The story is pretty standard JRPG fare for the first three chapters. I thought the story started getting better in chapter 4, especially if you do the Vampire questline and learn some of the backstory, which is very interesting. Then now I'm in chapter 5 and things are continuing to get more interesting, and I've warmed up more to the characters now, even if I don't think they're great.
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Bravely Default |OT| For the Americas
- Thread starter Goli
- Start date
The story is pretty standard JRPG fare for the first three chapters. I thought the story started getting better in chapter 4, especially if you do the Vampire questline and learn some of the backstory, which is very interesting. Then now I'm in chapter 5 and things are continuing to get more interesting, and I've warmed up more to the characters now, even if I don't think they're great.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
Not a big fan of older FF games, huh?
For what it's worth I thought Chapter 3 and 4 were the best in terms of story but I also enjoyed everything before that.
That doesn't sound too bad then. What level should I be (on normal) to stand a chance against the final boss?
manueldelalas
Time Traveler
I'm on chapter 7 now, enjoying the game a lot.
Great places to get easy exp, job points and money on chapter 3 and 4, no risk involved, no need for growth or golden eggs (but they will help). I will spoiler the methods, but there isn't really any spoiler, just places.
Chapter 3: It's great for what it is, but don't try to max job levels with this; you should be able to level up a lot though, and get the jobs you are interested in to level 9.
Chapter 4: This is the easiest and best way to level up and master jobs, and is the fastest way to earn money (although there is an easier method earlier, where you can just leave your party fighting all night on Auto, and wake with 1 million or more...); there is no better place in the game than the (place in chapter 4)
, don't need to wait until later chapters. All you need is a Salve-Maker with level 4 to get the Item Attack Amp abbility (need to equip).
Note: It is recommended that your city (Norende) is decently developed, you need to be able to buy
from the Adventurer.
How to get into (this spoiler contains an easy method to gain entrance to the place where we will grind)
Inside
You'll be earning 7.5-10k per fight, so you'll be able to buy the golden egg in no time; with that, you'll earn 15-20k per fight to buy the growth egg. Really easy method. You'll get 370-600 jp normal, 20% more with the jp+ ability of freelancer, and 756-999 with growth egg.
Great places to get easy exp, job points and money on chapter 3 and 4, no risk involved, no need for growth or golden eggs (but they will help). I will spoiler the methods, but there isn't really any spoiler, just places.
Chapter 3: It's great for what it is, but don't try to max job levels with this; you should be able to level up a lot though, and get the jobs you are interested in to level 9.
In Grapp Keep, all the monsters are undead, so there is a big chance (like 60-75% in my experience) of you killing them with Phoenix Downs or casting Raise on them. If you use this method, you'll want to be near the Adventurer, to buy Phoenix Downs when you are low on them.
The best method is to buy 4 Sage's Staffs (Norende) and equip them on your allies; then "use" the staff on enemies (not attack, but use them as items), they will cast raise on the undeads. Remember to Brave 3 times with each characters, so you use the staff 4 times with everyone; this way you will be sure to kill them all at the first turn.
The best method is to buy 4 Sage's Staffs (Norende) and equip them on your allies; then "use" the staff on enemies (not attack, but use them as items), they will cast raise on the undeads. Remember to Brave 3 times with each characters, so you use the staff 4 times with everyone; this way you will be sure to kill them all at the first turn.
Chapter 4: This is the easiest and best way to level up and master jobs, and is the fastest way to earn money (although there is an easier method earlier, where you can just leave your party fighting all night on Auto, and wake with 1 million or more...); there is no better place in the game than the (place in chapter 4)
Vampire's Castle
Note: It is recommended that your city (Norende) is decently developed, you need to be able to buy
Glitterbugs
How to get into (this spoiler contains an easy method to gain entrance to the place where we will grind)
vampire castle? You need to defeat those fucking dragons, so get the Ninja job first and have everyone on level 4 Ninja to get Utsusemi; in the battle against dragons, have everyone with Utsusemi at all times; piece of cake. It's recommended that you equip the ability Turn tables (Red Mage) and abilities to amplify counter attacks.
