Let’s not kid ourselves here; Bravely Default is a Final Fantasy game. It’s an RPG made by Square Enix, it’s got a turn based style with random encounters, and most of the items and spells have the exact same names.
Story: 6/10
The story to bravely default is a pretty stereotypical save the world sort of thing that you would find in just about any RPG, especially in a Square Enix game; however, the story does feel fresh and fun and not like a copy and paste of what you've seen before.
This being said the reason the score is so low is because after chapter 4 (about 40 hours into the game) the game will start this repetitious cycle of fighting the same bosses over and over again. This is a huge annoyance and may more than likely cause a few people to stop playing. It is worth it to get through this part, but unless you’ve got a knack for perfecting a few boss fights you may find yourself not finishing this game.
Score: 10/10
Three words: BUY THE SOUNDTRACK! This game has fantastic and wonderful music that heightens the game and gives it a very epic and majestic vibe in all the right areas. This is hands down the best soundtrack I have ever heard for a video game. Even if RPGs aren’t your style, check out some of the music on youtube or something. You won’t regret it.
Characters/ Character Development: 7.5/10
This category is a little hard to make a rating for because two of the characters (Ringabel and Edea) are really given a lot of backstory and feel fun and enticing. There dialogue with one another is also pretty humorous. The other two characters (Tiz and Agnes) are still good characters, but don’t really add too much to the game the way Ringabel and Edea do and feel as though they really only have some basic plot points.
Graphics: 8/10
Graphics look pretty nice for this game and a far view of any town really gives you a good capture of its beauty. But there are things that do look a little pixelated.
Gameplay: 9/10
This game has some fantastic gameplay. Just like any old school final fantasy game, you spend your time wondering around the world visiting various towns and fighting various enemies.
The combat in this game is very well done and put together, especially with the brave and default options you can choose. Summoning friends via spotpass is also a nice addition as you can use additional powers you may have otherwise not chosen to get.
Bravely second is a cool feature, but that fact that it costs real money to get more easily is a major annoyance and the fact is you’ll only be using this feature a few times.
Difficulty: Easy 6/10, Normal 7.5/10 (0 being the easiest, 10 being the hardest)
The game provides you with a good level of difficulty which you can switch as needed so if something’s too hard you can easily switch to a lower difficulty and beat it that way. However, the occasion boss fight is going to be a bit more challenge than it should be, especially toward the end. Even on easy I’m still trying to overcome the final boss.
Fun: 7.5/10
As much as I enjoy this game and at times couldn’t put it down. The repetition of fighting the same bosses over and over is so aggravating I just can’t give this a higher rating. Despite that Bravely Default manages to give you enough of that nostalgic feel of a final fantasy game with a bunch of new and exciting additions to freshen it up. This game can certainly hold its place next to the classic final fantasy games.
Recommended For:
- · Final Fantasy fans
- · Gamers who don’t mind a little repetition.
- · 3DS owners
- · RPG fans