I may write the biggest cope ever right now, but I can't help it.
I wish more people knew about this game and could give it a chance, but it being a 3DS title oddly holds it back while also giving it such a niche "you had to be there" fever dream of a vibe. This game is one big gigantic JRPG gem that I want MORE OF!!
The Brave/Default system is genuinely great, as it adds a more strategic twist to the classic turn based combat system and spices up the difficulty to a decent notch. The job system, while grindy, presents you with the option to keep abilities from jobs that you don't necessarily want to use. (Ex. A Knight could still have the passive abilities of a Monk or Pirate.) It just serves up a really satisfying platter of combinations for your characters to be built however way you want, with some combinations being insanely broken if you put in the time to nurture them. I love being an all powerful FREAK in a JRPG and don't mind grinding, so I cannot get enough of the class system in this game. It's a chef's kiss of variety and encourages you to swap classes often depending on the challenges at hand.
The plot of the game is also fantastic, and the music fucking rips. Each character, while their own degree of JRPG cringe, wrestle with their own issues that beautifully weave together as the universe's problems get much more dire.
That being said, the worst part of this game is definitely the last 1/3. I can swallow it just fine, but I can see why it puts a lot of people off. If it was shorter or executed in a different way, I could get by it a bit more but as it is, it makes the ending a bit of a slog to get through. It's a fantastic idea that ties the plot and conflict together, but it needed more details, more dialogue, more sense for it to work properly. It needed more than just ass blastingly difficult boss swarms to make it good. If you can get past that, you're in for a great finale.
Also please, this game has one of the best features in an RPG I have ever seen, and that is the ability to adjust random encounters. Please, please we need this more. You can crank that shit up to 1,000 to make grindfests much more manageble, or turn them off completely so exiting gigantic dungeons is less annoying. IT'S FANTASTIC. I'll die as a Bravely Default stan, BAYEBEEE.
I wish more people knew about this game and could give it a chance, but it being a 3DS title oddly holds it back while also giving it such a niche "you had to be there" fever dream of a vibe. This game is one big gigantic JRPG gem that I want MORE OF!!
The Brave/Default system is genuinely great, as it adds a more strategic twist to the classic turn based combat system and spices up the difficulty to a decent notch. The job system, while grindy, presents you with the option to keep abilities from jobs that you don't necessarily want to use. (Ex. A Knight could still have the passive abilities of a Monk or Pirate.) It just serves up a really satisfying platter of combinations for your characters to be built however way you want, with some combinations being insanely broken if you put in the time to nurture them. I love being an all powerful FREAK in a JRPG and don't mind grinding, so I cannot get enough of the class system in this game. It's a chef's kiss of variety and encourages you to swap classes often depending on the challenges at hand.
The plot of the game is also fantastic, and the music fucking rips. Each character, while their own degree of JRPG cringe, wrestle with their own issues that beautifully weave together as the universe's problems get much more dire.
That being said, the worst part of this game is definitely the last 1/3. I can swallow it just fine, but I can see why it puts a lot of people off. If it was shorter or executed in a different way, I could get by it a bit more but as it is, it makes the ending a bit of a slog to get through. It's a fantastic idea that ties the plot and conflict together, but it needed more details, more dialogue, more sense for it to work properly. It needed more than just ass blastingly difficult boss swarms to make it good. If you can get past that, you're in for a great finale.
Also please, this game has one of the best features in an RPG I have ever seen, and that is the ability to adjust random encounters. Please, please we need this more. You can crank that shit up to 1,000 to make grindfests much more manageble, or turn them off completely so exiting gigantic dungeons is less annoying. IT'S FANTASTIC. I'll die as a Bravely Default stan, BAYEBEEE.