The “Final Fantasy” franchise is not what it once was, in both gameplay and artistic style. Some may find that to be a good thing, some may be disappointed. For those that fall into the latter group, look no further than the newly-released RPG “Bravely Default” on the 3DS.

“Bravely Default” was created by Square Enix, the same company that crafted the world famous “Final Fantasy” series, and it definitely shows. This can partially be attributed to the fact that it was originally being developed as a spiritual successor to 2010’s “Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light” before the company decided to make it a brand new property.

The game is similar to Square Enix’s flagship series in many ways. The storyline is familiar: four young heroes must embark on a quest to awaken the four elemental crystals in order to restore balance and save the planet. There is Tiz, a guy from the town of Norende which is swallowed up by an enormous chasm at the start of the game, with Tiz being the lone survivor. He soon meets Agnès, the wind vestal in charge of caring for the wind crystal. Eventually the duo meets up with Ringabel, a flirtatious young man who woke up one day with no memory of his past, and Edea, the daughter of the game’s villain who turns on her father to help the vestal on her quest.

To be honest, the story is the weakest part of “Bravely Default.” It is not terrible by any means, but it is something that all RPG (especially “Final Fantasy”) fans have seen done before, so many years ago. The characters are also not terribly interesting people, though the banter between Ringabel and Edea can be fairly humorous at times.

That being said, the game’s greatest achievement is its gameplay, which evokes that of the classic “Final Fantasy V” by bringing back the job system, as well as turn-based combat, which has been lacking in some of the recent “Final Fantasy” titles. In addition, Square Enix has implemented new features into their classic battle system, allowing the player to let their character either Brave or Default. Your characters can use up to four turns within one round of combat; if they Brave four times and attack the enemy four times at once, they may inflict enough damage to win the battle in one round, but if not they will have to wait four rounds (all the while being attacked by the enemy) before their Battle Points are restored. Conversely, if you choose Default, your character does nothing except defend for that round, and they build up a supply of Battle Points, allowing them to Brave multiple times the next round without having to restore points. This allows for some interesting strategizing on the player’s part, especially with the multitude of job types you can equip your characters with.

Another new and convenient feature of “Bravely Default” is that it allows you to change the game’s difficulty as you play it. Not only does this mean switching it from Hard to Easy, but you can also turn off random encounters completely, allowing your character to run through a dungeon to the boss without having to bother with any battles along the way, if that is how you prefer to play. You can also turn random encounters up, inviting more enemies to attack you than normal. This feature makes it more convenient for players who want to spend a lot of time leveling their characters up, as well as those who want to travel across the world map from town to town without having to worry about stopping for a fight every six seconds.

That does not even scratch the surface of all the cool features Square Enix has in this title, which also include rebuilding Tiz’s hometown to gain new items and using the 3DS’s Spotpass capabilities to help your characters in battle.

Overall, “Bravely Default” offers approximately 40 hours of gameplay and it does not really ever feel stale thanks to the innovative new battle system and the fun job classes they have put into the game. If you are a fan of RPGs or you just want something to satisfy your itch for an old-school “Final Fantasy,” this is definitely a game you should check out.