I’ve played enough of Bravely Default that I figured I may as well write about. By now you’ve no doubt heard that Bravely Default is something something Final Fantasy something something, because the only thing Western press seem capable of drawing from the game is that the job system and spell names are pulled right out of traditional titles in Square’s hallmark franchise.

Of course, there’s also the saying “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck”, etc. If you’re playing a game whose story revolves around crystals of the elements, and you recall playing these games called Final Fantasy as a child where crystals were quite prominent, then you’re going to make a connection.

Perhaps it is all a part of what you gleaned from the franchise, but Bravely Default does not at all feel like Final Fantasy to me. I cannot really explain why, even if the aesthetic is reminiscent of Final Fantasy IX on the Playstation. Instead, it feels like its very own thing with a very different purpose and feeling, and most certainly target towards a younger audience.

I don’t mean children, either. While some of the earlier Final Fantasy games weren’t exactly bastions of maturity (or in IV’s case, clever writing), there were a lot of mature themes interwoven into them. That many characters were already adults suggests a wider audience than merely teenagers.

The characters for Bravely Default were originally all fifteen, shifted to eighteen in the states in order to make some of the… more lecherous characters… seem a tad, smidge, millimeter bit less creepy. Yet you can still tell that this game was developed in the interest of not only otaku, but young gamers as well. I have not completed the game yet, but it has a very obvious theme that you’d think I’d be a bit sick of at this point.

Not everything is black and white.

It is strange that the initial impression, or perhaps expectation, is that Tiz, the farm boy whose home is lost at the start of the story, is the game’s protagonist. While each character is important, it feels more and more that the men are simply along for the ride, as Agnes and Edea act assertively and dutifully in the heart of the game’s central conflict. Loyalty and duty are brought up on multiple occasions, but in truth the game is attempting to open the player’s eyes and allow them to see the real truth behind the world. Characters that at first seem completely evil, two-dimensional even, are later revealed to be much more human and empathetic. Everyone has a history, everyone has a motivation, and as evil or heartless as it may seem, it could very well be done with the most honorable of intentions.

It is a message that all adults should have learned, and one that adolescents need to learn in particular. Unfortunately, our political landscape is enough to tell us that, no, many adults have not learned this vital lesson (Hell, find any account on Twitter, any, and eventually you’ll find someone complaining about a social issue as if the opposing viewpoint is only held by cartoon caricatures torn right out of Captain Planet).

It is true that certain characters in the Final Fantasy games have also exhibited this sort of theme. Golbez himself, the Darth Vader character of Final Fantasy IV, is revealed to nothing more than a slave by the end of the game. Celes and General Leo in Final Fantasy VI turn on the Empire at some point, good natured characters that happened to be fighting for a selfishly motivated leadership.

Yet Final Fantasy games are very much interested in the idea of the light versus the dark, the good against evil. There is always a clear force, no matter how sympathetic, whose goals would bring harm to others recklessly. Sephiroth and Kuja come to mind, from Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX respectively. It is this theme that feels much more core to the Final Fantasy experience, in addition to the focus on characters.

Bravely Default is not about such a viewpoint, however. Instead, it becomes more and more clear that your enemies are also fighting for the betterment of mankind. What differs are the methods, and while I have not stumbled into the specifics (that is, after all, part of the mystery), there is great reason to believe that your characters are simply too blinded by their convictions to see the real truth.

Yes, Bravely Default has a jobs system, and it has spell names from previous Final Fantasy games. Yet it does not at all feel like an entry in that series, narratively or in terms of gameplay. So while it is true, fans of the older games in Square’s flagship series will likely enjoy this game as well, it is more accurate to say that anyone who enjoyed role-playing games from that era will enjoy Bravely Default.

It may heavily be inspired by Final Fantasy, but it most certainly is not a Final Fantasy game.