Nintendo announced last night that Bravely Default, the excellent role-playing game released last month for 3DS, sold over 200,000 copies in three weeks in the United States.Read more...
When I was a kid, I sometimes took weekend trips to my grandparents' house in Queens. I told my parents it was to "visit" and "spend time with them," but really it was so I could binge on JRPGs.Read more...
Play a couple hours of the terrific new JRPG Bravely Default and a number of its influences will become apparent. There's Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, and so on. But one influence may be less evident…. the early 90s high school TV drama Beverly Hills 90210.Read more...
Want to buy Bravely Default, but embarrassed about the "sexy teenage butterfly" cover art? Check out these (hilarious) tips from Dorkly. My favorite: the ol' Cool Game sandwich.Read more...
Man, if anyone out there needs beginner's tips for Bravely Default, it's me. I have no idea what to do when going into these games. Thankfully the gang over at Prima are here to help dolts like me make it through the early stages of the game. If you want to start off Bravely Default on the right foot, you'd do well to check out this feature!
People will inevitably refer to Bravely Default as a "classic" RPG—I sure have—but really, this game is more than that. It's the next evolution of a classic RPG, with just enough spice to taste a little bit different than the old Final Fantasys and Dragon Quests and Lunars of the world.
Thankfully, the frustrating moments of Bravely Default are fleeting. It's a game that will remind you why you fell in love with Japanese role playing games to begin with — that amazing sense of adventure coupled with the joy of strategically building your party.
Bravely Default brings together some of the best aspects of old school JRPGs, and updates them for modern day players. Whereas some players don't have the patience for, or enjoy the strategy that comes with turn-based JRPGs, this release helps alleviate some of those pains.
That’s the real achievement in this soundtrack–it’s no great feat to imitate the style of classic compositions, but capturing the spirit of those classics happens far more rarely. In Bravely Default, Yasuo Kamanaka does both, and does it with high quality orchestrated collection of songs that will stand the test of time just like the Square Enix RPG soundtracks players loved all those years ago.
+Classic RPG action with a tactical twist
+A vast story full of colourful characters
+Gloriously artistic presentation
-Overly grindy at times
-Certain characters are grating
Despite being plagued by a slow pace and late-game repetition, Bravely Default’s core mechanics kept me engaged until the credits. If you consider game length an indisputable indicator of quality, Bravely Default’s repetition may not bother you. However, I hope that Silicon Studio learns how to trim the fat for the sequel.
If future entries can leave me as frantic as its combat does, and support it with modern flexibility while retaining that old-school feel, then I'll happily play all of its ridiculously-named offspring.
Bravely Default gave me an experience that seemed to put me right back in my bedroom in the middle 1990s, where I'd sit in front of a small Hitachi television set and play the day away with a Super Nintendo controller in hand, so engrossed that I'd forget to eat. It harkens back to a time where we were all in love 16-bit Japanese role-playing games, and couldn't get enough of them.
