Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Shall We Do It? (Bravely Default ... and that's pretty much all, folks!)

After a month or more of juggling two, three and even four games at a time, I pared back this week and played just one.

Of course, I spent just under 20 hours with that particular title--the just-released Bravely Default for the 3DS--so you could hardly say I shirked my duties as a gaming blogger since I last published one of these "Shall We Do It?" posts.

Anyway, as I'm sure you've already surmised based on my comment about spending 20 or so hours with Bravely Default, I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

I know I said in my last "Shall We Do It?" post that my favorite aspect of the game is the "party chat" feature, but that's not true any longer. Oh, I still like it quite a bit--and I'm still amazed the folks at Nintendo or Square Enix (whichever handled the localization) kept it intact--but in the last few days that aspect of the game has taken a back seat to a couple of others, like the dramatic boss battles and the bevy of different jobs.


The boss battles--some of which result in your party gaining access to new jobs, actually--I've encountered so far have especially wowed me so far, I have to say. Not only are they appealingly theatrical, but many of them also are tough as nails. I can't tell you how many times I've escaped from one of these encounters by the skin of my teeth.

That's a positive in my eyes, by the way. I get so sick of playing RPGs--or any other genre of games, really--that feature baddies that can be tossed aside like week-old leftovers.

I don't only like that the bosses in this game mean business, by the way; I also like that the bulk of them showcase some pretty impressive designs. Case in point: the airborne "Nemesis," Mammon, who looks like your typical blond baroness (well, the typical blond baroness that can be found in a Japanese RPG, anyway) with four drumsticks strapped to her back.

As for Bravely Default's jobs, well, they're pretty impressive, too; and not just in design, but also in utility. The one that's surprised me the most so far is the spell fencer. Here's a job, class, whatever you want to call it, that I've always wanted to like (when it appeared in games like Final Fantasy V) but have never been able to do so. In this game, though, it's not only pretty darn useful, but it's visually stunning, too.


I'm also quite smitten with the monk, performer and summoner jobs, but that's not much of a surprise where I'm concerned, as I've always loved this trio of RPG career paths.

Oh, and the ranger! How could I forget the ranger? OK, so the design is a bit ... interesting, but I'm willing to put up with it if it means I can master the use of the bow (my favorite weapon in Bravely Default right now, in case you're curious).

Is there any part of this portable adventure that isn't quite clicking with me at the moment? Not really, although I will admit that the game's characters can be a bit verbose at times. Thankfully, it's easy enough to skip over whenever I'm not in the mood, so don't take my mention of it here to be akin to a formal complaint.

Another of my not-quite-complaints: the game's really dense. As in, there's a lot of stuff a player has to learn about if they hope to have the "full Bravely Default experience"--stuff like abilities and special moves and parts and compounds. To be completely (and embarrassingly) honest, I'm still not completely sure what I need to do to trigger some special moves, nor do I fully understand how I'm supposed to make use of the aforementioned "parts" (which augment special moves, if I'm not mistaken).


Again, though, I wouldn't really say this is a complaint. I personally like that Bravely Default is packed with features and options. I imagine, though, some gamers will encounter some or all of the above and wonder, "What am I supposed to do this?"

Are any of you also playing Bravely Default at the moment? If so, what do you think of it--and are there any aspects of it that you particularly love or hate?

By the way, although I focused all of my gaming attention on Bravely Default this week, I picked up Weapon Shop de Omasse a few days ago and will set aside at least a couple of hours for it in the coming days. So, expect to hear at least a smidge about that 3DS eShop release in my next "Shall We Do It?" post.

See also: previous 'Shall We Do It?' posts

26 comments:

Zaphod65 said...

I'm still at the end of the first chapter, about to do the boss fight to unlock Spell Fencer and Time Mage. I can't wait for work to slow down so I can sink some real time into the game. On the positive side, my Norende village is completely restored since I always have time to leave the 3DS in sleep mode.

