Just 10 days after being announced, Brave Frontier 2 launched in Japan yesterday! Being someone who has never played the original, I decided to take a quick look into the sequel. The game actually met all my expectations for a casual mobile RPG, with tons of characters to collect and an efficient auto-combat system, perfect for the busy (and lazy) gamers. The 2D artwork and pixel graphics are simple, yet colorful and vibrant enough to bring out the whole fantasy setting. Hopefully Brave Frontier 2 will see a global launch later this year!
The most talked-about new feature is perhaps the removal of a full cash gacha system to get new heroes and items. Developer Alim took a really bold step, with players able to purchase new heroes using cash currency. Not many mobile games currently utilize this system (I think King’s Raid does), and it can only be looked back upon some time down the road to determine if this is a successful move to deter in-game “gambling.” Since Brave Frontier 2 takes place 20 years after the original, be prepared to meet some familiar faces!
Let’s talk about the pricing of the heroes in Brave Frontier 2! For the purchasing of in-game currency, which are gems, Alim has used a “buy more pay less” method, which means the higher quantity you purchase each time, the cheaper it will be. For example, 1 gem costs 120 Yen, while 100 gems cost just 5800 Yen. Get the drift? Normal heroes costs 20 gems, while promotional ones costs anything from 30 to 120 gems. Overall, how much each hero costs is down to how much gems was purchased, and which campaign they originate from.
There is still a little element of gacha in Brave Frontier 2, although players use Bond Points instead of cash. These points are earned in-game through heroes progression, hence it should not be within the watchful eyes of the various anti-gambling government agencies around the world. The percentage chance of getting each hero (or item) is also shown, which is required by the Japanese government these days (soon Apple and Google).
Another key new feature is the supposed “class” of the main character, which is us players (also known as summoner in-game). While I am currently only in possession of a Flame Sword, apparently I can switch or change into other classes if new weapons are obtained. Hence, weapon stats and type determine how strong the main character is in-game.
That is not all, as the main character is able to unlock advanced jobs as well, seen in the images below! Of course, certain items and requirements are needed for this to happen.
Finally, as we did not reach a level high enough to display the various new combat mechanics, here is the official trailer from Alim highlighting the new Xross Brave Burst (XBB) battle feature, which is triggered by different hero combinations. As you may have seen from the images above, some heroes have “XBB” in their profiles, which means they are part of this feature. Expect the best effects which can be conjured using pixel graphics!
