Bravely Default II (PC)

The best JRPGs are those that give you a good reason to “grind” away through enemy encounters beyond “git gud.” Over the years, I’ve invested countless hours grinding through Final Fantasy and Tales games to “level up” my characters, often disappointed in how much time I was spending repeatedly defeating monsters for an upper hand in a massive (and potentially hours long) boss battle. The Bravely series gave me countless reasons to grind, but not for reasons a JRPG-player like me might expect. Thus, when I was given an opportunity to review Bravely Default II (BDII) for the PC (Steam), I was immensely excited for PC players to gain exposure to series that has, until recently, been a Nintendo staple.

The Bravely series has succeeded in four general categories so far: its Job System, its Battle System, its Worldbuilding and its Music. BDII continues the successes in most ways, sticking true to what sets the Bravely series apart from other JRPG series such as Final Fantasy, Tales, and Persona. Thus, it makes it an easy recommendation for those who want a new JRPG to play.

The Bravely Job system is similar to Final Fantasy V’s Job system in the sense that you can freely assign roles to your four characters and experiment with the in-battle and out-of-battle abilities these jobs offer. Even more, you can assign “secondary” jobs to your characters, expanding their usefulness and giving you an opportunity to mix and match powers to create unique (and sometimes overpowered) combinations. For example, I assigned one of my characters a primary job of being an offensive Black Mage with a secondary job of being a White mage, meaning that he could cast both kinds of spells to clear enemies while also healing my party. BDII’s job system contains the typical roles found in the Final Fantasy series (such as Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, and so forth) as well as additional jobs that are new to the Bravely series. Without spoiling the story, fans of the Bravely franchise should be relieved to know that jobs from other Bravely games (Freelancer, especially) have been rebalanced and offer reasons to invest time in leveling up these jobs through grinding. Because of the wealth of perks these jobs offer, I felt motivated to grind through enemy encounters in the early game so that I could grind less later in the game. I did spend around four hours doing so in one night, but I realized afterward that I could have spent half that much time by utilizing the items that chain enemy encounters together, multiplying my newly earned experience by significant amounts. Of course, you do not have to mix and match jobs willy nilly, as there are a number of quite overpowered combinations that allow you to raze through enemies like a hot knife through butter, but this job system makes the grind feel worthwhile and gives you something concrete for your time spent other than “more stats.” Do know that the grind is nearly required in BDII to overcome some of the bosses, so you best utilize your time to the best of your abilities.

The Battle System of BDII is relatively consistent to its previous counterparts. BDII’s turn-based combat gives you the opportunity to reserve and utilize additional “turns” through the Default and Brave functions (respectively). When starting a new boss battle, I’ll “Default” all of my characters several times so that they can unleash four attacks in a single turn. If I know I’m against a weak set of enemies, I’ll start the encounter by utilizing Brave several times (resulting in a “negative” number of moves remaining, forcing me to wait several turns if I do not end the battle). This system adds a level of strategy, rather than complexity, forcing you to decide when to unleash your attacks as well as what to unleash each turn. BDII’s system is slightly different than its predecessors in that your characters will be ready for their “turns” at different times (similar to Final Fantasy VI’s time-based combat), meaning that there _could_ be instances where at least one of your characters could be “ready” for combat earlier than others. Other than that, BDII’s battle system is a refreshing difference from other turn-based JRPGs.

There is much to explore in BDII, and the gorgeous and detailed worldbuilding from previous Bravely titles is present. The overworld in BDII is elevated from its counterparts in that there is interactable foliage, secrets to unlock, animated enemies, as well as uniquely animated environments that make the map feel less like an old-school JRPG overworld and more of a Skyrim-esque exploration experience. Like prior Bravely games, the towns you visit are set up like mini-dioramas, allowing you move upward, downward, inward, and outward as you interact with merchants, NPCs, as well as members of your own party. Besides exploring the world on your own and cutscenes related to major in-game events, BDII gives you the ability to learn more about the characters through optional text-based cutscenes. Although some might find it a slog to read through multiple portions of text, it was crafted in such a fashion that is consistent with the characters’ in-game voices and voice acting, which is already stellar.

Finally, the music of BDII is just as phenomenal as prior Bravely games. Revo, the original composer from Bravely Default, has returned to create another stellar soundtrack for BDII. Each new environment has beautifully arranged music that is pleasing to listen to as you explore, read through text, and grind through boss battles. In my entire time playing this game, I have yet to find a reason to listen to other music as I play, it’s that good.

At this point, you’re probably wondering about the differences between the Switch and PC versions. Luckily, there are few. First, the graphical difference between the two versions is astounding. The PC version allows you to adjust the graphical settings to your liking. I am quite pleased in how the game runs on a mid-range setup; my desktop (i5-4649K CPU, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB) was able to easily surpass 140FPS in-game (both overworld and in combat). The frame stutters reported by several Switch players is nowhere to be found here, leading me to believe that Square Enix added improvements to the graphical settings Differences between Switch and Steam versions. Second, BDII features a Ship Exploration system that takes place in the background and earns you rewards in the form of experience and items. In the Switch version, you can only send a ship off to explore while your device is in sleep mode (for no more than 12 hours max); on the PC port, the exploration occurs while you’re playing the game, and caps out at 3 hours. This means that you can earn rewards quicker on the PC version, but you can only earn them while the game is being played. Finally, the PC version has support for both keyboard setups AND controllers. I preferred to play using the Steam controller, as the default key bindings were a bit difficult to get used to (but they could be changed!). Beyond these aforementioned changes, there are little other improvements to my knowledge, making it a difficult recommendation for pre-existing owners of the Switch version. Hopefully, future updates will allow owners of both versions to transfer their saves, as I for one would hate to start over on the Switch after I’ve invested so many hours into this game so far (with so much more to go, too).

In short, BDII gives you reasons to grind, reasons to explore, reasons to learn, and reasons to listen. Square Enix and Claytechworks have ported an already fantastic Switch JRPG to PC (Steam), albeit with mostly graphical improvements. Bravely Default II (PC) is an excellent JRPG for those new to the series and want to relive the strategy found in Final Fantasy V OR for those familiar with the Bravely series who have yet to play BDII on the Nintendo Switch. The improvements that exist in the PC (Steam) version elevate BDII’s quality, but there is little reason to purchase this game if you’re already playing it on the Switch.