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
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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

All reviews »
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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