If you've never played an Animal Crossing game before, it's a real blast. If you have? You won't feel the magic you felt before.

The first month or two of release for this game was exciting - coronavirus put the world in quarantine and there was nothing that screamed "escapism" more than playing a little game where you run an island full of adorable animals. That being said, I've never gotten tired of an Animal Crossing game so quickly. Compared to New Leaf, this game felt half baked. There was definitely some attention to older players' desires (the designs system, terraforming, etc.) but enjoyment is butchered by the sheer lack of personality. The islanders have the same 3-4 lines, the Nooklings never get their shop upgraded after the first time, and there's a glaring lack of furniture options even to this day.

2.0 is the last update, is it not? That's a shame.

No idea what the UI experience is anywhere else, but it was abysmal on the Nintendo Switch.

I couldn't get hooked on the plot either. Characters weren't very interesting, and I didn't really feel immersed in the world.

It's a shame, because I did enjoy the art style and battle system.

Wow. The reviews on this one are polarized as can be.

Bravely Default is actually my favorite game, and I feel that a lot of what it does right is overlooked in lieu of what it does wrong.

The battle system stood out pretty well, with a job system similar to FF5's, and the ability to use party turns as credit.
I enjoyed the story as a unique spin of classic Final Fantasy games, and the characters were surprisingly easy to get attached to.
The art and music for the game is stunning. Akihiko Yoshida and Revo did a spectacular job bringing the world to life.

That being said, the elephant in the room is the second half of the game. Without spoiling anything, many consider this later portion to be repetitive and unnecessary. I'm not going to say it wasn't, but I will say there was a definite intention that the writers were going for. Was it perfectly executed? Absolutely not. It's a valid reason to drop the game, honestly. I would've if I wasn't so invested in every other aspect of the game.

If there's one thing I could say to anyone struggling through this second half, though, is that it's absolutely worth it. The ending is just splendid, and the epilogue-like section that follows the great finale left me with my mind blown.

This game definitely has some of the charm that Bravely Default and Bravely Second curated and maintained. Revo returns with a stunning original soundtrack that even pays some homage to the original game! The art is well-done all things considered, and the story is compelling enough (though, don't go into it looking for some crazy meta title screen bit lol).

Unfortunately, I can't say this game was that much better than its two predecessors. The battle system, while improved over the course of multiple demos, just didn't feel the same. The layout and turn execution rendered most Brave/Default mechanisms (that excelled in the previous games) more or less defunct. Despite the music and atmosphere remaining familiar, the game itself just felt ... not very "Bravely." At times I felt I was playing some tangentially-similar game, like Octopath, and not an actual Bravely game.

As a game? Splendid. As the Bravely Default sequel? A slight step down, honestly.

The characterization of the protagonists in this game felt artificial and awkward. Sure, there's nothing wrong with a romance subplot here and there, but I felt this game really took it to the max.
Ryo was a fantastic composer, but Revo's tracks in the original Bravely Default were a big part of what built the game's identity. Bravely Second felt slightly foreign without that.

The job system was upgraded very nicely from the last game. Spellcrafting was a nice touch. I enjoyed playing through the new story with new jobs. A satisfying sequel, all things considered.

Don't go into this game expecting a deep world with detailed lore and backstories. There are other visual novels for that. This game was made to give people a nice warm feeling and a sense of familiarity.

That being said, this was a lovely kinetic novel about four girls who play baseball, and how their identities and personalities intersect with each other and play into other parts of their lives. It is a love letter to young lesbians and bisexual girls of all backgrounds, and a beautiful one at that.