Bravely Default 2is the third, deceptively, in Square Enix’s spiritual spin-off title. Many elements of the game’s design harken back to classicFinal Fantasygames. The series includes a class system, called Jobs, that allows players to move their party through different Job paths acquiring different abilities. Many of the Jobs are either taken from or adapted from the originalFinal FantasyandFinal Fantasy 3. However, much of the structure and intricacies around how the Job system works is heavily drawn from the classic strategy titleFinal Fantasy Tactics.However,Bravely Default 2does a good job of making the Jobs feel unique in comparison.
Final Fantasy Tacticsis one of the most popular entries in theFinal Fantasyseries, especially as a spin-off title.Bravely Default 2is deeply inspired by classicFinal Fantasygames andFinal Fantasy Tacticsis one of the more evident influences on the Job system. Many of the Jobs included like the Black Mage, Thief, and Monk are pulled almost directly fromFinal Fantasy Tactics. Others like the Freelancer and Hunter are adaptations of archetypes present inFinalFantasy Tacticsand otherFinal Fantasygames.
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The Job System in Bravely Default 2
Many of the Jobs coming toBravely Default 2have been revealed,like in one of the recent trailers, but some more are still on the way. In the world ofBravely Default, players can acquire new Jobs by defeating bosses and taking from them an “Asterisk.” These magic items represent the Jobs that players can acquire, and the bosses they are taken from help give players a sense of what that Job will include. This is one of the waysBravely Defaultdiffers fromFinal Fantasy Tactics, as in the strategy game, new Jobs are acquired by powering up specific combinations of others they already possess. Other than that, much of the system outside remains the same.
Bravely Defaultfeatures a unique combat systemwith its “Brave” and “Default” commands, allowing players to stock and expend extra combat actions on the fly. The Job system however works very much the same as inFinal Fantasy Tactics.As characters progress their way through a Job’s skill tree by acquiring Job Points (JP) through battle, they can later use those abilities by setting the respective class as a Sub-Job.
This is very similar toFinal Fantasy Tacticswhere players could set their Commands to include, say, Martial Arts from the Monk Job while Jump is still their primary command from actively being a Dragoon. Passive abilities can also be mixed and matched from the stable of abilities each character has acquired from different Jobs.
Some of thenewest Jobs announced forBravely Default 2seem to also be adaptations of older classes fromFinal Fantasy Tactics. The newly announced Hellblade Job allows for a character to expend some of their own health for extra damage. That’s a similar technique akin to some of the sword magics available for the Dark Knight, that was added in the updatedFinal Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. On the more dexterous side, the new Phantom class can dual wield weapons and attack quickly, reminiscent of the Ninja Job fromFinal Fantasy Tactics.
The similarities to the Job system forFF Tacticsabound inBravely Default 2. With its unique playstyle options and charming visuals though,Bravely Default 2is definitely worth checking out forFinal Fantasyfans that are holding out hope fora newFinal Fantasy Tactics.
