Bravely Default II (2021)

Started playing this and I already love it, but I'm also partial to the Bravely Default mechanics. I still need to beat the 3ds version (I'm like at the last boss, but I think I don't have the right jobs).

So far, this game is solid. The artwork is cute, there are ton of QOL improvements, and the mechanics are mostly the same from the 3DS game.

I'm sure this game will disappoint me just like before. But for now I'm enjoying the ride.

While I had fun and I still think the series' flexible Job system is one of the best ever found in JRPGs, it feels like they could have done so much more with this. The core story felt shorter and less complicated than those of the first two Bravely games but it also felt less engaging somehow. I liked the idea of the protagonist not being the standard clueless teen, but I wish Seth showed more personality and that the stakes were more personal (Edea's and Ringabel's arcs come to mind).

Gave it a four but that's rounded up from 3.5.

So I'm in the part where I'm in the dungeon to recharge the crystals, which I think is pretty near the end, but I don't know if I can push through anymore. All the battles are just so repetitive now (even though the monsters aren't exactly the same), and well, I'm not really that much invested in the story or any of the characters to find joy there instead. I'm very much considering the idea of abandoning this game now, unfinished.

When I began playing this game, I thought about it constantly and just wanted to keep on playing, and now I wonder whether I should have taken advantage of that attitude then so I could have happily finished this game. I tried to take my time, and the excitement subsided. Not sure if the excitement would have subsided anyway too if I did play nonstop when I was still overtly excited. With the past instance with Bravely Second, I was on a long holiday, and I played almost nonstop. I enjoyed that game until the end but perhaps that is also a better game, and that's why I did not get demotivated to keep on playing near the end. I definitely enjoyed the jobs in Bravely Second more.

Over 100 hours in, still doing what I feel is "late game" stuff right before trying to complete the full story. There's still some good challenges to enjoy, but at this point I am finding the plot turns and character development lacking. The series never was good at hitting the mark with deep or interesting and rewarding character development, but the plot turns and fun job classes held them up well enough.

While BDII certainly has some improvements over the 3DS titles, it definitely feels like a reboot of the series on the Switch rather than an expansion of the series in a meaningful way. It doesn't expand on world building, or more importantly for me, the quantity and quality of Jobs you unlock. I'm hopeful that this is just a starting point however, and we get another title down the road where the devs will have more time and freedom to experiment with since they now have an existing engine to work from.

As I was brushing my teeth and deeply contemplating to whom I should be giving my speed boosting buns (to my support character or to my physical attacker), I realized that some games just naturally consume me more than others, regardless of whether the game, in the absolute sense, is great or not. I am briefly reminded here of reading something from Neil Gaiman about the divide between books you enjoy and books that are good, and him siding with the former. I share the same sentiment in that I'd choose, albeit at times shamefully, things that I like over things that are universally aclaimed as great, as long as it's not hurting anyone.

I wish I find more games that has this effect on me. I like it - these kinds of thoughts are a lot better than others that usually occupy my mind, which often just leave me sad, frustrated, or misguidedly hopeful. Now if I could also find a research topic that would also have the same effect on me then that would also just be swell for my career.

Anyway, I'm leaning more into giving the support party member the bun now as more opportunities not just for healing but for buffs as well can't hurt in the long run now can it?

This is probably one of the most horribly unbalanced games I have ever played. I'm not really sure what the design philosophy behind the game is honestly. I started on "Hard" and much like many people, bosses were kinda kicking my butt. It's not because they were "Hard" either, it's because you have no way of knowing beforehand what kind of Counter abilities a boss has. At one point I had a boss that just countered physical, magic, halved damage on daggers, and probably more, so my current team just kinda fell apart. At that point I was like "Okay, I guess the game wants me to level up more jobs before proceeding." I did just that and got a plethora of useful abilities, such as the ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE "Dodge Phys Counters" and now.... the game's too easy. After leveling some jobs it becomes trivial to hit the damage cap of 9999 and bosses just completely fall apart. It falls into the same issue that Octopath Traveler had where you just Default until you have max Brave and just Brave x4 with no real strategy involved. I'm only 15 hours in, lvl 34 and I'm not sure what the game wanted me to do. I feel like I have post-game stats whilst still only being on chapter 3. There wasn't any particular effort involved either, the game provides you with the tools to grind JP extremely easily and Freelancer job's Forage lets you also easily get a ton of Ethers so you never have mp problems. Magic also feels insanely weak compared to any of the Phys jobs. Thief, a class you get relatively early, has a very silly skill that can do up to 18k damage with a single use whereas magic barely manages to squeeze out 2k-4k even on vulnerable targets. I'm going to assume there's a better Magic Job later on considering how early I still am. I think I just make a beeline to the end of the game, unlock the rest of the jobs, and hope the actual endgame/post game is... better I guess? Or maybe wait for a ridiculous difficulty spike? There IS a satisfaction of just clowning on bosses, but considering how early it's possible to do this, I really do wonder what the developers wanted us to do.

Chapter 2 job spoiler, but my goal right now is to figure out why Pictomancer exists as a job and how I can get this inexplicable job to reach dmg cap.