Platform: Nintendo Switch 2
The world of Luxendarc is in chaos, the four elemental crystals that govern life itself corrupted by darkness. Only Agnès Oblige, vestal of the Wind Crystal, can restore balance — but she's on the run, pursued by forces seeking to destroy the crystals forever. Yet with the aid of Tiz Arrior, the young sole survivor of a disaster that wiped his village Norende off the map, the amnesiac wanderer Ringabel, and defecting enemy soldier Edea Lee, Angès may still be able to save the world.
Bravely Default's story may seem basic, but it's the sort of stuff – along with a dash of The Dark Crystal, for good measure – that classic Japanese RPGs were founded on. That, and it's quirky cast, gives the game a timeless feel that's as enjoyable and accessible now as it was when it originally launched on the Nintendo 3DS back in 2013.
The static, painted backgrounds of the locations Agnès and her allies visit get the best treatment, looking absolutely gorgeous in high def.
If nothing else, Bravely Default has exquisite timing – even then, it was warmly welcomed as the spearhead of a retro RPG revival. At a time when publisher Square Enix was more interested in taking Final Fantasy in a realistic, action-oriented direction, developer Silicon Studio came along with a game that was built in the mould of that series' SNES era, balancing a traditional party of adventurers, plenty of character classes to experiment with in battle, and brandishing an updated approach to turn-based combat. Now, in the wake of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 revitalising the turn-based RPG for the modern age, Bravely Default returns, remastered for the newly launched Nintendo Switch 2.
As a remaster, it's a bit of a mixed bag, though. The static, painted backgrounds of the locations Agnès and her allies visit get the best treatment, looking absolutely gorgeous in high def. The game knows it, too, retaining the 3DS' trick of zooming out to show the full scale of each area if you stop moving for a moment, but now more able to showcase rich detail and watercolour flair. Elsewhere, Akihiko Yoshida's character designs remain adorable and charming, both for the core four and the cast of allies and enemies they encounter. The super-deformed, not-quite-anime approach gives the game a distinct visual identity that's even more apparent here.
Unfortunately, the 3D character models themselves are hit and miss, with the odd bit of detail or texturing appearing fuzzy or pixellated. Enemies fare worse than main characters, their low polygon designs from the 3DS still evident even on the much more powerful Switch 2. Perhaps the biggest problem is that the backgrounds are so sharp in comparison to the character models that the latter feel poorly integrated at times, more like running around a playmat than part of the world. While this is a remaster rather than a remake, it's disappointing to see more care hasn't been taken.
Thankfully, Bravely Default remains a joy to play. Its combat system allows characters to "Brave", using up to four actions at once, but leaving them unable to act or even defend themselves for the next four turns, or "Default", entering a defensive stance and banking an additional move for the next turn. Do you take a bunch of advance actions, hoping to take down opponents in one round but rendering your heroes vulnerable if not, or play it safe, take a bit of damage, but build up a stash of moves to attack and heal with? Everything hinges on that balance of risk and reward.
The party is hugely customisable, too, each of the four able to take on one of 24 "Jobs". These range from RPG staples such as Knight and Thief, to magic-wielding White Mages and Black Mages, and even more fanciful classes such as Valkyrie or Vampire. You'll need to defeat bosses to claim their "asterisk" gems to unlock a Job, but it's worth tracking down as many as possible, as skills from two roles can be mixed and matched for incredibly versatile character builds. The downside is that mastering all those Jobs almost necessitates grinding for Job Points, a separate form of experience points earned after each battle. Handily, the ability to speed up battles and customise the encounter rate makes this a touch more palatable, as well as providing ample opportunity to quickly experiment with party configurations.
Where features were unique to the original 3DS version, smart workarounds have been made here. The lower touchscreen's map is now a toggled display, while passersby met on StreetPass – the 3DS's ability to ping other handhelds it came near – is swapped for online friends. These serve a dual role of being summonable allies in battle, and workers in a side-game to rebuild Tiz's lost village Norende.
The biggest change for the Switch 2, though, is its use of the Joy-Con 2 controllers in mouse mode. While the integration of that feature has been spotty elsewhere, Bravely Default packs in a pair of mini-games that are almost full-fledged titles in their own right. "Luxencheer Rhythm Catch" is a music game that could stand toe-to-toe with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, using the two ersatz mice to catch falling notes from the game's wonderful score, while "Ringabel's Panic Cruise!" is a chaotic real-time piloting sim, putting you at the helm of the group's airship and challenging you to fly it while dealing with cascading failures. Fun but challenging, these are some of the best uses of the Switch 2's gimmicky mouse features so far.
Twelve years on from its debut, Bravely Default still feels both vintage and pioneering. Although it could use a bit more pizzazz on the graphical front, it's still the best the game has ever looked, and makes the most of the unique features offered by the new platform to deliver engaging new play modes. But underneath all that, it simply remains a brilliant JRPG, a rousing adventure packed with engaging characters and inventive mechanics that's more than worthy of your attention.