

“I can’t wait to beat this guy up,” I thought. I was licking my lips when my party encountered a spoony Bard brainwashing a rowdy crowd of protestors. This programs you to be on the lookout for suspiciously colorful characters. Like a playable anime, these episodes introduce flashy characters as a short-term punching bag for the protagonist, and then it’s on to the next one. Mini story arcs introduce gaudily dressed villains, each with their own Asterisk and Job to claim when you inevitably beat them up. Even though the game defaults to certain Jobs for your party members, everybody has the same stats and can do anything - one of several ways Bravely Default II defies expectations. You equip a Main and Sub Job for each character and unlockable passive abilities, so experimenting with the vast array of builds across your characters is half the fun. Jobs include JRPG staples like White, Red, and Black Mage alongside more novel surprises, like the Salve-Maker who whips up lotions and potions to just sort of make everything better. Everything from their boilerplate personalities to their cute, round chibi faces are as kid-friendly as the goofy monsters they fight.Īlong this journey, the heroes claim a series of magical Asterisk gems that transform a person into one of 20 different “Jobs.” Each has unique abilities that trigger a flourishing wardrobe change. There’s a displaced monarch (Gloria), a generic protagonist (Seth), a tavern-loving mage (Elvis), and an affable mercenary (Adelle).
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The story is as old-school Final Fantasy as you can get: Four random Heroes of Light are brought together by circumstances to find and protect some magical crystals.
