense of narrative progression throughout. It would oftentimes jump back and forth, repeat cutscenes and dialogue exchanges, and resorted to some lazy corner cutting. It is not only noticeable, but disappointing. I honestly felt like the premise for the story was solid and even interesting, but its potential was let down by its execution.

    Hopes for Bravely Second:

    - I'd like to see more of those gorgeous environments and excellent 3DS battle stages.
    - Keep the music coming!
    - A more developed storyline, more focused on delivery than relying on its concept alone. Pay more attention to the character interactions, make the characters a bit more lively and less reliant on their stereotypical personalities.
    - Don't make me repeat the second part of the game 5 times, please. Extending the playtime in a game for the sake of adding bulk is annoying. I put 98h into this game, when it could easily have ended around the 60h mark.

    Thanks for reading!    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best 3DS Game of 2014
3
#3 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2014
3
#3 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 67 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 64 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 67
  3. Negative: 0 out of 67
  1. Quarter to Three
    Apr 14, 2014
    100
    It sounds like a lot, and it is, but not in an overwhelming way but in a fantastic, three in the morning, I can’t stop playing this game kind of way. When it all comes together and you destroy a boss that gave you troubles just a few job levels ago, it feels great.
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  2. GameCritics
    Apr 8, 2014
    70
    It's got a lovely fresh coat of paint, but underneath that Bravely Default is the same old thing.
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  3. Level7.nu
    Feb 16, 2014
    90
    Bravely Deafult is the best game from Square-Enix in a long time and a must for fans of classic Final Fantasy. The battle and work system, as well as the history and the graphics is natural progresses of a gamemaking many deemed nostalgic.
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