I'm seriously considering importing a copy of Bravely Default: For the Sequel for its box art

I feel like an ass for admitting this, but I've nearly convinced myself to pick up a copy of Bravely Default: For the Sequel--the Japanese version of the game that will hit European store shelves on Dec. 6 and North American ones on Feb. 7--shortly after its release (on Dec. 5).

I feel like an ass, of course, because I know I should wait for the North American release so I can give this portable RPG the support it'll likely need in this region.

Despite that, For the Sequel is looking really appealing to me at the moment for a couple of reasons.

First, there's the fact that, even if I pick up For the Sequel during the first week of the new year, I'll still have it a month before I would if I waited for the proper North American release.

Second--and I fully admit this reason's a bit sad, or at least silly--there's the fact that I much prefer For the Sequel's colorful cover imagery (see above) to the rather stark art (below) that's seemingly going to be used for the North American iteration.

I know what some of you are thinking: but the North American version's box art is the same as the art that graced the cover of the original Japanese release of Bravely Default!

Although I realize and appreciate that, I guess what I'm saying here is that I simply prefer this newer, more vibrant alternative.

The question is, though: do I prefer it enough that I'm willing to pay a premium--and feel like a bit of an ass--to obtain it?

I really hope this is Bravely Default's North American box art, too

So, the rather fabulous image seen below will grace the cover of each and every copy of Bravely Default: For the Sequel sold in Japan starting on Dec. 5.

As far as I can tell, the Australian and European versions of this beautiful 3DS RPG (which will hit store shelves on Dec. 7 and Dec. 6, respectively) will sport the same box art--with the "For the Sequel" bit removed, of course.



Does this mean we can expect it to be used once again when Bravely Default finally makes its way to North America sometime between Jan. 1 and Mar. 31?

I sure hope so. I know it's not the most original of compositions, but it's colorful and bright and brings to mind Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, so I'm pretty fond of it despite the fact that it's far from unique.

Want to know a bit more about Bravely Default? This interview's for you...

Attention everybody who is interested in the western release of Bravely Default (gosh, I hope that's more than a handful of gamers): last week, the guy who runs the lovely KameDaniRyuu tumblr published a translated (from Japanese into English) Famitsu interview with the producer of this impressive-looking 3DS RPG series, Tomoya Asano.

The interview is chock-full of intriguing comments and information, of course, I found the following questions and responses (about Bravely Default: For the Sequel, the follow-up of sorts that will be released in Japan at the end of this year and will be the version localized for other regions) to be the most interesting:

Famitsu: In addition to four-times battle speed and auto input, are there any other changes that have a large effect on gameplay? 

Asano: Another improvement for this game is the ability to change your encounter rate. This is an important point and when you think, “I just don’t wanna do any random battles now,” you can set the encounter rate to zero. When you think, “I’m gonna level up here,” you can then instead make the encounter rate high. You’re able to do that in this game. Players are able to match the game up with their play style and play. That’s really convenient.

Famitsu: I didn’t think you could set it to zero. 

Asano: Of course, if you leave it at zero and progress through the game, you won’t gain any levels, so I recommend fighting when it’s necessary.

Famitsu: It’s something like making it the player’s responsibility or like leaving it up to them to balance as they see fit. 

Asano: We were able to make it so “you can match everything and anything to your play style.” Of course we are concerned with balance and the recommendation is to not mess with the encounter rate and not run from battles. The concept is that experienced players can play more effectively by changing around the encounter rate. With the last game it took me over 70 hours to beat it, but in this game we’ve made it so you can beat the game in around 30 hours or so.

Famitsu: What! Only 30 hours without transferring over your levels and starting from the beginning? Cutting the time in about half is amazing. 

Asano: True. We want everyone to beat this game.

If you're at all curious about Bravely Default, I highly recommend checking out the entire Q&A at kamedani.tumblr.com.