Bravely Default

I finally finished playing Bravely Default the other weekend - took approx 105hrs. I didn't 100% it, I was trying too (hence the extended hours) but partway through and with 4 or 5 jobs remaining I was like.. you know what, I'd rather just go and beat the boss now, thank you very much.

But anyway - let's talk about this game shall we? (This isn't necessarily a game review, I just want to talk about it).

*WARNING SPOILERS*



Plot:
I mean - it's a pretty standard plot for an rpg, let alone a JRPG. You got your hero, the average guy (Tiz) and he saves someone, a girl who happens to be a priestess for a special religion and is the key to saving the world (Agnes). Along the way they get two other party members, the character relief Ringabel who has a darker side, and the spoiled, bratty, but stubborn and determined Edea. Like I said - pretty standard. In fact, if you really think about Bravely Default's plot, there really isn't anything spectacular about it.

With that being said, that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. Bravely Default clearly wasn't meant to be a very dark game, so the game is sprinkled with humor and cliches, and that's fine. Clearly I beat the game so it's not like the plot bored me out of my mind, but would I say it was spectacular or that it had the best storyline ever? Absolutely not. Average at best, highly unoriginal at the worst, but passable by all respects.

Characters:
I think what really did help the plot was the characters. I loved all of them - I really did. Tiz is just... he's kind of adorable? Although I think part of the reason I think that is due to the way his sprite is designed in the game - all round and chubby, and then he's just such a nice, sincere, and occasionally awkward guy so there are moments where he just... I kind of want to ruffle his hair and hug him. Especially when he would get so shy around Agnes or be so offended by what Ringabel suggested to him regarding members of the opposite sex. Oh Tiz. He was such a classic "main hero". If this were an anime, I would have been rolling my eyes, but somehow in game he came off as very endearing.

Agnes is - as I said - the typical female match to the main hero who is the priestess to a special religion. Naive, innocent, but stubborn and with a heart of gold (she kind of reminds me of Yuna without the spontaneity and sense of humor). Do I have much to say on her? Not much. Do I like her? Dislike her? I mean, I lean more towards liking because there's really nothing for me to dislike, but... standard, is standard. (Apologies to anyone who does like her - if you do I would be curious as to why).

Edea is the typical spoiled daughter who defects to the good side when her family disagrees and gets her "eyes opened" and then stubbornly sticks with her friends regardless. Edea's pretty harsh. Haha. I mean, she's sweet, but mean, the tongue-lashing she gives Ringabel can be absolutely hilarious and yet at the same time you totally know she digs him. You know. Guy got under her skin (and to be honest, can't blame her because Ringabel). I like her story, and every time I kept visiting her mom for some reason just because I liked fleshing out her life and her interactions with Braev. I mean, it wasn't all that deep, and it's not like I was particularly moved, but there was just something about her story that I kept going back to.

and then we got Ringabel who like. Hello. I think he wins favourite RPG character of the year for me because there is no one like Ringabel. When I first encountered him, I was rolling my eyes and going "okay, we got the comic relief perv" but he honestly said the funniest things - to all of the characters, and had the best moment and lets be real, that little twirl thing he does at the end of battles is the best thing ever. Ringabel. I just. I couldn't get enough of this guy. And the fact that he is Alternis Din. Like. Really? REALLY? I just.. even though you figure it out halfway through the game I just could never connect them because Ringabel is just so out there and flashy, and then Alternis Din is just "ermagherd gotta save Edea *sob*sob*sob*" but Ringabel is like "Yo ladies, sup!" and like. What. I seriously could not get enough of him though. When you're in Florem and Ringabel keeps talking to Tiz about girls and Tiz is just like "...*blush*" or when he hints at anything Tiz/Agnes related and Tiz is just like "...*blush*" - THEY ARE SUCH BROS YOU GUYS I CAN'T  HANDLE IT. And just anything he said to Edea - she gave him the smack-down hard, but did he ever give up? Nope. So much respect for this. Ugh. Ringabel. Much perfection. Such awesome.

and then the rest of the cast and crew (and boy is there an extensive cast and crew). I think they did a very god job at fleshing out the rest of the characters - of course this is only if you did all the side-quests, but still. Barbarossa is interesting, Victor and Victoria are just... sad, and the three sisters (Mephillia, Artemia, and.... forgot the last one) is.. kind of weird in a "lol" sort of way, and kind of messed up but I can roll with it. Yulyana. No comment brah.

