LogFAQs > #942244663

adjl posted...

I can see that that would eliminate the "finally, a turn-based JRPG!" sentiment that BD gave a lot of people when it first came out, since you would have had that itch scratched already. That said, Octopath's gameplay generally felt like Bravely Default Lite to me, with less depth to the combat and class systems and overall less strategic variety. It was still enjoyable, but I would say I like Bravely Default better in that regard.

I do enjoy a lot of the quality of life features included in Bravely Default. Turning off the encounter rate was a relieving mercy because, as I mentioned in the OP, I probably wouldn't have completed the game if it wasn't for that. I think more games should allow you to adjust difficulty at will.

adjl posted...

BD's story just baffles me. It started out alright. Nothing amazing, but certainly serviceable, and there seemed to be some interesting twists coming. But then those twists happened... and nothing else did. The rest of the story just consisted of ignoring all the revelations from the game's pivotal moment and repeating the first four chapters over and over again. It was like the producers read what the writers had up until that point, then got tired of reading, fired all of them, and just copy+pasted the first stuff a few times to fill out the rest of the game. It's easily one of the most egregious cases of wasted potential I've ever seen in a game's story, and I don't understand how they screwed it up as badly as they did. Granted, somebody also thought the Endless Eight arc of Haruhi season 2 was a good idea, so I guess there's precedent elsewhere for such poor judgement.

It had so much potential, but I feel like the game was executed in a way that really highlights its faults. With a plot involving parallel worlds there's a lot of directions you can take it, but as you mentioned... nothing really happens after a point. I also feel like working towards the "true" ending feels counterintuitive. Like, if you catch onto the obvious hints, going for an earlier ending makes so much more sense from a story perspective. But if you want the "true" ending you have to push through acting like what's right in your face isn't there.