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[SoraanTribal]

I love the side quests in this game. They do a great job of adding more substance to what's going on and - for me at least - are far more interesting that what's going on in the main story.

I've only done the long sidequest chain that starts in Ancheim, but I really enjoyed it. Most sidequests in JRPGs recently have been of the MMO-variety and have been incredibly boring. But in this game, the sidequests have new characters, multiple boss fights, and an actual side story that fleshes out the world/areas a bit more. I do wish the dungeons had been a bit more interesting with more puzzles or variety, though. They are all kind of same-y with just different skins on. I still enjoy them, but they could have used a bit more work.

As far as the main story goes, I think it's fine so far. Granted, I'm still early on - nearing the end of Chapter 1 I think. The only thing that does bug me a little is that sometimes the dialogue can go on for a bit too long sometimes - well past the point of it being entertaining (and I start zoning out).

Overall, I'm absolutely loving the game, though.

 

[Krammy]

Just got these.
<Pictures of Awesome Loot>
DLC fiesta ;//

How's the 2010 - 2013 art book? I've been considering purchasing it and Square-Enix usually do really nice books.

 

[duckroll]

Just got the Furry job class. Oh god. It's so furry. Help! Yiff yiff.

I'd be interested to know what JRPGs you feel have good writing and/or stories.

In terms of complete packages, I would say I probably enjoy Matsuno stories the most. The dialogue tends to be sharp can clear, characters carry their personalities well, and the settings are well developed with a feeling that people do live and exist in the world beyond just the scope of the player's journey.

For something more traditional, some of the older Dragon Quest games have excellent scenarios. They're well crafted fairy tales which fun and timeless. I also enjoy stranger settings which isn't commonly done in RPGs, like Resonance of Fate and Shadow Hearts.

Xenogears is one of the better JRPGs when it comes to pure world building - the creation of an entire world with its own cultures and histories, and various factions and hierarchy which doesn't feel randomly thrown together. Takahashi is pretty good at this in general, even though Xenosaga and Xenoblade suffer from various issues which held the scope back.

 

[spiritfox]

I've only done the long sidequest chain that starts in Ancheim, but I really enjoyed it. Most sidequests in JRPGs recently have been of the MMO-variety and have been incredibly boring. But in this game, the sidequests have new characters, multiple boss fights, and an actual side story that fleshes out the world/areas a bit more. I do wish the dungeons had been a bit more interesting with more puzzles or variety, though. They are all kind of same-y with just different skins on. I still enjoy them, but they could have used a bit more work.

As far as the main story goes, I think it's fine so far. Granted, I'm still early on - nearing the end of Chapter 1 I think. The only thing that does bug me a little is that sometimes the dialogue can go on for a bit too long sometimes - well past the point of it being entertaining (and I start zoning out).

Overall, I'm absolutely loving the game, though.

The side quests are the best story bits in the game so far (I'm late chapter 3, so that might change), and they go places where the main story fail to go. I know this is a throwback to older RPGs, but they did not have to make it so rote. Hopefully the mystery around the journal has a good payoff.

edit: Matsuo's games have good writing too, and it helps that most of them have good localizations.

 

[DrROBschiz]

In terms of complete packages, I would say I probably enjoy Matsuno stories the most. The dialogue tends to be sharp can clear, characters carry their personalities well, and the settings are well developed with a feeling that people do live and exist in the world beyond just the scope of the player's journey.

For something more traditional, some of the older Dragon Quest games have excellent scenarios. They're well crafted fairy tales which fun and timeless. I also enjoy stranger settings which isn't commonly done in RPGs, like Resonance of Fate and Shadow Hearts.

Xenogears is one of the better JRPGs when it comes to pure world building - the creation of an entire world with its own cultures and histories, and various factions and hierarchy which doesn't feel randomly thrown together. Takahashi is pretty good at this in general, even though Xenosaga and Xenoblade suffer from various issues which held the scope back.

Love Matsuno's writing with a passion!

 

[Proven]

I know exactly what he's "trying to do" with the story. It doesn't make it any less awful. The writing is bad because it's likes to be long winded without saying anything worthwhile at all, which is a common in Japanese entertainment. It's not limited to visual novels, but obviously when it helps to pad your content with wordswordswords just to make it seem longer, that helps too. That's not good writing, it's clumsy and inefficient. When paired with fully voiced scenes, it just makes everything slower more less tolerable. That's pretty awful.

