Last October, Bravely Default producer Tomoya Asano revealed that a number of significant improvements had been made to Bravely Default: For the Sequel, an updated version of the game. These improvements, Asano stated over Twitter, had lowered the game’s completion time from around 70 hours to around 30 hours.
This didn’t mean that there was less to do in the game. Just that all that improvements added up to make the game a more streamlined affair. And since “For the Sequel” is the version of Bravely Default that has been localized for the west, we decided to ask Asano just what it was that had so drastically reduced completion time.
“We added more character side stories in the latter half of [“For the Sequel,” the U.S. and European version of Bravely Default],” Asano said to Siliconera. “However, the shortened playtime is more due to better playability due to improvements to the system.”
Asano then listed out the main improvements that were made to the game, a number of which will also be carried over to its sequel, Bravely Second. Here’s Asano’s list, in his own words:
1) Toggling difficulty. Thanks to this, players who just want to play through the story will have fewer instances where they get stuck because they can’t defeat a boss.
2) Manipulating encounter rates. The gameplay has become more efficient, allowing players to focus on leveling up or strategy.
3) Auto in Battle. It’s a function that lets you repeat the moves of the previous turn, which reduces both labor and time.
4) 4X speed up for battles. In the original version, the battle could only be sped up to 2X speed, so this has really been a way that has shortened the time.
We also made other small changes, and including both the previous game and added content, we’ve made it so you can probably play through 100 hours of content in I think roughly 50 hours (though you can play through more carefully at your own pace too).
“Basically, the game has become much denser,” Asano concluded. He also briefly discussed the game’s sequel, Bravely Second, with us, and you can read about that here.
