Asano talks Bravely Default’s improvements
Bravely Default hit Japan towards the end of 2012, and then Square Enix prepared a re-release, “For the Sequel” about a year later. This is the version that the North American and European editions are based on.
For the Sequel’s improvements led to lower completion time. Instead of forcing players to sift through 70 hours of content, they can now finish the game in about 30 instead.
As for what specific improvements were made in order to reduce the time it takes to beat Bravely Default, producer Tomoya Asano told Siliconera:
We added more character side stories in the latter half of [“For the Sequel,” the U.S. and European version of Bravely Default]. However, the shortened playtime is more due to better playability due to improvements to the system.
1) Toggling difficulty. Thanks to this, players who just want to play through the story will have fewer instances where they get stuck because they can’t defeat a boss.
2) Manipulating encounter rates. The gameplay has become more efficient, allowing players to focus on leveling up or strategy.
3) Auto in Battle. It’s a function that lets you repeat the moves of the previous turn, which reduces both labor and time.
4) 4X speed up for battles. In the original version, the battle could only be sped up to 2X speed, so this has really been a way that has shortened the time.
We also made other small changes, and including both the previous game and added content, we’ve made it so you can probably play through 100 hours of content in I think roughly 50 hours (though you can play through more carefully at your own pace too).
Basically, the game has become much denser.
