Bravely Default II - Flying February 2021

[Bongo]

It's difficult to pick out due to all the layering, but the Nobuo Uematsu Classic Bassline is present in several of the battle themes. The standard battle theme and one of the asterisk boss themes tease it but vary the melody, and another asterisk boss theme has it but mixes up the rhythm a bit.

Edit: also, the theme of Halcyonia feels to me like some of its phrases are conspicuously setting up an expectation that it will quote the town theme from Final Fantasy 1, only to zig where its forbear zagged. I've forgotten too much music theory to be able to describe it in more detail than that, but it's the damnedest thing that listening to the first town theme from this new game got the first town theme from that old one stuck in my head.

 

[Peklo]

Think I broke the game a little bit. Job talk up to the end of chapter 1:

Spoiler

1) every Job has two inherent Specialities: one learned by default, the other upon Job mastery. Beastmaster's mastery Speciality is Creature Comforts, which boosts the respective character's stats (all of them) based on how many monsters they've captured. The key is that every single monster counts, duplicates included, and each confers a flat boost regardless of the monster's relative strength; the Goblins outside the first town are as good a target as any. You can really go ham with this.

2) while the standard Capture command can be used, automating the process is what I wanted to see if it could essentially self-sustain itself. These are the Passive Abilities used as central ingredients:

• Beast Whisperer from Beastmaster, giving a 30% chance of capturing any defeated monster by that character.
• Indiscriminate Rage from Berserker, making every regular attack target all enemies at once, at the cost of delaying the character's next turn.
• Raw Power from Beastmaster, increasing physical attack power in increments of 10% for each time the Brave command is used that turn.

Those are the essentials, and practically mean when applied to an entire party of Beastmasters that every regular battle opens with sixteen individual attacks from the party, each targeting every enemy on screen, and each set of four attacks increasing in power by three increments of 10%, all of it performed by the overpowered base stats of a Capture-boosted Beastmaster. I've seen no enemy group survive past two characters' volleys, usually not even one. As this goes on, you are passively having the characters invisibly "level up" as they continue Capturing the monsters they defeat. It is a little silly. Slot in the Sub-Job of your choice to make use of the giant stats; Monk's always reliable, and Thieves with Godspeed Strike are out of control.

Because there are still Passive Ability slots left over, for fun I have everyone Mugging people to also accrue items, and using Aspir Attack in the unlikely situation that I need to heal, use other abilities or the like. This isn't really optimized in any way for anything but regular group encounters, but because the stat boosts end up becoming so severe I've been able to bumble through battles against the optional supermonsters hanging around the world map--defeating the sorts that lurk around the 150K HP threshold while the storyline bosses up to this point have topped maybe 40K. Those supermonsters, in every instance I've seen, possess exclusive and powerful equipment in their rare drops, placing the party even further ahead of the power curve.

Is the game fun to play this way? Sort of! I think I'd rather have this as an optional brain-off grinding set-up, but as the game is right now you can't save multiple Job or equipment loadouts at once. That would be nice to have in the future, as well as a visible quest list to consult outside of the active waypoints on the screen.

 

[Peklo]

Stuff that's redolent of early Final Fantasy, in addition to what's been discussed:

Final Fantasy
The premise of each elemental crystal governing its respective natural phenomena, and what happens when those forces are meddled with, was a concept that was most strongly present in the original game and V. I'm happy that it's so central here as an ongoing concern and a factor in the environmental design.

Final Fantasy II
Bravely as a series is always going to be viewed through the lens of the ever-present Job System, but the characters being able to equip anything regardless of Job, only limited by their apparel's sum weight, is a more flexible and free wrinkle that results in all kinds of hybrid characters while still retaining limitations.

Final Fantasy III
Sometimes guest characters accompany the player, visibly traveling with the party, chiming in in conversation, and pitching it during battles with their individual specializations.