Overall I think Bravely Default did really good with their characterizations. I honestly think without how amusing some of them were, I don't think I would have made it through the game. And without Ringabel. Yeah. I just needed to mention him one more time - sorry! (not.)

Battle System:
I'm not going to lie, it took me a long time to figure out how to properly use the default and brave systems to my advantage. Like. A really, really, really long time. Once I got the hang of it though, it really surprised me how much this game relied on strategy and tactics more so than just.. "bwahaha look at me level 99" - because you really could get killed at level 99 if you have the wrong jobs and make one wrong move and suddenly half your characters are all in negative BP.

I mean, turn-based fighting systems usually are a bit more strategic, but some of them really are just as easy as "attack, attack, attack, oh look dead" - but here, the combinations you could pull with the battle system, and the ability to get creative - I actually did have quite a bit of fun. There would be moments where I would be stuck on a boss with certain jobs, and then I'd switch them all up, or give a character a certain job, and then BAM, suddenly the battle was made infinitely more easy?

I will say though - I never used any of the "game-breaking strategies" like the 4-ninjas one. I did do one battle where I abused stillness and a few battles where I had rampart going a lot, but definitely not the 4 ninjas think. I never liked it when two of my characters had the same job.

Also - this isn't the battle system really but, obliterate was just great. Haha. Like, that made grinding so much better during the end game, because without that I would've just been like "fuck it" and attempted the last boss at like.. level 60 and then got my ass kicked. On level 99 though, boss was a surprising piece of cake? (I'm playing normal of course though so that may have something to do with the boss being ridiculously easy - none of the jobs I assigned my characters were even maxed so my characters were only doing like.. 1k-2k each time too. Haha. Long battle, but I was never too afraid of dying).

Random things:
Some things I'd like to point out that made the game bearable. Turning off enemy encounters - THANK YOU. All games need this. Bravely Default needed this in particular because of the absolute slog-fest at the end. If I had to repeat 4 chapters with all the random encounters I would have murdered someone and quit the game by chapter 7. No joke.

Also, as I mentioned, obliterate made the grinding thing so much easier (and more bearable).

But seriously the last 4 chapters. What a slog-fest. It was tough. But I survived.

The ending that leads up to Bravely Second was hella awesome though. I was watching it while standing, and I actually did move around and it really did feel like I was Tiz in the case and it was really cool. I had so much fun following the battle and the girl jumping around. It was pretty awesome. Major props for that.


To end it all...?

So... pretty much. I enjoyed the game. Not on my top list of RPGs, but I finished it (which is better than I can say for any Zelda game I've played - I'M SORRY ZELDA FANS I REALLY AM), and I had a lot of fun with the characters. I had some interesting dialogue, interesting moments, and I will admit I really did enjoy the battle system and how tricky it could get. It was a game that, despite being incredibly repetitive, did make me think through certain boss-battles.

I'm also glad that as an rpg it gave you a lot of quick easy ways to get through it because I am a lazy person. Haha. (and yet 100hrs, so maybe not so lazy?). But seriously, obliterate and turning off random encounters was a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant addition that all games should have. All games. Also - to be honest, by the end I wasn't grinding for strength, or for certain jobs - I was really just grinding because... I just wanted to. Haha. I wanted them to have all the jobs - I gave up in the end because I ended up just wanting to finish the game ASAP and move on to Paper Mario - but I mean... wow, what a great incentive. And to be honest, I actually quite like the job system?

So gameplay wise, it was a fun game to play I think, but storywise ... well, it could've been planned out just a bit better. Not bad square enix.

Now. Where the hell is my Kingdom Hearts 3?