As with the original game, Bravely Second: End Layer has a chunky demo. Titled The Ballad of The Three Cavaliers, it takes place in an odd limbo before the main game begins, but strangely features a character you don’t know at the beginning of the main game (to be more specific would involve spoilers for the main game, something I am loath to do).
The purpose of the demo is to introduce new players to the battle system and overall tone of the main game without actually having anything to do with End Layer’s story. This is a highly commendable approach – even if it is confusing for someone who has already played the main game (I'm also writing the review, look for it closer to the games release at the end of February) and seen all of the elements from the demo in their proper context.
Because it eschews the main game it also uses its own quest system where you are sent on fetch quests rather than given a location to go to further the story. This is presumably to give you a reason to explore the locations used within the demo. There is a story there and it is as bizarre and cheesy as you’d expect from a Bravely game, it can last up to 10 hours – yes, a demo that is longer than some single-player games and introduces a whole bunch of new jobs and locations.
As a bonus some things will cross over to the main game, like StreetPass tags and a few other goodies.
If you’re not sure about the franchise but want to give it a go you could start here. It gives a fair idea of what to expect from the main game without actually spoiling anything, and whilst you don’t need to have played the first game, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, I would recommend playing it first, mainly because it is hands-down one of the best JRPGs of recent years on the Nintendo 3DS.
Bravely Second: End Layer releases February 26th here in the UK while our cousins across the pond have to wait until April 15th. The demo is available now from the Nintendo eShop.
