Bravely Default HD Remaster Review!

The return of a beloved classic in HD glory!

I was ecstatic to see the announcement of Bravely Default's HD remaster! The return of Bravely Default got me more hyped about the Switch 2’s launch. Bravely Default is what made me happy to be able to secure a Switch 2.

Once I installed the game, I was hooked to the world of Luexndarc. Besides Mario Kart World, I couldn’t put this game down. The HD remaster is the definitive edition of Bravely Default, and we'll explore the reasons why.

Intro

One thing that surprised me about the game was the new opening movie. The new opening of Agnes pleading with the player to become her new warriors of light. I played the original game, and I know the story. But I admit that this sent chills down my spine.

This new opening sets a different and familiar tone to the game. Making the stakes even higher than the original game. Following the new opening is an enhanced version of the original introduction of our Warriors of Light. The original intro was good, but this enhanced one is beautiful. The animation is clean and expressive. The enhanced intro is a great follow-up to the new opening.

Story

Bravely Default is about our 4 heroes, Tiz, Agnes, Edea, and Ringabel, embarking on a journey throughout Luxendarc to awaken the four crystals. The crystals have been corrupted by darkness.

The wind is still. The seas have been tainted. Volcanoes are erupting prematurely. And the Earth has been corrupted. Awakening the crystals will quell these calamities.

Each character has their purpose for joining Agnes. As the vestal of Wind, Agnes must awaken the crystals to rid the world of darkness. However, it isn’t just the darkness that Agnes must fight. She must also deal with the Eternia Duchy, which seeks to capture her. Dead or Alive.

Tiz wants to close the Great Chasm. The Great Chasm swallowed and destroyed Tiz’s hometown, Norende. Til, Tiz’s little brother, and his fellow villagers are also gone forever.

Ringabel has lost his memories. But he has a mysterious book known as the D Journal. The D Journal holds future events of our Heroes of Light's adventures. He uses the mysterious journal to help his friends on their journey. The journey that the mysterious journal foretells may be the key to Ringabel recovering his lost memories.

Edea betrays Eternia to help Agnes fulfill her mission. In Edea’s worldview of white and black, she feels that Agnes’ mission is right and her fellow Eternans are wrong. However, her simplistic view of lack and whiteness is about to be significantly challenged.

No journey is ever that simple. Various truths await Edea and her fellow warriors of light. And these truths will shake our heroes to the core.

Black, White, and Gray

As our Warriors travel through Luxendarc to awaken the crystals. They will have to fight with the Eterian Duchy. Their goal is to stop Agnes from awakening the crystals.

However, their journey to awaken the crystals will become more complicated. There will be other mysterious dark forces at work. And various hard truths come to light.

The story will have our warriors questioning whether they are doing the right thing. Also, they will ask themselves, are they leading the world to salvation or destruction? Finally, who can they trust as they fulfill their missions with their adversaries manipulating their every move?

I haven’t played this game in a long time. Experiencing this game made me realize how deep and complex this game can be with its story. In a story about light vs darkness, there are gray moral areas in it.

Our four heroes will be challenged on their journey. Their quest to rid the world of darkness will shift their worldview. And they grow into the Warrior of Light that Luxendarc needs.

Presentations

Bravely Default’s art style is a storybook-like aesthetic with chibi-like character models. I say chibi, but these characters have some size and height to them. The character models are reminiscent of the chibi sprites from old school RPGs.

They have facial expressions that bring them to life. Also, the voice acting and dialogue bring these characters to life further.

The environments are prerendered maps that have 3D elements as well. I don’t know if Bravely Default is considered an HD-2D game. But its environments have that quality.

Nonetheless, the environments are gorgeous. Some recent games focused on graphics and realism. I find this art style refreshing. Don’t get me wrong. I love high-quality games with photorealistic graphics.

But there is just something about this HD-2D style or a similar style. It’s not only nostalgic. It’s a beautiful art style. I have been digging more lately. Plus, there is only so much you can say about a photorealistic game’s graphics. Unless it’s stylized.

Calisdia- The Castle Town

Florem - The City of Flowers

Hartschild - The capital city of Eisenberg

Combat

Bravely Default’s name is a play on the battle system. The game is a traditional turn-based game with a major twist. Bravely Default’s combat allows you to perform multiple actions within a single turn.

In battle, your party and enemies each have Brave Points. You can Default to defend yourself. More importantly, Default allows you to accumulate BP.

The other unique command you have is Brave. Brave allows you to perform more actions as you select the command. And you can Brave up to 4 four actions.

