The launch of Bravely Default II, one of the most anticipated video games that the Nintendo console will receive exclusively, will shortly take place on Nintendo Switch. Last year we had the opportunity to thoroughly test a demo of this RPG that left us with a great taste in our mouths, despite the fact that it really made us go through its high difficulty.
It was precisely this reason that led Square Enix to go on stage and mention that in the final version it would take that detail into account. His intention was to reduce or balance it enough so that it was possible to complete the adventure before the players decided to throw the controller out of the window of frustration.
Well, we have had the opportunity to play the first hours of the final version of Bravely Default in order to tell you what we thought about the beginning of this installment and above all to see if Square Enix has fulfilled its promise.
The search for crystals to save the world
Unlike the part we played in the demo, now we have been able to learn in more detail the history of the main characters that we will control at all times almost from the beginning. The hero of this trip is Seth , a castaway who suffered an accident while sailing through the sea, although he was lucky enough to end up on a beach and be found by Gloria , the princess of Musa.
Shortly after, it is discovered that this young woman’s mission is to recover a set of four crystals necessary to save the world from a catastrophe. Each of them is dedicated to an element, but she has in her possession the crystal of the wind, so she will set out in search of the crystal of earth, water and fire. For this he will have the help of Seth, although he will not be the only one who will join in this odyssey.
Elvis , a scholar, and Adelle will also join the battle for their own personal reasons. The first because he will need to decipher the secrets of a book that he has inherited from his mentor, while the second is a mercenary who accompanies him. Even so, this is only the beginning of the plot and of course so far it promises a lot during its first bars .
As the story progresses, more details about it are revealed and from time to time events are accompanied by scenes in which the characters will talk to each other about recent events. Even so, beyond the main mission, in cities and other areas of the world there will be characters who will request our help to carry out secondary tasks , which will come in handy to obtain additional objects and, incidentally, delve into the history of the group of heroes. , so it is important not to ignore them.
So far the ones that we have found have not been a big problem and luckily it shows that they are not a simple addition to unnecessarily lengthen the game. Moreover, among them there are some that could perfectly pass through a main mission, such as one that will give us a boat to go on a trip while we are not playing , so that when we return, depending on the time that has elapsed, we will receive a few Rewards in return, such as items to increase experience or to improve statistics, something ideal for those who cannot spend many hours fighting to level up.
In any case, despite the fact that the group of protagonists are the four characters that we have mentioned previously, from time to time an additional hero will join the squad who will throw us a cable . For example, the first of them is Sir Sloan , one of the best swordsmen on the continent and a servant of Gloria. However, it is understandable that his help is only temporary because his strength is savage compared to that of our young adventurers, since he is able to eliminate any enemy in one hit and has infinite healing items.
Learning to use the Bravely Default system
Despite the last mentioned, that does not mean that the fighting is a breeze, even if it seems so at first with the invaluable help of Sloan. Turn-based battles are not difficult to understand, but they have a special mechanic that is vitally important to learn well for its corresponding use. We are talking about the Bravely Default system , the one that gives the saga its name and the one that can tip the balance in our favor during the confrontations if it is used correctly.
Thanks to him we will have two skills available at all times. On the one hand, Bravely will grant us an additional turn to execute one more attack, a magic or to use an object if necessary. However, the problem is that this extra movement must be recovered , so the characters can remain immobile for several turns if they have consumed too many points in a row with this ability.
That’s where Default comes into play, which is, so to speak, the way in which the characters will cover themselves from the hits that come their way, but at the same time it will be the ability in charge of subsequently granting an additional turn . For this reason, depending on the moment, you have to balance the use of this pair of skills, because sometimes it is convenient to store a few additional turns to unleash a wave of attacks and at other times it is convenient to finish off the enemies quickly.
For example, in our case against groups of normal enemies, it is good to quickly consume the Bravely points to eliminate the adversaries in a jiffy, but in the battles against final bosses it is better to store turns with Default. Likewise, there it will also depend on the strategy that each one wants to follow . Be that as it may, what is clear is that you can see that the difficulty line of the adventure is very well managed and it has not come to despair at any time as it happened in the demo.
Enemies will appear on the map at all times, roaming around the stage, either in the open world, where we will have a free camera, or in the dungeons. In this sense, it is important not to lose sight of them and land a good blow before starting the fight , because that will provide an additional turn with which you can be sure that it will get you out of more than one trouble. In the same way, it will happen the other way around if they are the ones who make the first blow. In addition, it is noticeable if we are in an area where our level is clearly higher, because in that case the enemies will lack time to put their feet in dust and flee from us across the map.
On the other hand, the battles are not only summarized in everything mentioned. As the story progresses, the characters will take over asterisks , objects with which they will obtain additional jobs , which will allow them to change their main and secondary class. Thus we will achieve that someone becomes a powerful warrior, learn healing magic if it is a white magician or offensive magics in the case of a black magician. There are many more besides these with which the way of playing will also change, so that his thing is to always carry a team and some jobs that are combined with each other so that the group is sufficiently balanced.
In addition, winning battles will provide work points for them to learn new active and passive skills . In fact, the latter come from pearls because among them there are some to avoid damage with traps or to take into account how many secret chests are hidden around the stage. The good thing is that the game allows you to practice your thing with all the new mechanics that are emerging as you go along and it is easy to get used to them so that the adventure is infinitely more bearable, which does not mean that there is actually more depth in the combats or the rest of the possibilities on the map than the ones we have highlighted, but for that we will have to wait for the final version.
At the moment it is unknown what aces Nintendo has up its sleeve for this 2021, but the truth is that the first quarter is very entertaining and only with the launch of Monster Hunter Rise next month and Bravely Default II next February 26 . Its first hours have completely caught me and I am already looking forward to getting back at the controls to continue this magical adventure that aims to be one of the best RPGs on Nintendo Switch , with the permission of titles like Octopath Traveler.