Inside
Vampire Castle, turn off encounters until you reach the last floor and are near the adventurer. Buy from him all the glitterbugs you can. So, with your salve-maker (you just need the ability) and item attack amp equipped, only thing you'll need to do is to have him compound a Glitterbug with another Glitterbug, that will result in Divine Rain, which will deal a lot of damage to all monsters, and those fucking dogs will not counter.
Keep in mind that you'll need 8 Glitterbugs to defeat the dogs per fight; so be always near the Adventurer to buy more Glitterbugs.
The first job you'll want to master is Freelancer; this is because at level 10 you can get extra job points and at level 14 you'll get the mimic ability; this means that you'll need to use compound only 1 time, and the other 3 attacks are "mimic", so you'll only spend 2 glitterbugs per fight.
Equip Alarm earrings (Norende) to reduce chance of enemy first strike, and Gale Hairpin (Norende) to raise your chance of first strike. On the compounder equip Hermes shoes to strike first always. You can also have one fast thief to steal from enemies, but it's not worth it IMO. You can also have a merchant to earn more money.
Keep in mind that you'll need 8 Glitterbugs to defeat the dogs per fight; so be always near the Adventurer to buy more Glitterbugs.
The first job you'll want to master is Freelancer; this is because at level 10 you can get extra job points and at level 14 you'll get the mimic ability; this means that you'll need to use compound only 1 time, and the other 3 attacks are "mimic", so you'll only spend 2 glitterbugs per fight.
Equip Alarm earrings (Norende) to reduce chance of enemy first strike, and Gale Hairpin (Norende) to raise your chance of first strike. On the compounder equip Hermes shoes to strike first always. You can also have one fast thief to steal from enemies, but it's not worth it IMO. You can also have a merchant to earn more money.
You'll be earning 7.5-10k per fight, so you'll be able to buy the golden egg in no time; with that, you'll earn 15-20k per fight to buy the growth egg. Really easy method. You'll get 370-600 jp normal, 20% more with the jp+ ability of freelancer, and 756-999 with growth egg.
bodine1231
Member
FFII (USA) is probably my favorite game of all time and I've beaten every single FF game when they came out (except VIII). Just because it pays homage to those early games doesn't mean the characters are as memorable or the story better told. Even over 20 years later I still rename my characters Rydia and Kain in games I play today.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
People are playing Bravely Default for the story? Wut?
podracer35
Member
*Raises hand* Guilty. Most games I play need some sort of a story to keep me hooked on it. I'm very rarely disappointed, too.... Maybe I'm just good at researching/picking?
ColtraineGF
Member
To be honest, I was playing partly for the story too - I am not that much of a stickler for overusage of common tropes, really.
Rarely will I outright ignore the story of something unless it's extremely boring/bad. In this game, anything I found boring gameplay wise I zipped past thanks to encounter rate/difficulty adjustment
Rarely will I outright ignore the story of something unless it's extremely boring/bad. In this game, anything I found boring gameplay wise I zipped past thanks to encounter rate/difficulty adjustment
AppleSautts
Member
Just started Chapter 7 and fought one of the bosses.
This is harder than I thought lol
This is harder than I thought lol
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
All right, started chapter 6, every subquest done so far and fake ending earned
so it's basically "lol jk reawaken crystals again"-time again???
mrmickfran
Member
The enemy damage output in this game is absolutely fucking ridiculous.
I have a party at level 44. Why the hell am I getting curbstomped by basic enemies in the middle of my 1-Turn Hero streak?
/rant
I have a party at level 44. Why the hell am I getting curbstomped by basic enemies in the middle of my 1-Turn Hero streak?
/rant
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
I'm playing on Hard mode and just started Ch.5 and purchased the growth egg. My party is all Level 60 with at least one class maxed out for each character.
So now, I'm pretty much free to level to 99, if I wanted to grind it out, but if I wanted to maintain a semblance of balance, what level should I be in Chapters 5-8?
I'm thinking there's no point of random encounters anymore for the rest of the game, when exp and JP can be obtained more efficently by battling in certain areas with the growth egg. For those of you who have played through these late chapters, what level balance did you guys maintain? Does anyone recommend just leveling up to 80-90s for Chapter 5 and then just fighting bosses and no more random encounters?
Also, one more question. I missed the Pirate job fight in Ch.4, but now in Ch.5 my airship can't land in ocean water and my boat can't go into the deep water... so do I just have to wait until later on in Ch.5 before I have another chance to fight for the Pirate job again?
