Nintendo has seen its fair share of controversy in recent months thanks to certain decisions made during the localization process of some of their games. Fire Emblem Fates took heat for some of its changes, and no sooner had that released than Bravely Second started coming under fire. First the characters’ costumes were modified, then we learned that the stories of sidequests had been altered to always provide a good ending, regardless of your choices during that quest. Nintendo usually doesn’t offer up any explanation for their localization changes, but today that changed for that last item.

The Big N has now directly stated their reasoning behind the storyline alterations, stating that they were made due to “overwhelming feedback” from Japanese players who felt that the original release created “an unsatisfying disconnect” between them and the characters.

“Regarding changes made to Bravely Second: End Layer for worldwide release “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.”

— Nintendo

I’m not sure how I feel about this, to be honest. On the one hand, if the original method of storytelling really was hurting the experience for many players, then yes, it probably should have been altered somehow—but was making it so that you get the good ending regardless of your actions really the right way to go about it? It was likely the easiest, from a development perspective, but there must have been some other way to accomplish this goal. Couldn’t they have gone through and figured out certain paths that would lead to happy endings, while leaving some of the original version’s negative finales in there?

How do you feel about the changes made to

Bravely Second, and how well does this explanation work in your eyes? Give us your thoughts in the comments!

Source: Nintendo Life

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