Never have I been so conflicted on how to feel about an aspect of a video game. I have plenty of positive, negative, and neutral takes spanning across numerous genres and games, but I cannot for the life of me decide where I fall on the number of jobs in Bravely Default 2.
For context, basically every time you complete a boss battle in this game, you unlock a new job. You have four party members, each with one slot for a main job and one slot for a sub job. By the end of the game, these are the following jobs that you have available to you:
- Freelancer
- Black Mage
- White Mage
- Vanguard
- Monk
- Bard
- Beastmaster
- Thief
- Gambler (optional)
- Berserker
- Red Mage
- Ranger
- Shieldmaster
- Pictomancer
- Dragoon
- Spiritmaster
- Swordmaster
- Oracle
- Salve-Maker (optional)
- Arcanist
- Bastion
- Phantom
- Hellblade
In total, that makes 23 jobs that you can choose from (though there is also a secret job at the end of the game). Considering there are only four people in your party, this rapidly starts to feel overwhelming as you progress through the game.
On the downside, this is a completionist’s nightmare. Every job can be leveled up through level 12 (all starting at level one), and the amount of time it would take to grind 12 levels for 23 jobs for all four characters makes my head hurt to think about. Yet what also makes my head hurt is not being able to take full advantage of the range of job opportunities that the game provides. I desperately want to max out all the jobs for each character, both because I think that would make the boss battles more fun to prepare for and also because I absolutely cannot stand having all these incomplete stats and abilities. Every single time I won another boss battle and saw one of my characters pick up a new Asterisk, I was first in awe at how cool it looked, but that was rapidly followed by, “wait, nooooo!”
Yet, at the same time, I am a total sucker for the freedom and opportunities to construct my team however I want to. I’ve definitely had it the other way around, where I’ve been frustrated by the lack of options for my team. Even in Octopath Traveler, the eight jobs (excluding the extra advanced ones that you can unlock by defeating the optional bosses) did not feel like enough—especially because you could play the game with eight different characters as opposed to four (though you were still restricted to using four at a time). So, when I found out there would be more jobs in Bravely Default 2 for less characters, I was stoked.
But 23..?
Honestly, what this has probably translated to for me is just more ways to lose. Considering I have so many options available to me for each boss battle (and taking into account my stubborn unwillingness to rely on guides before trying to do it myself first), there are almost endless amounts of ways that I can screw up and choose the wrong combinations of jobs and abilities. But… do I like that, or do I hate it? What’s nice is that it essentially means that losing a boss battle (even if you lose badly) never indicates that it’s hopeless, because there are always other strategies to try next time. The game definitely accomplishes what it sets out to do by forcing players to think hard about their angle prior to each main battle.
I guess in an ideal world, someone like me would probably benefit most from a compromise between the number of jobs in Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default 2. I want to have my options and the strategizing that goes along with them, but I also want to maximize on the jobs for each character without having to spend a crazy number of hours doing so.
Next: Bravely Default 2 Isn’t As Difficult As It Appears, You Just Need To Adjust Your Strategy
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- Square Enix
- Octopath Traveler
- Bravely Default 2
Stephanie is an Editor at TheGamer, solidly aligned chaotic neutral. Though her favorite game is Fire Emblem: Three Houses, she vows to do everything in her power to one day see a Legend of Dragoon remake. Absolutely nothing can top her immense love for The Lord of the Rings.
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