Bravely Default

Bravely Default
"Have the courage to think and act on your own. And have the courage to disobey." — Sage Yulyana
Protagonist(s): Agnès Oblige Tiz Arrior Ringabel Edea Lee Genre(s): Role-playing Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS Release: Original Release: JP: October 11, 2012 For the Sequel/International Version: JP: December 5, 2013 EU: December 6, 2013 AU: December 7, 2013 NA: February 7, 2014 Developer(s): Silicon Studio Publisher(s): Square Enix Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Bravely Final Fantasy Predecessor: Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light Successor: Bravely Second: End Layer (direct sequel) Bravely Default II (follow-up)

Bravely Default, subtitled Flying Fairy in Japan and Where the Fairy Flies everywhere else, is a role-playing game developed by Silicon Studio and published by Square Enix and Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the first game in the Bravely series, which in turn is a subseries of the Final Fantasy franchise.

The original version was released on October 11, 2012 exclusively in Japan, but an enhanced version, subtitled For the Sequel, was released as the full experience in Japan and other regions. A direct sequel, Bravely Second: End Layer, was released in 2015/2016 and continues the story of this game, while a follow-up, Bravely Default II, was released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch on February 26, 2021.

Why It Has a Lot of Courage

1. The main focus of the battle system is the Brave and Default commands, which adds a new layer to the traditional turn-based RPG. Default allows the heroes to skip battles by defending in order to raise their BP (Battle Points) and save them for later. Brave, by contrast, spends their accumulated BP so they can do up to four actions in one turn.
   • You do not need to store BP for multiple actions, as you can spend some without storing it; however, this will cause your BP to become negative, leaving you unable to act until they hit 0 again.
2. This game uses a job system, which allows the heroes to change classes in a similar fashion to Final Fantasy V. There are a total of 24 jobs, those being Freelancer, Monk, Black Mage, White Mage, Knight, Merchant, Time Mage, Summoner, Ranger,
   • These jobs can be obtained by completing sub-scenarios and defeating the Asterisk Bearers who hold the Asterisks containing the jobs.
     • The Freelancer may not seem very impressive at first, but
   • Battles not only grant experience and pg, but also Job Points (or JP, for short) that level up your currently-equipped job. If you complete battles unscathed, your JP will get a bonus increase.
   • Some passive job abilities
3. Impressive graphics, with backgrounds that resemble paintings and cute chibi character models.
4. A colorful cast of memorable characters, including Agnès Oblige (the Wind Vestal and main protagonist of their game), Tiz Arrior (the sole survivor of Norende, Agnès' eventual boyfriend and the deuteragonist), Ringabel (an amnesiac who writes in a diary chronicling the group's adventure), Edea Lee (the daughter of the Duke of Eternia who decides to make her own destiny by joining Agnès' group), Airy (the secondary antagonist who seems friendly enough at first, but is later revealed to have tricked the heroes all along), Sage Yulyana (the creator of Asterisks who is funny yet wise), Ouroboros (the main antagonist and God of Destruction), etc.
   • The Asterisk Bearers are all well-written arc villains who are full of personality and present a challenge during their boss fights.
5. Top-notch voice acting, including Erin Fitzgerald (Agnès), Bryce Papenbrook (Tiz), Spike Spencer (Ringabel), Cassandra Lee Morris (Edea), Stephanie Sheh (Airy), etc.
6. Good soundtrack composed by Revo.
7. There are many cutscenes and party chats, which are often humorous and add to the characters' development.
8. Well-written story, with many twists and turns and even taking a darker turn later in the game.
9. Tiz is tasked with restoring his hometown of Norende after it was swallowed by the Great Chasm. Restoring it allows the player to obtain new items, weapons and parts for special abilities. While the task may seem slow, villagers can be acquired using StreetPass.
10. Each weapon has different special moves that require certain actions to charge. For example, if your character uses a bow, using the Hunter abilities on each target type allows the Ranger to activate special abilities depending on how many times it was used.
11. Bravely Second allows the player to pause time in dangerous situations and allow one character an extra turn, which is very useful during tough boss fights. This ability costs Sleep Points (SP), which are acquired by putting the 3DS in sleep mode for 8 hours, or by drinking an SP Drink, which unfortunately cost real money.
12. There are two different endings, depending on your actions during Chapters 5-8. The true ending, known as "The End: Bravely Default," occurs when you progress and restore the crystals as intended in each chapter and is where the party fights Ouroboros to save Luxendarc. By contrast, "Finale: Lying Airy" is the false ending, which occurs when Agnès destroys any crystal in any of the four ending chapters and the party fights Airy's true form as the final boss.

Bad Qualities

1. The game forces you to repeat the Crystal Temple sections of the game at least five times. After praying to a crystal, the party is sent to a parallel world where they must fight the same temple bosses they did before, just with stronger stats.
   • Fortunately, as stated above, you can prevent this by destroying a crystal during this time.
2. While the acting is good, sometimes dialogue can sound awkward, an example being Edea's catchphrase "Mrrgrrgrr..."
3. The story, while still good, gets repetitive from Chapters 5-8, and is quite clichéd and predictable at times.
4. Sadly, due to the 3DS eShop's closure, you can no longer buy SP Drinks at all.

Reception

Bravely Default received positive reviews, scoring 85/100 on Metacritic and 9/10 on Nintendo Life. The gameplay mechanics, story and characters were praised, while criticism was directed at the repetitive endgame and elements of social gameplay.

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