I’ve been playing Bravely Default for the past month, and as I near what I believe is a significant part of the game, I think it is worth sharing my thoughts, for any interested, and if only to best preserve my feelings towards this game at this point. As it stands, I have now played 60 hours of Bravely Default. At this point, I have just started the 4th chapter of what I believe is an 8-chapter game. That in and of itself is ridiculous, how can I not even be halfway through the game and already have played over 50 hours? I swear the next chapters of this game must be much shorter than the three I’ve been through, they just have to be. Are JRPGs really this long?
I’ll start this write up with
that genre and me. Bravely Default is the first non-Nintendo JRPG I’ve played
in a long time. As a result, it’s giving me flashbacks of the few games like it
I’ve played and enjoyed: Tales of Symphonia and Final Fantasy IX to be
specific. What fascinates me is how much in common I see it having with these
games. The narrative is following a similar path, and even the characters feel similar
to those of these games. There’s a feeling of familiarity I have as a result,
but also a part of me wonders if perhaps these games could be more flexible in
that regard?
Granted, Bravely Default is defined as being a callback to the old Final Fantasies, so I cannot blame it following tradition. But in doing so, it has me reflecting on said tradition and how my feelings on it have changed. A first point of this is in the characters. As I said, the four main characters fall into character archetypes I’ve seen in other JRPGs. Tiz is a typical protagonist, strong morals, an average rural background, the everyday man. There are clear signs however that he will end up being super important and special in some way, similar to Lloyd in Tales of Symphonia, so I fully expect this. Agnes is similar to Colette from that same game, a meek sheltered character who only knows her religion and the mystical powers she has, introverted and holding in her feelings of discomfort and self-doubt. Edea is contrasted from her, being a strong-willed girl who will stand up for anything she believes in, made more interesting due to her having a history with the main villains of the story, giving her many opportunities for confliction and difficult choices.
Last there is Ringabel, a ladies’
man type character who enjoys a night out and will say comments that seem
rather creepy in the post metoo world of ours. Reminding me a lot of Zelos from
Tales of Symphonia, the way he will often say things that might make women
uncomfortable and characters shrug it off as “boys will be boys” has made me
feel rather unhappy with his character type, and I must admit, in future JRPGs,
I hope we see characters like this either changed a lot or removed. It is interesting
that when I first played Tales of Symphonia, Zelos was one of my favorite
characters. I liked how laid back and witty and in touch with women he seemed,
but as I’ve gotten older and just learned of the female perspective more, this
type of character has completely fallen out of favor with me, for being well,
not in actual touch with women. I did find it curious that when I spoke with
the friend who loaned me Bravely Default, Ringabel was his favorite. I wonder
if he would be for me if I were to play this game 10+ years ago. Oh men, we
have a ways to go…
The other character who’s given
me much to ponder on is Agnes. She’s a character type I didn’t care for much
when I was younger, but as I’ve grown, she has become a favorite of mine.
Replaying Tales of Symphonia 10+ years after I first experienced it, the
character like this (Colette) went from being one of my least favorites to
favorite. Agnes is the same, I adore her. I enjoy the more introverted nature
of her, and all the pressures she feels from being a chosen one makes her a
conflicted character, which I like. At the same, I also can’t help but question
why this character archetype is so clearly defined in the JRPGs I’ve played
(Colette in ToS, Garnet in FFIX), and why it is always defined by the lead
heroine of the story. As someone who’s taken a few classes and studied gender
in literature and society, I can’t help but see this as gender norms
personifying the ideal women according to much of society, being quiet,
submissive, holding in their difficulties rather than venting them, and being
obedient to their higher purpose in life. It is a shame, because I really like
this character archetype, but I will say that in future JRPGs, I really hope we
see this character archetype for a male, maybe even the main male character. I
would greatly enjoy that, but alas.
