Part 122: Those who Blindly Default

Entry 112b: Those who Blindly Default



Uh...

Hi?

Pst, say hi, readers! I think the party finally noticed us!

*Ahem*

Hi party, why don't you just go do what you're good at and beat the god of destruction at his own game? Didn't wreck the lives of all those Eternians for nothing, now, did we?

They've left this to us. Let's end this now... For everyone's sake!

Right!!

Agnès prays harder than ever...



Knocking off a chunk of Ouroboros's horn. This time, we're playing for keeps.



With the ability to destroy worlds not working due to the power of prayer, Ouroboros has lost his Armageddon attack, but he's still got his other abilities. He's added a standard damage attack, Disaster, as well as the more interesting Divergence. Divergence takes away a character's ability to do anything except Default or Summon Friend, showing that although Ouroboros's most powerful spells may be too much for one person to handle, it can't overcome the strength of our friendships across the worlds. It's one of the highlights of the final battle, a great way to tie the story and gameplay together (Thanks to TwoPair for the reminder).

Impudent morsels... Still you resist me? You are too late! Behold!

Uh-oh. Turns out the party wasn't the only one to notice us.



Behold, the final gimmick of Bravely Default. The Celestial Realm.

I shall bring chaos and destruction upon the world of the gods!

What a special gimmick it is... Because the Celestial Realm is our realm, sort of. Compared to the world of a video game, the player is a god.



And the 3DS has a camera.

Then I shall make it anew...in my own image! Now, die! Begone, feeble warriors of light!

As you might imagine, getting surprised with your face in the background of the final battle catches a lot of players off guard.



Luckily, as your host on this ridiculous adventure, I was prepared.



Here's how it looks if you keep the camera covered, if for some reason you'd prefer that. But obviously it's much better to see your face in the background so you can maintain your emotional attachment to the game. I mean, how else are you going to care about what's going on? The characters? The plot?



Let's take one final look at Ouroboros. The lessons we learned about black vs. white don't apply to him. If Ouroboros were to be painted on Edea's black vs. white scale, Anish Kapoor would sue.



In the end, Bravely Default's posturing about being more complex than your standard black vs. white JRPG have concluded with a bog-standard chaotic evil RPG god-like final boss.



Just for fun, in contrast, let's look the series that's arguably Bravely Default's main influence. Many Final Fantasy villains are more complex than Ouroboros, or at least have more connection with the rest of the story: Cloud's game-long mental battle against himself/Sephiroth/Jenova; the fallout of the empire's abuse of Kefka, Celes, and Terra; how Yuna and Tidus's lives revolve so completely around Sin; even Ardyn's long-awaited rage at Noctis had some depth and made sense with the story even if the execution was lackluster.



After a hail of attacks, Ouroboros the tragically misinformed (the celestial realm "knows no war or strife"??) dragon falters.

And all therein shall know my power...my terror...

Mark...my...words...

Our long, terrible fight is over.



Ouroboros explodes into particles of light.



I guess DeRosso's dead now? Ah, who knows.



What matters is we won the battle. Right?



After Ouroboros's defeat, the party's thrown back to the Dark Aurora, unconscious, as the place is collapsing.



Luckily the angel isn't done with them yet.



Wait, if the angel is Agnès, what's all this 'Physical manifestations of my being' about?

I thank you for risking life and limb to defeat Ouroboros.

The Celestial Realm, this world, and myriad others owe you a debt. They need never fear the Beast's terror again.

Now it is time to rest your weary souls. Rest until the day you return to those who await you.

Rest? How long? Where?--





In the blink of an eye, the party gets teleported away.



Ending up back at their ship. That sure was completely unexplained.

Hm? I thought for sure I was...

No, we're alive. I've the aches and pains to prove it.

The sage walks over.



Agnès, Tiz, Edea, Ringabel... You have done well.

Is...is Lord DeRosso really...

He has passed from this world, together with Ouroboros.

......

We failed to save him.

No, it was meant to end this way. The decision was forged that day we met eighteen hundred years past.

There were matters of which the angel spoke only to Lord DeRosso.

Eighteen hundred years of planning, finally concluded like this. Did they really account for the lengths we went through, or did they just get lucky?



So Yulyana wasn't lying about not knowing Ouroboros's name, but it was more of a technicality.

And so it was we began our preparations. We considered every possibility, refined every detail.

To seal a creature that revives without end, we had need of an immortal ourselves... And we needed you, the Warriors of Light, to destroy them both.

...

Do not blame yourselves, children. It was preordained millenia before your time. Lester always walked one step ahead, from the day I met him. I fear now I shall never catch up.

Ah, but this is no time for leisurely chat! You must make a choice with all haste!

What choice?

Where to return, my boy! You've your choice of places to call home.

Home...

The Great Chasm links to the worlds in which you were born. But with the defeat of Ouroboros, it will soon close forever.

You are free to stay here, or to return to the world of your birth, or any other you desire.

...

Ah! It has already begun! Choose quickly now!

After hasty preparations:



The game really wants Yulyana to be a likeable old man, and for the most part he is. However--

Thank you. For all you've done.

......*squeeeeze*

Planning on letting go any time soon?

