Review: Bravely Default II

Be brave again

For some, the Brave by default the franchise only exists on the peripheral plane.

“We want more old school JRPGs,” fans cried. “Here are a few,” Square Enix replied. But the scope of projects in the series mentioned, as well as other specific Lost Sphear, I Am Setsuna, i Oninaki, is lost in some.

May be Courage by default II, with the power of the Switch installation base behind it, will change that narrative.

Courage by default II (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Claytechworks
Editor: Nintendo
Release: February 26, 2021
PVP: $ 59.99

Wait, we already have one Courage by default II, right? No! This was Bralyly Second: End Layer, friend! You know that Square Enix will never miss a chance to give us a cryptic and cunning title. Confused, that Brave by default the sequel is actually presented as an independent adventure. So, despite the nomenclature, you can skip it. Like the others, it fits very well into a classic fantasy tale. With monks. And giant anime swords.

This is an setting of your ancient realm, complete with the all-powerful crystal motif once again. We even get an amnesiac-type hero! And he meets helpful people pretty early on and gets entangled in a crystal theft plot. There are troops. Oh, there are troops! Like a mustache literally with a mustache, who practically spins his facial hair in quick, cryptic cutting scenes. Also, some weird and classic voice acting options are spread out above. It’s a staple of the series right now.

But like the past Brave boardsand some semi-recent Square JRPG work as a whole, there’s a lot of passion on the screen. It seems that the characters care about each other and their writing shines, despite some of these clichés mentioned above. There are so many optional talks (more details on this system later) that I’m glad I heard, as I was able to better check out the cast character.

It is also a beautiful game. Brave It has always looked good, especially when it comes to conceptual art, but now with the Switch it finally looks like it can deliver on many promises. There are some beautiful landscapes on display, with the option to step away intensely and make them really come in. Chibi character models and lo-fi “speaker” cut scenes will still be polarized; but without ever caring so much in the first place, it was easy to get used to. The environments are usually characters and steal the show.

Mechanically, Courage by default II benefit from all the modern JRPG bells and whistles: save virtually anywhere, the chance to see enemies in the field before a fight starts, quick cures to freshen up your party. It ranges from rationalization to memory at times, depending on how much a given area or set of enemies survives your welcome.

The travel notebook catalog menu is also extremely useful, which constantly guides you towards your next goal of keeping up to date. Breadcrumbs are common at this time, however Courage by default II it goes one step further, providing context for the story as well as the opportunity to do so see cut scenes if you want. Alternatively, you can skip some scenes for whatever reason and then go back and look at the handy travel diary menu. In turn, you can speed up battle sequences, which is useful for random garbage fights. Speaking of.

The “bank and spending” battle system that was born in the original statements, and that still works. The bottom line is that you can “default” to save turns if you don’t need them (if an ally is out of MP for example, or if the enemy is in a defensive position) or “brave” to pass four turns in a row and run four actions. In addition, you can customize your party and change the job, which includes a main class and a subclass.

I had a great time trying all the combos again, which can be changed effortlessly at any time. It can even be exciting to do something soon as well as go through two brave actions to examine / scan enemies, and then do four actions with the glass black cannon wizard to catch the entire enemy squad once you’ve checked your weakness. In this sense, it is gratifying to solve even the smallest puzzle. The overall work system is fantastic and open, and while it will be a while before you find the full party, it’s fun to get there.

In general, the main story is the main goal. World map sections generally don’t have an overwhelming amount of things to do (other than cutting shrubs or bushes for potential low-impact objects), and side missions are usually in the “MMO kill stuff” variety lane. first day. There’s also a light scanning system mechanic where you can send a cruise ship while your system is in standby mode for extra items, but that’s it. At least at first, it’s not as appealing as, say, the city’s reconstruction minigame Brave.

That’s pretty much it Courage by default II in a small neat package. Moreover Brave by default, which is a more classic JRPG formula, distilled for a modern era. It won’t reinvent role-playing games as we know them, but this series is still alive.

_{[This review is based on retail builds of the game provided by the publisher.]}

Courage by default II reviewed by Chris Carter