Bravely Default was certainly that – courageously returning to the default approach JRPGs should take. It was a whole bunch of fun and is yet another reason people should have a 3DS. Now, its sales are making Square Enix sit up and listen.
According to Dengeki Online (thanks, VentureBeat) Bravely Default has sold one million units – 400k in Japan with another 600k worldwide; this is about the same as Lightning Returns. Square Enix is looking at this and taking notes on how it might apply to the Final Fantasy franchise:
In the past, when we developed console games with a worldwide premise, and we lost our focus, and not only did [those releases] end up being games that weren’t for the Japanese, but they ended up being incomplete titles that weren’t even fit for a global audience.
Considering the sales issues plaguing the Final Fantasy franchise, it’s no wonder that a sequel to Bravely Default (Bravely Second) is already in the works. Here’s hoping that it also makes Squeenix realize that we want more of the classic JRPGs – they have a standard format that works and gets gamers ridiculously happy. I’m still overly excited to see more of FFXV, although I’m a bit worried that we haven’t seen anything at E3 and probably won’t see anything at Gamescom either. Perhaps the Tokyo Games Show will be the place for more of a reveal, but for JRPG fans the wait feels eternal.
Would you like to see Square Enix return to their roots when it comes to JRPGs? Remember the bad old days when they put out games like Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore and “real” Final Fantasies? Where do you think Squeenix has gone wrong?
Last Updated: July 30, 2014
Umar GAAAAHH!
July 30, 2014 at 07:36
It went wrong when they stated focusing on cinematics rather than the actual game and story. Bravely Default was such a great game and reminded of the good ol days. It had the spirit and heart of a JRPG while beautifully incorporating modern gameplay designs…All I want at the moment is FF 12 HD IZJS and Bravely Second
Hammersteyn
July 30, 2014 at 07:43
But,but all that pink hair 🙁
http://d3dsacqprgcsqh.cloudfront.net/photo/are1oDy_460sa_v1.gif
Umar GAAAAHH!
July 30, 2014 at 07:48
It suits him lol
Umar GAAAAHH!!!
July 30, 2014 at 07:36
It went wrong when they stated focusing on cinematics rather than the actual game and story. Bravely Default was such a great game and reminded of the good ol days. It had the spirit and heart of a JRPG while beautifully incorporating modern gameplay designs…All I want at the moment is FF 12 HD IZJS and Bravely Second
Hammersteyn
July 30, 2014 at 07:43
But,but all that pink hair 🙁
http://d3dsacqprgcsqh.cloudfront.net/photo/are1oDy_460sa_v1.gif
Umar GAAAAHH!!!
July 30, 2014 at 07:48
It suits him lol
Kensei Seraph
July 30, 2014 at 12:22
His eyes look so dead.
AceZero911
July 30, 2014 at 15:12
I would love a FF 12 HD remake, not too sure it will happen as it got pretty mixed reactions from people, but I can always dream.
Hammersteyn
July 30, 2014 at 07:42
Bravely Default, that’s funny because it sounds like they are being brave by going back to their roots(default) and surprise,surprise. It’s what people wanted all along
Hammersteyn
July 30, 2014 at 07:42
Bravely Default, that’s funny because it sounds like they are being brave by going back to their roots(default) and surprise,surprise. It’s what people wanted all along
Aussious
July 30, 2014 at 08:47
We all fell in love with FF on the PSX those games where very distinct from from each other and the games that came before. You can have great cinematics and still keep the traditional elements that make FF games so unique and fun FF9 was testament to this.
Aussious
July 30, 2014 at 08:47
We all fell in love with FF on the PSX those games where very distinct from from each other and the games that came before. You can have great cinematics and still keep the traditional elements that make FF games so unique and fun FF9 was testament to this.
CypherGate
July 30, 2014 at 10:57
Classic turn-based jrpgs were the shizzle back in the day. Games like Suikuden! loved it! Final Fantasy 8, Breath of Fire… all amazing games i enjoyed a lot. I miss those. Everything nowadays is just too action based. What i mean is that they basically merged 3rd person, rpg, and action genres into one to great the action rpg which isnt bad, but i just think there are too many already. We need some classic gameplay.
CypherGate
July 30, 2014 at 10:57
Classic turn-based jrpgs were the shizzle back in the day. Games like Suikuden! loved it! Final Fantasy 8, Breath of Fire… all amazing games i enjoyed a lot. I miss those. Everything nowadays is just too action based. What i mean is that they basically merged 3rd person, rpg, and action genres into one to great the action rpg which isnt bad, but i just think there are too many already. We need some classic gameplay.
DiegoZicoB
July 30, 2014 at 11:13
It pains me to know that they have only now seriously taken notice of what fans have wanted and what works for their RPGs. Fans have been crying for a return to more traditional elements since they first took airships and overworld exploration away in FFX. For me they jumped the shark with FFXII with its MMO style game-play, over-complicated story and doing away with the summons we know and love (who really enjoyed any of that Zodiac shit).
I would dream of the awesome possibilities a next gen Final Fantasy RPG could have and then they brought us the Lightning trilogy and killed every fans hope of them ever returning to what made the series the best in the business.
They used to have hit after hit with their games back in the PSX days. Is it really that difficult to look back at those games and bring back some of that. I get that they like to innovate and they change mechanics in every game but as the Tales series has proven, if the main elements aren’t broken don’t ever, ever fix it.
DiegoZicoB
July 30, 2014 at 11:13
It pains me to know that they have only now seriously taken notice of what fans have wanted and what works for their RPGs. Fans have been crying for a return to more traditional elements since they first took airships and overworld exploration away in FFX. For me they jumped the shark with FFXII with its MMO style game-play, over-complicated story and doing away with the summons we know and love (who really enjoyed any of that Zodiac shit).
I would dream of the awesome possibilities a next gen Final Fantasy RPG could have and then they brought us the Lightning trilogy and killed every fans hope of them ever returning to what made the series the best in the business.
They used to have hit after hit with their games back in the PSX days. Is it really that difficult to look back at those games and bring back some of that. I get that they like to innovate and they change mechanics in every game but as the Tales series has proven, if the main elements aren’t broken don’t ever, ever fix it.