What do you think?
Rate this book
Dark Horse Comics The Art of Bravely Default
Experience the fantastical world of Luxendarc like never before! Join the game's creators as they send their heroes on a journey to awaken the elemental crystals from all-consuming darkness, and experience the critically acclaimed Bravely Default in a whole new way.
256 pages of concept art and commentary, delightfully arranged in a colorful hardcover volume offered in English for the first time!
This faithful localization of original Japanese content allows readers to explore the story and art behind the game, and features hundreds of pieces of concept art and conversational commentary directly from the creative team! The first of a two-volume series, this collection explores concepts and creativity from the first entry in the standalone Bravely series!
256 pages of concept art and commentary, delightfully arranged in a colorful hardcover volume offered in English for the first time!
This faithful localization of original Japanese content allows readers to explore the story and art behind the game, and features hundreds of pieces of concept art and conversational commentary directly from the creative team! The first of a two-volume series, this collection explores concepts and creativity from the first entry in the standalone Bravely series!
- GenresArtVideo GamesFantasy
256 pages, Hardcover
First published December 5, 2013
About the author
Square Enix
570 books94 followersSquare Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. (株式会社スクウェア・エニックス・ホールディングス) TYO: 9684 is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series. Its headquarters are located in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 18, 2021
Surprise surprise, I'm giving 5 stars to a JRPG art book. But this book is an absolute treasure. Dark Horse (and Square Enix, I guess) clearly put a lot of effort into making this book a collector's item worth displaying.
It contains a collection of images from both versions of Bravely Default released in Japan, the mobile game, and even Four Heroes of Light, the Final Fantasy game that BD spun off from. Hundreds of sketches, concept art, in-game models, landscape paintings, and even storyboards are all annotated and captioned with thoughts from the artists and development team. Want to see concept art of a male summoner? It's in there. Concept designs for Agnes's vestal garb? Yep. Ringabel in bathing suits? You betcha!
The physical quality of this book is also top-notch. The cover has a satiny finish, and the pages are thick and glossy. It's a hefty book that's well worth more than the $50ish dollars I paid for it. The minute I finish Bravely Second, I'll be ordering that art book too.
It contains a collection of images from both versions of Bravely Default released in Japan, the mobile game, and even Four Heroes of Light, the Final Fantasy game that BD spun off from. Hundreds of sketches, concept art, in-game models, landscape paintings, and even storyboards are all annotated and captioned with thoughts from the artists and development team. Want to see concept art of a male summoner? It's in there. Concept designs for Agnes's vestal garb? Yep. Ringabel in bathing suits? You betcha!
The physical quality of this book is also top-notch. The cover has a satiny finish, and the pages are thick and glossy. It's a hefty book that's well worth more than the $50ish dollars I paid for it. The minute I finish Bravely Second, I'll be ordering that art book too.
January 5, 2020
Oh hey Dark Horse Comics published an English translation just in time for the Bravely Second II hype!
This honestly sets the bar for video game artbooks: lots and lots of preliminary sketches, commentaries, and the thought process of the many artists involved with the artwork for the Bravely games (including the mobile game and 4 Heroes of Light). I didn't even know take (who illustrated some of NisiOisiN's novels and did character designs for Death March Club) was involved for BDFF, but there he was! It's nice to see the character designs in the original artist's style before they made it fit the overall game aesthetic.
This includes character design (+ job outfits), the background design, storyboard for the summons, the bestiary, and even all the equips in the game.
Dark Horse Comics's version is a gorgeous hardback with a velvety finish (so good to touch), and if you're wondering if you should shell out the $40, the answer is yes. If you like Bravely at all or just really interested in these kind of things, go for it.
This honestly sets the bar for video game artbooks: lots and lots of preliminary sketches, commentaries, and the thought process of the many artists involved with the artwork for the Bravely games (including the mobile game and 4 Heroes of Light). I didn't even know take (who illustrated some of NisiOisiN's novels and did character designs for Death March Club) was involved for BDFF, but there he was! It's nice to see the character designs in the original artist's style before they made it fit the overall game aesthetic.
This includes character design (+ job outfits), the background design, storyboard for the summons, the bestiary, and even all the equips in the game.
Dark Horse Comics's version is a gorgeous hardback with a velvety finish (so good to touch), and if you're wondering if you should shell out the $40, the answer is yes. If you like Bravely at all or just really interested in these kind of things, go for it.
March 12, 2023
The gold standard for concept art books! Almost entirely paintings and sketches, with frequent text comments that are kept small to ensure its gorgeous artwork can be printed as large as possible. It is well worth reading even if you've never played the games; Square Enix deserves so much credit for making an obscure-but-beloved series' art book so easily acquirable. Yoshida's art is a beautifully unique blend of vintage illustration, quirky old fantasy JRPG, and his signature texturing and thoughtful fabric design.
While I ordered my copy right before an English edition was announced, the artwork speaks for itself! Unlike some concept art books, it really doesn't suffer from the language barrier. I didn't care for the generic guest art section for the spin-off mobile game they included, but even without it the book still has over 200 pages of Yoshida and crew's delightful contributions.
While I ordered my copy right before an English edition was announced, the artwork speaks for itself! Unlike some concept art books, it really doesn't suffer from the language barrier. I didn't care for the generic guest art section for the spin-off mobile game they included, but even without it the book still has over 200 pages of Yoshida and crew's delightful contributions.
January 22, 2020
En si me parece bellisimo, tengo que aclarar que en un punto me hizo sentir meh... por el simple hecho y mi culpa de no saber que no todo el arte lo hizo Akihiko Yoshida sino que otros mas y bueno... alguno de los estilos de otros dibujantes no son muy... lindos para simplificar pero bueno, igual el libro muestra bocetos, ideas y dibujos terminados sobre la realización de Bravely Default y alguna de otro juego pero de todas formas es muy disfrutable, a mi me encantó.
June 2, 2019
Damn good artbook. Comprehensive and annotated, this tome really communicated what type of people the artists are, and really allowed me to feel the heart behind this charming series. PLUS IT'S GOT A SECTION FOR THE FOUR HEROES OF LIGHT, SO YEAH
August 12, 2021
Beautiful artwork. I expected more commentary on the individual sketches. Then again, a artbook should mainly focus on the art. Overall, this book gave me so much nostalgia and made me want to play the other two games from this franchise as well.
August 6, 2019
Literally the best artbook I''ve ever had the honor of owning <3
January 13, 2024
The art book for one of my favorite video games
September 22, 2014
It was is awesome. Very detailed character design sketches and illustrations for the different jobs was what really caught my attention. It is all written in Japanese too, so I have no clue what the descriptions are. A shame, really. (If anyone can please translate those?)
I recommend this for hardcore fans of the game, and for those illustrators and concept artists in need of inspiration for character design. You won't get bored. Just overloaded with information.
I recommend this for hardcore fans of the game, and for those illustrators and concept artists in need of inspiration for character design. You won't get bored. Just overloaded with information.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews