In a gaming landscape where many people feel that the traditional turn based Japanese RPG’s were a thing of the past, the original Bravely Default proved this notion wrong. Feeling like it was ripped straight off of a Super Nintendo cartridge in the way that adapted classic Final Fantasy inspired environments, game play and story telling, all while updating the formula with its unique Brave and Default mechanics, the title’s success in the West took even Square Enix by surprise. What wasn’t a surprise however, was the second game coming stateside. Bravely Second: End Layer is here, and tries to capitalize on its predecessor’s success by playing it a little too safe. Despite adding a few new mechanics and characters to keep things interesting, refusing to stray too far from the groundwork that the first game paved leaves it feeling like a far too familiar, (but still well made,) retread.
Over two years after the Warriors of Light saved the world of Luxendarc from Ouroboros, Bravely Second starts with the kingdom being confronted by a new threat. After Agnes, (the Wind Vestal from the original game who has since become Pope,) is kidnapped by this new enemy, Yew Geneolgia, heir to the esteemed House Geneolgia and leader of Agnes’ elite guard, the Three Cavaliers, sets off on a quest to rescue Her Holiness from her captors. Joining forces with Magnolia Arch, a mysterious warrior from the moon, Edea Lee, a knight of Eternia and one of the former Warriors of Light, and Tiz Arrior, a fellow Warrior of Light and the first game’s protagonist, the group pursues their enemies across Luxendarc in a quest that forces the party to question their allegiances, themselves, and the very foundation on which their world was built on.
Not much has changed on the game play front between games. Like its predecessor, Bravely Second employs a turn based combat system where opponents and allies take turns performing actions like attacking, casting magic and using items until each member on one side of the fight is KO’d. With 30 jobs made up of both returning and new classes, each character can be molded into whatever role they need to fill at the time thanks to the option to carry over limited abilities from other jobs you’ve mastered. From mages, to warriors and everything in between, the near endless combinations that this customization system provides allows you to create some truly powerful strategies.
Once you’re able to make the most out of the combat system, the game features a unique method made popular in some recently released titles across the genre when it comes to grinding for money, experience for your characters, and JP, (for leveling up the equipped job). If you’re able to defeat the enemy party in a single turn, you’ll be given the option to immediately start another fight with your current status remaining the same as it was when your last attack went through. Each consecutive fight multiples the total, so you’ll end up with the potential to earn thousands of EXP points. Thanks to the return of the Brave and Default systems, each party member can either defend, which will bank that attack to be used later, or use up to four turns at once, potentially leaving them at a turn deficit, (which makes them unusable,) for the amount of turns you attacked ahead. Various bonuses, skills and items can manipulate your Brave Points to allow you to keep attacking, potentially making level grinding much easier than it typically is in other games. Couple that with the ability to increase or outright eliminate the random encounter rate, and as someone who has been playing RPG’s for about two decades, I’m thankful for how little the game burdens you with forced combat and hours of running in circles.
As the story progresses and you begin to unlock the mandatory classes found throughout the game, (all of which are either completely new, or variations of jobs from Bravely Default,) over a dozen side quests open up that introduce you to characters and classes found in the last game. Adding a special dynamic to an otherwise by the numbers story, (which we’ll get to real soon,) these bonus quests pit a major character from the past against another while presenting a moral dilemma for Edea and the rest of the party to decide on. Some of them are no brainers, like whether or not boys and girls should go to school together in a city that was traditionally segregated until recently, to more difficult choices like whether or not pushing an old man and his granddaughter out of their home is worth creating a port that would bring prosperity to a poverty stricken town. Even when the moral choice is an easy one, is it worth giving up the abilities you want? Siding with one person means you fight the other, gaining their job after they’re defeated. But what do you do when the person you agree with is the person who’s ability you want to carry you through the main story? These moments create an interesting duality, asking if you’re willing to forsake your morals for power. Then again, it’s not like these tough foes won’t go down without a fight, presenting boss fights that will force you to manage your Brave and Default allocation more strategically if you want to walk away with your prize both during side quests, and main story fights.
