Nothing too serious, you can imagine. Starting in June, it will no longer be possible to invite friends to join your village through the Internet features. Games Bravely indeed allow you to recruit friends to let them build houses or shops in your modest hamlet, or to temporarily borrow their strength in combat to sneak up on the bad guy. The Nemeses system, which let us send optional bosses as poisoned gifts, is also sinking with the ship. Square Enix notes in an official press release that it will still be possible to use these features thanks to StreetPass, the 3DS proximity network which has had the best hours of conventions gaming in the mid-2010s.
More anecdotal detail, it is impossible since March 28, the closing date, to rack up for microtransactions. Square Enix offered to acquire potions in exchange for cold hard dollars. Of all Bravely’s features, this is the one we’ll miss the least.
Earlier in the year, in February, Square Enix also disconnected the mobile spin-off Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights, unfortunately reserved for the Japanese archipelago. Not profitable enough for its publisher, Brilliant Lights nevertheless had the good taste to publish the final chapter of its history before closing up shop. Square Enix has promised to release a full version later to preserve the franchise’s legacy. In the meantime, under our beautiful French sun, the last opus published was Bravely Default II on Switch in 2021.
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