As JRPGs continued to gravitate towards flashy real-time combat systems in the early 2010s, Bravely Default’s original launch couldn’t have come at a better time. A true, no caveats turn-based experienced complete with all the hallmarks of games from Square Enix’s glory days. It’s the very definition of gaming comfort food, a hearty adventure with refined mechanics and an inventive battle system that still stands apart today.
If you’d asked me if it’s a game that needed a remaster, though, I would’ve responded with a confident no. Time has been kind to the original Bravely Default, but this upgraded port to the Switch 2 is undoubtedly the new definitive way to play this game. It doesn’t address some of the game’s core issues, but uplifts its already phenomenal production values with some new bells and whistles to bulk out the overall package.
Set in the world of Luxendarc, Bravely Default follows four characters from different corners of the world as they rush to save the land from chaos. Luxendarc is usually kept in balance by four elemental crystals protected by a religious group called the Crystal Orthodoxy. These crystals have been plunged into darkness, while other forces spread misinformation around the fall of the Crystal Orthodoxy.
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It’s a fantastically rich and layered world despite its clear inspirations from the early Final Fantasy games. While its appearance may lead you to believe this is a whimsical and bright world, you may be surprised to find that many of the themes, ideas, and situations Bravely Default touches on are quite mature. From the impact of spreading misinformation to governing bodies controlling resources to keep populations under an iron fist, there are a lot of captivating scenarios explored here.
This is especially true in the game’s first act where all of this is introduced to you. Its opening hours are arresting in initial narrative hook, which makes up for its relatively simplistic gameplay in the early hours. It does drop the ball quite a bit in the second act, though. It quickly falls into repetition and predictability until it eventually comes back around to its third act, which is disappointing given its strong start.
That third act does end the game very confidently, though. It has so many fun ideas in a way that only other Bravely games have been able to replicate since. It also helps that this is a really loveable core cast of characters. Their unique backgrounds and motivations bring distinct perspectives into the narrative, and always make for worthwhile conversation when it comes to current events of the world.
The place that Bravely Default always excelled is in its combat. On the surface, it’s a straightforward turn-based affair built around attacks, abilities, spells, and item usage. You exploit enemy weaknesses for extra damage and build smart team compositions to overcome challenges. Where things get more interesting, though, is in its Brave and Default system.
Each party member uses Brave Points or BP, to take a turn. You naturally regenerate one BP per turn in standard battles. Opting to Default on a character’s turn, though, will see them adapting a defensive stance, taking less damage and banking one BP. You can then spend the BP to take multiple actions in one turn by using the Brave command.
The part where this gets markedly more complex, is that you have the ability to spend BP you don’t have. The most actions a character can take in a turn is four, meaning you can go into a debt of three BP without having any banked. It means you’re unable to do anything on the turns that follow while you have negative BP, but can provide opportunities to absolutely unload damage or take advantage of certain scenarios.
Enemies also run on this BP system with the same rules. They can Default and overspend BP to go into a deficit much like your party. It creates a combat system of carefully reading patterns, making tough decisions, and constantly weighing up risk versus reward in tight situations. It’s all immaculately balanced as well, providing plenty of deliciously challenging encounters to overcome.
It’s all held together by a robust Job system that let’s you create a party best suited to the current encounter with remarkable flexibility. As you progress through the main story, you’ll unlock Asterisks that can be equipped to give each character Jobs. There’s a healthy variety of these, each with active and ive abilities that you’ll unlock by levelling up your equipped Job. ive abilities can also be set independent of their Jobs, letting you mix and match as needed.
Each character can also set secondary Jobs, pulling command skills from those classes into their main one. It creates a system that is so flush with opportunities for fun build crafting and Job combinations. Trying to match stats, gear, and skills in a way that makes both Jobs sing in combat is always rewarding and engaging to experiment with. It also means there’s a load of progression here as you level up Jobs on each character alongside their core growth.
