Changes made to a game during the process of localization is never without controversy. Back in February we reported on apparent changes made to side quests in the European release of Bravely Second: End Layer. These side quest call for the player to choose a side. In the original game the party would express dissatisfaction regardless of choices the player made. In the western releases the party seems quite satisfied either way. Nintendo has released a statement regarding this change to the western releases, stating that these alterations were made in response to player and developer feedback and wishing to avoid players feeling “undue regret” for the decision they make. You can read the entire statement below.
Based on feedback received after Bravely Second: End Layer’s release in Japan, the development team at Square Enix, in conjunction with Silicon Studio, decided to implement a number of revisions to the game for the purpose of improving its quality and creating a more enjoyable product.
One such change affects the game’s optional side quests, where players encounter a conflict between two opposing parties and choose which party to side with.
When the game was released in Japan, each side quest would end with the team lamenting the decision they made, regardless of the player’s decision. This was intended to help players empathise with the characters’ situation, but overwhelming feedback from players indicated that they felt an unsatisfying disconnect between their intentions and the characters’ reactions. In response, these side quest endings were amended to show the party readily coming to terms with their actions in a manner that does not cause the player undue regret for their decisions.
These changes do not affect the gameplay or the course of events in the game, and were made with the intention of improving the game experience for players.
