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Oct 27, 2017
4,498
Demos failed to sell me on the game even a little, so still not convinced. Will be interesting to see when reviews come out.

Interesting to see mention of difficulty. I sincerely hope it doesn't just mean "you have to grind lots", since that's what difficulty tends to equate to in many JRPGs these days.
I've found that in pretty much any jrpg (except maybe some NES titles?), grinding is never necessary. Most of the games have extreme low-level playthroughs too, it's all about utilizing the game's system and abilities given to you. The bravely series especially give you a shit ton of options with all the different classes and abilities you can mix, and some combinations completely break the game.

I often found some bosses impossible in BD, only to change a couple of classes / strategy and come back to pulverize it without grinding at all.
 

Buckle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
41,038
My reaction


35b81e6880be407b21437c2c50158764ed4fd14f_hq.gif
Mrgrrgrr!
 

Buckle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
41,038
Do the BD games do alright in Japan?

All these talks of lower budgets on each game makes me more wonder if SE has been slowly losing faith in the series. Would like to think it still has a future beyond II.
 

Arkeband

Banned
Nov 8, 2017
7,663
Damn, was second layer that bad?

Twenty hours into BD1 right now and loving it.

End Layer got good reviews and had strong sales performance for being a JRPG and also being a sequel. It just didn't outperform BD1 (which is already a big ask) so of course that means it's a failure to the suits. Also keep in mind that Japan had a mobile game that they ended service on, so there's more going on with the IP for them than for us in the West.

Part of BS's struggle was it was completely missing Revo, who was the aesthetic heart of BD. Even still, it's a great game and possibly the best RPG on the 3DS.
 

Glio

Member
Oct 27, 2017
24,497
Spain
Do the BD games do alright in Japan?

All these talks of lower budgets on each game makes me more wonder if SE has been slowly losing faith in the series. Would like to think it still has a future beyond II.
The first game sold excellently and exceeded all expectations, which makes the fact that the sequel had a significantly lower budget all the more perplexing.
 

Oregano

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,878
Do the BD games do alright in Japan?

All these talks of lower budgets on each game makes me more wonder if SE has been slowly losing faith in the series. Would like to think it still has a future beyond II.

They never had faith to begin with. The original smashed expectations in Japan but they never had any plans to release it outside of Japan, it only happened because Nintendo picked it up. It then smashed expectations outside of Japan as well, selling well over 1m copies worldwide in the end.

Despite that Bravely Second clearly didn't get the support from the company it needed and it ended up selling ~700k IIRC which is still not terrible enough to completely kill the IP but was a big step down from the first game's success.
 

Tochtli79

Member
Jun 27, 2019
5,777
Mexico City
I wish BS would get a Switch port, I started it on 3DS but it was so similar to BD that I didn't get very far. I've wanted to go back to it but picking up that hardware is just so undesirable now.
 

Redcrayon

Patient hunter
On Break
Oct 27, 2017
12,713
UK
I wish BS would get a Switch port, I started it on 3DS but it was so similar to BD that I didn't get very far. I've wanted to go back to it but picking up that hardware is just so undesirable now.
The main thing that stopped me playing Bravely Second was that the demo campaign, Ballad of the Three Cavaliers, was such a great 10-hour exclusive campaign on it's own that I felt like I'd had my fix of it and didn't need the main campaign.

Perhaps speaks to why getting the length of the demo right and leaving people wanting more, and also it not putting people off, are so important.

 

Brend

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
708
Scotland
One of the small things I'm incredibly happy about in this game is the inclusion of a Scottish VA playing someone who is supposed to sound Scottish. Had too many games go down the Shrek route, which sounds nothing like an actual Scottish person.

Think I recognise Elvis' voice from Forza Horizon 4 too, if I'm not mistaken.
 

Buckle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
41,038
The main thing that stopped me playing Bravely Second was that the demo campaign, Ballad of the Three Cavaliers, was such a great 10-hour exclusive campaign on it's own that I felt like I'd had my fix of it and didn't need the main campaign.