Are you playing on Hard, I assume? The reason is that you're probably doing what I was doing, and have auto-battle with four brave attacks. Really, if you have that happening to you, just default on the first turn when fighting trash mob and see what you need to do. Usually each new area you may have to reconfigure your party to exploit weaknesses in the trash mobs you're up against.
So now, I'm pretty much free to level to 99, if I wanted to grind it out, but if I wanted to maintain a semblance of balance, what level should I be in Chapters 5-8?
I'm thinking there's no point of random encounters anymore for the rest of the game, when exp and JP can be obtained more efficently by battling in certain areas with the growth egg. For those of you who have played through these late chapters, what level balance did you guys maintain? Does anyone recommend just leveling up to 80-90s for Chapter 5 and then just fighting bosses and no more random encounters?
Also, one more question. I missed the Pirate job fight in Ch.4, but now in Ch.5 my airship can't land in ocean water and my boat can't go into the deep water... so do I just have to wait until later on in Ch.5 before I have another chance to fight for the Pirate job again?
Are you playing on Hard, I assume? The reason is that you're probably doing what I was doing, and have auto-battle with four brave attacks. Really, if you have that happening to you, just default on the first turn when fighting trash mob and see what you need to do. Usually each new area you may have to reconfigure your party to exploit weaknesses in the trash mobs you're up against.
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
I liked your tips, but I disagree with your last one being "easy". If you just wait until Ch. 5 (no sidequests needed) you can go to the Mirthyl Mines, and get super easy JP/EXP/PG with no team setups required.
Just buy four Sage Staffs from the Trader (You should probably have them unlocked by Ch.5) and equip them on everyone. Then regardless of Job/Class setup, just have everyone Brave four times and cast "Raise" on the undead enemies.
I was doing this on the second floor of the mines where every mob is three enemies. After you chain together kill streaks you earn ~300 JP. I also found it real easy to switch everyone to Merchant and use the "More Money" ability and make enough money to purchase the Growth Egg, very quickly. Once you have that you can earn ~600 JP after earning kill streaks. If you equip some Speed +% abilities you have almost no chance of ever getting your kill streak broken.
I like this place the best, not because it has the most JP/EXP but because it's so simply easy. It's easy to switch jobs and not have to worry about having the "right" setup and abilities before entering the fight!
... Also just realized that with the freelancer JP up skill, you actually get around ~700 JP after getting streaks.
When you clear the water crystal, the water clears up again, and you can do the pirate sidequest and get it then
Otakumegane
Member
Added back.
When does Agnes starts to not suck? What a whiny girl, holy shit.
Agnes always sucks expect maybe during the normal ending.
I was expecting this... T_T
It's doable, but more of a pain. First, if you can equip star pendants on everyone, do so. Also, don't worry about defense, since all his attacks do a set amount of damage (the one does 1000 I think, and the other one does however much damage he's taken, up to 9999). Easy way to do it is use valkyries and just jump spam him. He can't hit what isn't there. Dispel definitely makes it a lot easier, and I wish I had it when I fought him lol.
mrmickfran
Member
Nope, it's normal mode. I was in the fire temple and those little flame balls completely wrecked my level 44 party. I feel that, now matter how much I grind, I still get destroyed if the enemy gets a turn before me.
JLateralus
Member
I'm about 30 hours in and near the end of Chapter 4, but I'm running out of gas.
I'm not sure what it is - I love the FF5-esque job system and the story is ok.
How long is the rest of the game compared to the first four chapters?
I'm not sure what it is - I love the FF5-esque job system and the story is ok.
How long is the rest of the game compared to the first four chapters?
I do the same thing -- although I always start with Cecil and Rydia and then move on to Kain and Rosa if the game allows
Depends really. There are a lot of optional sidequests. If you skip those, you'll obviously finish a lot faster.
That disappointed me
wanted a cooler reward.Solid SOAP
Member
This is my first JRPG (Aside from Paper Mario, I suppose), and I'm at the beginning-ish of Chapter 3. I love the gameplay, progressing, growing stronger and overall getting better at the game is super rewarding and fun. The story and characters are beyond stupid, in my opinion, but I really like this game. Music is great and it's just fun to play.
