Bravely Default 2: The Demo

Bravely Default 2 is coming to Nintendo Switch on February 26th! As many of you are well aware the final demo was released on the Nintendo eShop.   Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself, let me first describe what Bravely Default is .   It was released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2014.    It was developed by Square Enix, and reminded me in some ways of the older Final Fantasy games, namely Final Fantasy 4 and 5.   

What is so different?

Bravely Default introduced a mechanic of either being able to stack multiple actions so to be able to finish an enemy off very quickly.   You were able to stack up to 4 actions into one turn, however this was always a gamble.   If you didn’t finish off the enemy in that turn, you would be vulnerable for 4 turns while your brave meter goes back to zero.    The other thing you could do is to choose to default and that would give you more brave points.   This would allow you to have even more actions to take on your next turn.   The series uses a nice job system which is why the series reminds me of the early Final Fantasy games.   

The New Game

Bravely Default 2 doesn’t seem to change much in the mechanics of the franchise.  That isn’t a bad thing.   In the demo you start off a group of adventurers from varied origins.   There is a princess from a fallen kingdom, who is a white mage, your hero who starts off a fighter type, then a martial artist, and of course a black mage.     The princess comes from a land called Mura, which has fallen.   They are traveling towards a kingdom called Savalon which is currently finding itself being flooded.   This is when you encounter the villain of the demo.    His name is Orpheus and he was the Court Minstrel to the former Kingdom of Musa.   He apparently has found himself a place in the service of this Kingdom and has a part to play in its current woes.   

The Demo

You are only allowed to play the demo for 4 hours so what you can accomplish is limited.  Personally I ended up getting my party killed by Orpheus several times during this 4 hour period.   One thing that struck me is that the difficulty increases rapidly, despite your levels not increasing all that fast.   It is very important to upgrade your equipment and grind a bit if you want to be competitive in the ruins.   I plan on spending the last little bit of time I have left in the demo trying to destroy Orpheus.      

Final Thoughts

I am really looking forward to this game.   I really had fun playing the first game, and have had a good time playing the demo.   Play the demo see if you really like the mechanics, and the characters.   Please note that the progress you make in the demo will not transfer to the main game.   I suspect that while the demo tossed you into the middle of a story, the main game will start you at the beginning.    I hope that in the final game they polish up the graphics a little bit. Some of the textures in the Kingdom of Savalon are pretty low resolution. I also hope that they continue to balance out the gameplay. Be sure to check out demo, and then if you really like it, pick up Bravely Default 2 on February 26th.