War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is a tactical role-playing game developed by Gumi and published by Square Enix.
War of the Visions launched in Japan with a user registration drive for Android on June 6, 2019, and was released November 14, 2019. A separate global campaign began February 20, 2020, with the game releasing on March 25.
Story[]
War of the Visions takes place an untold number of years prior to Brave Exvius, when on the continent of Ardra, war breaks out between its five largest states, sweeping up many smaller regions in its wake. This conflict becomes part of the history of Lapis and is recorded as the War of the Visions.
Gameplay[]
The player takes control of Mont Leonis, a character from one of several Warring Factions in the game's timeline. Gameplay consists of players controlling their characters in a 3D isometric environment. Units can be controlled to move, attack, cast spells and use skills. Turn order is determined by the CT of the unit on the map. The gameplay is reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics as it features a similar death system wherein after 3 turns, the deceased character turns into a crystal, although in this game it does not cause said unit to be permanently removed from the player's roster but rather just removes the from the battle.
To acquire units, the player must summon them via the use of the game's main currency Visiore amongst the different banners offered. Units come in different rarities Normal (N), Rare (R), Super Rare (SR), Mega Rare (MR) and Ultra Rare (UR), which have growing power but inversely proportional rate of acquisition, that is to say the rarer the unit, the more difficult it is to acquire. Players can also summon Espers (which also include traditional Final Fantasy monsters like Cactuars, Bombs, along more classic ones like Ifrit or Shiva) or Vision Cards, both of which can be equipped and enhanced in their respective ways, and are also subject to the rarity system. Visiore itself is divided between free Visiore and paid Visiore, the latter being exclusively acquired via in-game microtransactions.
All characters have a Level and a Job Level, both of which must be enhanced for the character to grow. However, characters come with a cap on their max level, and must go through Awakening and Limit Breaks in order to expand their maximum level cap to become more powerful. Players have a main Job and two Subjobs, the latter of which are unlocked via Awakening. Like in the Tactics games, units learn Active Abilities, Passive Abilities and Reaction Abilities, all of which require the player to advance the unit's skill grid and unlock abilities via JP earned through battle or other ways. Awakening and Limit Breaking is essential to move in the deeper layers of the grid. All units are assigned to one specific element, which determines the materials needed for Awakening and Limit Breaking. In the latter's case, Unit Shards which must match the corresponding unit, are required for a Limit Break. Unit Shards can be obtained through a handful of quests, Shops (although often at the cost of Visiore) or by summoning duplicates of a certain unit, which will be instantly converted into Shards. Some of the materials as were as the costs involved are also dependant on the unit's rarity, being overall more difficult for rarer units. Both Espers and Vision Cards also have caps of their own and have their respective means to increase their level gaps.
In actual combat plays similarly to the Tactics game where units move across a map, in the span of multiple turns in which both player and enemy forces perform their own moves. The Bravery and Faith system make as values assigned to each unit. Bravery affects the physical damage inflicted as well the chance of Reaction Abilities to trigger, while a low Bravery count will cause the Chicken status where units will be unable to act for a time until it reaches a certain value over time. Faith instead determines the potency of Magic Damage inflicted and received as well as the chance to inflict status ailments or receive them. Unlike Tactics a high Faith value will not cause a unit to leave. Bravery and Faith can be raised and decreased in different ways.
There are a few differences in battle when compared to other games. Units have HP, TP and AP values. HP determines how long a unit can remain active, if it reaches 0 it is a KO. TP is consumed to use supportive abilities like buffs or healings. All units start with their TP gauge filled, but requires items like Ether to restore. AP is used for offensive abilities and it starts low, but can be filled through actions, even using TP. All abilities have a limit of how much they can be used per battle, regardless of their respective gauge values.
The player can engage in the game through its main story, or by performing optional quests. Some event quests provide unique equipment recipes and materials, needed to craft equipment. Other more generic quests can also yield materials necessary for level up, hoarding Gil, or to perform Awakenings and Job Leveling. The player can also involve themselves with the Arena for either automated or manual battles against other players units, or affiliate with a Guild and the Guild War system. All these have provide their own benefits to the player over time, providing differing currencies for use. Players can also partake in Multi-Quests in which players cooperate with one another.