HawthorneKitty
Sgt. 2nd Class in the Creep Battalion, Waifu Wars
No, it's just small stuff.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
If you're like me and never take the 3DS out of the house and never get street passes, its worth transferring the 20 villagers from the demo. Its a good head start, since otherwise it would take 6-7 days to get that number of villagers.
Squall5042
Member
I'm finding a lot of the relationships really contrived. "We're all pals now because we have distinct personalities!"
ArchedThunder
Banned
SPOILERS
Alright just beat the game with the
and gonna go back and get the
in just a bit, but I have a few questions.
Alright just beat the game with the
false ending
true ending
How did Ringabel read the quote about taking Egil to where they began when that wasn't in his journal, it was in that world's Alternis's journal? Also is it explained somewhere why Alternis thought his name was Ringabel and why his memory was whipped when being taken to the next world?
You're at the end.
Opinionatedfish
Member
I'm in Chapter 6 currently.
I look at this game as
I rather like the voice acting and I've been listening to it in English since I've met almost everyone who's big in the game. Do the research and go see what else they've done. The voice actors brought tremendous range to their performances. I do take issue that the credits of the game don't list everyone and the roles they played. :-/
I'm just loving this game and I can't wait to
. I've started maxing out items I can buy too as I go through this first time.
I look at this game as
two halves. The first four chapters are straightforward with optional side quests and the last four appear to be "open world" with optional development. I look at it like the first part being "World of Balance" and the second part being "World of Ruin."
I'm just loving this game and I can't wait to
go through again in New Game +
If you don't like the story in the first 3 chapters for those reasons, and it makes you want to stop playing, it might be a better idea to just stop playing. I thought the story was pretty awful personally, and I've only made it to the non-true ending so far. It was stupid and bad at the start, and it never really got any better. The plot twists were dumb and the characters were all boring pieces of cardboard which varied in level of annoyance.
What kept me going was the gameplay and art. If those aren't enough for you, I'm sorry to say but there isn't much to look forward to. I love the gameplay though. Probably the best job system implementation in a "FF" game yet. I only stopped playing for now because I got Layton and it's more fun than doing the super repetitive crap I was doing to get the true ending.
manueldelalas
Time Traveler
You don't need the specific job equipped to do my method (not mine though, just wanted to summarize), just have the abilities equipped, and you do this only once; you can switch jobs at will. Sure, the compound + mimic need a specific job, but it's not required; I just pointed that it would be helpful; but you will earn plenty of money to buy glitterbugs anyway and only compound is required. It's just as easy as equipping the Sage staff, and there are more jp to be earned; with unscathed hero, jp+ and growth egg, your minimum jp earned will be 756+20% which is 900+ jp, always.
Does the AI react in real-time?
When I submit my turn I don't know what the AI is going to do, but it looks like the AI knows what I submitted before deciding what to do.
Possible chapter 1 spoilers:
When I submit my turn I don't know what the AI is going to do, but it looks like the AI knows what I submitted before deciding what to do.
Possible chapter 1 spoilers:
I am in chapter 1 and I was fighting the merchant. He seemed to have a pattern: default for a turn, do a special attack and then I think he was at -1 BP for a turn. So I decided to default when he does, but instead of the regular pattern, he attacked. Only when I got to 3BP and braved - he defaulted. This is might be just unlucky. But I am wondering...
bumpkin
Member
Ugh, you weren't kiddingYou'll hateChapters 6, 7, and 8 then.
Skip all the sidequest bosses in Chapters 5 and 6 - EXCEPT do the new Conjurer sidequest in Chapter 6. Do the ones in Chapter 7 and steal from every boss. Chapter 8 is a good challenge, but nothing good as far as drops/steals. If you want to do a few of the ones in Chapter 5 to get a feel for how the world is different, feel free, but some of them haven't changed much.
After I re-awakened the wind and water crystals, I decided to throw caution to the wind and not listen to Aery about stopping the rite. I actually ended up looking at a walkthrough after reading your post -- I was curious -- and saw it said that would unlock an alternate final stage. So I did that and beat the demonic Aery and got the other ending. I'm sure(?) I'll go back and slowly chip away my way towards the real thing, but holy shit, the water and earth wind crystal bosses are such pains in the ass. It's really tough to psyche myself up to beat them all more than twice.
