There, he encounters Gloria, a princess seeking to protect four elemental crystals from hostile forces; Elvis, a scholar searching for an ancient, mysterious book; and Adelle, a mercenary with her own goals.

Compared to previous titles, Bravely Default II introduces improved job customization, enhanced visuals, and refined battle mechanics, offering players more flexibility and depth in character development and strategy.

Bravely Default II is set in a new world from prior games, on a continent named Excillant divided into five different kingdoms.

During their travels, the four become this age's Heroes of Light, fighting to prevent the misuse of the crystals by warriors of the Kingdom of Holograd, its leader Adam, and his advisor Edna.

Gloria sacrifices her life to empower the crystals again and seal the Night's Nexus away, continuing the cycle of previous Heroes of Light.

Upon the player deciding to continue, Gloria's sacrifice is shown to be merely a vision of a possible future which the group witnesses within Elvis's mysterious book.

Allowing it to awaken in Excillant and attacking it, however, only leads to another "bad ending" as the Night's Nexus continually regenerates itself despite the party's best efforts.

[19] RPGamer's Anna Marie Privitere singled out the lack of a quest log and the imbalance of some Job classes as negatives, but overall concluded that Bravely Default II was her favorite game in the series thus far.

Macy called the visuals "jaw-droppingly beautiful" while adding that "the upgrade to the Switch has lost a little of their charm from the tiny worlds of the 3DS, and each location is stunning in HD".

[22] Watts expressed similar praise, adding "anytime I got access to a new job, I would immediately play dolls with my four heroes, seeing each of their unique looks in the new outfits".

[20] Tack called the visuals "all over the place," pointing out the contrast between some that were "quite picturesque and memorable" with strong lighting, and others that were "drab caves, earthy sprawls, and undercityscapes," concluding that the overworlds were merely to serve as a backdrop for enemy encounters.

[19] Privitere praised the "lush environments ranging from grasslands to deserts and icy valleys to volcanic mountain heights".

However, she commented that the chibi-styled character models, while not unattractive, were not quite so distinct compared to similar smaller-scale titles on the Nintendo Switch.