Still, the most interesting
change I’ve noticed when playing Bravely Default compared to past JRPGs is how
well, disinterested in general I am with the story. That’s not to say I am completely
bored of the narrative. As I said above, I am enjoying the four main characters
overall, and they are giving me much to think about. I quite like the world as
well. There’s a really cool book you have in the game that lists information
for all the important characters you encounter and all the locations, detailing
their history and sharing more details about them. As a lover of history, I am enamoured
by this and love reading it. The towns as well, which feature NPCs that tell
you more about the world, look absolutely beautiful in 3D, along with the
presentation of the game in general is fantastic and has me loving the world.
It’s fun to get lost in.
But the story. I’ve noticed the
part of my playthrough that I seem the least engaged in are when cutscenes
happen. This is a trend I’ve noticed in myself happening over the past decade.
I think in the previous JRPGs I played the story was what I was most invested
in. But now that has changed. I’m not sure why, perhaps because I have seen so
many stories that now they all feel predictable, perhaps because as a lover of
history now, history has exposed me to how simplistic stories often are, and
how no story approaches the complexity, nuance, and just interesting nature
that actual history is. But I can’t help but notice how all the villains are
well, villains. Almost to a cartoony level, with often little family or
backstory or connections or anything. Another trend I’ve noticed in myself over
the past decade is that villains in general don’t excite me anymore in stories
and I find them rather boring and simple. To that extent, because the story
component of narratives is often dominated by the villains, what they do, how
they respond to the protagonists, etc. I’m not super into the story. I don’t
have any major problem with it, I’m just much less interested in the story part
of narrative then I used to be. Conversely, I am way more invested in the
character and world building part of narratives than I used to be as a child,
so I see this part of me more as a trade off than something being lost.
At the same time, JRPGs are often
defined by their narratives. If I’m not into stories like I used to be, why am
I 60 hours into this game and still in love with it and unable to stop thinking
about it? The gameplay, the mechanics, the primary reason I have had such a
blast with this game is the gameplay. I’ve noticed over the past few years that
I seem to value gameplay and mechanics more than the average player. I attribute
this to my background in Nintendo games, which heavily emphasize the gameplay
part of video games over all else. But my goodness the gameplay of Bravely Default
is something else. It is your standard turn based JRPG with customizable
classes, but the battle and class systems are fantastic. I cannot get enough of
them.
Bravely Default’s battle system
has a unique mechanic that the game is named after, Bravely and Default actions
which can be taken in battle. Default allows you to store a turn by doing
nothing, but then Bravely lets you use multiple turns at once. At first I
thought this system was simple and not going to add much. But the more I played
the game, the more I realized there was so much more to it. See, Default doesn’t
just store you a turn, during the turn in which you don’t do anything, your
defenses are raised, making it sound like a good idea to do. At the same time,
you can only store up to 3 turns, and use up to 4 a turn, so you can’t just Default
for a long time and then use all the turns at once. On the other hand, you can use
the Bravely action to use turns even if you don’t have them stored up. However,
given you can use a maximum of 4 a turn, this means you can then be at -3
turns. Why do this? Well, if you can kill all the enemies by the end of the turn,
the negative turns won’t matter, so it’s fine. However, if you don’t kill all
the enemies by that turn, your character will be vulnerable for 3 whole turns.
In this way, the battle system creates a cool risk reward mechanic that I was
absorbed by, every battle becomes a prediction at how many turns I have to wait
before I can KO all the enemies on one turn. Which characters should do the
attacking and go on the offensive, which should simply store turns for future
use? It adds a nice element of strategy.
But what really turns the
strategy up to eleven, is that enemies can also use the Default and Bravely
mechanics. This means you can store up turns all you want and use them one
turn, but if the enemy is using Default, your attacks are going to do a lot
less damage. At the same time, enemies can also use multiple turns at once to
go into the negative. This can catch you off guard and damage you (as it has
with me a number of times), but it also means when prepared for, it can leave
the enemy vulnerable for an easy victory. This adds a brilliant level of
prediction to the game, in which you need to out predict your opponent, while
also not letting them out predict you. It all means learning your enemies is
more important than ever, since you not only have to learn about how many
attacks it takes to finish them for winning as quickly as possible, but you also
have to understand which enemies are more likely to Default, Bravely, and how
they will use them. Because the battle system then is so enemy centric, it means
introducing new enemies constantly keeps the battle system incredibly fresh as
you continue adjusting to each new one.