When not in combat, the player can also go to the multiple Shops available to purchase equipment, recipes, unit shards or materials. All shops and the products sold have different costs in either Gil, Visiore, or others obtained by other means. Chocobo Expeditions can also be done to obtain materials to boost Espers or Equipment as well as level up certain characters. When doing quests, there is a chance to trigger the Whimsy Shop which sells random items or shards at discounted prices, or also trigger a bonus drop rate for Chocobo Expeditions. To perform any quest, the player will need NRG which refills over time, but also through other items.
Characters[]
- Leonis
- Oelde Leonis
- Helena Leonis
- Mont Leonis (モント・リオニス?) (Caelum)
- Sterne Leonis (Fortem)
- Ildyra (Lumen)
- Elsirelle
- Kitone
- Eliza
- Rafale
- Hourne
- Robb Hourne
- Dario Hourne
- Machérie Hourne
- Engelbert (Solidus)
- Adelard (Nitor)
- Naiah
- Shadowlynx
- Fennes
- Wezette
- Khury Wezette
- Maevia Wezette
- Viktora
- Luartha
- Serjes (Equito)
- Abbott (Stiriae)
- Glaciela Wezette (Spirare)
- Margritte (Rubeus)
- Minwu
- Cayanne
- Roseluna Wezette
- Sonille
- Freyser
- Crystal Sanctum
- Ovis
- Heindler
- Oberon Heindler
- Alaya Rundall
- Gernsback (Six Fangs)
- Neia
- Rivelka
- Rundall
- Jayden Rundall
- Gryfford (Sonitus)
- Rhaldor (Crucium)
- Lu'Cia (Calorum)
- Chunak (Vanum)
- Liv'La (Lustrare)
- Camillo (Defected to Leonis)
- Saiga
- Gouga
- Ariale
- Unaffiliated
- Howlet Groms
- Tyytas Groms
- Chel Groms
- Varush
- Raviesse
- Galzahk
- Garvall
- Velne
- Eldric
- Lameiga
- Lumeide
- Jurial
- Lissette
- Corwell
- Pharm
- Velric
- Lemuré
- Zachar
- Harvas
- Farplane
- FFBE
- Rain
- Lasswell
- Fina
- Aileen
- Ayaka
- Sakura
- Charlotte
- Raegen
- Hyoh
- Mediena
- Fryevia
- Duane
- Starlight Elena
- Ibara
- Esther
- Final Fantasy Tactics
- FFXIV: Shadowbringers
- FFX
- FFVII
- FFIV
- FFVI
- FFXIII
- Final Fantasy
- NieR:Automata
- Persona 5 Royal
- Joker
- Queen
- Violet
- Tomb Raider
- Fullmetal Alchemist
- Edward Elric
- Alphonse Elric
- Roy Mustang
- King Bradley
- Dragon Quest
- Slime
- Psaro
- Zoma
Music[]
Development[]
War of the Visions was first teased at a Brave Exvius Fan Festa in late 2018. It was around this time as well that social media accounts were activated. By mid-year, the open beta for Android was launched, from which preview screenshots began circulating. Further news was kept to a minimum until February 2020, when the Global version was announced for pre-queueing and an accompanying registration drive was held. The game was published to all app stores on March 25, 2020. At the time, individual story chapters and events were released on a staggered schedule, as was standard practice.
Square Enix and gumi would eventually announce a merger of the Japanese and Global server bases by mid-2023. The merger was completed in late September of the same year.
On December 21, 2023, the two companies announced a drawdown in support for Spanish, French, German, and Korean as available languages, leaving only English, Japanese, and Chinese available when the process is completed Spring 2024.
