Review (2025 August)

Bravely Default: For the Sequel (as "BDFtS" afterwards) is a RPG developed by Square Enix and released back in 2013. BDFtS is the first and best game in the Bravely series, one of the few non-Pokémon RPGs that I enjoyed. Personally, I think there is no match for the Octopath series when comparing to the Bravely. There are a lot to collect and grind in BDFtS, but not that crazy even for those 100% players. The key features are listed as below.

• Story: No spoilers, overall an intriguing story, but requires patience to play till the end. BDFtS was released in 2010s, a period that many players were still patient enough to play it in a legit way to enter the final chapter. If BDFtS was released 10 years later, in 2020s, when the whole game market was already contaminated by short, casual and crappy games, I guess most would drop out before Chapter 6 or simply pick "another" way to enter the "final" chapter. That said, the design of the story has its systemic drawback. If the key rule is changed (e.g., from 5 to 3 or even 2), the whole design will be ruined. But as patience is only a virtue for some, a game designed like this is impossible to make most players happy from the beginning.

• Art: The art style suits BDFtS very well, so as the character design. A few years after I completed BDFtS, I still clearly remember every key character and every key plot. In comparison, after spending 160 hours completing 88/88 achievements on Steam, Octopath Traveler still looks a weird game to me when talking about its art style and I have forgot some key characters and even the main stories.

• Music: Argubaly the biggest catching point of BDFtS. Its soundtrack by REVO is just too good, and some of the songs have even been vocalised afterwards. Ignoring BDFtS if you do not want to play it, but do not miss its soundtrack!

• System: A typical RPG game with some smart designs. The Bravely and Default system evolved from Hikayon is very flexible and convenient, making normal fights and BOSS fights easier to cope with. The Main and Sub Job system gives players great freedom to customise their characters, making sure everyone can have a unique journey.

• Difficulty: BDFtS is not that easy, but only at the beginning for some specific fights (e.g., the BOSS fight in the demo). After understanding how the system works, the weaknesses of the opponents, learning some strategies and collecting enough asterisks, BDFtS will be pretty smooth. That said, some jobs, skills and combinations are simply overpowered. You have to put some restrictions yourself if you want to keep playing with some challenges till the end. I think this is a common issue for every singleplayer RPG, where balance is not really a thing. Just play what you like and have fun.