Bravely Default
Bravely Default, known in Japan as Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, is a 2012 role-playing video game developed by Silicon Studio and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo 3DS. It was originally released in 2012 and later rereleased as an expanded edition in 2013 subtitled For the Sequel in Japan. For the Sequel was later released in Europe, Australia, and North America in 2014 simply titled as Bravely Default and published by Nintendo in said regions. The gameplay uses a turn-based battle system and job system, in addition to incorporating options to combine job abilities and adjust battle speed and random encounter rates. A high-definition remaster developed by Cattle Call, titled Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster, was released as a launch title for Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025.
Bravely Default is set in the world of Luxendarc, which is kept in balance by four elemental crystals protected by the Crystal Orthodoxy, a religious group with influence across the world. The story follows the adventures of four protagonists: Agnès Oblige, vestal of the Wind Crystal, who was forced out of her duties after the crystals were consumed by darkness; Tiz Arrior, the sole survivor from a destroyed village caused by the crystals' blight; Ringabel, an amnesiac wanderer trying to uncover the secrets of a mysterious journal in his possession; and Edea Lee, a defector from a large army bent on capturing Agnès. Together, the party aims to reclaim the four crystals from the darkness and confront a greater evil along the way.
Starting development as an action role-playing sequel to Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, it retained elements from the Final Fantasy series while having its own story and gameplay elements. The producer of The 4 Heroes of Light, Tomoya Asano, returned to produce Bravely Default. The story's writer was Naotaka Hayashi, who was brought in from 5pb. due to his work on Steins;Gate. The characters designs were handled by multiple artists, including art director Akihiko Yoshida and mangaka Atsushi Ōkubo. The game was influenced by western video games and television series, and individual elements were inspired by aspects of the Dragon Quest series and Higurashi When They Cry. The music, composed by Revo of Sound Horizon, was intended to evoke the feelings of classic series such as Dragon Quest and SaGa.
Bravely Default was announced in September 2011 as part of Nintendo's 2012 lineup for the platform. In the run-up to release, multiple demos were developed, and the team adjusted the game using feedback from players. For the Sequel was the basis for the overseas release, being localized without any subtitle. In both Japan and overseas, Bravely Default met with strong sales and critical acclaim. Common praise went to the gameplay's mixture of traditional mechanics and new elements, along with its storyline, graphics and music. Main points of criticism were its repetitive late-game stages and elements of its social gameplay. Bravely Default spawned multiple media tie-ins and spin-off games. A direct sequel, Bravely Second: End Layer, was released in 2015 in Japan and 2016 overseas for the Nintendo 3DS, while another sequel set in a new world, Bravely Default II, was released worldwide in 2021 on the Nintendo Switch. The Bravely series has shipped over 3 million copies by November 2021.
Gameplay
Bravely Default is a role-playing video game which features a party of four characters navigating the fantasy world of Luxendarc. Navigation in towns, dungeons, and the world map environments are presented in an angled, third-person overhead view: the character remains still, the camera zooms out to a distant view. These environments are displayed on the top screen of the Nintendo 3DS system, while the bottom screen displays maps of environments, party stats and other information such as item menus. On the world map, a day-night cycle alters the types of enemies present, and after a certain point in the story an airship can be used to speed up travel and access previously inaccessible areas. In towns, players can interact with non-playable characters, purchase items or magic at specialized shops, buy or sell weapons and equipment at an armory, or rest at an inn to restore health points and magic points. In all environments, the party can find chests containing items, weapons or equipment. During certain points, a Party Chat option appears, giving players the option of initiating conversations between the party members. During exploration, standard enemies appear through random encounters: outside battle, the encounter rate can be adjusted from high to nothing. The game features multiple difficulty levels, which can be adjusted freely outside battle.Outside the main campaign, the game uses networking features powered by the 3DS's StreetPass functionality. A central element is the campaign to reconstruct the village of Norende, destroyed at the beginning of the game. The village is constructed on new ground after obstacles are removed and an area is prepared. The reconstruction incorporates social game elements: friends encountered by the player through StreetPass and online invites become the village's residents, and their efforts are used to create various buildings including houses and shops. The amount of time a project takes to complete depends on the number of friends assigned to it, taking anywhere from days to weeks. Increasing the number of people speeds up the towns' reconstruction. As the reconstruction progresses, the player is awarded with new items and equipment. Individual buildings will gain experience points, granting access to higher-tier rewards, and players have the option of adjusting the types of items rewarded. Special randomly generated optional bosses, known as Nemeses, will appear in the region. Defeating them yields special rewards.
