It's pretty much like an old school Final Fantasy with a Dragon Quest style battle system. I did a small review of it in the JRPG fan club which I'll post hereThe Wykydtron said:
So time for the verdict on Bravely Default.
It's essentially an old school overworld + airship style JRPG. The battle system is quite similar to Dragon Quest, but rather than building up tension to execute more powerful attacks, you instead default turns which allows you to pull off up to four consecutive attacks in one turn (called Brave). You can also attack four times at once without defaulting any turns, however this leaves you vulnerable and unable to move for the next three turns. It essentially becomes a risk-reward type scenario where you try to kill off the enemies with the most efficient use of Brave and Default. It really is quite fun.
It also incorporates a Job System (and Job systems are the best). It's got all your classic jobs, like White Mage, Black Mage, Knight, Monk etc. On each character you can have one main Job, plus a secondary job which allows you to use skills from both. And each job unlock support abilities as you level up that can be used in combination with any job, giving you a wide range of possibilities with character building.
The story is so far a simple affair. The world relies on crystals which have been taken by an evil power of some sort, causing global calamities, and thus you quest to fix them. It is however very well written, The English voice-over is poor though, I suggest changing the language to Japanese, if only because the emotion and tone carries the story much more effectively (like with most anime series).
The Skit system from the Tales of series also makes an appearance. Unfortunately they aren't voiced but they are still quite funny and provide some good character building. A lot of effort has been put into streamlining and eliminating some of the bullshit from JRPGs. The rate and difficulty of random encounters can be adjusted at will. And Battles can be sped up 4 times the usual. This makes any grinding a breeze.
I recommend playing it on Hard as it makes the boss battles quite intense and tactical affairs.
The soundtrack is excellent. Fully orchestrated and reminiscent of Final Fantasies of the PS1 and PS2 era. The artwork is also excellent, with towns and the landscape resembling a watercolour painting.
Overall a great classic styled JRPG. I highly recommend picking up a copy. 9/10
It's essentially an old school overworld + airship style JRPG. The battle system is quite similar to Dragon Quest, but rather than building up tension to execute more powerful attacks, you instead default turns which allows you to pull off up to four consecutive attacks in one turn (called Brave). You can also attack four times at once without defaulting any turns, however this leaves you vulnerable and unable to move for the next three turns. It essentially becomes a risk-reward type scenario where you try to kill off the enemies with the most efficient use of Brave and Default. It really is quite fun.
It also incorporates a Job System (and Job systems are the best). It's got all your classic jobs, like White Mage, Black Mage, Knight, Monk etc. On each character you can have one main Job, plus a secondary job which allows you to use skills from both. And each job unlock support abilities as you level up that can be used in combination with any job, giving you a wide range of possibilities with character building.
The story is so far a simple affair. The world relies on crystals which have been taken by an evil power of some sort, causing global calamities, and thus you quest to fix them. It is however very well written, The English voice-over is poor though, I suggest changing the language to Japanese, if only because the emotion and tone carries the story much more effectively (like with most anime series).
The Skit system from the Tales of series also makes an appearance. Unfortunately they aren't voiced but they are still quite funny and provide some good character building. A lot of effort has been put into streamlining and eliminating some of the bullshit from JRPGs. The rate and difficulty of random encounters can be adjusted at will. And Battles can be sped up 4 times the usual. This makes any grinding a breeze.
I recommend playing it on Hard as it makes the boss battles quite intense and tactical affairs.
The soundtrack is excellent. Fully orchestrated and reminiscent of Final Fantasies of the PS1 and PS2 era. The artwork is also excellent, with towns and the landscape resembling a watercolour painting.
Overall a great classic styled JRPG. I highly recommend picking up a copy. 9/10
ark Arisen.
