Review: Bravely Default II [PC]

Developer – Square Enix

Publisher – Square Enix

Platforms – Windows PC®, Nintendo Switch™

Today at long last we take a look at Square Enix’s sequel to the beloved 3DS rpg, Bravely Default II. Originally released for the Nintendo Switch. Bravely Default II had fans captivated right away with its promise of the golden age of rpg’s and it’s fantastic battle system, despite technical problems.

Bravely Default II captivates with how it looks, although the artstyle can be a bit hit or miss at times. 3d models just can’t compare to sprites in the style of older Final Fantasy titles. It features a greatest hits feeling of multiple generations of rpg’s. The polygon work of Final Fantasy 7, with the early 3d backgrounds of Playstation 1 greats like Xenogears, and a touch of modern games with various post processing and lighting effects.

The combined graphic work, use of 3d characters and modern effects all combine to make a game that looks like something familiar, but has enough style to keep it fresh and separated from the glut of pixel style games that are everywhere these days. The style goes beyond how it looks, every single character has a distinct look, the regions are all unique and bosses fill up the screen and are fun to discover and battle against.

All of the music gets the same treatment the visuals do. A rich, sweeping score fully captures the differences and regional disparity between every area.

The sound effects, voice over, and battle themes are all incredible and varied. From the first fight and into the hundredth you won’t tire of the music.

The reason why the visuals and sound are so important is because of the game that lies beneath. A substandard effort for either one of those two would do a disservice to the 4 characters you can play as. Each one with their own name, story, profession, dialect, region and motivation.

Keeping the story moving, is the combat system. The combat system is very much the core of any JRPG and how you progress and carry out combat goes a long way to making the game feel fresh and exciting, or dull and sleep inducing.

Bravely Default II before it has a few mechanics to keep it fresh. At first glance the combat appears to be a throwback in every single way. Run around a field and soon enough a screen transition will have your party on one side and the enemy on the other. Like many things, it seems old school on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you find more than the obvious layered into every facet of its design.

All those skills will be needed because the game is largely combat heavy. Dungeons are largely straight forward with very little puzzle solving if any, and are mostly just combat trials. Using different jobs can make all of the difference.

Bravely Default II while great, isn’t free of criticism. While large and expansive with it’s playable characters, it can feel formulaic at times.

A character gets introduced, and although they all have extremely different back stories you best believe that no matter what the problem is, it will be solved by entering a dungeon and facing off against a boss. In fact most of the general structure is the same throughout the game besides gathering crystals to defeat the ultimate evil.

Outside of the very repetitive structure for the story, and the combat heavy nature of the games core design, Bravely Default II is still a fantastic throwback.

Rich story, great characters, top notch sound and visual design complement the intense and engrossing combat mechanics. An ode to the RPG’s of yesterday, while also moving them forward into the modern landscape in a big way.