Bravely Default Review

Bravely Default may be the greatest JRPG I've ever played.

Granted, there are many others that I hold high on the list, such as the Chrono series and some early Final Fantasy games. Square Enix has redefined the JRPG genre with this game. Bravely Default is proof the JRPG is NOT dead.

Japanese role-playing games have come a long way since the 1980's. They're not the same turn based games that you uses to love. And let's face, Final Fantasy is just not as good as it used to be. Don't get me wrong--I love Final Fantasy. They are some of my favorite games. They have a more modern specialness to them but they're just not the same. Sometimes you just need a good turn based JRPG.

The fact that Bravely Default has now sold more than 200k copies worldwide says a lot about the game. The game has received so much praise that Square Enix has already stated they've started a Bravely Second. Square has even stated that Bravely Default  may make it to consoles in the future.

Now for a break down of the game.

When I first started the game I was kind of bothered with the characters. Agnes was very annoying in the fact that she wanted no help whatsoever. I even thought the voice acting was rather mediocre but then I realized that it wouldn't be a JRPG without the awkward dialogue. I quickly learned to love the characters. Once Edea joined the gang, I really started loving the banter between characters. They have distinct personalities and have much development. 

The game tends to be rather tough if you aren't used to the job system or many other JRPG  qualities. Plus, playing it on the harder difficulty makes it even tougher. Though it's challenging, it is very easy to spend a lot of time in the game. I had put in over 30 hours before I even got halfway.

The games' awkward title derives from the coolest feature the game has to offer.

Choosing Default over an attack adds to your BP (Brave Points). Once you've chosen Default, you will not attack but your defense is much higher for that turn. Once you have a couple BP then you can choose the Brave option and you can attack that many times within that turn. But be careful! Choosing Brave lowers your defense. It's a high risk high reward system.

The game is worth playing. If you haven't, then there is only one thing to do!

If I had to put a number on it I would give Bravely Default a 9.5 out of 10.