This is probably my biggest complaint related to the game's story. While there are still some pleasant ones, I'm starting to dread sitting through the next cutscene because of how long they go on. I just want to get back to adventuring.

 

[DrROBschiz]

This is probably my biggest complaint related to the game's story. While there are still some pleasant ones, I'm starting to dread sitting through the next cutscene because of how long they go on. I just want to get back to adventuring.

Are they skippable?

This is a modern RPG right?

 

[Maybesew]

I feel like this may have been asked before but I missed the answer. What does the red number next to the job level mean? ie right now when I set Edea as a

Spoiler

spell fencer

is says level 4 > 7 and the 7 is red.

 

[duckroll]

Are they skippable?

This is a modern RPG right?

Yes they are. The best thing about BD is that there are tons of options for everything. It's very user friendly. It's so user friendly that it actually makes me not want to shit on some of the shortcomings on the game as much, because the game is fun to play and it gives the player options to avoid anything they don't like (you can even turn encounters off if you want to just explore a dungeon for treasure without interruptions).

I'm only shitting on the story because someone asked about the characters!

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Just got the Furry job class. Oh god. It's so furry. Help! Yiff yiff.




In terms of complete packages, I would say I probably enjoy Matsuno stories the most. The dialogue tends to be sharp can clear, characters carry their personalities well, and the settings are well developed with a feeling that people do live and exist in the world beyond just the scope of the player's journey.

For something more traditional, some of the older Dragon Quest games have excellent scenarios. They're well crafted fairy tales which fun and timeless. I also enjoy stranger settings which isn't commonly done in RPGs, like Resonance of Fate and Shadow Hearts.

Xenogears is one of the better JRPGs when it comes to pure world building - the creation of an entire world with its own cultures and histories, and various factions and hierarchy which doesn't feel randomly thrown together. Takahashi is pretty good at this in general, even though Xenosaga and Xenoblade suffer from various issues which held the scope back.

Definitely agree on Xenogears. I didn't know the same writer was involved on Xenosaga and Xenoblade. I think EoE and the Shadow Hearts series are pretty good too (all purchased, but only finished 1 and 2 lol).

I guess these days I just see FF/Square Enix entries as candy, so I don't expect much from them and consider it a pleasant surprise if I really enjoy them.

 

[Geoff9920]

Are they skippable?

This is a modern RPG right?

There are a lot of options for the text / voice. You can skip it like any other speech bubble in the game by just hitting the A button. You can also switch to Japanese or just completely turn the voiced dialogue off so that it's text only.

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

It's really annoying. I've now 'home passed' (home street pass relay setup) 11 people who, in mii plaza, say they've been playing bravely default. STILL no actual bravely default passes. Does it just not work over relay? It works when I *ACTUALLY* pass people in real life, but all relay passes don't give me bravely default.

Has anyone been able to bravely default pass over a streetpass relay? I mean, what are the odds that all 11 of them hadn't enabled the streetpass feature?

Relay passes don't work like that unfortunately, to be able to get 6 passes and all related Streetpass data for each person (up to 12 titles each) in a single transmission is simply way too much data.
How relay points work is the server is accessed to get ONE piece of data for each of the (upto) twelve games you may have activated. On top of this you also get six new Mii's for the plaza. If all of the six have played Bravely Default but there's currently no active BD data on the server then you won't get it. This also works in reverse, if none of the six have played Mario Kart, you may also get MK data too.
So at best you'd only get one BD (or any other game) hit per relay pass.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Definitely agree on Xenogears. I didn't know the same writer was involved on Xenosaga and Xenoblade. I think EoE and the Shadow Hearts series are pretty good too (all purchased, but only finished 1 and 2 lol).

I guess these days I just see FF/Square Enix entries as candy, so I don't expect much from them and consider it a pleasant surprise if I really enjoy them.

OMG the Xenogears story is so ridiculous

Its funny I played it as a kid and loved it without really understanding what was going on

Read a synopsis online as an adult out of curiousity and holy shit is it crazy. Its a prime example that a crazy convoluted story can still be presented in a compelling way...

They again .. rose colored glasses. I should take a more critical approach should I ever play it again

 

[Effect]

Has anyone heard anything regarding the collectors edition? Stores getting new stock?

Ended up getting free one day shipping from Amazon.com for my order due to them being out of stock but they're still out of stock and it's not looking like that will change anytime soon. If word was that more were being shipped out to stores I'd hold on. Otherwise I might has well cancel the order and try someplace else.