But despite the possibility of losing the power you want, that doesn’t mean that you can’t find other ways to obtain it. Then again.. that depends on how many friends you have. By bringing back the communication features from the first game, Bravely Second offers a variety of ways to get yourself out of a tough spot. By syncing with players on your Friends List, adding random people once a day, or through the game’ Streetpass feature, you’ll be able to send your own powerful warriors while building a roster of your own. From linking your characters to your friends for extra abilities, summoning friends once a day to unleash a powerful attack, or having them help rebuild Magnolia’s damaged village on the moon, each method provides an extra way to make an already powerful team nearly unstoppable. Repairing the moon in particular will provide access to new weapons, armor, abilities, and customization options for your team, allowing you to manipulate how you obtain your strongest attacks. Do you want their special abilities to become available when your team takes damage? Would you rather have it build up when they defeat enemies? Or do you want to strengthen their attack, magic or BP after the action is selected? If you couldn’t tell by now, you can literally shape your team to be anything you want it to be, which is what Bravely Second continues to do best. Most importantly, the Update Friends feature will let you gain Streetpass villagers without using the Streetpass function. So as long as you have Internet, you’ll be able to take advantage of the benefits, even if the closest 3DS owner to you can’t be found within a 10 mile radius. If after all that you’re still having trouble, Sleep Points accumulate for every 12 hours the game is in sleep mode, allowing you to freeze time and unleash extra attacks. If you *really* need your SP fix, you can pay for a full refill… With real money.
Not all is well on the moon however, because the more friends you bring on board, the more Ba’als begin to invade. As a literal Ba’al Buster, part of the reason Magnolia joins you is to fight off this threat. Who are we to say no? It helps that these enemies carry special items, while presenting unique challenges that make you think outside the box to beat them. If you’re having trouble beating these often high level enemies, upgrading your moon stationed battleship, (while employing ships from your friends,) will let you drop their health and level before going into a real fight against them.
Ba’al’s are far from the only threat as your party goes against this newly formed Empire however. It’s just too bad that the fight between the two sides fails to be particularly interesting, making the story one of the weaker points of the game. It’s not that it’s bad per se. In fact, there are some legitimately surprising moments both early on and late into the 40-50 hours it should take to complete it at a decent level, (which will have even more impact if you play the special demo before jumping in to the full game). It’s just everything in between that feels like it’s just filling time before the big finale. Taking a villain of the week approach, with an assembly line of generals who only serve as a means to block your progress, you never learn too much about them to care about the fight. It doesn’t help that for every unique job that they unlock, like the Exorcist job, who can reset HP, MP and BP to their previous turns, to a job that can give huge buffs to your party while giving them to your enemies as well, you’ll also end up with ones you’ll wish was replaced by something useful, like the Catmancer, or the Patissier, who literally harms enemies through baking. To make matters worse, many of the game’s locations where you find these bosses are the exact same ones from the first game, oftentimes making the sequel feel like it’s going through the motions of the original rather than creating a unique experience that stands on its own. When you have the same music, admittedly basic visuals that could pass off for an original DS game, and the same dungeons, cities and environments, there’s no way you’re not going to lose that sense of discovery that serves as a major component in RPGs.
On that subject, while it’s far from being as tedious from the infamous twist of the first game that needlessly extended the game for hours, Bravely Second turns the mid game mind blown moment into a tradition, thanks to a fourth wall breaking segment that would make Hideo Kojima proud. The only problem is that while there are plenty of hints to point you in the right direction, if you don’t catch on, you’ll run the risk of replaying the entire game over again and being none the wiser. Look, I appreciate the creativity, but by leaving the option open to completely screw up your story progress, you’re running the risk of frustrating many a gamer.
It’s biggest problem however, is its uneven use of humor. I get that the developers were going for a more lighthearted experience, but there are some times that “gravy” references and other jokes aren’t needed, especially when the scene in question is supposed to be serious. When an important character is wounded, it’s hard to take seriously when he’s surrounded by smiling cats, or the main character continues to talk about his “coup de gravy” as a rallying cry. It breaks the immersion of what is supposed to be more solemn.
If Bravely Default was an old school RPG player’s dream game, then Bravely Second is like deja vu. The increased focus on an already robust customization system combined with its innovative new jobs, extensive interactivity with friends, and easy level grinding thanks to the experience multipliers and the ability to change the encounter rate make the game play experience go a long way, despite the story and environments feeling like you’ve gone absolutely nowhere. These issues and misplaced humor aside, Bravely Second is one of the better RPGs on the handheld, and stands as another centerpiece in Square Enix’s legendary catalog, even if it’s not the most original.
Final Score: 4/5