I'm liking it so far -- especially having Ringabel on Monk. I just wish there was a Beastmaster job. That was my main job in Final Fantasy XI, so now I get all angsty when Square Enix leaves it out, ha-ha.

thegaygamer.com said...

I hear ya, Terry. I've been playing it plenty, but it *still* isn't enough for me. Ha ha!


I'm jealous that your Norende village is completely restored. Mine is well on its way, but I still have a way to go before it's complete, I'm afraid.


I used to like the Beastmaster job, too! Although, honestly, the only game I ever really used it in was FFV, and even then only sometimes. I don't like not having control over a party member--even if this job allows that party member to smack down enemies.

miruki said...

Urgh... I need to get back to BD asap... before I lose all motivation and never finish it. Which isn't because the game is bad or anything, I really quite enjoy it, but I think everyone has their complains about chapter 5, where I'm currently at...

Still, I love the game, I love how everything I predicted so far really happened in the game.. I already knew who's gonna be the bad guy in the end and Ringabel wasn't much of a mystery to me either (but gosh, do I love that guy, him and Edea, so lovely~) :>


I've started playing so many games... Tales of Xillia, Mass Effect, Bravely Default, Settlers 7, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, Loren the Amazon Princess (which has multiple same-gender romance options!), Goodbye Deponia...

Sad stuff has happened too... my PS Vita's left stick started acting weird months ago and in January I decided to send the Vita in to have it fixed (it would sometimes randomly make characters walk to the left, without me even touching the stick..) but Sony told me they no longer fix the old model and instead returned my money (which wasn't really that bad, since I spent 300€ on it at launch and by now it's down to what, 150€?) - but since I had some high priority needs like a new monitor and a new external HDD (mine fell down and died ;__;) I spent the money on that.. now I miss my Vita every day. ;__;

And right after I lose it they go on and announce Conception II, the one game I REALLY want to play and never expected to get localised... damn it, I need a new Vita. Yesterday my cell phone got stolen tho, so I guess a new Vita will have to wait a while longer...

But first I'll just forget about all that shit for and eagerly await the release of Atelier Escha & Logy and then I'll just drown my sorrow with tons of alchemy potions! ;D

thegaygamer.com said...

Well, I can't entirely blame you for stepping away from Bravely Default for a bit, miruki. It is quite a time investment, after all, isn't it?


I'm only on Chapter 3 myself, near the end, so I don't know what you're talking about RE: Chapter 5. Guess I'll find out soon enough!


Sorry to hear about your Vita, BTW :( I can't believe Sony no longer fixes the original Vita model. It's only two years old! Ugh.

saltine said...

I got a Japanese Nemesis that looks like a mechanical fish puppet. It's beautiful!! BD has really stellar art and design.

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, consider me jealous! I've only bothered to fight the Mammons that have been sent my way, as all the others are far too strong for my party (all of whose members are still in the 40s in terms of levels).

Zaphod65 said...

My village restored quickly because I also had the demo on my 2DS and it kept sending streams of villagers to the cart in my XL, so I put 'em to work. lol

thegaygamer.com said...

Ha! I did the same, Terry. Kind of. I think I moved about 10 villagers from one 3DS to the other, but that's where I stopped. Thankfully, I've since gained about 30 or so more via the game's online functionality, etc.

TheGameroomBlitz said...

Old model? The friggin' thing is like, two years old! On what planet is that old?

Geez, Sony. You're not winning over fans with customer service like this.

thegaygamer.com said...

My thoughts exactly, Jess. This is the first I've heard of such a thing, and it shocks me. Why has this not been talked about elsewhere? Unless it has and I just haven't paid attention, of course...

Justin Difazzio said...

I just want it so bad. So stinking bad.

thegaygamer.com said...

Aw, man, sorry :( Just know it'll be worth it once you finally get your hands on it -- or at least I'm hoping/betting it will!

diaglyph said...

