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Bravely Second
It's taken me about fifty hours to get to Chapter Five, which marks the major plot twist of the game.
AND WHAT A PLOT TWIST IT IS.
I was shocked, which is something that almost never happens to me during a video game. Anyone who's played Bravely Default can probably guess what the plot twist entails, but the form it takes is brilliant. Also, there's no story or dialog repetition after the plot twist, which boy howdy do I ever appreciate.
As much as I eventually ended up loving Bravely Default, Bravely Second is so much more fun to play. Grinding is significantly easier, for one, and it's nice to be able to fast-forward though battles. The in-game bestiary works like the bestiary in Final Fantasy XII, meaning that more information is added as more creatures are defeated. I recently wrote somewhere (on the Zelda meme, probably) that I prefer grinding for story to grinding for stat increases, and this is exactly the sort of thing I was referring to. Grinding in this game is so satisfying and rewarding!
What I especially love about Bravely Second is that the characters are obsessed with food and talk about it all the time. They cook for themselves, they share meals with NPCs, and at least a quarter of the monster notes in the bestiary concern cooking, eating, and regional food cultures. It's cool to see the characters interacting with each other on a friendlier and more intimate basis than "oh no there is a crisis we must do something," which is something I'd really like to see more of in RPGs.
Back in 2010 I had an idea for a FFVI fic involving someone in the party (probably Sabin) keeping a food diary while traveling. When I told a friend about my idea, she shot me down. I don't blame her, because the concept is ridiculous. Who would even read something like that? The answer is that I would read something like that – I would absolutely love to read a fantasy food travelogue! I think that, as with Peach/Bowser, if I want to read this then I'm going to have to write it myself.
AND WHAT A PLOT TWIST IT IS.
I was shocked, which is something that almost never happens to me during a video game. Anyone who's played Bravely Default can probably guess what the plot twist entails, but the form it takes is brilliant. Also, there's no story or dialog repetition after the plot twist, which boy howdy do I ever appreciate.
As much as I eventually ended up loving Bravely Default, Bravely Second is so much more fun to play. Grinding is significantly easier, for one, and it's nice to be able to fast-forward though battles. The in-game bestiary works like the bestiary in Final Fantasy XII, meaning that more information is added as more creatures are defeated. I recently wrote somewhere (on the Zelda meme, probably) that I prefer grinding for story to grinding for stat increases, and this is exactly the sort of thing I was referring to. Grinding in this game is so satisfying and rewarding!
What I especially love about Bravely Second is that the characters are obsessed with food and talk about it all the time. They cook for themselves, they share meals with NPCs, and at least a quarter of the monster notes in the bestiary concern cooking, eating, and regional food cultures. It's cool to see the characters interacting with each other on a friendlier and more intimate basis than "oh no there is a crisis we must do something," which is something I'd really like to see more of in RPGs.
Back in 2010 I had an idea for a FFVI fic involving someone in the party (probably Sabin) keeping a food diary while traveling. When I told a friend about my idea, she shot me down. I don't blame her, because the concept is ridiculous. Who would even read something like that? The answer is that I would read something like that – I would absolutely love to read a fantasy food travelogue! I think that, as with Peach/Bowser, if I want to read this then I'm going to have to write it myself.
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I really wanna play Bravely Second. Being able to afford it is probably a ways off, though. (Right after I picked up another game, Zero Time Dilemma, I got hit with a fusillade of small-on-their-own-but-terrifying-en-masse one-time expenses that I'm going to have to do some financial juggling to deal with for a while. Weh!)
I've heard that Bravely Second has a different composer from the first game's -- do you think the OST's better so far? Worse? I still have some of B. Default's tracks stuck in my head from time to time.
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Zero Time Dilemma is on my list, but I think I'm going to wait until the price drops!
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I'll admit that I wasn't really into the music in Bravely Default
s a c r i l e g e
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I'm... really bad at math puzzles.
I totally remember when five-hour Super Nintendo games were $40. And that was back in the 1990s. If you had told me then that there would be something called "a Steam sale," I would have made like Bart Simpson and had a cow, man.
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I am loving Bravely Second so far (I'm in Yunohana, Chapter 2) and I'm excited to know that the twist is great. :D :D :D
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This is not a spoiler, I promise, but please don't make the same mistake I did...
The final "tutorial quest" tells you where to find the key that will open the blue chests. If you can't find that key, consult a walkthrough, because what you have to do to trigger its appearance is not entirely obvious.
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I am THERE FOR THIS SO HARD. Fantasy food blogging in my fave fandoms, yes please!
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I would also totally read something like this for Final Fantasy XII. Fran and Balthier (or Fran and Penelo) eating and drinking their way across Ivalice is 100% relevant to my interests.
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...zomg, the FFXII foodblogging fic is this thing I did not know I wanted in my life. And, like, now I'm imagining Penelo and Larsa corresponding about the differences in Dalmascan and Archadian cuisine (possibly with some ouchily bittersweet allusions on Larsa's part to, like, correspondence between him and Vayne on the subject when Vayne was consul there, because, you know, that was his adored big brother at one time, whatever else he became...). (Sorry. I tend to get my Vayne feels all over any discussion of FFXII.)
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Also I love it when you go to Sabin's house for the first time and Edgar is all, "This is the tea he likes! These are the flowers he likes! These are the dishes he likes!" The dude apparently enjoys the finer things in life, and I can get totally behind that.