Why A Bravely Default Sequel Would Be Good News For Another Team Asano Game

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 1, 2025 6 Views 7 Min Read
Why A Bravely Default Sequel Would Be Good News For Another Team Asano Game

Team Asano’s recent comments regarding multiple projects planned for 2025 fall in line with rumors from earlier in the year about a new Bravely Default game being in development. It’s been several years since the release of the most recent game in the series, 2021’s Bravely Default 2, and 2024’s place as “the year of the RPG” sees players ready for even more experiences in the genre over the next 12 months of its ongoing renaissance. But Bravely Default is hardly the only series of Team Asano’s deserving of a third entry; Octopath Traveler should get a threequel sooner rather than later.

Given the history of Team Asano’s releases, a new game in the Bravely Default series could serve as a sign that a new Octopath Traveler game is not far behind. The studio seemingly alternates between these two IPs, with the first two games in the Bravely Default franchise preceding the first Octopath Traveler, and Bravely Default 2 arriving just 2 years ahead of the long-awaited Octopath Traveler 2. While these series are far from the only properties Team Asano is directly involved with, a new Bravely Default game’s arrival might very well pave the way for Octopath Traveler 3.

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Bravely Default’s Resurgence Paves the Way for a New Octopath Traveler Game

Team Asano is ostensibly Square Enix’s go-to studio when it comes to developing RPGs with retro-inspired mechanics and aesthetics. This applies to both new games that utilize old-school visuals and gameplay as well as remakes of classic games in the studio’s back catalog, with Team Asano developing the remake of Live A Live along with assisting on the recent remakes of the foundational opening trilogy in the Dragon Quest series. Most players’ first introductions to Team Asano, though, came about thanks to the studio’s two most well-known original IP: Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler.

In addition to both series coming from Team Asano as modern RPGs with a classic style, both Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler utilize similar approaches to combat, implementing a strong risk/reward mechanic in players being able to sacrifice future turns for multiple actions in a current turn. Historically, Team Asano has also alternated new games in the Bravely Default series with new entries in the Octopath Traveler franchise, making the rumor about a Bravely Default game’s reveal or release in 2025 a strong indicator that a third mainline Octopath Traveler title could be close behind.

Octopath Traveler 2’s Success Makes a Third Entry a Foregone Conclusion

Beyond Team Asano’s history and cadence of releases, a new mainline entry in the Octopath Traveler series makes sense purely in terms of finance. Compared to the rapidly escalating budgets of full-3D AAA games, development costs for a 2D title like Octopath Traveler and its sequel are likely more reasonable, and their sales success makes them a safe investment for Square Enix and its internal development studios, Team Asano included. The first Octopath Traveler ended up selling well in its own right, but the sequel’s quick surpassing of a million units bodes well for a third game in the series being greenlit.

Octopath Traveler 2 was originally released in February 2023, and it only took roughly 3 months for the game to cross the million unit mark in terms of its sales. A large part of that success can likely be attributed to the title’s arrival on both PC and multiple consoles rather than the timed Switch exclusivity of the original game, and Bravely Default 2 enjoyed a similar boost to its sales following its PC port. If Team Asano is working on a new Bravely Default game, there’s a strong chance a new Octopath Traveler will follow suit, and an even stronger likelihood that both titles will be multi-platform.

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