It's always a bit of a strange idea to start watching a TV series half way through, and the same is often the case with games. Which is why we could understand if you were a little unsure about whether to try the huge (and rather impressive looking) upcoming Japanese role playing game Bravely Second, if you missed out on playing its equally weirdly named forebear, Bravely Default. However, never ones to miss a trick to get more players on board, it seems Nintendo have thought about this too, and have released a generous demo that's now available on the Nintendo 3DS eShop to download. And not only is this a demo of the Bravely Second - but it actually works as a prequel to it too, with a separate storyline that works as an introduction to the game's characters, and progress that will "unlock rewards" for you in the main game. In other words, it's the perfect time to dip your toes into the Bravely Default waters.
Bravely Default harks back to the Final Fantasies of old
A substantial enough experience, it's even been given its own subtitle, the free demo, Bravely Second: Ballad of the Three Cavaliers is almost substantial enough to be a full game on its own. Offering some 10 hours of gameplay, with bosses, quests, battles and its own story to follow, the games tells the tale of the titular Three Cavaliers - the series new protagonist Yew, and his two companions Janne and Nikolai, as well as their helpful guide Magnolia.
As this preview story begins, our protagonists arrive at the city and begin looking for the guide that has been sent for them by the Pope Agnes. From this point on, the game quickly opens up into a huge free roaming exploration game, where only quests, shops and save points are marked on your map. As a small hint, we'd say it's well worth having a good look around and exploring places thoroughly, you never what you might find or where you might find it!
As you might expect with this being a role playing game, the battles are a large part of the experience, and in Bravely Second (like Bravely Default before it) there's a bit of a complex system in place. Luckily, everything's explained pretty well by an, as yet unnamed, pig.
The combat here is turn based, and makes use of a kind of queue, where you choose what you want each character to do in their turn, and then watch your choices of move unfold. The entire battle system ultimately comes down to what is referred to as BP. These "brave points" are used up to perform an attack or cast a spell, but regenerate at the beginning of the following turn. Each action uses up just 1 BP (for most actions at least), but you can build up your BP by defending for a turn. The reason for doing this is so you can stack up several attacks back to back - so if you defend for four turns, you can attack four times in a row - or go even further and drive your characters into negative BP, although you'll need to be careful doing this, as they won't be able to move or defend until they reach zero again.
Fight yon apple man!
This demo states early on that it operates on the idea of "big risks, big rewards" and this is shown particularly well in battles. If you can get powerful enough to defeat your opponents in 1 turn, you have the option to continue fighting and gain a good bit of extra experience and money, but you'll also have to get by with whatever BP you left yourself with from the previous fight, rather than have it reset to 0 between battles like normal. This is especially useful if you want to power through a few levels to help beat that boss and makes a great pair with the modifiable encounter rates, that let you change how often you run into enemies when you're out and about. Sometimes you just don't want to be bothered, so you can set it to zero - but be aware that you also won't gain levels using this method, even if it does give you plenty of chance to admire the caves and forests.
One of the more unique features in Bravely Second is the job system. As you progress through the demo and defeat key bosses, you'll unlock new jobs that each of your characters can take on, on top of the four you start with right off the bat. Jobs let you give each character a certain speciality, whether it be magic, physical attacks, or a mixture of the two, and mixing and matching your team's jobs can help you make an unbeatable party. Each job for each character can be levelled up through combat individually too.
Really? A flower... Never seen one of those before!
There's also the old Nintendo favourite feature of StreetPass. Through StreetPass, you can summon other players and friends you've passed by into your game to help out if you're really struggling with a battle or in a pinch. And brilliantly, this is actually an incredibly useful feature, which can be a real game changer in a tough battle!
As for what actually get carried across into the full game, sadly, you won't be keeping your levels or experience - but what you will be able to transfer across are the "play bonuses". These are essentially gifts offered by the demo that can be transferred into the full game, and can be as small as a handful of potions, or as large as revival items or equipment.
As a ten hour long free "demo", there's really no reason not to give Bravely Second a try. Longer than many other full price games, and at no cost to yourself, this is a lot of fun, and a great taster for what's to come when the full game launched later this week, whether you're a complete stranger to the series or a returning adoring fan. Available now on the 3DS eShop, why not give it a try, and let us know what you think?