Final Fantasy IV
This is probably the first time any would-be-successor has used literal "Meanwhile..." transitional scene cutaways since the fourth FF. I find it excessively charming since it's so plain and lacking in pretense as a narrative tool.

Final Fantasy V
The crystals are individually assigned to each of the four Light Warriors, saying something of their personalities and character either though the elemental associations or how they interact with the divine boon granted to them. My favourite so far is Gloria, who upon being on the receiving end of a grandiloquent speech about destiny and whatnot by the Water Crystal, renders the cosmic entity speechless by cutting it off and simply reaffirming that she accepted and was resolved to this duty years ago. It's such a defining statement about who she is.

Generally the storytelling is in line with V for the central party and I value it for similar reasons. It's about them as a group and the dynamic that forms between them, with less emphasis placed on any one individual above the others; it's the unity of them together that matters. I don't buy a lot of RPG parties sticking with each other for anything other than pragmatic reasons, but in V and here the characters are just very mindful and sincerely caring about each other that I do become invested in and believe that premise. I wouldn't call Bravely Default II plot-driven, and not quite character-driven--but it is very humane in whatever it attempts.

 

[YangusKhan]

There was a boss in Chapter 1 that made me feel truly frustrated for the first time in this game, due to the limitations of this game's UI/UX feedback:

The boss fight against the Thief holder had a dizzying array of counter-based abilities. As soon as I realized this was happening, I turned the battle speed all the way down, and it still wasn't slow enough for the text box to display long enough for me to read what the counter was triggering from. I could guess that he was countering healing and buffing, but the specific "game keywords" he was countering escaped me; eg., was he countering ALL healing, or just White Magic? Was he countering ANY buff, or specific ability categories? It was even more frustrating that he had counter triggers I could properly read in time.

Think I broke the game a little bit. Job talk up to the end of chapter 1:

It is pretty impressive there's already pretty broken job combos by the end of the chapter 1. Definitely inspires confidence that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Bongo]

as well as a visible quest list to consult outside of the active waypoints on the screen.

It's not a full-on list, but you can see the active ones in the Travelogue.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

At least the cutscene viewer is still in. That fish cutscene (or its follow-up, at least) is one of the first signs that there's more going on than first impressions. I find the main characters are more subdued than Bravely Second, but they're showing hints of energy and pathos, which I'm waiting expectantly to pay off later. None of them are a patch on Edea, but then, who is?

It was the first cutscene I ended. Checked it back out... there was a lot more and it was right for me to skip it.
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First thing I found amusing: sudden frog
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Can you reorganize items at all?
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I am constantly accidentally fully healing myself using items I don't intend to, but it's fine... can't miss what you're only tangentially aware of.
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Wish there were no idle game aspect, though it seems more minimal than ever. It'll add some stress to my 15 minutes between waking up and going to work for 13 hours. Also sometimes I wanna play something else when I'm not playing this. BUT maybe I can just get the JP Up abilities without spending much playtime as a freelancer. Gotta dress 'em up...

 

[Peklo]

I'm aware of the Travelogue active quest list, but it doesn't do the one thing I would like to make certain of via a comprehensive listing: that the numbered quest list (and they are numbered) doesn't contain gaps in it, allowing me to move on from a location upon completion. Not that I've really paid attention to the logic of the numbering because new quests in old areas keep turning up at whatever thresholds the game tracks and decides upon on its own. I'm enjoying just running into things organically but wouldn't mind a record of things completed regardless.

 

[Lokii]

I think I'm okay without a completion checklist but I wish there was a model viewer in the bestiary. I'd like to take a look at these good toy monsters close up.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Oh, there’s a card game. Took me 3 tries to win my first random battle (some woman in the first town) and I couldn’t afford to take anything from her. Don’t like this. Miss Airy.

