Bravely Default Could Revive JRPGs

Bravely Default is coming to North American audiences on February 7 for the Nintendo 3DS. The game impressed me after trying out the demo–classic JRPG, turn-based gameplay returns in full force.

The Job system is my favorite part of the game, and is similar to Final Fantasy V. There are jobs that have different names, but act the same as known Final Fantasy classes, such as the Valkyrie. It uses spears and has the Jump ability, just like the Dragoon in Final Fantasy. There are also jobs that are exactly the same, such as Black, White, and Red mage. The Black Mage specializes in attack magic, White Mage specializes in support magic, and Red Mage uses some of both.

You can even combine abilities from other jobs for extra boosts.

The names of the spells and items are even the same, like Cure and Fira. It’s made by Square Enix, so it is obviously a Final Fantasy game of a different name.

Bravely Default does have a few things that make it stand out though.

There is a village you can restore, which will add more items for you to get. Enlisting help via StreetPass will shorten the time it takes to restore each part of the village.

You can also add friends who play the game. This allows you to send and receive characters that will help during combat. A great way to promote teamwork while playing through the game. This also brings a modern aspect to the classic JRPG genre.

The demo is very unique because it has its own quests and story that you will not see in the game. The biggest thing is that you can transfer rewards you get from playing the demo version to the full version. There are seven gameplay reward in the demo version, so transferring all of them will give you a nice boost with the release of the full version.

This brings back memories.

You can also transfer your friends to the full version. You cannot transfer your character progress or items other than the gameplay rewards, though.

Overall, Bravely Default looks like the game JRPG fans are looking for and will hopefully revive this dying genre.

He looks ready to hit the streets.

How do you feel about Bravely Default? Let me know in the comments!