Bravely Default Review | GameCloud

William at GameCloud Writes: "Bravely Default is a paragon for modern and traditional J-RPG design. On the surface, the game might appear somewhat conventional in its approach, but in truth, Silicon Studio have truly gone above and beyond to exceed expectations. More than anything, I commend the developers for listening to fan feedback, and implementing ideas that have subsequently altered the landscape of this aging style of RPG forever. Additionally, the narrative is supported by an incredible cast of characters who explore a surprisingly unconventional adventure filled with mature themes and science fiction thrills. It's the J-RPG tale we've all yearned for."

[gk07]

luvin the demo ,ima have to get this one

[dedicatedtogamers]

Yeah I played the demo and I fell in love even after just that first scene (in the clockwork throne room). The graphics are gorgeous and I love the music. I'm about to finish up a replay of FF:Awakening and this will be a good game to pick up in Feb.

[3-4-5]

I'm hoping this sells well so we can get Bravely Second over here in NA as well.

[josephayal]

yes yes! me too

[josephayal]

i want !!

[Kurisu]

I think I'm gonna get it. I watched a gameplay and story trailer yesterday and it looks pretty good. Liking the look of the battle system. Square Enix made a strange choice by making this a spiritual follow up to a final fantasy game and completely changing it's name. They could have used the brand power of FF to sell this as the 3DS exclusive Final Fantasy and, let's be honest, it looks like the final fantasy game many have been waiting for for a long time.

[dedicatedtogamers]

"Square Enix made a strange choice by making this a spiritual follow up to a final fantasy game and completely changing it's name."

SE isn't known for their good decisions lately...but I do think this was a good decision to make it a "spiritual" FF instead of an FF by name.

They're released plenty of Final Fantasy spin-offs on Nintendo hardware like 4 Heroes, FF:CrystalChronicles, FFTA2, various Chocobo titles, FFXII: DS, etc and all of them sell pretty poorly in the West. I think that's because people in the West see "FF spinoff" and instantly put it back on the shelf. However, FF and DQ remakes have sold incredibly well in the West as well as some new Squeenix IPs so I think SE wanted to give Bravely Default a chance to shine on its own instead of being burdened - yes, burdened - with an FF Spinoff title.

[josephayal]

i'm gonna buy this game! yes! the collector edition! love it!

[imtheman2013]

This is only available in Japan right now yeah?

[admiralvic]

No. Europe also has it.

[Zayne-Z66]

It's also been released in Australia as well. :)

[CLOUD1983]

"Bravely Default is a paragon for unneeded censorship of both outfits & character ages..."

That's what I read here disgraceful what SE did because they thought westerners can't appreciate the artistic vision of this game & served us an inferior butchered version because that's what they believe we deserve & by reading the comments of some ppl around here it seems they were right, we deserve this kind of treatment I guess if the majority of gamers r fine with that...

[Zayne-Z66]

Personally, I don't think it's a major concern considering all that has been altered is underage characters wearing skimpy outfits. Essentially, they upped the age for westerners to relate better with the characters and added a little extra clothing to some bonus costumes you get towards the end of the game.

I think it's an unfair judgement on the studio considering they implemented more than 100 changes to the gameplay based on player feedback requested "For The Sequel", which is the version we got in the West. Apart from CD Project Red, I don't know any other studios who do that simply because they can. I think they're great!

[Hicken]

Yeah, but what's the point of upping the age if you're gonna change the costumes, anyway?

Well, as someone who's big on anime and such, I don't really see the point in changing any of it. I imagine it has something to do with Western morals, except we're all screwed up over here, anyway. The stuff kids leave the house in is pretty bad; it's only not as bad as something in a game like this because you'd be looked at as weird no matter what age you were, wearing that sort of thing outside a convention.

But in a fantasy realm- and it doesn't have to be fantasy in the strictest sense, only in the sense that it's NOT reality- it doesn't matter a bit. Hell, they changed Rorona and Cordelia's ages in the Atelier games, but it didn't really change anything.

I don't think I"ll ever get it.

[Inception]

@Cloud

Nintendo IS Bravely Default publisher for the west. So it's not SE who did the censorship, it's Nintendo. They also did the same thing with FA: Awakening.

And look at Nier. The english dialogue for Kaine are full with swearing. But SE never censor it
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[CLOUD1983]

If that's the case then Nintendo mustn't wonder why no1 takes them seriously & every1 says they have games for kiddies, if they can't release a mature game w/o altering, censoring & butchering in general it's content then they can keep on selling first-party games only & don't expect support from third-party studios, if UBISOFT decide to release GTA V to Wii U for example r they going to do the same?

Nintendo get serious sometimes soon or keep on living on your world isolated from the hardcore mature crowd & continue to cater to the usual ages u cater all those years (6-12).

[Inception]

Already sold even before i tried the demo, because i'm a fans of Akihiko Yoshida and i luv his design in Bravely Default.

Some censorship can't stop me to buy this gem ^^

[for we are many]

I played the demo for 5 hrs now and the game is more than I ever wanted in a Jrpg in this day and age, graphics and art are very beautiful, soundtrack is superb and very catchy, just listen to the battle theme and Ancheim music, the battle system is complex and multi-layered with leveled job system and online friend recruitment, Simply excellent. 3DS is close to being my best gaming device ever!

[Chrono]

Currently playing it, one of the best RPGs from Square Enix in the recent years.