Bravely Default Collector's Edition - Nintendo 3DS

A very good fun game plays like the old final fantasy games with a fun job class system. The second half of the game may turn off some players by becoming difficult and the grinding needed to level up your party.

I am a huge fan of JRPGs, so I play a lot of them, and this one is quickly becoming one of my favorites as I continue to play through it. I was lucky enough to get the Collector's Edition of the game, which came with an art book, soundtrack, and a deck of more than 30 AR cards--well worth the extra ten dollars I paid for it. I won't describe the story, to avoid spoilers, but I will tell you how much I LOVE it along with almost every character I've seen so far (including villains)! One of the best game-play features is that you can adjust not only the difficulty of the game (Easy, Normal, and Hard modes), but you can adjust your encounter rate as well (in case you want to earn experience faster or maybe you're just annoyed with how often they show up)! I am not checking the "appropriate for young kids" box as, even though the game is fairly innocent, it contains some innuendo, drug references, light swearing, and obviously violence (no gore, though, just fighting!).

This is not in the main series although that means basically nothing since none of them follow the same characters or even occur in the same worlds with the few actual sequels being exceptions. That said the job system in this game is a lot of fun to mess around with and you'll find if you set up your characters correctly you will kill most enemies in 1-2 rounds, sometimes even bosses. The story is very compelling (I won't include spoilers) and it's interesting to see small hints at what's to come if you pay attention. Of particular interest is the way you can see different events in the story depending on what exactly you do in-game. The collector's edition is pretty cool. It comes with some nice AR cards, the soundtrack, and an art book. I specifically bought this for the swag and am very happy with it all.

The game is great in terms of that classic JRPG gameplay I've been missing for the last several years. I would even say the gameplay is more enjoyable than that of the best old JRPGs like Final Fantasy VI due to the Brave and Default mechanics and the huge variety of jobs available. The story is fairly simple, but is still appealing in the way that the old-school Final Fantasy crystal-based stories were. Some of the art looks a bit out of place, but for the most part the production values are very high. This extends to the excellent soundtrack. That brings me to the collector's edition package. It includes the soundtrack on CD, which is great, an art book which exceeded my expectations, and some cool AR cards, all in a very stylish box. All in all, I love it. Well worth $50.

After years of disappointing attempts at spectacle and westernization, Square has grudgingly given us what we wanted all along, real JRPG gameplay! Don't let prissy purists (like me) let you think this is some dull and inaccessible text-based affair though, Bravely Default is as easy on the eyes as it is to pick up and learn. Graphics are gorgeous (and adorable), while every bit of gameplay is taught you in example-based tutorials. Simply put, this is everything a great RPG should be. As easy or as deep as you wish it to be. Stick with powerful, simple jobs like fighters and healers, OR go mix the abilities of Merchants, Thieves, Time Magi, and Pirates. Did I mention there's a Collector's Edition? =3

The first thing you experience is the music and that is excellent. The soundtrack is among the best I've heard in recent years. Apart from the music the story seems to be standard RPG fare but it's full of interesting characters enough that you'll want to see things through to the end. Combat is tactical in that you can either bank your early turns defending and unleash them all at your enemy in a later round, or you spend your future turns to try and kill your enemies quickly, which would be a good tactic against weaker enemies. Except for the fact that you can set the encounter rate from zero to double the normal encounter rate. So you can just ignore the weaker enemies altogether until you find a point in the game where you need to grind up levels in order to beat a boss or a dungeon. This kind of breaks the mold in a way that still has me wondering if it's a good evolution of the genre or something completely unnecessary. I guess it's up to the player to decide when and how to use this feature. It's nice to have the option, but I think I'll leave it alone. As for graphics, this is a 3DS game and as such you shouldn't expect next gen detail, but if you're expecting everything in-game to look like the the gorgeous promotion and box art then you'll be disappointed. Most of the time the characters are chibi (super-deformed or giant headed). The enemies look detailed and the environments look beautiful. Overall this game offers a lot to an RPG fan and should not be missed.

Bravely default is a great game only for the 3ds. Innovations such as jobs classes, street passes, and inviting friends (something I yet to understand for the 3ds) to help you on quest are some of the many things that will keep you busy playing. Controls are responsive. The art style is a mixture of final fantasy 9 and vagrant story. I've put in 30 hours of gameplay so far, and I'm barely on chapter 2. Grinding money and wanting the the best gear and or weapon can take a long time. But square Enix allows you as the player to choose how you will like to proceed. It is truely a gem and I recommend this game for all 3ds owners to play it.

I am a big fan of the Final Fantasy series and this game is a Final Fantasy game in everything but the name. For a decade, I haven't had the time (or momentum) to really get into a Final Fantasy game. That all changed when this game came out. I've already logged dozens of hours and I turn it on whenever I get the chance.My least favorite part of RPGs was the grinding process but Bravely Default has perfected the battle system. Pretty much all the complaints one could have about battling have been resolved. I love the fast forward, the brave-default options, the auto battle and the adjustable encounter rate. Simply amazing.