I have been playing Bravely Default II!

Bravely Default II is a sequel to Bravely Default in much the same way that Final Fantasy VIII is a sequel to Final Fantasy VII—it has core mechanics and themes in common with its predecessor, but is a new RPG title. There is a direct sequel to Bravely Default called Bravely Second, which seemed like a fine enough game but sadly I never really managed to become invested in it.

That said, I really REALLY enjoyed Bravely Default when it came out, and I was really excited to get back into this gaming world. And so far Bravely Default II is really living up to all my hopes! I'm enjoying it so much and just want to keep playing all the time. This is a problem because Fel is working from home at the moment, and I do not want to be That Person sitting around playing video games all day complaining about how tough lockdown is while she's literally sitting right there trying to fight the good fight.

Some thoughts so far! I'm currently at the very beginning of Chapter 2, and will keep anything that spoils beyond the first few hours of the game safely hidden behind a cut!

✦ The Prologue characters were ridiculous but good fun. I do have a particular aversion to the name Dag which probably didn't do him any favours, but he totally lost me when he beat up on the old man. Sorry game, you've got an uphill battle if you ever want me to get back on board with this guy. Also, he and Selene had a pretty similar dynamic to the White Mage and Monk pair from the beginning of the first game, which instantly has me suspicious of what other similarities this game is going to pull and how much stock we should be placing in that. Gloria and Agnes are an obvious parallel, and there's something to be said about how Tiz and Seth both begin their journey with an near(/actual?!) death experience. That naturally makes Adelle our Edea, and Elvis is Ringabel.

This is a terrible disservice to Elvis.

✦ In all seriousness, I initially had suspicions that the game was going to pull some sort of "history repeating" twist, with our new Warriors of Light being proxies for the heroes from the first game. I'm not certain of that at this point, but it's still a very easy theory to argue. Elvis is motivated by solving the meaning of a mysterious book! The quest takes them first to a desert city, and then toward a floral city! Truff is... okay I don't know what to say about Truff. Bless Truff.

✦ My favourite job class so far is... I don't know! I'm enjoying messing around with all of them! But I'm probably getting the most mileage out of Vanguard, White/Black Mage, and possibly Bard so far. Although Beastmaster has been more useful than I first thought it would be, and Thief is shaping up to be extremely useful!

✦ So far I really like the entire main cast! I don't know if I will ultimately love anyone more than I love hopelessly good girl Agnes Oblige, but as a whole unit I already like this cast more than the original one. Elvis is far and away the biggest surprise for me, I did not anticipate liking him very much at all but so far I've actually really enjoyed his presence! He's just so unrepentantly nice in such an easy jovial way, and I love how laidback and light-hearted he is about his own shortcomings without slipping straight into self-loathing (which, hey, is another great character type, but I digress). So far this game hasn't had a single pervert, which is wonderful. Keep it up, story. I believe in you.

✦ Sir Sloan is brilliantly useful and I want him as my guest character for the rest of time. Free heals! Free revivals! Big damage to the enemy! Prince Castor is pretty good as well, although not quite so ridiculously useful. To be fair, Sir Sloan helps during the Prologue, so I guess it makes sense that he's there to help while you're still learning the ropes.

✦ Music good. This is not a surprise, but I would be remiss not to mention it. Music so good.

( Some spoilery thoughts under the cut! )

I have work tomorrow, but already I'm thinking about playing more and what's going to happen next. It's so nice to be so involved in a game! It really feels like it's been a while since I was this excited!

But yeah, I'm currently working in our local vaccination centre! It's obviously not my regular job, but until lockdown ceases this is something I can be doing and I'm really happy to be involved. It does mean I should go and sleep though!