Were this game released at another time, would it still get the same level of praise?

Bravely Default came at a time when we had a lack of big selling, more traditional style RPG's, and it wasn't terribly made.

Regardless of the quality of the game, it was pretty well set to become a huge hit.

What I want to know, is if this game was released an earlier time when RPG's were at their heights, such as the SNES and PS1 era's, barring it's superior graphics at the time, would this game still be seen as great as people are seeing it now? Would it at least be comparable, perhaps be listed as one of the many gems of the Era, like Breath of Fire III or FF X?

Or would it be seen as a good RPG to list among many other good RPG's. Perhaps nothing majorly influencel or loved, and just be another game people look back on and go 'Yeah, I remember that. Twas good fun', so more along the lines of, say, Legend of Legaia.

Or would people just brush it aside? I mean, I doubt anyone would think this, but eh, I guess I can leave this option in for completion sake. :p

The DLC sections would have been more heavily criticized (especially Chapter 6), which would have hurt it.

The real key factor, however, is that it came from Square. It wasn't specifically that it came at a time when there was a dearth of good JRPGs (because there are some fantastic ones, especially for the DS and 3DS), but rather it came at a time when Square had stopped producing fantastic JRPGs. While Square is no longer the company it was, the titles still hold considerable market sway, through name recognition with those unfamiliar to the genre, and through nostalgia with those of us who grew up with the Square RPGs at the time they absolutely ruled the JRPG market.

Had this game come out in the SNES era... It would have utterly shattered us all and been the best selling game of all time for looking so gosh darn fantastic at a time when we're all still using sprites and low resolutions.

However, ignoring the visuals and concentrating on the game, it wouldn't have changed so much, because it would have been "just another great Square game". During the era of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, and Super Mario RPG, it would have fallen among the crowd. A fantastic game and well received that only got more popular over time.

The big danger is that Square would have overlooked it. It would have the same reaction to them: "Wow, our games are printing money, what should we make next?". We either wouldn't get a sequel, or we would get another Chrono Cross, a game that tries so hard to create its own experience that it ceases to be a good sequel and isn't as loved as it should be because of that.

Assuming it was on a graphical level of the games of that era, I don't think BD would have been heralded as anything groundbreaking, though the Brave/Default mechanic is still cool no matter what era you're talking about. Nevertheless, it is a fine RPG on it's own and it wouldn't get swept under the rug. If it got released during the same time as FFV it would be quite odd since they very similar.

1990- 1996- No, because JRPG's hardly got attention and praise back then, but it would get tons of praise and love now, like Mario RPG and Final Fantasy 6


1998- 2002- Everybody would of whinged and complained that it's not as good as Final Fantasy VII. Needs more Cloud and Sephiroth.

2003- 2006- It would get some praise here. It would be on the PlayStation 2. Though it would get some they changed it so it sucks complaints.

2007-2011- Guessing it would of been on the PSP instead or DS. Might of gotten praise.