Woo! Hehe :)
And yes as mentioned, chapter 5 can be a killer chapter! But hopefully it won't discourage you.
Ok let's see if I can be brief hehe: special moves - you can see what you need to do when you access special moves menu. Move the selector onto a weapon, then in the area where descriptions appear for things, you will see no telling your "use items 5 times" or "use magic 5 times" etc
Parts slot into the different actions that can happen when using special move. Eg a part could add paralysis effect to a special attack.

Compounds are used by Salve maker job. I too wondered when the hell those items would get used hehe

Just briefly on Mammon: a particular one can be milked of money if you have thief and merchant jobs (steal elixir, sell back, and run, repeat). So if you find a mammon with that elixir, Protect it (which stops it from going away)

diaglyph said...

As to your other points: I would argue it's the prettiest and most artistic 3DS game to date. Can't wait for a Bravely Second :) which apparently will be more story focused.

thegaygamer.com said...

What's up with everyone mentioning/warning about Chapter 5? It's going to be very interesting to see how I react to whatever happens there...


Thanks for the explanation of some of the stuff I mentioned in this post. I've since figured out the special moves stuff, so that's good. Compounding now makes sense, too, but I have yet to actually put it to use.


Thanks, too, for the Mammon info. I just got two more of her (??), so I'll see if I can get your trick to work on one of them. More money certainly would be nice!

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, yes, I definitely agree with that, Igor. Overall it's one of the prettiest games, period, I've ever played--and that has nothing to do with how many polygons it's pushing!

Monster_Hunter2882 said...

I pretty much agree with everything you said. There is something I do find annoying about Bravely Default though. Late in chapter 4 you can get job via a sub-scenario that lets you learn certain abilities from monsters. Problem is some of the abilities can only be learned from monsters in that appear in Chapters 1-4 and don't show up again until the optional bonus dungeon you can do after you beat the game. In chapter 5 they get swapped out with recolors.


Also about chapter 5 let's just say the game starts recycling content.

diaglyph said...

You can easily make 40k off each steal (and it's special elixir not the one you can buy, it will appear last when you use the Salesman ability).

On chapter 5, its kinda like groundhog day with some differences. Make sure you do the side bosses as they start introducing little story elements to them. Also a cool thing happens to the title screen in chapter 6 ;)

thegaygamer.com said...

I'll give it a try tomorrow or this weekend, Igor. I definitely could use some extra dough at this point :|

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, boy, all of you who've already played through the game are making me nervous about this Chapter 5 "twist"!

Monster_Hunter2882 said...

Also a character set up I would suggest is a ninja (side or main job) with the support abilities transience (from ninja, do a counterattack when evading) and turn tables (from red mage, get 1 BP when evading). Using the utsusemi (evade physical attacks) skill in fights against enemies with just physical attacks not much of an issue for that character. I have Anges with this set-up with swordmaster as her side-job (or whatever they're called) having her also use the ability before swine (defend and than counterattack against magic attacks).

diaglyph said...

One of my favourite combos for early game was Salve maker /White Mage - power house healer. Also later I had Spirit Master /White Mage - also power house healer

thegaygamer.com said...

I'll take it under consideration, Sam :)


BTW, I *just* got the ninja job tonight and Ringabel is the lucky recipient of it right now.


Previously he was my treasured, magic-sword wielder (can't remember that job's name), so the ninja job better rock! Ha ha...

thegaygamer.com said...

I've barely used the salve maker so far, Igor, but I may have to have Tiz try it out tomorrow, as he's been my go-to white mage so far...

diaglyph said...

Just so you're aware, Agnes has the best caster stats ;)
Agnes - Int/Mind
Tiz - all same
Edea - Str/Vit
Ringabel - Dex/Agi

diaglyph said...

Salvemaker boosts healing abilities (doubles effectiveness) also Salve maker can do mass resurrect too (very useful in boss battles)