Board 8 > I've been playing Bravely Default 2 and I'm feeling ambivalent

(+) Yeah! (+)

I started it but I'm rather disappointed by it so far. The story and characters are not very gripping yet (though not significantly worse than previous games). I'm at the moment where Gloria and the gang are caught by Prince Castor (early-ish game spoilers).

But the UI/UX feels significantly worse and confusing, and I really don't like how the skills are laid out. It feels like the buffs are too small to matter and it really annoyed that we learn ONE spell per level for Black Mage. So that's 9 slots for all levels of the elemental spell when we could've had them in 3 slots...

And the bosses with their random and OP counter-everything is also annoying. Really limits and railroads the strategy we can take.

I'm honestly considering putting it on hold indefinitely and just start Great Ace Attorney. But what do you think? Does it get better?

---

BD2 is a game that does not get better, Chapter 1 might be the highlight for me tbqh as I was feeling up on it by that point. I actually really like Castor in Chapter 1, I think he makes for a really cool Berserker plot, it's a great use of his asterisk into his actual story development.

Chapter 2's alright (and dark dark DARK), 3's pretty cool and has an awesome segment when some music kicks in... but Chapter 4 kinda drops doing anything and from there on it's a buncha disappointment on unsatisfying endings

I had fun with it but yeah it didn't turn out well and if you're not liking it from the start it's not gonna get better.

---

It's significantly worse than the first two.

---

I'll echo what GMUN said. It basically gets worse as you go, and right when it finally starts to do some interesting things, it ends.

---

Glad it's not just me then.

I think I'll just shelf this one for now and start Great Ace Attorney instead.

Also, I heard this game was made by a different studio? Perhaps that explains the drop in quality.

---

I liked it the whole way through, but it's definitely a step down from the first one. I think everything about it is pretty good other than the writing, which is not good at all, but not offensively bad.
---

The first one was great and felt refreshing with its gameplay and though its story took forever, the writing was still fun enough (even if it wasn't anything extraordinary) to carry me through a hell of a lot more hours than I should've spent on it.

Then Bravely Second happened, when the gameplay didn't feel new and the writing was even worse since Yew was tied for the most unlikable twerp I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing the story of. So like with Emil Castagenier, the other such twerp, I shelved his game and sold it, never to return. (Please note that there have been very few JRPG protagonists I've ever truly disliked, though there have been quite a few to which I've been apathetic.)

So I'd like to thank you guys for also helping me realize that I shouldn't be bothering with this one either.
---

This probably explains why the BD2 price has already tanked from secondhand sellers.

The first game wields a good but too roundabout narrative that has holes but it works. It's engaging enough, and extra places like the Vampire Castle give the world more flesh. It gets to be a bit too much stalling by the end of it. Many of the bosses are far too formulaic, wasting the interesting battle system, and scaling creeps in as an issue right at the end. The second to last boss is significantly stronger than anything you've faced up to that point, and the final boss is significantly stronger than that, so you can get hard walled at the last second. It's still worth the play because the story nd background are enough to keep you pulled and the gameplay is interesting, but it's undeniably flawed. I figured out who the villain was very early, though.

Bravely Second isn't bad, but it's a pale shadow of the first. I don't hate Yew, but it feels like they gave him a lot of Tiz's qualities all pushed to the wrong direction. Yew and Magnolia are weaker characters overall, and the story just doesn't have the intrigue or the life of the first. The first game built as you went spot A to spot B, but this one remains pretty stagnant for a lot of it. Yoko doesn't adequately replace characters like Yulyana or DeRosso in the background to really add to it, and it notably hurts. Many of the villains do not have properly explained motives for their actions, and you get a weak plot twist with a hint of foreshadowing that makes you see it coming. Chapter 5 was an interesting concept, but they barely even tried and it just felt like adding artificial length. At least the first game added to the story when it added this length. This game simply wasn't created with the same effort as the first, was made to ride on the effort put into the first, and it shows because I got it secondhand for like $14. I can't say it was a terrible investment at such a low amount though. The game is still "ok". It just won't pull you like the first one does. Some of the sidequests aren't bad, and some are "why are you putting me through this nonsense". Looking st you, sidequest 5.

---