Bravely Second: End Layer review, 3DS: 'A game worth sinking into'

I didn’t get the chance to Bravely First (actually called Bravely Default) but I have certainly spent more time than I might usually have on Bravely Second – a stunningly well-built game and, that rare thing, a fairly new-IP that’s great on 3DS.

The first Bravely was said to be a spiritual successor to a Final Fantasy spin-off and that lineage still remains – the four person gang fighting monsters that pop up along the map; the larger map walks turning into smaller cities; tongue-in-cheek cut-scenes of characters who are all far too nervous to admit their crushes on each other. It’s not an ignored template, but it’s also not one done well very often. Bravely does it well.

Yew is sworn to protect Pope Agnes but fails in his duty as she is captured and kidnapped right in front of his eyes by Kaiser Oblivion – thus begins your quest to rescue her, meeting new people and old people (the canon comes up but you needn’t know it to follow), exploring cities and landscapes, joking around, some friends become enemies, some enemies become friends… you get the picture: the story is big and long and will keep you involved.

What Braverly does so well is tell that story. The cut-scenes, though plentiful, manage to run up to the cusp of being too long but never quite cross into the territory of JRPG insufferable, expository monologue. The humour is gentle but enjoyable and the characters are simple and sweet – all with some quite great voice acting, a 3DS treat. The visuals are fantastic and the scenes created are magnificent and engrossing.

A favourite part happens just as you awaken a famous warrior who has been suspended in a tank of healing elixir while he has been without his soul – when he starts to awaken, the camera shifts to his point of view and the 3DS’s gyroscope lets you move the device around to change where you’re looking, watching the battle ongoing outside the tank.

Another cleverly thought-out feature is the ability to play the majority of the game one handed. By using the left and right buttons on the d-pad to confirm and cancel actions or cycle through dialogue, those of us who, at times, get our Gameboys out on the tube, still have a hand ready to grab out when the carriage lurches one way or another.

Along with the usual array of differing character jobs and abilities, the increasingly better weapons, the skilful magic, Bravely Second is a game worth sinking into.