 

[Enduin]

Do we have any early numbers on how successful(or not) the game has done in the US and I guess more concretely in the EU?

I know from my own anecdotal experiences I've had quite a few streetpasses with this game, almost on par with big games like ALBW and AC, where as games like SMTIV I've had a whopping two since release.

 

[duckroll]

Definitely agree on Xenogears. I didn't know the same writer was involved on Xenosaga and Xenoblade. I think EoE and the Shadow Hearts series are pretty good too (all purchased, but only finished 1 and 2 lol).

I guess these days I just see FF/Square Enix entries as candy, so I don't expect much from them and consider it a pleasant surprise if I really enjoy them.

Well sure, I mean on the bright side, the story here isn't The Third Birthday. That story was downright offensive by the end of the game. BD feels like a good take on more classic FF gameplay combined with the bad parts of a story from the Tales series to me.

 

[kaiwing]

Just got it and liking it so far. Beat the 1st castle but still trying to wrap my head around the friend summonings.

Friend code
Kaiwing - 5198-2420-2896

 

[FryHole]

Well said, and I agree. I think the writing in this game is better than a lot of recent JRPGs that I've played (or most recent games I've played, to be honest)

Cheers, glad to hear it - I've been surprised by a few comments about shitty writing. While there's plenty to criticise in terms of how that writing is wielded, when it comes to the raw art of putting words in the right place this game's pretty much above reproach.

 

[spiritfox]

It's time for everyone to be ninjas.

 

[Aveyn Knight]

I feel like this may have been asked before but I missed the answer. What does the red number next to the job level mean? ie right now when I set Edea as a

Spoiler

spell fencer

is says level 4 > 7 and the 7 is red.

You can access higher level abilities thanks to Abilink.

 

[oakenhild]

Relay passes don't work like that unfortunately, to be able to get 6 passes and all related Streetpass data for each person (up to 12 titles each) in a single transmission is simply way too much data.
How relay points work is the server is accessed to get ONE piece of data for each of the (upto) twelve games you may have activated. On top of this you also get six new Mii's for the plaza. If all of the six have played Bravely Default but there's currently no active BD data on the server then you won't get it. This also works in reverse, if none of the six have played Mario Kart, you may also get MK data too.
So at best you'd only get one BD (or any other game) hit per relay pass.

Thanks for the info. Bummer that's how it works though. The only way I can get street passes is from Nintendo Zones and homepass. That explains why I'd only keep getting one Zelda update (and no BD) each time I cycled my MAC.

Guess the only way is to automate this, and cycle a lot of MAC's to hope for a couple Bravely Default street pass hits.

 

[georly]

Relay passes don't work like that unfortunately, to be able to get 6 passes and all related Streetpass data for each person (up to 12 titles each) in a single transmission is simply way too much data.
How relay points work is the server is accessed to get ONE piece of data for each of the (upto) twelve games you may have activated. On top of this you also get six new Mii's for the plaza. If all of the six have played Bravely Default but there's currently no active BD data on the server then you won't get it. This also works in reverse, if none of the six have played Mario Kart, you may also get MK data too.
So at best you'd only get one BD (or any other game) hit per relay pass.

So it's only one streetpass item per person, in any combination up to 6 per relay? I swear it wasn't like this when it had 1 person per relay, that it passed more.

I'm still getting tons of zelda, monster hunter, kid icarus, etc street passes, but no bravely default ever. I've probably run through 20 different mac addresses 3 times over the last couple days, still no bravely default.

So what you're saying is that I should disable streetpass for games I don't play to prevent me from getting unwanted games, and likewise sending unwanted streetpasses to others?

Edit: The daily update of 4 is nice. Guess the best way is to just do friend codes sharing here? Don't Know mine off-hand, but I guess I can try sharing it later, unless I missed the friend-code-sharing boat

 

[Z3M0G]

When an entire kingdom is "held ransom" by a single airship firing cannonballs, and the situation can be resolved by a kid and an unarmed girl simply walking over to it and beating people up, that's just stupid.

LOL My brain is definitely "OFF" while playing this because I didn't catch on to that at all... quite funny when you think about it. I guess I'll not do much of that as I play. I normally don't.

 

[webrunner]

I'm early in the game but I could use a few more friends that have the game

my FC is 2208 5342 4884 if anyone wants to add me and let me know

 

[Ricker]

Ringabel,who is level 10 and I am leaving him as a Freelancer for now,has Lightning Amp flashing on his portrait in combat...what does this mean...?