If it sounds like a lot and you don’t have a penchant for grinding, Bravely Default still has you covered. There’s a lot of thought that’s been put into how these systems can eat into your time, and certain things have been put in place to alleviate that. You can increase battle speed upto four times faster than the default, you can double your enemy encounter rate (or reduce it), and it has a highly customisable auto-battle function that’ll let you farm EXP and JP in your sleep. It’s alluring, flexible, complex, and considerate of the player’s time all at once.
When you aren’t engaging the fiends and foes of Luxendarc, you’re exploring its overworld, towns, and dungeons. It’s a fairly typical JRPG in this regard, offering plenty of loot to snag and secrets to uncover. Each location feels distinct in the broader scope of Luxendarc, and it always feels like there’s a lot to see and do as you progress through its narrative.
Unfortunately, the dungeons are a low point here. They’re so straightforward in their design and offer very little in the way of puzzles and navigational challenge. They’re overly simple and easy to forget in the totality of what Bravely Default has to offer. They aren’t an outright slog, but it definitely feels like a missed opportunity to have not invested more in a hallmark of the genre.
One part of Bravely Default I’ve always loved is the rebuilding of Norende Village. A small and rural town that’s home to one of our protagonist’s, Tiz, is swallowed up by a giant crater at the beginning of the game. Tiz resolves to rebuild Norende Village from scratch, bringing in new of the town as he reconstructs shops and clears debris after the calamitous event.
It’s a really cute side game to dip into as you play, tying into your progression by offering new weapons, armour, and item selections sold by roaming merchants. It’s all done over time as well, so it’s easy enough to dump available citizens into tasks and let them toil away as you continue your main adventure.
Another thing that was quite novel at the time of the original game’s launch was its numerous online systems. It has a bunch of social systems interwoven into progression and combat. You can summon friends for powerful attacks, send your own for them to use in their own skirmishes, recruit villagers to work in Norende, and more. They’re all fun and unintrusive ideas that tie into Bravely Default’s deeper themes and ideas.
New to this version of the game are two minigames that use the Joy-Con 2’s mouse functionality. These are entirely separate experiences that you access from the main menu, but slowly unlock new stages and difficulties as you progress the main story.
The first is Luxencheer Rhythm Catch, a rhythm game where you use the pointer controls to catch beats in time with music from the game. You can even choose which character dances to the music with the option to have them dress in the Job outfits you’ve unlocked from the main game. It’s a fun little side distraction that is only as good as it is because Bravely Default’s original soundtrack is already sublime.
The second, Ringabel’s Panic Cruise, is much more involved. This again uses the pointer controls as you pilot the party’s airship as Ringabel. It’s a challenge of multi-tasking, asking you to steer, control altitude, sound off signals, and repair the airship as you fly along a predetermined path. These usually end in a fun combat section where you fire off cannons to combat enemies. It’s a great use of the Joy-Con 2’s pointer controls and is way less tacky than I originally expected.
It’ll come as no surprise to anyone who’s played Bravely Default that this game is mesmerising. As the original experience is exclusive to the 3DS, much of the effort was put into creating a timeless and beautiful art style as opposed to raw fidelity. This game has some wonderful artwork both in and out of combat. Character models are distinct and detailed, monster designs look great, and the towns are utterly jaw-dropping.
All of this is just made so much better with a high definition paint job. It’s a feast for the eyes in both handheld and docked, with an increase to a silky smooth 60 frames per second from the 30 found in the original 3DS version. Cattle Call Inc. have done a bang up job here, and I sincerely hope that Bravely Second: End Layer receives the same treatment soon.
It should go without saying but the soundtrack here is utterly sublime. Everything from the adventurous overworld theme and contemplative dungeon tracks to the rock ballad mix of the battle and boss themes, there’s so much here to like and listen to. It will get stuck in your head, and you will enjoy humming along to it for weeks after you stop playing.
If you’ve never ventured into the world of Luxendarc, or have only come into the series recently with Bravely Default II, there hasn’t been a better excuse to jump into Bravely Default for the first time. This HD remastering effortlessly recreates everything that made the original so good to begin with, improves some of its strongest elements, and includes some fun new side distractions only made possible by the Nintendo Switch 2.
