I’m overjoyed that Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster exists. Though YouTubers satisfied themselves that the sport’s reveal within the Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Change 2 presentation was the oft-rumoured Remaining Fantasy IX remake, I used to be excited to be taught that Silicon Studio‘s distinctive RPG has been unshackled from the Nintendo 3DS in the end.
The sport was playable on the current Nintendo Change 2 Expertise: London occasion, with adventure-loving attendees free to decide on between enjoying the sport from the beginning or loading save knowledge that was many hours in. Seeing because it’s approaching 12 years since I final performed the sport, I made a decision to refresh my reminiscence first. From its opening credit, the Tokyo-based Cattle Name was instantly confirmed because the developer behind this remaster.
I forgot how bleakly Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster begins. After darkness shrouds the 4 elemental crystals that after maintained peace and stability on this planet of Luxendarc, a Nice Chasm opens within the earth and swallows Norende up in darkness. After waking in a close-by inn, Tiz Arrior, a sort shepherd and the only survivor of such a tragic occasion, returns to the chasm that engulfed his hometown with the hope of discovering different survivors. There he meets Agnès Oblige, servant and vestal to the Crystal of Wind, and her fairy companion Ethereal, and collectively they journey to revive the crystals and seal the Nice Chasm.
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster appears to be like resplendent, with sharpened character fashions operating across the recreation’s painterly image book-like backgrounds. The visible leap from 240p to what I assume is 1080p can be appreciable, as is the developer’s effort to condense the sport’s setup from its unique two screens to a single one. I wouldn’t say that this can be a recreation that’s notably stretching the Nintendo Change 2 {hardware}, but it surely retains its magical allure.
It’s in fight that the expertise excels. Gameplay mechanics launched within the recreation’s battle system are the place its uncommon title derives. Every flip, you’ll be able to ask a celebration member to Default to allow them to defend and take no additional motion to retailer up Courageous Factors (BP). Courageous then enables you to make as much as 4 actions in a single flip, whether or not utilizing the BP you may have collected or taking future turns upfront. It’s high-risk, high-reward, and your enemies are free to do the identical. Do you go all-out however go away your get together weak to a counterattack, take your turns usually or play it secure to financial institution BP however let the battle drag out for longer?
Jobs play an vital position, too. Each character begins out as a Freelancer which is an efficient all-rounder position, however you’ll ultimately have entry to Jobs equivalent to Monk, White Mage, Knight, Ranger, Summoner, Ninja, Darkish Knight and Valkyrie. To unlock new Jobs, it’s good to purchase their Asterisk, that are collected from toppling the various bosses which are repeatedly scattered all through the sport. It’s nice to experiment with totally different Job mixtures throughout your get together, and I’m certain that everybody could have their favourites.
Sq. Enix has confirmed that, as with the unique recreation, battles can play out as much as 4 occasions sooner, and this has now additionally been equally utilized to occasion scenes when autoplay is chosen for these revisiting the sport. You too can change the speed of random encounters from the sector map, between 50% to 200%. There was an choice to show them off fully (0%) within the unique recreation, so I’m unsure what’s occurred to that.
The StreetPass content material, which tasked you with reconstructing the village of Norende, hasn’t been eliminated, both. It has been retooled, now seeing you discover Passing Souls on the town areas, who will likely be mechanically invited to turn into the village’s residents. You possibly can assign them to construct or work at retailers, rewarding you with new objects, tools and expertise over time. It was a component that I actually loved within the unique recreation, so I’m glad the developer discovered a method to make it work and didn’t have to chop it.
There are additionally new non-obligatory minigames to take part in for bonuses, Ringabel’s Panic Cruise and Luxencheer Rhythm Catch. These each use twin mouse controls with the Pleasure-Con 2, and, as a lot as Ringabel’s Panic Cruise was disorientating at first, repeatedly made me giggle at simply how panic-inducing the expertise truly was. With Tiz, Agnès, Edea and different characters barking orders at you to make repairs, cool the temperature and swat flies, it’s a must to flick switches, pull levers and blow whistles to attain factors. This led to a boss encounter with a dragon, the place it’s a must to stability pulverising it along with your cannons and bringing the 2 Pleasure-Con 2 collectively to type a protect to deflect incoming assaults. I had enjoyable, and I’m certain this will likely be a welcome distraction from the primary quest.
Throw in an unmissable, adrenaline-pumping soundtrack from Japanese composer and singer Revo, and I’m greater than excited to return to Luxendarc for Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster. One among Nintendo 3DS’ all-time greats appears to be like set to achieve even higher heights on Nintendo Change 2, I simply hope that it doesn’t get misplaced in what’s already a busy launch line-up for the transportable house console successor.
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster will likely be launched at retail and digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Change worldwide on 5 June 2025.