Production credits[]
FFBE Series Producer | Kei Hirono | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Producer | Hiroki Fujimoto (Global Version) Kei Hirono (Japanese Version) | ||||
Director | Tomoe Nakase (Global Version) Yugo Ogura (Japanese Version) | ||||
Operations Director | Yoshiyuki Endo (Global Version) | ||||
Art Director | Hiroyuki Suzuki | ||||
Development Producer | Jun Imaizumi | ||||
Screenplay by | Ichiro Tezuka (Studio Bentstuff Co.,Ltd.) | ||||
Music by | Noriyasu Agematsu (Elements Garden) | ||||
Sound Effects by | Makoto Ise | ||||
Movie Director | Hiroshi Kuwabara | ||||
Character Design | CyDesignation, Inc.
| ||||
LOGO & IMAGE ILLUSTRATION | Yoshitaka Amano | ||||
IMAGE ILLUSTRATION | Isamu Kamikokuryo | ||||
Co-Producer | Takanori Shiina | ||||
Creative Director | Tetsuya Fujimoto | ||||
Scenario Planners | Kou Noguchi Yuri Tsuchiya | ||||
Creative Planner | Norihisa Iwasaki | ||||
Planner | Keita Suezaki | ||||
Lead Artist | Masahikio Dairaku | ||||
Assistant Producers | Keisuke Nakamura Yu Muranaka | ||||
Project Manager | Takeshi Yasuda | ||||
Technical Directors | Hisanao Suzuki Yoshinori Jo |
Voice cast[]
Character | Japanese | English |
---|---|---|
Mont Leonis | Kensho Ono | Bryce Papenbrook |
Sterne Leonis | Yuichiro Umehara | Zach Aguilar |
Oelde Leonis | Kazuhiro Yajami | Chris Tergliafera |
Macherie Hourne | Lynn | Skyler Davenport |
Yuni | Miku Ito | Jason Frazier |
Lilyth | Yumi Uchiyama | Amber Lee Connors |
"Grace" | Ai Kayano | Kirsten Day |
"Whisper" | Ai Kayano | Kirsten Day |
"Murmur" | Ai Kayano | Kirsten Day |
Engelbert | Katduyuki Konishi | Brady Hales |
Schuzelt | Yuuki Ono | Joe Hernandez |
Severo | Makoto Furukawa | Andrew Eales |
Robb Hourne | Masashi Ebara | Ted Limpert |
Glaciela Wezette | Yuka Iguchi | Erica Mendez |
Helena Leonis | Atsuko Tanaka | Alexa Rose |
Sadali Crysthea | Daisuke Hirakawa | Kaiji Tang |
Kitone | Yui Ishikawa | Erin Maureen Fitzpatrick |
Ramada | Kiyono Yasuno | Faye Mata |
Shadowlynx | Yoko Hikasa | Fracesca Manzi |
Xiza | Ryoka Yuzuki | Amber May |
Adelard | Takuya Sato | Lucien Dodge |
Salire | Rie Takahashi | Elise Napier |
Muraga Fennes | Masufumi Kimura | Jarred Kjack |
Vinera Fennes | Yukiyo Fujii | Sarah Anne Williams |
Frederika | Ayaka Suwa | Rachelle Heger |
Serjes | Kenji Nojima | Joe Zieja |
Zazan | Kousuke Goto | Patrick Seitz |
Vallaide | Anri Katsu | Sean Chiplock |
Dario Hourne | Yuya Hirose | Aleks Le |
Lorenzo | Tarusuke Shingaki | Michael Christopher |
Learte | Yu Serizawa | Stephanie Komure |
Baelo | Toru Nara | Billy Kametz |
Lu'Cia | Aya Endo | Cindy Robinson |
Sosha | Rei Shimoda | Brianna Knickerbocker |
Little Leela | Marika Kohno | Lexi Fontaine |
Oldoa | Yu Kobayashi | Morgan Berry |
Kilphe | Nozomi Nishida | Tiana Camacho |
Aileen | Marina Inoue | Cristina Vee |
Rain | Nobuhiko Okamoto | Daman Mills |
Lasswell | Yusuke Kobayashi | Alejandro Saab |
Duane | Howard Wang | |
Rairyuu | Satoshi Mikami | Brandon Hearnsberger (uncredited) |
Khury Wezette | Yasihiro Mamiya | |
Dorando | Satoshi Tsuruoka | |
Gargas | Showtaro Morikubo | |
Margritte | Akeno Watanabe | Faye Mata |
Vadim | Hidenori Takahashi | |
Howlet Groms | Kazuyuki Okitsu | Cedric L. Williams |