 

[Octopus Prime]

The BnD card game is like Tetra Master, except it's comprehensible, and I can win the game not infrequently

 

[Kalir]

By the way I'm on chapter 4

 

[SilentSnake]

I'm playing this and deep in Chapter 1. Good lord Prince Castor has ridiculous defense and HP. I'm just lucky I have someone with Pressure Point and Poison, otherwise this fight would be stupidly long.

 

[Peklo]

Read some takes about the characterization elsewhere and launched into a mini-rant about my favourite character in this (Gloria) being severely misread and dismissed as a non-entity by others.

Spoiler

this is a character whose premise is, in the most summarized genre archetypes, "princess", and every association that brings with it is probably well-known to most
but when you just go into battle, where everyone has their unique battle quotes when reaching max bravery, gloria's soundbytes are stuff like yelling "my might knows no bounds" and "you're about to witness my true power"
all the things you learn about her emphasize that her upbringing made her want to "lead from the front", so that's who she is
her characterization is that she's unbreakable
and it's just a really uncommon set of traits set up against assumptions
i play these kinds of games slotting characters against type, especially in gendered terms, but here making gloria my tank is just... that's the crux of the character, not subversion

I don't know, I'm pretty pissy about it. I feel like the other two games in the series set up expectations for the writing and characterization to be this over-the-top slapstick rollercoaster, the same kind of tone that pushes people into viewing a work like Final Fantasy V as a genre "parody", and while Default II isn't the height of subtlety in its narrative aims I've consistently been pleasantly surprised that it does not go for the easy catchphrases, the farce comedy, and allows a level of subdued interiority to its cast and writing voice which when read against the series precedent is at risk of being interpreted as flat and boring. It's exactly what I like about it!

 

[YangusKhan]

I definitely really appreciate the characterization and writing in this game. It's got a no-nonsense approach which is unfortunately a breath of fresh air among modern JRPGs, but it's also not devoid of Fun or humorous moments.

 

[Octopus Prime]

It’s rare to get a JRPG where I don’t dislike any of the characters; usually I have to settle for the cast being big enough I can just not bother with whoever I dislike.

Big fan of how fired up Gloria gets when she does... like... anything in battle.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Is the endgame of the card game just that you get the gambler asterisk and then can keep playing if you like it (I do not; moral failing, I know) or are there further rewards? Don’t have a handle on it all and imagine it’s going to get worse, although I’m slowly cleaning randos out of their cards.

 

[Bongo]

I'm still only in chapter 2, but.

It's a similar dynamic to Bravely Default 1, but more nuanced and sympathetic, and they carried over the most important improvement from Bravely Second (eliminating sex pests). You've got your reliable and sensible everyman with hidden talents, your dutiful and determined chosen one on a crystal quest, your flighty and easygoing dude putting on an air of superficiality while trying to figure out a book, and your hot-blooded and outspoken warrior girl who doesn't care for the previous guy's shenanigans. And you've got asterisk users who are initially hostile but with signs of sympathetic origins, each one the hero in their own story, some more redeemable than others. And, off in the background, some mean idealist who's willing to start a world war to achieve his crystal-related goals and seemingly able to win it. That's a recipe for a good adventure in my book.

So although the UI is a regression, I feel like the writing in particular is a step forward.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Is the endgame of the card game just that you get the gambler asterisk and then can keep playing if you like it (I do not; moral failing, I know) or are there further rewards? Don’t have a handle on it all and imagine it’s going to get worse, although I’m slowly cleaning randos out of their cards.

Part of the tutorial implies that there’s some benefit to collecting the cards, and playing the game is the only way to do so.

 

[Peklo]

Story talk up to the end of chapter 3:

Spoiler

I wasn't feeling the narrative in Rimedahl too much because while the decision to set up a witch hunt analogue premise in the region was authentic as far as the kangaroo courts and sham trials, it was too draining to go through an escalating sequence of mostly anonymous women killed for the game's dramatic benefit. When Martha's killing was threatened, I was set to be fed up for a good while, but lo! they actually got me and brought back as much audience faith as could be restored in those circumstances, through Adelle's coming out and how the specifics of that played out.

