It’s a tale as old as 1987: four heroes, four elemental crystals, and a grand journey to save the world. That’s the foundation of the first three Final Fantasy games before publisher Squaresoft (later known as Square Enix) expanded the franchise’s scope. Final Fantasy has moved on from that stark simplicity, as Square Enix explores new gameplay and storytelling ideas.
The $59.99 Bravely Default II is a game that answers an intriguing question: “What if Square Enix never moved beyond elemental crystals and its turn-based, battle system?” This second sequel (it’s the third game in the series, despite its name!) isn’t dramatically different than its predecessors, bringing those classic ideas to the Nintendo Switch with improved graphics and a new cast.
Dive Into the Inner Ocean
Bravely Default II places you in the sea-faring boots of a young sailor named Seth. Washed ashore on the continent Excillant after a rough storm, Seth finds himself touched by something greater. Someone has stolen the elemental crystals that keep the world in balance, thus creating the storm that stranded Seth. As a result, Seth sets out to find the crystals and stop the chaos.
Seth is joined by three other characters: Gloria, a princess who once ruled the kingdom of Musa; Elvis, a traveling scholar who looks to decipher a book left behind by his master; and Adelle, a mercenary who’s searching for her sister. Bravely Default II features a host of guest characters who temporarily join your party as you solve their issues, but those named four are your party’s bedrock throughout the game.
Bravely Default II has a decidedly old-school presentation; Final Fantasy 7 Remake, this is not. It’s a fairly linear adventure that takes you from town to town, as you solve problems and right wrongs. Enemies become more powerful as you move through each region, and you’ll encounter many cloned foes who look the same as previous enemies (but with new names and colorways).
The RPG tosses a few story-based curveballs your way, but its narrative is about as deep as a Saturday morning cartoon series. The good guys are good, and the bad guys are generally wholly evil, usually meeting an end due to their own selfish actions. That’s a side effect of Bravely Default II’s slavish devotion to classic Final Fantasy games. There’s depth to the main characters, but Bravely Default II isn’t the most nuanced tale in RPG history. Still, I find that almost refreshing. Sometimes you don’t want nuance and depth; you just want straightforward RPG fluff that slides through your mind.
Some side quests are less refreshing. These are the quick quests you’ll find in each town that offer items and money for a little legwork. Unfortunately, the missions are occasionally tedious. One early side quest, “A Long Lunch,” saw me trudge across the desert and ruins five times to ferry a man’s lunch from his wife. The side quests aren’t always a headache, but the annoying ones stick with you.
Get a Job!
The series’ core pillars return in this sequel. First up is the Brave and Default system, which lets you either bank a series of attacks or pile them on all at once. Each turn, your characters gain one Brave Point (BP). Using the Brave command lets you use multiple actions at once, up to a maximum of four, with each costing a Brave Point. The Default command, on the other hand, puts your character in a defensive state, lowering incoming damage and banking a Brave Point.
The rub is that if you go into the negatives (for example, using three actions while you only have one BP), your characters do nothing on subsequent turns. They simply take incoming attacks until their BP rises to zero. The system encourages strategic thinking. You want to Default when a foe unleashes a big attack; you want to Brave to kill enemies without giving them a chance to attack. This system also factors into healing and buffing. If a party member falls in battle, you can Brave up, which lets you raise the character with a spell and then heal the adventurer all in one go.
The Brave/Default system feeds into the Job system, letting you outfit your characters with various jobs that grant new abilities and perks. There are more than 20 jobs available. You’ll unlock them over the course of the game by defeating bosses and obtaining their Asterisks, stones of power. These jobs span from the expected (the spell-wielding Black Mage or sneaky Thief) to the unique (the luck-manipulating Gambler or paint-heavy Pictomancer). You’ll find unique mechanics even within the expected jobs. For example, Monk lets you trade health (or even Brave Points) to slam enemies with strong attacks.
You can set a main job and sub-job for each character, which lets you create potent party compositions. Maybe you want a party-buffing Bard who can also heal with White Magic, or a Thief backed by Phantom’s evasive capabilities. Planning is key, as enemies carry specific weaknesses and immunities to certain elements and weapons.
Bravely Default II also relies on smaller mechanics. The game presents enemies on the world map, instead of leveraging the previous titles’ random encounters. This means you avoid combat, approach from behind, or strike (via a well-timed Y-button press) to gain an advantage. Surprisingly enough, enemies will run away if you’re stronger than them, something I never got tired of seeing. The game also offers consumable items to draw out specific enemies or avoid encounters.
The Picture Book Adventure
The Bravely Default series has a unique look, with tiny characters on backgrounds that resemble paintings. This general aesthetic has carried forward into Bravely Default II, and developer Claytechworks has improved it in many ways.
The tiny towns look like they were ripped from a watercolor picture book and given the polygonal treatment. They’re tiny dioramas, with spires that overlook cliffs, lakes, deserts, and snowy drifts. Every time I hit a new town, I was stunned by the graphics on display. Actually, my Nintendo Switch was a little stunned, too, as its fans went into overtime in certain towns. That’s something I’ve rarely experienced from the hybrid console.
The characters designs are vastly improved, too, with superior models, facial expressions, and more detailed texturing than what we’ve seen in previous series entries. The Vanguard armor’s shine is matched by the flowers on the Monk’s shoulder, and you’ll find details like feathers and fur across the many job designs. Each character has its own spin on a job’s appearance, so there’s a good amount of visual variety.
Go Bravely Into the Future
If you want classic, JRPG gameplay look no further than Bravely Default II. This RPG isn’t about innovation; it’s about polish, as the game deftly merges the early Final Fantasy vision with contemporary touches. More importantly, Bravely Default II led to many satisfying evenings filled with dungeon exploration and monster slaying—just like in the good ‘ol days.
