Bravely Default

Bravely Default is a video game for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in 2012 and developed by Silicon Valley and published by Square Enix and Nintendo. Despite the name, it's considered part of the Final Fantasy series of games. The game was originally available only in Japan, but an enhanced version, called For the Sequel, was released for other regions in addition to Japan.

Plot
After the corruption of the four elemental crystals, four heroes, the Wind Vestal Agnès Oblige, amnesiac ladies man, Ringabel, Edea Lee, the daughter of Grand Marshal of Eternia, and Tiz Arrior, the sole survivor of Norende, must work together to purify the crystals and stop the end of the world. But how did this corruption happen? And why did our heroes end up in another version of their world after restoring the four crystals? Is there more to this story than the crystals?

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The main focus of the battle system is Brave and Default. Default allows the heroes to skip battle in order to raise their Battle Points (BP) and save it. Default also raises defense. Brave helps spend BP and allows the heroes to use multiple actions in a single.
 * 2) The game uses a job system allowing the heroes to change class similar to Final Fantasy V. There are 24 jobs in all.
 * 3) Gamers obtain jobs by defeating bosses that hold asterisks. These bosses are usually optional but rewarding.
 * 4) Battles not only grant experience and PG (currency), but job points for upgrading each job, allowing for new abilities.
 * 5) Some job abilities can be used with other job classes via ability points.
 * 6) The heroes do not need to store BP to make multiple turns. They can spend BP even without storing it, but this will make their brave hit a negative number rendering them unable to do anything on their turns until their BP rises to zero. While risky, players can use this ability to end battles quickly for bonuses.
 * 7) Ending the battle in one turn will grant extra experience points, ending the battle unhurt will grant extra job points, and finishing the battle with more than one enemy meeting the same end will grant extra PG. These bonuses gradually increase the longer you can do these three things.
 * 8) While the freelancer job (starting job) may seem like the weakest class, its passive ability, Late Bloomer, increases stats 1% for each major job fully mastered, which at maximum, allows for a 24% increase in stats. This means that near the end of the game, the Freelancer job has the potential to be the best job in the game, though it will take time.
 * 9) Numerous cutscenes and party chats.
 * 10) Tiz is given the task of restoring Norende after it was swallowed by the Great Chasm. Restoring it allows the heroes to obtain new items weapons and parts for special abilities. The task is slow but villagers can be acquired using StreetPass.
 * 11) Each weapon allows for different types of special abilities that require certain actions to charge up. For instance, if using a bow, using the hunter abilities on each target type allows the ranger to activate special abilities depending on how many times it was done.
 * 12) StreetPass and internet options allow players to send or request help from friends to aid in battle.
 * 13) One shop in Norende sells special parts for the special abilities allowing for customization.
 * 14) Bravely Second allows the heroes to stop time in dangerous situations and allow a hero a turn. This ability costs Sleep Points which are acquired by letting the 3DS sleep for eight hours, or by drinking an SP potion, which unfortunately costs real world money.

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) The game forces you to repeat whole chunks of the game at least five times. After praying to a crystal you're sent to a parallel world. You're forced to defeat the same bosses with no changes.

Reception
Web Reviewer Projared gave Bravely Default a 9 out of 10, praising the gameplay and considering it a call back to the early era of JRPGs in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System era, while criticizing the clichéd story and real world money requirement of BP drinks and feeling coerced into buying them due to spikes in difficulty with certain bosses. Bravely Default has a 4.43 out of five rating on GameFAQs.

Videos
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