Recommended Soundtracks: Bravely Default

When Bravely Default was first announced in Japan, it was tough not to remark how close it looked to a classic Final Fantasy game in terms of style. Its character designs had a familiar flair thanks to the work of Akihiko Yoshida, who previously provided designs for Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy Tactics, and DS title The 4 Heroes of Light — the last of which was a different throwback to classic FF titles. The game was reminiscent of a time when Squaresoft experimented with games that took cues from the FF titles, but weren’t new FF games per se, like the first Mana (called Adventures of Mana for the remake) and older SaGa titles.

Notably, the early installments in those franchises came over as Final Fantasy games initially on Game Boy, before Squaresoft properly introduced them. That’s how close they were, and the same would have happened to Bravely Default if it released back then.

But like those games, Bravely Default has key differences from Squaresoft’s/Square Enix’s classic franchise to distinguish itself. One is its battle system, while another key one is the soundtrack and the composer behind it. There were questions as to whether the development team would recruit a composer who worked with the FF franchise before they were announced. With the choice of Revo, it was clear the team wanted a soundtrack that distinguished this game’s music from an FF game’s, since the artist was an unknown to many who play Japanese RPGs.

Prior to Bravely Default, Revo’s only work on a big video game consisted of the main theme to Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm, though he also contributed to several indie projects and anime. The direction the team wanted to go in was also evident from the first sampling of the soundtrack, as its music isn’t quite reminiscent of any FF game, though it sounded right at home in a JRPG. It also sounded splendid.

One of the most identifiable tracks is “Horizon of Light and Shadow,” the overworld theme. It’s loud and intense at points, but quiets enough for players to absorb the atmosphere for a time. In somewhat of a similarity to battle themes in JRPGs, overworld themes have to be good enough that the player won’t tire of them after hearing the same theme for hours, unless the game includes more than one. This one does its job:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSMdKATI2xw

Speaking of that: The battle theme, “Conflict’s Chime” (also translated as “Bell of Battle”), is also good enough that you won’t mind hearing it several times during the game. That’s despite this game having an adjustable random encounter rate, since characters still need to gain experience. Given some of the game’s tense random battles, the track fittingly contains more intensity than the overworld soundtrack above, and its instrument use shows how Revo unlocked the potential of the 3DS’ sound capabilities:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ClcFbMk0o

The two above themes are often loud and bombastic, but Bravely Default has several subtle and melancholy themes. One of the best early examples is “Silence of the Forest,” the theme that plays in some temples. It’s tougher for 3DS games to immerse the player when they’re on a smaller screen, which is where the music needs to come in and help. This track does that through excellent use of various musical instruments and techniques:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV96bynwWto

The final theme I’ll highlight here is “Visitor,” which veers between intensity and subtlety. It plays when several villains (or anti-villains) pay the party a visit, hence the name. The guitar and piano usage are very good here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cADgZ2ZOHIs

Revo provided an excellent soundtrack for Bravely Default, and it was a pity when he didn’t return for Bravely Second due to apparent scheduling conflicts. He was replaced with Ryo from Supercell, whose work sadly didn’t measure up despite his own talents. Worse, the second game reused several tracks from the first game (along with whole locations — the game was sharply criticized for feeling like Bravely Default 1.5), meaning it’s easy to directly compare the tracks between the two composers. Revo has been busy more often with big jobs, like composing some main themes for popular anime series Attack on Titan, along with working alongside musical unit Linked Horizon.

Meanwhile, Square Enix is either teasing a new Bravely game, or ports of those titles. The most recent tease came though the shadow of the Octopath Traveler artwork commemorating the shipment of one million copies, which (mostly) forms Airy’s silhouette. This followed the first possible tease from December, which depicted Edea Lee holding two Switch Joy-Cons, with the Switch system being in the stocking.

Keep in mind these are only “possible” teases, as the Bravely team could simply be having a little fun, of gauging interest for another installment. But something new could be in development. The same small team at Square Enix was responsible for the Bravely series and Octopath Traveler, led by producer Tomoya Asano, but the actual games were developed by different studios. If something Bravely related is in development, hopefully Revo’s schedule was clear enough that he was available for it.