The Western localization of the game contains censorship related to some sexually suggestive material in the original game: the ages of the main characters were increased to no longer be underage by Western standards, with 15-year-olds being changed to be 18-year-olds, and two of the female playable characters' costumes were altered to make them less revealing. Alex Fuller of RPGamer found the main cast quite enjoyable, praising their Party Chat interactions, and enjoyed the story despite its initial overly straightforward premise. The new summons include: a giant scorpion with a city on its back, Girtablulu (Earth); a black bird that can take the shape of a plane, Hresvelgr (Wind); a woman with wild flowing hair who controls Ice, Ziusudra's Sin (Ice); a flaming train that bears a resemblance to Doomtrain from Final Fantasy VIII, Promethean Fire (Fire); the clockwork spider, Deus Ex (Lightning); and Susano-o (Non-Elemental), a warrior-god in black armor.

The "Friend Summon" system has players summon the characters of other players using either data transfer between the player's friends, or 3DS Streetpass system between strangers. A single was released on August 22nd, 2012 in Japan and includes a redeemable code for a special in-game equipment. Bravely Default is truly a rebirth of what a JRPG can be, and what some imagination outside the box can do for any given genre that is getting a little too old for it's own good. Together, the party aims to reclaim the four crystals from the darkness and confront a greater evil along the way.

On February 27th, 2012, it was confirmed the game would have several demos, each concentrating on one of the game's aspects, and two days later, on the February 29th, 2012, the first demo, titled "Demo + AR Vol. The story was designed to be comedic up to the point the player starts liking the characters, and develop the drama, director Tomoyo Asano has explained.

One of requests the Asano made of Hayashi is that he wanted emphasis placed on the characters and scenario that would surprise players.Bravely Default was made only with the Japanese audience in mind, and the substantially positive reaction to it overseas surprised and warmed its developers, leading to Square Enix to reconsider their global strategy for JRPGs. Revo's recording sessions were closely linked with the creation of the game's sound source, so the music would fit onto the 3DS' limited storage space without losing too much of its quality. In a special video teasing the second game Bravely Second: End Layer, Tiz wakes in a life support tank in Eternia before being rescued from captivity by the mysterious Magnolia Arch.