 

[spiritfox]

Ringabel,who is level 10 and I am leaving him as a Freelancer for now,has Lightning Amp flashing on his portrait in combat...what does this mean...?

It means you equipped something that boosts his lightning damage. One of the village helms has that, IIRC.

 

[Tadale]

This is probably my biggest complaint related to the game's story. While there are still some pleasant ones, I'm starting to dread sitting through the next cutscene because of how long they go on. I just want to get back to adventuring.

Yeah, there are some pretty intolerable ones that seem to stretch. Not loving all of the dialog.

 

[duckroll]

Ringabel,who is level 10 and I am leaving him as a Freelancer for now,has Lightning Amp flashing on his portrait in combat...what does this mean...?

Did you equip an accessory which gives him a boost for lightning attacks?

 

[carlsojo]

The

Spoiler

two sister

side quest bosses in Chapter 2 just completely wrecked my party. I got destroyed by the Eastern one, went to try my luck in the West, and nope so much nope.

 

[SpaceBridge]

Jobs! Jobs everywhere. Unlocked summoner last night. Yay.

For some reason I'm enjoying the VA. Minus the flat tone of Agnes, everyone is really great, especially Edea and Ringabel. I recognize some VA from SMT games. Is Agnes the same VA as Fukka from P3?

 

[carlsojo]

Jobs! Jobs everywhere. Unlocked summoner last night. Yay.

For some reason I'm enjoying the VA. Minus the flat tone of Agnes, everyone is really great, especially Edea and Ringabel. I recognize some VA from SMT games. Is Agnes the same VA as Fukka from P3?

Actually, she's Chie from P4G!

 

[TheContact]

Jobs! Jobs everywhere. Unlocked summoner last night. Yay.

For some reason I'm enjoying the VA. Minus the flat tone of Agnes, everyone is really great, especially Edea and Ringabel. I recognize some VA from SMT games. Is Agnes the same VA as Fukka from P3?

No clue but the Sage sounded familiar to me. Almost like Deckard Cain

 

[georly]

Anyone have a list of what jobs each person is best at? Or does that really matter at all?

My impression is that tiz is best at white mage, knight, and paladin-like stuff.

Ringabel seems to have high agi/dex, which is good for thief, but what else?

Agnes seems to have good int, so I assume black mage and other caster stuff.

Edea seems to be good at attack stuff, so monk, samurai, that kinda stuff?

Anyone have a good ranking system?

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

Thanks for the info. Bummer that's how it works though. The only way I can get street passes is from Nintendo Zones and homepass. That explains why I'd only keep getting one Zelda update (and no BD) each time I cycled my MAC.

Guess the only way is to automate this, and cycle a lot of MAC's to hope for a couple Bravely Default street pass hits.

Yeah I think that may be your only option at the moment
I pass a couple of relay points to and from work each day and luckily always have 4 BD passes once I get home, but I'm in Europe where the game has been out for a couple of months. As it's only just launched in the US I'd imagine it'll take a bit of time for all you new guys to hit the relay points and get some BD data moving around in your areas. If that's the case there's nothing you can do except wait I guess..... (and keep updating the game data each day of course)

So it's only one streetpass item per person, in any combination up to 6 per relay? I swear it wasn't like this when it had 1 person per relay, that it passed more.

I'm still getting tons of zelda, monster hunter, kid icarus, etc street passes, but no bravely default ever. I've probably run through 20 different mac addresses 3 times over the last couple days, still no bravely default.

So what you're saying is that I should disable streetpass for games I don't play to prevent me from getting unwanted games, and likewise sending unwanted streetpasses to others?

It actually worked in the same way when you got one person per relay. Each relay point you connect to will search for any active/recent data for each title you have Streetpass activated for. If found you'd get one hit for each piece of software and the data you receive is removed from the server and replaced by your own data. The only change in the update is that when data is exchanged for the Plaza you now receive six Mii's instead of one but other than that everything is the same.
(Hope that makes sense!)

You're right that disabling games would cut down on the 'clutter' as your data for those games wouldn't constantly upload every time you connect.

 

[SoraanTribal]

LOL My brain is definitely "OFF" while playing this because I didn't catch on to that at all... quite funny when you think about it. I guess I'll not do much of that as I play. I normally don't.

