Bravely Second: End Layer Review

Bravely Default was popular in its time. She turned the stereotypes of JRPGs upside down. What can I say, if they even took out the classic turn-based combat from the game, replacing it with the Brave and Default system, thus adding more risk. This creative approach appealed to both genre veterans and newcomers.

It’s a bit of a shame that Bravely Second couldn’t have the same influence on the genre as its predecessor. But that’s okay, because it’s still a true JRPG that has plenty to love.

You saved the world once, but that’s not enough. The events of Bravely Second take place shortly after the original game, which means that newcomers would probably be better off playing the first part first.

The main protagonist is Yu Zeneolsia, a guardian of the Crystal Guard who has sworn to protect Agnes Oblige, one of the protagonists of Bravely Default.

Of course, everything quickly goes awry, Agnes is kidnapped by the evil King, and Yu gathers a team of characters who can’t be called heroes, and rushes headlong to save her from the clutches of the villain.

In general, it’s a typical setup for a JRPG (yes, yes, the villain kidnaps the princess and the hero runs to save her, what’s so special about it? and no need to roll your eyes!), but Bravely Default fans will surely be happy to participate in the adventures of their favorite characters again. Additionally, during the completion of side quests, secondary characters from the previous game will also have their moment of glory.

The combat will surely seem very familiar to you, as the Brave and Default system remains untouched. Choosing Brave allows you to make additional moves, and if you don’t defeat the enemy, you’ll have to patiently wait for them to make the same number of counter moves.

Choose Default, and it puts you in a defensive position, with an extra turn as a reserve in case you need it.

As before, you can simply spend all your Brave Points in one turn to easily defeat randomly encountered enemies.

And the game encourages this: when you take out a group of enemies in one turn, you are given the opportunity to continue the battle against a new wave of enemies and earn additional experience points.

This turns even low-level locations into the perfect training ground. One or two fights won’t level you up, but nine consecutive battles with a triple experience bonus are definitely worth your time.

Bravely Second uses a familiar job system taken from previous Final Fantasy games. Many new jobs and abilities have been added, which you acquire by progressing through the main story or completing side quests, and obtaining items called “Job Asterisks”.

We were shown many highly detailed and incredibly beautiful cutscenes, but it is clear that the graphics in the game are a testament to how to create an excellent image from a few polygons. The graphics have not undergone drastic changes compared to Brave and Default and continue to exploit the strengths of the 3DS display.

Despite the small amount of changes, both visually and in gameplay, Bravely Second is still a fantastic game.

There is an amazing environment here, where you are drawn to explore every corner, interesting characters encountered along the way, as well as a traditional JRPG storyline that, although may seem somewhat familiar, still captivates from beginning to end.

Bravely Second may not be as innovative as its predecessor, but undoubtedly, it can be called one of the best games of 2016.