Square Enix has spoken about why they decided to bring the original Bravely Default game back to life on the Nintendo Switch 2. As part of an extensive interview. Bravely Default Producer Naofumi Matsushita and Bravely Series General Producer Tomoya Asano answered this exact question. They state that they really wanted to do something special to celebrate the series 10th anniversary and what better thing to do than bring the game back to life with HD visuals and quality of life features. Read on for the full explanation.
The game is now back on Nintendo Switch 2 as BRAVELY DEFUALT FLYING FAIRY HD Remaster - but why did you want to return to this title?
Asano-san: Around Spring 2022, we talked within the team about the upcoming 10th anniversary of the series and what we could do to please our fans.
Masashi Takahashi, the assistant producer of the original game, became especially emotional during the discussion, saying, "Come on, it's the 10th anniversary!" (laughs).
We considered various things, including creating a new title or a remake, but we settled on the goal making the first title playable in today's gaming environment.
I tried asking Matsushita-san: "It's the 10th anniversary in six months, do you think it's possible?", but obviously it wasn't (laughs). While adjusting the development schedule, it overlapped with the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, so we were blessed in terms of timing.
Matsushita-san: Around the time when we were discussing all that, it was announced that the Nintendo 3DS eShop would be discontinued in March 2023. So, I was tasked with dealing with that, and the considerable response from both Japanese and western fans that they didn't want it to close and still wanted to use the online functionality.
I was so moved that there are still many passionate fans who want to play the game and thought that it would be amazing if we could release a title to satisfy them. We couldn't make it in time for the 10th anniversary (laughs). But I renewed my determination to develop the remaster.
Thanks to Greatsong1 for sending in the news tip!