Yeah, I think my brain turns off (or at least low battery!) when I'm playing JRPGs - that's probably why I can enjoy a lot of stories in the genre that most people do not.

Spoiler

Xenogears = best story! xD Although I think that game is actually well known for having at least a decent story for the genre.

 

[georly]

Yeah I think that may be your only option at the moment
I pass a couple of relay points to and from work each day and luckily always have 4 BD passes once I get home, but I'm in Europe where the game has been out for a couple of months. As it's only just launched in the US I'd imagine it'll take a bit of time for all you new guys to hit the relay points and get some BD data moving around in your areas. If that's the case there's nothing you can do except wait I guess..... (and keep updating the game data each day of course)

Can US bravely default streetpass EU bravely default? Other than mii plaza, do any US games streetpass EU games?

 

[SoraanTribal]

For some reason, SE sent me 2 level 70 Nemesis... I'm still in Chapter 1. What.

I really want SE or someone to send me the lvl25 one where you can steal elixirs. Do Nemesis only come from friends or can they come from random people, too? And can you only get new Nemesis once per day?

 

[Ricker]

It means you equipped something that boosts his lightning damage. One of the village helms has that, IIRC.

Did you equip an accessory which gives him a boost for lightning attacks?

Ah...ok thanks,too bad he has no lightning attacks lol...I decided to go Optimum for equipping gear so it chose that I guess...will check.

 

[WonkyPanda]

Is it too early to have a GOTY?

 

[RurouniZel]

Is it too early to have a GOTY?

Resident Evil 4 days "No,"

 

[oakenhild]

So it's only one streetpass item per person, in any combination up to 6 per relay? I swear it wasn't like this when it had 1 person per relay, that it passed more.

I'm still getting tons of zelda, monster hunter, kid icarus, etc street passes, but no bravely default ever. I've probably run through 20 different mac addresses 3 times over the last couple days, still no bravely default.

After cycling through about 30 MAC's, I finally got 3 street passes for BD. Not great, but at least I know it's possible now.

 

[georly]

After cycling through about 30 MAC's, I finally got 3 street passes for BD. Not great, but at least I know it's possible now.

Good to know, i'll keep trying.

To all gaffers who home-pass, please disable games you're not playing anymore, and homepass like crazy, thanks! I want some BD streetpasses

 

[Aveyn Knight]

For some reason, SE sent me 2 level 70 Nemesis... I'm still in Chapter 1. What.

I really want SE or someone to send me the lvl25 one where you can steal elixirs. Do Nemesis only come from friends or can they come from random people, too? And can you only get new Nemesis once per day?

Gettting the nemeses you want can be a lottery.

You only get them from random guests or Square Enix; if they could be sent by friends, that would have been ace...

 

[zroid]

Sorry to people who friended me for this game, I haven't had a chance to start it yet 'cause I've been so absorbed in the Olympics. I added back everyone who's PM'd me so far (although my friend list is now full). I'll try to get around to it soon so I can hopefully be more useful for Abilink and such.

One of my most anticipated games in a long time but winter olympics (the ones we're good at) only come around every 4 years. :3

I knew this would be a problem when the release date was announced.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Gettting the nemeses you want can be a lottery.

You only get them from random guests or Square Enix; if they could be sent by friends, that would have been ace...

Awww, that's a shame. Was gonna ask if anyone could send me the Nemesis I wanted, lol. That would have been awesome if you could do that.

 

[PRjumpman124]

Loving the game so far. Anyone know if there's a new game plus option?

 

[Brandon F]

Just got access to the Angel Bow in Chapter 1...with all the comments about it breaking the game, I guess I'll pass for now. I'm already debating notching up the difficulty to Hard since I am finding the game relatively easy with a balanced party so far. Early game was a bit rough though in the prologue before I had any proper jobs.

 

[Ray Wonder]

The friend mechanic is amazing in this game.
If you want to add me my FC Friend Code is 0705-4006-7018. Pm me yours if you do!

 

[Ala Alba]

FC: 3093-7147-2175

PM if you add me, so that I can return the favor.

 

[massoluk]

This game really is the spiritual successor to "The World Ends with You", in that it actually moves the JRPG genre forward with all its social features and options. It's too bad it's taken 7 years or whatever for this to happen again.

Aye, the social aspect is truly something else in this game. It's a single player RPG, but I never walk alone on my adventure, all the people encountered on the street and online helped out in my adventure here. We leveled up together, they jumped into my games to help me in the jam. *Sniff*