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Bravely Second is the sequel to Bravely Default.
BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Bravely Second, the sequel to Bravely Default, has just been released in North America. The video game follows the mechanics of its predecessor, being a smart role-playing game equipped with compelling combat and endless customization.
Unfortunately, the places and characters are simply reused from Bravely Default. For instance, there are only two new party member: Magnolia, a French alien and Yew, a savant. They are joined by Tiz and Edea from the first game. The core rhythm stays the same: you get to visit towns, encounter NPCs, explore dungeons and fight monsters, but also find save points and unlock various features like new character classes.
Nevertheless, the story and combat are compelling enough to keep you glued to the screen. In Bravely Second, Agnes has been promoted to Sexy Pope from Crystal Priest but ends up kidnapped by an evil emperor. Your job is, of course, to save her, along with the members of your party. In doing so, you will get to travel and revisit the locations of the previous game in order to track her down.
The random encounter slider is also included, which will let you play at your own pace. You can opt to turn combat off and explore the dungeon, or tackle every enemy you encounter to gain experience before facing the boss. The game introduces the chain encounter system, which sends a second group of enemies if you defeated the first one in just one turn. In this way, you can gain even more experience.
The bosses prove to be quite tough, and in order to beat them, you will need to use effectively the Brave/Default system, which allows you to borrow and store future turns for executing multiple actions. This mechanic fits very well with the class system.
The game also features various sidequests. For instance, you can defeat Asterisk holders in order to unlock their classes. In this way, you are also presented with making decisions that can be morally ambiguous. Each choice affects the gameplay, since in each case you will have to decide which Asterisk holder you want to battle, and by doing so you will be presented with different outcomes.
In conclusion, while Bravely Second does not feature a multitude of new features, it still has enough magic to compel you into spending hours of gameplay.
Image Source: EB Games