Where the battle system really
shines is with the boss battles. Bosses have the most complex patterns when
using the Default and Bravely commands, and they often have unique mechanics
that force you to approach them differently to most enemies. It makes the
process of learning and understanding them over the course of a long hard
battle feel incredibly satisfying. The boss battles have been the most
memorable parts of the game for me, as they really show the battle system at
its best.
However, boss battles also show
the game’s class system at its best, as here is where the strategy of it becomes
necessary. I will admit, I don’t have much experience with class-based games,
so I’d almost say Bravely Default is my first one. The only game I’ve gotten
really into with a significant class-based system that I can think of is Final
Fantasy Tactics Advance. Anyways, in Bravely Default, you can change any of
your characters to any class whenever you want, which is wonderful. The classes
really bring customization and variety to the battle system. Not only does each
class have unique attributes, but you can level up classes in addition to leveling
up your characters. Every time you level up a character’s class, that class
gains a brand new ability. These can be a new special attack for that class, a
new attribute of it, or a new ability you can have your character equip
whenever they want for an attribute point. I was constantly surprised at how
unique and interesting not just the classes were, but their abilities were as I
leveled them up. They bring a lot of fascinating new ideas to the table that only
give you more ways to strategize and customize your characters, making it a
rewarding experience. In general the battle system plus the constant new
abilities your classes get actually made grinding fun in this game, and I’ve
found myself looking forward to it. I really like how now, 60 hours in, I have
18 of the 24 classes, and each of my 4 characters have 4-7 classes that have
leveled highly, thus giving them all unique abilities to pull from, making them
all feel distinct in a way that I crafted. The customization is rewarding as
heck.
The game also does a nice job at
introducing new classes at a regular interval. They even introduce each class
by having you fight them beforehand. Even cooler, every objective to a new
class that leads you to its boss is optional, so while you will want to do all
of them, it means you can do them at different times with respect to the main
quest, which I greatly appreciate. My favorite moments are those where you’re
given the option to go after two or more different classes, or the main quest.
Some will be harder then others, and if you’re having trouble, you can just
come back later and do other quests and go for other classes. This freedom makes
the gameplay more enjoyable, but introducing new classes constantly also keeps it
exciting and interesting. New classes also consist of my favorite boss battles
in the game thus far, since by being a new class they tend to be more unique then
your average boss, which usually has a lot of health and strong attacks but
little else.
The most memorable boss battle
for me so far was the one against the Red Mage. Up to that point, I’d been
using all the classes, but primarily leveling up the Black and White Mage
classes, partly because of my fondness for them, but also because I simply
thought they were the best (I have wondered while playing this if JRPGs would
be more interesting if they left these traditional classes and made brand new
ones instead. Alas, tradition is a large part of these games and their settings,
so I don’t see that changing any time soon, at least in Square games). I was
plowing through all my enemies no problem with Black Magic, and healing any
damage taken with White Magic, it was easy, I’d figured it out. Then when I
encountered the Red Mage, I was completely destroyed. My magic attacks did
nothing, and all my efforts seemed to only make him stronger. I was devastated,
but it made me go back to the drawing board and realize I had an oversimplified
view of the battle system. While doing other things, I discovered that certain
classes I had neglected would actually be very useful against the Red Mage. I
realized too there were certain abilities I was neglecting to use that would
work well there, and when I next returned to the battle, all my characters were
in different classes and with different abilities, completely changed thanks to
the customization of the class system. It was incredible, that second battle I
had, I completely destroyed him. I went from being absolutely no match to him
being no match for me, and that mainly came not from grinding but from me understanding
the depth of the class system and customizing my characters for a completely
different strategy. It really stuck with me because it made me see how deep and
nuanced the classes are. There are no best ones, it’s all about having as many
tools as you can and being able to know the right tools to use for each
situation, while customizing your characters however you see fit. All in all,
the class and battle systems make this game so incredibly fun, that even though
I’m 60 hours in I still can’t get enough of it, and still find myself going to
work or doing chores while thinking endlessly about this game, its classes,
ways I could customize my characters, and more. It’s a really brilliant show of
JRPG game design, and it has me interested in more class-based games.
