Games By Matthew Humphries Dec. 3, 2013 11:01 am
Bravely Default is a highly-anticipated new JRPG from Square Enix for the 3DS, which is viewed as a spiritual successor to the DS game Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light. As you’d expect, this is a $50 cartridge-based game, but today it has been revealed that the title has a surprising extra in the form of microtransactions.
Bravely Default isn’t set to be released in the US until February next year, but gamers across Europe will get it on December 6. With that in mind, Nintendo issued a press release this morning promoting the game, as well as detailing how the microtransaction system will work.
As part of the combat system, players are given the ability to slow down or freeze time in order to perform Bravely Second attacks. These are desirable because they are so powerful, but they require the use of “Sleep Points.” These points can be accrued by leaving your 3DS in sleep mode, but Nintendo and Square-Enix will offer you a shortcut to getting them more quickly by allowing you to purchase Sleep Points through the Nintendo eShop.
The price is set at 89p in the UK, which is around $1.50. That gets you an SP Drink worth 3 Sleep Points. How fast you use the points depends entirely on how many Bravely Second attacks you want to use. The harder the enemy the more you’ll be tempted to use them, I’d imagine.
Use of Sleep Points is viewed as part of a power-up system, meaning it’s not required to play the game. However, it will help with progress, and therefore will be tempting to pay out to get Sleep Points more quickly.
The worrying thing about this is the fact microtransactions are being added to a full price and inevitably very popular game from Square Enix. This is a trend I, and I imagine many other gamers, really don’t want to see. Sure, it may just be a shortcut for a power-up, but the more common this becomes in games, the more developers and publishers will want to increase their use and therefore the potential revenue generation microtransactions create.
Now read: Angry Birds Go! iOS racing game includes a car that costs $100
More...
Bravely Default isn’t set to be released in the US until February next year, but gamers across Europe will get it on December 6. With that in mind, Nintendo issued a press release this morning promoting the game, as well as detailing how the microtransaction system will work.
As part of the combat system, players are given the ability to slow down or freeze time in order to perform Bravely Second attacks. These are desirable because they are so powerful, but they require the use of “Sleep Points.” These points can be accrued by leaving your 3DS in sleep mode, but Nintendo and Square-Enix will offer you a shortcut to getting them more quickly by allowing you to purchase Sleep Points through the Nintendo eShop.
The price is set at 89p in the UK, which is around $1.50. That gets you an SP Drink worth 3 Sleep Points. How fast you use the points depends entirely on how many Bravely Second attacks you want to use. The harder the enemy the more you’ll be tempted to use them, I’d imagine.
Use of Sleep Points is viewed as part of a power-up system, meaning it’s not required to play the game. However, it will help with progress, and therefore will be tempting to pay out to get Sleep Points more quickly.
The worrying thing about this is the fact microtransactions are being added to a full price and inevitably very popular game from Square Enix. This is a trend I, and I imagine many other gamers, really don’t want to see. Sure, it may just be a shortcut for a power-up, but the more common this becomes in games, the more developers and publishers will want to increase their use and therefore the potential revenue generation microtransactions create.
Now read: Angry Birds Go! iOS racing game includes a car that costs $100
More...