What harm in just a bit longer? This is my last chance.

What harm? Just ask Agnès. And you should see the look on Tiz's face.

You people are no fun. ...Well, farewell. Farewell, one and all.

I will be forever grateful!

Ha ha ha, Yulyana groped Agnès while she felt obligated to not complain because Yulyana is a respected elder and Agnès is shy and polite and also just dealt with a ton of trauma. This is a joke all right

Good riddance, Sage.



The party's escape through the dimensional tear is much like it was in the Finale.

Look! It stopped!

They've secured us a road home...

I can sense tremendous magic at work.

Well, Ringabel, let's go. Datz, Zatz, and the proprietress are waiting.

Alright, everyone. Hold on tight!

In the Finale post-game, the party probably never realized their mistake. They probably thought they did the smart thing in not following Airy's plan.



Life would've gone on as normal for at least the next few thousand years. Then not. And probably no one would know why or have any warning, except maybe a sad vampire man.



But we avoided that, thanks to our party doing nothing until the bad guys had almost won.





What fine children... Our greatest accomplishment, and dearest treasures.

Two thousand years... It felt endless, yet it's passed in the blink of an eye. Wouldn't you agree, Lester?




The ending credits start out the same as the Finale's, but diverge on the character endings.



This time, Agnès is resolute in taking on her role as caretaker of the crystals.



Edea, who once again vows to continue her father's work, but this time does so with her family, including Alternis, well and supporting her.



Meanwhile, a man who might be Ringabel aids against Airy...

Alternis, what are you--



Wait. How -- are there two Airys? Did he travel back in time? If he screws with the timeline--

I am Dark Knight Alternis Dim! The grand marshal has placed the future in my hands!

Any time you bring the manipulation of time and space into a setting, you risk making your story a mess. To Bravely Default's credit, for most of the game, the multidimension aspect was presented in a clear and consistent way even if it was tedious to play through.



Then, just for the final battle, it pulled us into a dimension beyond time and space. This added dramatic effect at the cost of giving the plot so many holes it's more air than not. Airy and Ouroboros's campaign appeared to operate within a single stable timeline, with each successive world Airy visited being slightly behind in the timeline so she could appear at approximately the same world-time in each.



At least Tiz is having a normal epilogue, having returned to the world with Egil.

Til? Til who

I can hardly wait. The innkeep says he's preparing us a feast to remember.

Mm, can't wait...

Something wrong?

Egil, go on ahead. I'll be right behind you.

Alright.

Egil runs off.



And Tiz heads to the graveyard. Good sign.



Where Tiz releases the Celestial that was apparently keeping him alive all game.

You know. Us.



Egil, meanwhile, is now accompanying Edea and Agnès to the feast...

"Keep chattering like that and you're liable to end up just like Ringabel."

Ah ha ha. Let's hope that never happens!

Ha ha ha.

Ah ha ha ha!






Despite seeing a version of Ringabel/Alternis on Grandship, he's also with the party in a now peaceful world.

Except for Tiz seemingly dying, but you know, who can blame him for taking a good rest?



Yeah, a rest sounds like a good idea.



Let's just get out of--



Ah dang not another one



Wait. She looks familiar.



Oh, right. From way back, at the beginning.





That explains the resemblance.



You may see her again another day.



But for now, in this thread...



She's gone.



The game is over.



What did the devs intend with this project? Was it to be a classic JRPG experience, or something more and newer? It seemed to claim the latter at first, but by the end had changed into the former.

A classic JRPG can be nice, but it's soured by the game's weird, hypocritical disdain for old-fashioned black vs. white stories. Bravely Default feels like a game that hates itself.



What was Bravely Default's purpose? Was it to have a fun adventure? The battle system is fun. The rest of the game starts out fun, then becomes increasingly a slog as it goes along. Getting the true ending or any side content requires forcing the player to waste time repeating dungeons and scenes for hours.

Was the terribleness of the repetition intentional? Possibly, given the game's writer; it could be seen as a way of making the player suffer alongside the party, giving the game more emotional weight when we finally reach The End.

Whether the game's second half was done intentionally this way or not, it wastes the player's time. Bravely Default feels like a game that hates the player, battle system ironically aside.



In another game, a better written game, all the plot twists and gimmicks might have lead up to some grand introspection on the player's presence in the story and their choice to participate in this mess. It broke the fourth wall and called us out as playing this for entertainment while ensuring the road to The End was unpleasant.



Instead, the game leaves you with not much but a bitter taste. The game doesn't like itself, it doesn't like you.



I wish this game were better. The sound, graphics, character writing, battle system, story concept -- it all had the potential to be excellent.



But in the end, it adds up to less than the sum of its parts. It throws together a bunch of concepts, some overdone and some half-baked, and presents it as something both new and refreshing and as something you'd be an idiot to complete.



After I finished playing Bravely Default the first time years back, I felt so relieved I was done. I never wanted to touch it again.



I hope I was able to get across a fraction of how much wasted potential this title has, and how it fails and succeeds as both a story and a game.




--

Event Viewer
Main Scenario:
You Are Not Alone
The Warriors of Light
Escape from Darkness
A Place to Call Home
Farewell to Yulyana
Our Greatest Treasure
The End