I’d say that is all in all my
thoughts on the game so far. But I made this post for a reason. I’ve read about
this game online, and while I know nothing of what lies ahead, I know that many
have said the game gets much worse past the halfway point. As I play through
the game, I definitely get the impression that a big change is coming. There’s
a tension in the world and story. The story has me awakening four crystals, and
I’ve now awakened three of them, with only one to go. As I look at the world
map, I see I’ve explored the entire world, with the exception of the final
continent. Yet, I just entered Chapter 4 of 8, so what’s going on? Clearly,
something is going to change. I’m prepared for this though, I’ve played other
games like this, I’m expecting some big changes. Maybe like Zelda the world
will turn dark and I’ll have to re-traverse it, surely there will be some plot
twist with the crystals and I’ll have to go to other temples or something. I’m
not sure, but those are my guesses.
The tension however that I am
most curious of…and scared of, is the mechanical tension that lies in the game
mechanics. You might have caught it above. As I said, I have 18 of the 24
classes. I am predicting I find the last 6 in Chapter 4. That would mean by the
end of that chapter I have all the classes. That…is worrying. Recall that a
large part of my enjoyment of the game has been discovering the classes.
Finding each class, learning the unique abilities they bring to the battle system,
leveling them up and learning what cool abilities they have, this has been a
large motivator for me enjoying exploring the world as much as I can and
battling a ton. But if this is gone, if I then have all the classes…what then?
What keeps things fresh and exciting? Also recall that I said my favorite boss
battles so far have been those against a new class, because of the unique way
they fight. If I have all the classes, such boss battles will cease to take
place…
Another possible hindrance I foresee
is the leveling up of classes. As I said above, a fun part of the class system
is that you can change any of your characters to any of the classes whenever
you want. This is fun but also often rewarding, as leveling up the classes
doesn’t take very long. Each new level will see an incremental upgrade in the
amount of points you need, so it works. That is….until you reach a point I’m
at. To my surprise, once your classes reach around level 10, the amount of
points they need to continue to level up jumps dramatically. Suddenly you need
so many more points to keep leveling up these classes, to the point that I am
now questioning if I should have characters try out new classes, instead
keeping them in their current ones due to how many points they’re going to need
to keep going. This might hinder the freedom and customization of the game, but
I could see myself simply powering through it.
With all this in mind, I am very
curious to see where the game goes in the second half, from a mechanical
perspective. What I hope would happen is that the new classes won’t end there.
Say, have all the classes have an upgraded version of themselves that you will
then have to fight bosses for throughout the second half of the game. Maybe
even give you the ability to combine classes in some manner to further increase
the customization, but only allowing you to combine after fighting certain
bosses, say those of multiple bosses of multiple classes fighting together. This
I think would be an ideal way to keep the systems feeling fresh and fun. But
alas, given the negative reception of this game’s second half, I am hesitant,
and curious to see how the game mechanics will change going forward. It’s going
to be interesting. I do think I will end up enjoying it more than most, but we’ll
see. I wanted to get this out so that I can better remember what I felt like
during the first half of the game. I’ve often told others this is like a
honeymoon period, and I’m expecting it to end. But at the same time, having a
60+ hour honeymoon period…I’m going to love this game regardless I think,
because my god it’s been an amazing 60 hours.
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