Perhaps speaks to why getting the length of the demo right and leaving people wanting more, and also it not putting people off, are so important.

I love this. Such a fun way to do a demo.

Gonna go ahead and download it and play it after I'm done with the first.
 

DTC

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,580
Some impressions from my time:

- The BD battle system remains really great and strategic. I'm playing on hard and it's quite a decent challenge
- The job system and grinding out passive skills to use for different jobs for synergy is as addictive as ever
- Almost everything is voiced, though the localization is pretty aggressive (I play with JP voices)
- The game is big and long, especially if you do the side stuff (I'm 40 hours in)
- BD2 was clearly made on a budget. It recycles enemy models pretty much straight away
- The lack of AA can make it look bad, especially on a TV. This is a handheld game (the huge minimap also seems to indicate that)
- There is a disappointing reduction of complexity especially when compared to Second. BD2 only has 6 weapons compared to 11 in Second
- It seems there are also less total jobs and the jobs themselves are a bit simplified and have less skills than I'm used to.

How many levels are in every job? And what are your three favorite jobs to use so far?
 

BlueManifest

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,315
Story: find the 4 crystals to restore balance

That's the only problem with this game, one of the things that made classic jrpgs so great were the stories and devs just don't get that.

Is there really no one left that can come up with a story of the same caliber as illusion of Gaia, Chrono trigger, FF6 or terranigma
 

Glio

Member
Oct 27, 2017
24,497
Spain
Story: find the 4 crystals to restore balance

That's the only problem with this game, one of the things that made classic jrpgs so great were the stories and devs just don't get that.

Is there really no one left that can come up with a story of the same caliber as illusion of Gaia, Chrono trigger, FF6 or terranigma
If you think that's going to be the real plot, you should play Bravely Default or Second.
 

Oregano

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,878
Story: find the 4 crystals to restore balance

That's the only problem with this game, one of the things that made classic jrpgs so great were the stories and devs just don't get that.

Is there really no one left that can come up with a story of the same caliber as illusion of Gaia, Chrono trigger, FF6 or terranigma

Out of interest have you played the previous games?
 

kidnemo

Member
Dec 11, 2017
1,158
If you think that's going to be the real plot, you should play Bravely Default or Second.

Seriously. It's always so funny to see commentary like that where its so obviously shot from the hip and uninformed.

I LOVE the classic jrpgs, but lets not act like their stories were often paper thin and full of cookie cutter. Nostalgia is a crazy thing.
 

Quinho

Member
Dec 25, 2017
1,033
Story: find the 4 crystals to restore balance

That's the only problem with this game, one of the things that made classic jrpgs so great were the stories and devs just don't get that.

Is there really no one left that can come up with a story of the same caliber as illusion of Gaia, Chrono trigger, FF6 or terranigma

To be honest, a lot of beloved classic jrpgs has this trope of "find/restore 4 crystals/other objects to save the world".

I am completely fine with this if the gameplay is good.
 

Kromeo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,828
The story in Second is complete ass and Magnolia is probably the most insufferable character I've ever seen in a game. I'm not going into this expecting much in the story department but it doesn't matter, I'm sure I'll still enjoy it
 

BlueManifest

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,315
Has anyone said if the game is challenging even on normal or do you have to pick hard for any type of challenge?
 

ZeroDotFlow

Member
Oct 27, 2017
928
Story: find the 4 crystals to restore balance

That's the only problem with this game, one of the things that made classic jrpgs so great were the stories and devs just don't get that.

Is there really no one left that can come up with a story of the same caliber as illusion of Gaia, Chrono trigger, FF6 or terranigma
Seeing people make remarks like this about Bravely Default of all games is pretty damn funny, not gonna lie.
 

Razmos

Unshakeable One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
15,890
Played the final demo last night and really enjoyed it, way more than the original demo which I thought was too brutally hard, on normal the difficulty was just right for me. The Bard boss fight was just perfect
It very much felt like the original bravely default but... New, and I loved it.