The "twist" in itself means nothing, but the treatment of the dramatic rescue of a woman by a woman, full of intimate embracing and Martha's "you're so beautiful" admission upon gazing in Adelle's eyes already says much, and it continued on from there: the language used was verbatim "coming out" in reference to Adelle's identity as a fairy, and all her internal struggles as depicted were very resonant to the kind of personal safeguarding practices required even among close friends and family that any closeted queer person has to learn and contend with. It's not "representation" as it's still firmly in the realm of allegory and coded writing, but the reading is fairly plain to perceive, in the same way that Faris in FFV can be significant without claiming any real act of representation to themselves. I have seen so much worse from this series and other games that even this feels like a nominal step if not forward then in some ambiguously more positive direction.

 

[Lokii]

Finally finished with Chapter 1. I didn't save before the last boss because I expected a dungeon and save point. If I lost I'd be sent back before a previous boss and some side quests. Very tense but I managed to get it on my first try. Feel pretty good about that. One-shooting a boss is def not the norm for me. Orpheus and Anihal took me three times each, although Bernard went down like a chump.

 

[YangusKhan]

I almost wrapped up Chapter 2 last night. Random battles still don't seem to stand up to the combo of Raw Power + anything that hits groups, even after I bumped it up to Hard, but idk, I've only got 1 party member running that style of job combo so far so maybe I won't keep doing that. I also tried a boss fight on Hard and won first try (against the Pictomancer Asterisk holder) so I must be doing something right.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Reached the Pictomancer boss, and he whomped me, but not before getting enough clues about how to handle the fight that I’m sure the rematch will swing in the opposite direction.

Its Rare for that to be my takeaway from a tough boss fight in a JRPG; usually I just keep plugging away until luck and bloody mindedness sees me through

 

[Kalir]

Story talk up to the end of chapter 3:

Spoiler

I wasn't feeling the narrative in Rimedahl too much because while the decision to set up a witch hunt analogue premise in the region was authentic as far as the kangaroo courts and sham trials, it was too draining to go through an escalating sequence of mostly anonymous women killed for the game's dramatic benefit. When Martha's killing was threatened, I was set to be fed up for a good while, but lo! they actually got me and brought back as much audience faith as could be restored in those circumstances, through Adelle's coming out and how the specifics of that played out.

The "twist" in itself means nothing, but the treatment of the dramatic rescue of a woman by a woman, full of intimate embracing and Martha's "you're so beautiful" admission upon gazing in Adelle's eyes already says much, and it continued on from there: the language used was verbatim "coming out" in reference to Adelle's identity as a fairy, and all her internal struggles as depicted were very resonant to the kind of personal safeguarding practices required even among close friends and family that any closeted queer person has to learn and contend with. It's not "representation" as it's still firmly in the realm of allegory and coded writing, but the reading is fairly plain to perceive, in the same way that Faris in FFV can be significant without claiming any real act of representation to themselves. I have seen so much worse from this series and other games that even this feels like a nominal step if not forward then in some ambiguously more positive direction.

I definitely had a sour taste in my mouth about hunting for fairies specifically, given the history of that term here in the States.

 

[Lokii]

I hope there's a Truff job

 

[Octopus Prime]

When you love what you do as much as Truff does, you can’t call it a job

 

[YangusKhan]

I hope there's a Truff job

There just has to be

 

[Lokii]

It'd be great. These orcs have been around since 4HoL and tie the whole subseries together

 

[Octopus Prime]

Does JP Up affect every character, or just whoever has it equipped?

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Just the character who has it equipped. My next question, easily solved whenever I next play this, is if JP Up effects orb gains. (I suspect no)

 

[YangusKhan]

Just the character who has it equipped. My next question, easily solved whenever I next play this, is if JP Up effects orb gains. (I suspect no)

It does