This post contains spoilers for Bravely Default. It’s been two months since the wonderful 3DS RPG Bravely Default came out in Australia, so I think it’s fair to start talking about that second half.
As many of you must have realised by now, the first four chapters of Bravely Default ask you to go out and save the crystals… and then the final four chapters of Bravely Default ask you to do it again, and again, and again, and again.
To get the game’s “true” ending — as opposed to the less satisfying false one — you have to do all four crystal dungeons (and beat all four bosses) five times. Five times! This experience is mitigated by helpful features like auto-battle and the random encounter slider, but it’s still unpleasant and infuriating, as I mentioned in my review. It’s an ugly blemish on an otherwise lovely game.
So to those of you who have played that far: what do you think? Have you done all of the sidequests in every chapter? Did the game’s last four chapters ruin the first four in your mind? Or did you not mind Bravely Default‘s second half?
Comments
11 responses to “So What Did You Think Of Bravely Default’s Second Half?”
The second half was pretty rough, but if you are doing all the side quests each time you should be able to pace it so you only have to do those repetitive boss fights every couple of hours…….also then you only have to do those repetitive boss fights every couple of hours.
The last four chapters are incredible taxing. The ending was totally worth it, as with the movie. I loved the changes to the NPCs between worlds. Now just trying to get all those genomes.
Calling it the second half is a bit of a laugh, its more like 1 hours content out of like 50. Nearly all the “crystal dungeons” are a corridor with 1 boss. Yeah, you do 4 bosses (using the term boss losely here, because they are not actually hard at this point) like 4 extra times, it s a bit silly, but it’s def more like 1/10th of the game and it does make sense with the actual story.
I think vampire genome and blue chest hunting is worse than the second half, but I guess it wouldn’t be a JRPG without repetitive grinding and mindless collection.
Straw that broke the camel’s back for me. The battle system is cool, but everything else about Bravely Default is trite and incredibly boring. One-note characters that show no real development, relatively barren world, and the good ol’ Square YOINK! HERE’S THE ACTUAL VILLAIN THAT WAS NEVER REALLY ALLUDED TO AT ALL UNTIL FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE FINAL BATTLE. Sold it.
actually the final villain was alluded to plenty if you payed attention, I hate to be that guy but I saw it coming like most everything else in the plot (although I don’t really mind a predictable plot as long as it’s still interesting in and of itself).
Like I like that the game hints about it at the save game select screen.
He isn’t talking about airy. Talking about oroborus, and they do make mention of it multiple times before the end.
Enjoyed the first half, struggled to play the second half. thought it was a half baked effort at making a game…the same content again and again and again and again.
The second half hasn’t really bothered me all that much, probably mainly because I’ve maxed everything out and having two dark knights with blood sword equipped makes all the non-nemesis battles hilariously easy. Oh, you have four bosses facing off against me? How quaint. Don’t mind me whilst I annihilate you all in about 4 turns.
I didn’t have that, but was playing on easy and still found them super easy.
I’ve only just hit the second half after 60 hours of mostly enjoying the game… It should have ended at Chapter 4. While it’s fun as a boss rush mode, there is no reason the story needed to be dragged out like this. I’m still only in the first repetition so maybe it gets better somehow but the slightly different side quest text before/after the battle isn’t even worth it. It’s just lazy design and kind of adds to my feelings that the encounter slider and other adjustable options were put in to compensate for it rather than because they wanted to try and take older mechanics in new directions.
The side quests were what kept me playing during the second half, you get some decent insight into the characters by the additional dialogue and different branches each time you do them, that and some of those combinations during the final loop heading up the tower are kinda nasty, I wound up wiping quite a few times on the alchemist, black mage, summoner and sage combo.
That said, it was tedious no matter which way you sliced it.
I definitely agree, the second half was of poor implemenation and a cheap attempt at padding out the game, by the second half I had already put in 30hours and was waiting for that climax that was built around activing the 4 pillars. But instead the game went flaccid from thereafter. Imo the whole multiverse plot/twist could of been done in an epilogue setting which could of complimented the game nicely and as for the second half of the games content, I feel that should of been placed in a ‘EX Game’ mode. Damn it, Bravely Default: F’lying’ F’airy’ / Where the F’airy F’lies’.
I thought it was fine, by that point I was so powerful all those bosses were basically 1 turn kills anyway. Personally I like the changes to the NPCs and other bosses in each world.