The past two demos for Bravely Default: Flying Fairy have been a little on the disappointing side in terms of content. The Tokyo Game Show demo, as well as the one released in late February, focused mainly on the Augmented Reality functionality of the Nintendo 3DS and gave gamers little to do in the sense of traditional gameplay. The most recent demo, titled Bravely Default: Flying Fairy Demo Vol. 2: Zetsubō no yūsha Torēningu-hen (Heroes of Despair Volume) greatly expands upon the good points found in the previous demos, giving players a chance for a more traditional gaming experience.

The demo opens by introducing you to a new character named Tiz Oria, a 16-year-old boy taking care of sheep with his younger brother. As they herd the sheep closer to the outskirts of their village, the two witness the village being engulfed and destroyed by an oncoming wave of destruction. As the wave rushes toward the boys, the video cuts and you are taken to the title screen of the demo.

The map of the town looks exactly like this artwork

This time, the demo gives you two options, both listed in English: play game and AR movie. The first option puts you in control of Tiz and places you in Kaldizura (this is a direct translation from the original katakana. I’m not too sure what they’ll call this in the English version), which is the country where you start the game. From here, you are free to explore the town. While the demo doesn’t focus on the fighting elements of the game, it does focus on non-playable character interactions. Throughout the town, there are a handful of people you are able to assist. For example, an old man really needs some assistance getting some water. After telling him you would be willing to help him out, you have to find a source of water in the town and then return to him with a containerful, after which you receive a reward. This demo focuses heavily on these kinds of interactions and feels a lot more fleshed out than the previous demos, making it more akin to what the final product will exhibit.

Visually, the art style is breathtaking and the music is a complete joy to listen to. There are times when the camera pans out to give you a full view of the town (usually when you don’t press anything for a few seconds), which looks exactly the same as previously revealed artwork for the game. The visuals mixed in with the 3D character models give the game a unique feel. The AR movie features Tizu climbing up and through the card, wondering what happened to his younger brother and everyone else in his hometown.

The second demo for Bravely Default is significantly more complete than the previous installments and provides a better feel for what the game is going to be like in its final form. The demo not only provides the player with character interactions, it also allows them to check out the inventory management system (many of the options are grayed out, however), buy items from shops, and even experience a day and night system (initiated by sleeping at the inn). A third demo in the series is in the works right now, but there is no word as of yet when it will be available on the eShop in Japan.