A really ugly blemish in what would otherwise be my 3DS GOTY.
I think you should be good at ~LV80, prepare to revive a LOT though. The final boss has multiple forms and fully heals himself multiple times. At some point in the fight surviving his attacks becomes almost more important than dealing damage, keep that in mind when building your team. Don't be ashamed if you find yourself using Elixirs and Final Elixirs in this fight, you'll probably need them.
thelooseteeth
Member
I'm playing through Final Fantasy V advance directly after completing this game. The story-telling, graphics, gameplay, etc. for BD are all directly lifted from FFV, prettied up and dumbed down.
After suffering through the last half of BD, FFV has been such a refreshing blast to play through. The storytelling, soundtrack, hell even the graphics do a better job at creating a world to discover and play in.
After suffering through the last half of BD, FFV has been such a refreshing blast to play through. The storytelling, soundtrack, hell even the graphics do a better job at creating a world to discover and play in.
BassForever
Member
There may be more then this but that's from an interview with the director
http://www.jp.square-enix.com/bdfts/tour_for-the-sequel.html
There's a list of important changes and editions on the official site. I'll give a quick rundown:
- They added more sub-scenario battles in chapters 7 and 8. I haven't gotten there yet but I hear that they're the best optional battles in the entire game, so they probably did a good job with the optional content.
- The UI and battle speed options are new. They added stuff like being able to speed battles up by 2x and 4x using the d-pad. They also added extra UI info when viewing stats in battle (toggle between detailed info on allies and enemies using the analog), and when viewing equipment in the store and in the menu.
- The Config options where you set the encounter rate, whether you want to gain PQ or EXP, difficult setting, etc are all new additions.
- The language options and the event viewer are also new.
- The Party Chats now have actual emotes on the character faces. In the original they were totally static.
- 3 save slots instead of 1.
- They added Bravely Second to the battle system. This is a teaser for the same system they will use in the sequel.
And this is not on that page but...
- They also improved the background graphics for most of the towns. They added more detail and stuff here and there.
There's a list of important changes and editions on the official site. I'll give a quick rundown:
- They added more sub-scenario battles in chapters 7 and 8. I haven't gotten there yet but I hear that they're the best optional battles in the entire game, so they probably did a good job with the optional content.
- The UI and battle speed options are new. They added stuff like being able to speed battles up by 2x and 4x using the d-pad. They also added extra UI info when viewing stats in battle (toggle between detailed info on allies and enemies using the analog), and when viewing equipment in the store and in the menu.
- The Config options where you set the encounter rate, whether you want to gain PQ or EXP, difficult setting, etc are all new additions.
- The language options and the event viewer are also new.
- The Party Chats now have actual emotes on the character faces. In the original they were totally static.
- 3 save slots instead of 1.
- They added Bravely Second to the battle system. This is a teaser for the same system they will use in the sequel.
And this is not on that page but...
- They also improved the background graphics for most of the towns. They added more detail and stuff here and there.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
Got to the
fight in Chapter 8 last night. You win, BD. I'm not going out of my way to grind up a bunch of jobs just for this fight.
On to the
EDIT: Regarding duckroll's post, I am so, so, so glad we got the updated version in NA. Some of the late game stuff is already borderline unforgivable as it is but without the updates it would honestly take the entire game down a few more notches for me.
Mega Magic
On to the
finale.
EDIT: Regarding duckroll's post, I am so, so, so glad we got the updated version in NA. Some of the late game stuff is already borderline unforgivable as it is but without the updates it would honestly take the entire game down a few more notches for me.
BassForever
Member
Well that wasn't what I was expecting from a trial to get a summon lol good thing Tiz had abate wind
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
That fight is ridiculous, but one character with Stillness is enough to win if you can time it right and kill
Qada first
you run a white mage to dispel their reflect and cast your own.
Otherwise, using Shin Smash to screw up the turn order seems like it could also be a valid tactic to survive the first turn at the very least, beyond that it will just depend on what abilities you have to stay alive.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
Yeah, I tried Shin Smash and was able to survive one turn, but even when I got rid of fire-weak I lost two or three party members to
Promethean Fire
Can I go back to that fight after I finish the game?