Bravely Default’s Story Is About Independence

You can thank Bravely Default: Flying Fairy’s assistant producer for bringing Steins;Gate writer Naotaka Hayashi into the development team. Producer Tomoya Asano said in an interview with Famitsu, he wanted to surprise players with a story and create characters players love. Steins;Gate was recommended to him by his assistant producer and Asano found the storyline interesting. That prompted him to contact 5pb with his idea to have Hayashi write the story for Bravely Default.

Hayashi explained he’s in charge of the story, plot, and characters. The theme of Bravely Default, as Asano explains, is to have the courage to abandon duties to fulfill your promises. It kind of sounds like rambling, Asano said to the magazine, but his intention is to show independence in this game. Hayashi added that Agnes, the game’s heroine, has a strong sense of duty, which makes her in the beginning narrowly focused. When conflict comes to the world each character will have their own ideas about what is right and wrong. Naturally, they’ll clash with each other.

Even though the game has a royal fantasy setting, Asano says this isn’t just a nostalgic throwback. He believes modern Japanese game fans will enjoy Hayashi’s story too. When giving Hayashi direction, Asano stressed he wants Hayashi to focus on characters. Friends and enemies have to be interesting too. Expanding on all of these details gives Bravely Default a deep worldview, Hayashi believes.