 |
| Scott Clay |
Variety is the spice of life after all.
03.20.15 - 6:55 AM
New classes are always a big focus for any RPG sequel, and this is no different for the new jobs in Bravely Second. In a recent interview with Dengeki, Bravely Second producer Tomoya Asano and assistant producer Shinja Takahashi spoke a bit about how they made and balanced the new jobs.
The Cat Master started off as a joke class that players were meant to have fun with, but Cat Masters turned out to be pretty strong. They provide good offense while filling that support roll when required.
"Whenever we start thinking about new jobs, we start out by keeping the entire game's balance in mind," says Asano. "We'd like to have this many attackers; there should be this number of offensive mages; let's stick to this number for healers... these are some of the thoughts that go into the balancing. One important thing of the Cat Master in particular is how we created it to be a 'playing around' type job."
When it comes to support, the team wanted a job where not only did it provide support but also magic power. The Performer fit the physical attacks plus support role in the original game, and this time around the Astrologer (left) will fit the magical attacks with support role. The Patissier job (right, male) on the other hand will not provide support by enhancing allies, but will specialize in weakening enemies. Takahasi noted that like Cat Masters, the Patissiers will have cute battle animations that are very detailed.
Exorcists will have the ability "Undo", which will reverse whatever has happened by going back several turns. This, of course, sounds very powerful, and could lean to game imbalance. When asked about this problem the producers had this to say.
"Yes, it was. While we did come to a decision regarding their looks at an early stage, we were much more careful about balance adjustments," answers Asano. "It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that out of everything in Bravely Second, this may be the part that we put the most efforts when it comes to balance adjustments."
"Basically, we thought of the Exorcist as a healing-type role," adds Takahashi. "Healing-types already have the White Mage, so in order to differentiate from them, we’ve designed Exorcists to have a special way they are used."
Exorcists were really powerful early on in development, but Asano wanted to assure players that it has been very well balanced while still being very fun to play.
Lastly, the Guardian plays a dual role in Bravely Second. It functions as both a tank and an attacker. It fits the tank role by using itself as a decoy to take enemy attacks and to cover allies. They can also dish out solid damage, and Takahasi believes good players can use them very effectively in that role as well.
Bravely Second: End Layer launches for Nintendo 3DS in Japan on April 23rd. A Western release date has not been announced yet.
