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Bravely Default II (Switch) Playthrough [1 of 2] NG+ - NintendoComplete
66A playthrough of Square Enix's 2021 JRPG for the Nintendo Switch, Bravely Default II.
This video is part one of a two-part playthrough, and shows from the beginning through the end of Chapter 2. (Part 2: https://youtu.be/VKdHJp_hJew )
2:04:37 Chapter 1: Chasing Mirages begins
5:27:47 Chapter 2: In the Garden of Magic and Madness begins
I also show the alternate endings whenever the opportunity presents itself, such as the one at 1:49:07 when I defeat Adam at the end of the prologue.
I am playing the game on the hard difficulty level in New Game+ mode, unlocked once you've finished the game and seen the true ending. NG+ imports pretty much everything from your first playthrough, so I begin the game with the party at level 99 and everyone's job levels maxed out.
I chose to play NG+ for this recording to show the story without being bogged down by dozens of hours of grinding. My party can make mincemeat of the game's hardest boss from the outset, so I don't spend hours pouring over different job combinations. I finish the game in about twenty hours here, which is nice and lean compared to my initial run-through that lasted about seventy hours.
Bravely Default II is a direct sequel to the original Bravely Default game on the 3DS. The series focuses on the same basic plot beats as the Final Fantasy games hit while retaining the traditional menu-driven gameplay systems the FF series was known for throughout the 80s and 90s.
The game starts out with our hero Seth, a sailor, dying in a violent shipwreck. Somehow, he finds himself waking up on a beach, where he is found and rescued by the wayward Princess Gloria of Musa and her companion, the swordmaster Sir Sloan.
Gloria explains that her people acted as guardians of the four elemental crystals, and that a few years prior, Musa was raided. The crystals were stolen, the kingdom was destroyed, and Gloria was the sole survivor.
The world is now starting to face all sorts of "calamities" thanks to the villains' abusing of the crystals' powers, so Gloria has vowed to reclaim the crystals to restore balance to nature. Conveniently, the appreciative Seth is more than game to support her in her quest.
It goes on from there, with things predictably escalating to increasingly absurd heights before the end. It all feels comfortably Final Fantasy circa 1992, now sporting a big budget face-lift to bring it into the modern era. The (sometimes severe) performance issues aside, Bravely Default II is a great looking and sounding game. The character models are cutesy but not off-puttingly so, and they feature some amazing detail for a Switch game. Just check out the materials in their costumes during the battles and cutscenes! The monsters are also a huge highlight, and they are a great throwback to the style of old-school JRPG enemy types.
Both the plot and the gameplay feel a lot like Final Fantasy V hopped up on steroids. The job system is here in full force, with fifteen different jobs that offer their own perks and abilities for you to mix and match. There are plenty of ways to completely break the combat system, so experimentation with different combinations can be a lot of fun. (For anyone that likes a challenge, it is entirely possible to dish out over a million damage in a single turn with the right setup!) The Bravely Default games' major addition to the battle system is the "brave" and "default" commands that allow you to bank turns as you defend.
The story is generally good. I enjoyed its humor and the way it spins familiar plot beats in new ways, but it's not terribly creative, nor is it at all ambitious. The dialogue is great at establishing the characters, but it is *very* long-winded. Remember the infamous twenty minute long codec conversations in Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2? We get them here in the form of "party chat," and while these exchanges are often charming, they also feel like a whole lot of padding. The overarching plot doesn't have the substance necessary to support the sheer amount of writing packed in, and I have to wonder why they clearly invested so much effort to build such flat characters, however likable.
Overall, Bravely Default II is far from being perfect, but it is a personal and personable game with a lot of heart to help balance out the annoyances. It never hits the heights of the 16-bit Final Fantasy games, but I enjoyed it far more than I did the likes of Octopath Traveler and I Am Setsuna. If you're a longtime JRPG fan, think of this as the video game equivalent of chicken soup. It's inoffensive and thin, but it's also warm, familiar, and comforting. If you like the sound of that, you'll probably really like this one. If you're looking for something rivals Dragon Quest XI, this isn't it.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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