Bravely Default
During development, the team decided to cater for the core Japanese RPG fanbase, as they did not believe the game viable for Western release at the time. At the early stages of development, "Bravely Default" was going to be an action role-playing game, a genre Silicon Studio had previously worked on with "3D Dot Game Heroes". After developing a prototype build and putting it before Asano, it was decided to make the battle system a traditional turn-based model. The interdependent "Brave" and "Default" mechanics underwent changes during the development process. Initially, Asano envisioned a system akin to the Tension stat used in the "Dragon Quest" series, but designer Kensuke Nakahara wanted something more exciting for players. He was also annoyed that the majority of bosses in both "Dragon Quest" and "Final Fantasy" got two or more actions per turn while player characters only got one each. After some consideration, Nakahara decided on a system where characters could bank points by not taking actions during a turn for later use, or create loan points to act multiple times in a current turn. The concept of the Notebook of D, which would offer players deeper insights into the world of "Bravely Default", was inspired by a similar system from "Higurashi When They Cry". During the late stages of the game's development, the team had to make several last-minute tweaks and changes to ensure the game delivered the best possible performance. Due to the game's chosen mechanics, balancing the game became a major part of later development.