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More than 10 years since Bravely Default launched, the game’s producer has strongly hinted that a remaster may already be in the works.
The original Bravely Default remains one of the best games on the 3DS and one of the best RPGs released in the past decade. It told the story of a world plunged into chaos when the elemental crystals that keep it in balance are consumed by darkness, and you controlled the four characters trying to bring it back to rest.
The four main characters – the disgraced priest Agnès Oblige, the disaster survivor Tiz Arrior, the amnesiac Ringabel and the defector Edea Lee – were fascinating protagonists, poking time and again at tropes and traditions of the JRPG genre.
The game spawned an excellent sequel, Bravely Default 2, but the original lingers in my heart.
“A remaster […] would be the best possible thing and something fans would want,” Bravely Default producer Tomoya Asano said in a 10-year anniversary livestream, translated by Gematsu (opens in new tab). “Unfortunately I can’t announce anything like that for the time being. ‘For the time being’, let’s just say.”
We can’t take this as confirmation of a Bravely Default remaster, but Asano’s comments, coupled with the high-resolution streaming version of the game’s opening movie, make it very likely.
Fortune favors the brave
Bravely Default deserves a remaster, it pushed the boundaries of the JRPG in a myriad of bold and interesting ways, gently poking holes in RPG conventions while never straying too far from what makes the genre great. It offers meta-commentary reminiscent of Nier Replicant, in addition to a work-based combat system that refines and perfects some of the most cherished aspects of JRPG game design.
A remaster would also open up the classic to a lot of players who missed it the first time, when it was only released on 3DS. A remaster was likely to appear on Nintendo Switch, where the sequel already showed the series could easily run on single-screen hardware.
And since Bravely Default 2 has also been released on PC, we may also see a PC version of a potential Bravely Default remaster.
A remaster would also be a great opportunity to embellish the original character models. While the environments remain beautiful to this day, the original 3D character models in Bravely Default show their age 10 years later. I wouldn’t want to see a graphical revamp at the expense of the original, highly distinctive character designs.
Square Enix has relied heavily on remasters in recent years, with a series of Final Fantasy reissues. Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core is next on the radar and from what I’ve played, it’s breathing new life into the PSP classic. And of course, it goes one step further with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
With hopes of a Bravely Default remaster on the horizon, it seems like the good times are just beginning for JRPG fans. If remasters continue to be successful, we may also see Square Enix experimenting with more tried-and-true game mechanics in its newer titles.