I'm going to be going in blind about the Asterisks so I'm excited about what kind of jobs there are in the game. The only ones I'm aware of are the 4 base ones in the demo, Bard and what I assume are Thief and Beastmaster
 

Redcrayon

Patient hunter
On Break
Oct 27, 2017
12,713
UK
Played the final demo last night and really enjoyed it, way more than the original demo which I thought was too brutally hard, on normal the difficulty was just right for me. The Bard boss fight was just perfect
It very much felt like the original bravely default but... New, and I loved it.

I'm going to be going in blind about the Asterisks so I'm excited about what kind of jobs there are in the game. The only ones I'm aware of are the 4 base ones in the demo, Bard and what I assume are Thief and Beastmaster
I like going in blind too and discovering them as I go, it's a big part of what I like about the series.
 

Scott Lufkin

Member
Dec 7, 2017
1,453
From what I saw in the final demo (which I barely played to preserve the full versions impact in that area) one thing I really liked was it looked like job skills were really interesting and had some potential for fun synergies, and were more interesting or "cool" than the skills the same jobs gave in the first demo.
 

Oregano

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,878
Don't remember was awhile ago

Well if you want to know why this game likely isn't just that initial setup...

In the first Bravely Default Airy is eager to have the players "restore" the crystals because it's a plot to feed the world to her inter-dimensional master, Ouroboros. It's a cycle she has perpetuated many times over, as the main character Ringabel is actually the previous world's Alternis Dim and there's only a few cycles left before Ouroboros has enough power to devour the Celestial Realm(AKA the real world).
 

OnePointZero

Member
Oct 27, 2017
134
www.jeuxvideo.com

Preview Bravely Default II : On a terminé les deux premiers chapitres ! Voici nos impressions sur Switch

Après un succès mérité sur 3DS, la série Bravely Default débarque sur Nintendo Switch pour s’ouvrir une nouvelle voie. Les amateurs de JRPG old-school attendent ce nouvel opus avec impatience et nous avons eu la chance de découvrir en avance les deux premiers chapitres pour vous faire part de...
(Exciting, their top preview score, in French)

Apparently they hid a complete card game in a side quest. The reviewer mention the card game from FF8 as a comparison.
Wait WHAT!? There's a hidden card game? Went from "I'll keep an eye on it" straight to "Definitely have to check it out".
 

BlueManifest

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,315
Well if you want to know why this game likely isn't just that initial setup...

In the first Bravely Default Airy is eager to have the players "restore" the crystals because it's a plot to feed the world to her inter-dimensional master, Ouroboros. It's a cycle she has perpetuated many times over, as the main character Ringabel is actually the previous world's Alternis Dim and there's only a few cycles left before Ouroboros has enough power to devour the Celestial Realm(AKA the real world).
K but that still involves 4 crystals as one of the main plot points, seems like they could have come up with something different for the sequel
 

OnanieBomb

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,476
Unless reviews really stink this is probably going to be my first bravely default game. I'm OK with tropes. I already think it's interesting how the presence of the Crystal affects the water level in the demo.
 

Doc Kelso

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,154
NYC
K but that still involves 4 crystals as one of the main plot points, seems like they could have come up with something different for the sequel
It's more like the McGuffin which ain't that different from most of those old JRPGs you cited. Chase down a thing to move the plot forward--literally--I guess call it the 4 Shards and it's better or something?

I'm pretty excited for the game. BD was one of my favorite games of the late 3DS gen. Never played End Layer since it came out at an awkward time for me.
 

Gaia Lanzer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,669
That's the only problem with this game, one of the things that made classic jrpgs so great were the stories and devs just don't get that.

Is there really no one left that can come up with a story of the same caliber as illusion of Gaia, Chrono trigger, FF6 or terranigma
I think you've described Tokyo RPG Factory. That said, Dragon Quest XI's been giving me the old school JRPG feels as far as characters, story and the "epic quest" feels of yesteryear. There are still some games that do that, y'know?
 

Kubinsky

Member
Oct 29, 2017
51
The final demo has some serious performance issues on my switch I really hope it will be better in the final game