Bravely Default II has a specific audience in mind. If the term "back-to-basics Japanese RPG" appeals to you, this is a qualified recommendation. If not, this article is a warning.
Bravely Default II review
If you’re a child of the 90s, chronologically or otherwise, who’s spent a lot of time with genre classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III, then Bravely Default II was made for you as a gift from your people. Full disclosure: that’s me. I just described myself.
For everyone else, especially if they prefer their modern fantasy with a bit more irony, it’s going to be a harder game to get into. Bravely Default II leans heavily on nostalgia, both as a selling point and as an entry point. How much you like it may depend on how much of that nostalgia you have.
In BD2, you play as Seth, a sailor who survives a shipwreck and washes up on the shores of the continent of Excillant. About 10 minutes later, he ends up as one of three escorts for Gloria, the last princess of a fallen nation, on her journey to recover four missing elemental crystals.