That right! You perform up to four actions. This can be a tide-turner for you or your enemies. Why? It depends on how many BP your character has.

For instance, your character has 3 BPs.

When you Brave four times, your Brave Points will be -1. However, you’ll get a BP at the start of your next turn. Your character will still be able to act in the next turn.

But your characters have little to no BP, and they brave four times. Their BP will be in the negatives. A negative BP count means your character will be unable to act for a few turns.

This is what I mean by Brave being a tide-turner for either side. So, you have to be tactical and careful when braving. When done correctly, Braving can be the game-changer you need. Or it could be the final nail in the coffin for your enemies.

Asterisks and Jobs

Bravely Default takes much of its DNA from Final Fantasy. The game’s progression system is similar to the famous job system from Final Fantasy.

Make no mistake. Bravely Default’s job system is a great, robust system. Every job is unique and each one has a lot of useful abilities.

To upgrade your jobs, your characters are rewarded with Job Points. Each job has 14 levels; once your job has reached level 14. Your job is now mastered. But you don’t need to master your job to get the most utility from them.

Some jobs and their abilities became so OP that they can be unstoppable. Of course, you need the right combinations of other jobs to balance that job. Plus, some jobs and their abilities even complement other job classes as well. As you acquire more jobs, the possibilities become endless for customizing your party and jobs.

Each party member starts as a Freelancer. Once you start battling the Eterian forces, you will receive asterisks. Asterisks hold the job and abilities of the Eterian officer you defeated. For instance, beating the White Mage Holly and Monk Barras grants the asterisks of the White Mage and Monk.

While there are main game scenarios where you engage with Eternian officers. There are sub-scenarios where you battle optional Eterian bosses. Defeating these bosses will give you some awesome jobs like Time Mage, Spell Fencer, Swordmaster, and my favorite class, Ninja.

The Infamous Time Loop

As much as I love Bravely Default, there is one major part of the game I dislike greatly. That is the infamous time loop that occurs in the later chapters of the game. As a concept, I like it. But the execution is what falls flat.

It’s okay to face the same bosses again, maybe once or twice. But four times is asking too much. These four bosses have no new patterns, so they are easy to dispatch since your team will be stronger.   

I think the infamous loop could have ended a chapter or two earlier. While I have played this game before, I was expecting the loop again. But it was daunting to crush these four bosses again. Not to mention, it gets old after two times.

I will say this, though. If you get through that time loop. Then you will be rewarded with the true climax, final boss battles, and the true ending. That makes the time loop worth it in my opinion.

The time loop also has some important scenes that are vital to the overall plot. Plus, these scenes will help you piece together the game’s most important mystery. The mystery of whether you can trust one of your closest allies. Or is this suspected ally truly on your side?

New Mini Games

The HD remaster of Bravely Default has two new mini games. These mini games are Ringabel’s Panic Cruise and Luxendarc Rhythm Cheer. Both games utilized the Switch 2’s mouse controls. These are pretty fun once you get used to mouse controls.

Ringabel’s Panic Cruise has a lot going on. But it turned out to be a fun mini-game. However, the new rhythm game, Luxendarc Rhythm Catch, was my favorite one.  

This is a dancing rhythm game. The game involves using the mouse controls to match the rhythm prompts during the characters’ dances. You can also dress up your character with outfits from their jobs. This is a particularly cool feature that adds a lot of variety to the game.

The mini games are what helped me get through this brutal time loop. The mini-games also offer some great rewards, including the new Travel Notes and accessories.

A Triumphant Return

Despite my dislike for the infamous time loop, I am still happy and satisfied with the HD remaster of Bravely Default. The HD remaster allowed me to play one of my most beloved games from Square Enix.

The HD remaster is also the definitive version of Bravely Default with its enhanced storybook visuals, refined UI with new illustrations of the party, and plenty of QoL improvements. The new mini games are fun and offer some great rewards. The combat is even more fun and tactical than my first experience with Bravely Default.

Bravely Default’s story ended up being a lot deeper and complex than I recalled. The game is a lot darker than I remembered, despite its light story elements and storybook aesthetics. Bravely Default is a Square Enix game, so it is only natural that there are story elements of light and darkness.

But it’s the gray areas of the story that bring the complexity and depth. These gray themes and story bits push us and the party to question what is truly going on. Which side is justified in their mission? Also, who can we trust besides our most trusted allies?

I am happy that Bravely Default is back. This is a fun game with a fantastic story, combat system, and mini games. More importantly, I am ecstatic that players new and old can experience this powerful story of light and darkness with tints and shades in between.

Score: 8/10

Images and videos were captured during my gameplay.