About two months after its release, scheduled for February 26, 2021, Square Enix released a final demo of Bravely Default 2, third installment of the JRPG saga started on Nintendo 3DS and continuously on Nintendo Switch. The first demo, dating back to last spring, had aroused mixed reactions due to a difficulty curve considered by many users to be too accentuated due to a high spawn rate and a CPU considered too demanding. Square Enix did not let the criticism down and rolled up its sleeves: after inviting players to fill out a questionnaire, the development team improved the less welcome aspects, giving a first try in this unexpected demo.
Bravely Default 2: where did we stay?
Despite an ambiguous title, Bravely Default 2 it is not the direct sequel neither Bravely Default: Flying Fairy nor Bravely Second: End Layer. This is clear from the first moments of the game, in which we find ourselves familiarizing ourselves not with the now well-established continent of Luxendarc, but with Excillant, a new area divided into 5 kingdoms. The similarities with Luxendarc, however, are clearly evident in the geographical conformation of the continent, but also in its history based on the elemental crystals, especially fundamental in the history of the first Bravely Default.
Similar to the first demo of Bravely Default 2, the game opens near the desert city of Savalon and with important information for the player: what we have in our hands is the first chapter of the game, in a version almost identical to the title out in February. For this reason, starting from the first access to the demo, a countdown of 5 hours, maximum time that we can spend at Excillant. In addition, at the opening of the game, it is possible this time to choose one of the three difficulty levels (easy, normal, difficult), correcting the main problem of the preliminary version of the game.
Since the starting point is common to the two demos, a little bit of repetition is due: Savalon and its ruins outside the city need to be explored again. However, this time the relationship between the characters I'm definitely clearer and better delineated: the group of adventurers is looking for the water crystal at the behest of the princess Gloria (and maybe even Elvis, who seems to be a noble too?). Thus, we understand why the city located in the heart of the desert is strangely partially flooded. In addition, three new characters soon reveal themselves, as well as carriers of asterisks: Orpheus, Bernard e Anihal, which appear to be somehow related to the disappearance of the water crystal. And new dungeons never seen before are linked to this research.
Between novelty and innovation
Compared to the first version, this final demo gives a much more precise idea of what awaits us in Bravely Default 2, not only from the point of view of storytelling, but also of mechanical. No Copernican Revolution: the battle system has remained the same as always with good points to accumulate via default, which is good, as it is a well-oiled system that combines strategy, timing and versatility. On this front, some have been made improvements to the combat interface. For example, you can view the status changes and weaknesses of your own and allied squads more smoothly and analytically, much like Octopath Traveler.
The influence of Team Asano and its experience with Octopath Traveler you feel and appreciate it: now it is much more intuitive to identify the weak points of the opponents, which have a number that can be displayed in advance (avoiding trial and error). In addition, the objects that inflict damage to enemies (similar to Octopath Traveler's Time Stones) are present more consistently than in the first two chapters of the saga, available both by exploring the game maps and in shops. An interesting new tool is the Curtain, which allows the recovery of all the team's HP and MP when used outdoors or near save points; this makes up for the lack of merchants near the bosses, slightly raising the difficulty: you will need to stock up on battle items before entering each dungeon!
In the overworld, where once again the side quest, the frequency of appearance of the enemies is not so different from that of the first demo; in addition, if you are unwary and let yourself be surrounded by more than one monster, you will have to face 2 or more hordes of consecutive enemies. This, however, will result in a experience bonus if you succeed in the arduous intent. Given the time limit of 5 hours of consecutive play, we tried more game difficulties, finally opting for the easy to get to the bottom as quickly as possible. Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on your style of play), even the easy mode is not exactly a walk: like it or not you will have to grind and carefully choose your classes and skills. But isn't this the beauty of the Bravely saga?
In summary, the final demo of Bravely Default 2 gives us hope: dreamlike graphics as always, a soundtrack signed by Revo, an improved combat interface and an overworld that, finally, lets itself be explored in a more organic way. There difficulties is in line with that of the other chapters of the saga, without abysmal upheavals compared to the first demo, and the characters are all in all promising, despite some clichés borrowed from Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. The arduous sentence on February 26!
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