Battle system
Battles come in two types: random encounters with standard enemies, and staged boss battles. The battle system revolves around turn-based combat: each side is allowed to perform an action or multiple actions, with each character having independent movements and commands: these actions include attacking with the equipped weapon, using magic, or using an item. The party also has the option to escape from most battles. Two new options to the battle system are the Brave and Default options. Brave Points dictate the number of actions a character or enemy can take within a turn, along with being needed for the execution of certain abilities. Party members can utilize BP down into negative figures, enabling up to four actions within a single turn. When the BP gauge is into negative figures, they must wait for the BP counter to reach zero before they can act again. BP are naturally recovered once per turn. Alternately, any party member can Default, which reduces the damage taken by enemy strikes and accumulates BP. An additional power is "Bravely Second", an ability which freezes time for the enemy, allowing a party member to move four times in a single turn with no cost. Bravely Second requires Sleep Points, or SP, a currency which is either replenished while the Nintendo 3DS is in sleep mode or through buying regenerative SP Drinks through microtransactions. Battle speed during combat can be sped up or returned to normal at the player's discretion.Tied into the battle system is a Job system: beginning with the Freelancer, the party can gain additional Jobs by obtaining gems called "asterisks" from defeated human bosses. Twenty-four Jobs can be found in the game, ranging from the agile Valkyrie to White and Black Mages that respectively specialize in healing and fighting magic. Each Job has different strengths and weaknesses in battle. Outside battle, characters can be assigned any available Job. In addition to the skills of the equipped Job, the skills of a second Job can be learned, allowing for free customization of parties and the mixing of Job abilities in battle. After obtaining the Summoner Job, characters can use summoned monsters to launch attacks that deal high damage on all enemies. Friend characters can also be summoned from other players' games: the more a friend summon is used, the more effective their actions become. Descriptions of defeated enemies, along with story recaps and descriptions of locations, weapons, and Jobs are included in an item called D's Journal.
Within certain conditions, characters can perform Special Moves, customizable powerful moves tied to Jobs: after a Special Move is performed, the entire party is granted buffs for a limited period. This period is represented with a specific tune that plays over normal battle music. Various elements can be added to Special Moves, such as granting elemental properties, launching status ailments at enemies, recovering HP and MP, and temporary status ailment immunity to the party. The customization of Special Moves is directly tied to the creation of specialist shops during the reconstruction of Norende. Experience points acquired at the end of a battle enable characters and their assigned Jobs to level up, unlocking new abilities and boosting character stats such as available HP and MP. Bonuses are gained if the party fulfilled certain conditions. Job abilities and levels can be borrowed from online friends, in a feature called Abilink. Any Job can be borrowed from available players regardless of their current level.
Plot
Luxendarc is thrown into chaos when its four elemental crystals are consumed by darkness. Agnès Oblige, vestal of the Wind Crystal, escapes. Meanwhile, a chasm opens below the town of Norende and destroys it. Its sole survivor, Tiz Arrior, investigates the chasm and meets Agnès and her companion, the fairy Airy. The group is attacked by forces of the Duchy of Eternia, who seek to prevent Agnès from awakening the crystals. After defeating the forces, Tiz travels with Agnès as her protector. Back in Caldisla, the group is joined by Ringabel, an amnesiac vagabond with a mysterious book, and Edea Lee, a soldier who defects from her army. Airy instructs the group on how to awaken the crystals, and the first three crystals are successfully awakened while having Eternia's forces on their trail. As they seek the final crystal, the group is forced to defeat Edea's father Braev. The Holy Pillar of Light appears; there, the group finds out Edea's close friend Dark Knight Alternis Dim looks identical to Ringabel. However, the group is surrounded by bright light and awakens back in Caldisla.After learning Airy's ritual brought them into a parallel world, the group notices Airy's wings now display the number 4. Unaware of another solution, the group awakens the four crystals and the Holy Pillar of Light, resulting in awakening in another parallel world. While working their way to Airy's pattern reaching 0, the group learns several truths about themselves and their adversaries; nearly all the Eternian forces were hired by Braev out of compassion as they were rejected by the Orthodoxy to cleanse it of its corruption. Ringabel is revealed to be a parallel Alternis Dim who got dragged into the group's original world, and slowly regains his memories after he witnesses his world's group being killed by Airy after turning into a monster, revealing her true intentions to link all the parallel worlds for her master, the demon Ouroboros, to conquer the Celestial Realm.
Should Agnès destroy a crystal, Airy attacks them in a fit of rage before fleeing to the Dark Aurora and being defeated there, warning the group Ouroboros is still a threat. Should all crystals be awakened, Airy reveals her true intentions and gains her true form in the Dark Aurora. After defeating her, Ouroboros devours her. Tiz learns his life is kept by a being of the Celestial Realm. Ouroboros consumes worlds to regain strength, but the parallel versions of the party break the Ouroboros' link, allowing the party to destroy him. The party returns to their world as the links to the parallel worlds close. In the aftermath, Agnès and Edea return to their respective groups to improve the relationship between the reformed Orthodoxy and Eternia. Ringabel returns to his own world to reclaim his true identity. After Tiz releases the Celestial Realm's being within him, he falls into a coma. He later awakens in a life support tank as the mysterious Magnolia Arch rescues him.