Goddammit, I just wrote my comment and then accidentally exited the tab ... ugh ... !!!
For me, it's more like there's no genuine guarantee that I will enjoy the game. There isn't a guarantee that you will like any game before you play it, but with JRPGs there is even less assurance. I've tried many times to get into the genre, and there are a few games I really enjoyed [Final Fantasy 7, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, maybe Etrian Odyssey 5 if that counts even though it isn't a traditional JRPG], but ultimately the problem is I've never finished one. I don't think it's even anything against these particular type of games, on paper I should love them, it just seems like they're bloated with so many design decisions that don't make sense. You're constantly collecting shit that either isn't important to you, or that you don't know how to use. The combat system either has to be boring as hell, or unnecessarily multi-faceted. Also, I really don't know what is up with video game fans having very low standards for what makes a "great" story. The amount of times I've heard that a JRPG or a Triple A action game has a great story is honestly incredible, and it's almost never true.
But, I really do like the concept of the game, and the graphics are some of the most unique and beautiful I've seen. I'm just on the fence because I can't tell if the praise is earned, or from my perspective, as unjustified as it's been in the past. I want to buy it, I'm just naturally cautious. I hope the story is good.
Also, I don't know if it's just me, but the Bravely Default/Attack and Defend system makes no sense. I've played the first 2 hours of Bravely Default and the first demo of Octopath that came out last year, and it just seems like nothing more than a gimmick. You can defend to make your attacks more powerful later on, or you can just attack right away. All it does is drag out the battles, the armor system makes it a bit more interesting (I don't seem to remember that in the first 2 hours of BD but I think it was in Octopath's OG demo?), but even that seems like very little use of the system. Is it more fleshed out in the final game?
