During PAX East earlier this month,Square Enixinvited me to a behind-closed-doors look at Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster on theNintendo Switch 2. This is the first time the originalBravely Defaulthas been available on a device other than the 3DS since it launched in 2012 (2014 outside of Japan), and it comes with some nice quality of life upgrades, like a redesigned UI and the ability to fast forward through scenes, improved visuals, and the new features you’d expect from a re-release like this.
It’s a decent enough remaster, I guess. It still looks and plays like a 13-year-old handheld turn-based RPG, which is something that still has an audience - that audience just doesn’t include me. What piqued my interest most about this remaster is its new rhythm-based mini-game and the creative ways it makes use of the new Joy-Con mouse mode.
Osu, Is That You?
When I learned about the way you may use the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons like a mouse, I didn’t really see the point. It wasn’t untilI tried it myself at a preview eventthat I fully grasped its potential. Mouse mode will make a lot of games that are currently best played on PC, like RTSs, shooters, and city builders, feel great to play on Switch 2. As a PC player who feels held back by controllers, I look forward to playing games like Civilization 6 and Cyberpunk 2077 on the go with my Switch 2.
The other, more interesting feature of mouse mode is that it opens the door for brand new kinds of dual mouse games. Nintendo is getting that ball rolling with launch titles likeDrag x Driveand theupgraded Super Mario Party Jamboree, but I don’t believe we’ve seen the most interesting uses for mouse mode yet. Bravely Default’s new rhythm game is a perfect example of what creative developers will be able to do with this new dual mouse control scheme.
The mini-game is called Luxencheer Rhythm Catch, which feels like an appropriate name for a game called Bravely Default. This rhythm game will be familiar to fans of touchscreen Japanese arcade machines like Maimai or ReRave that throw a bunch of icons up on the screen that you have to touch, tap, or hold, depending on the symbol. Luxencheer takes that concept and reimagines it for dual mouse controls.
With boy Joy-Cons on a flat surface, you control two onscreen cursors simultaneously. As icons appear on screen you’ll interact with them in different ways. Sometimes you’ll need to spread your hands apart, creating a line between the cursors that you’ll need to pass through each note as it appears. When you see a long thin line, you have to bring both hands together, keeping them in the center of the line and clicking R and L as they pass by. It’s just as much about timing as it is positioning, which makes this a really unique spin on the rhythm genre.
It’s a bit like a 2D version of Beat Saber, and a lot like the ultra-competitive game Osu - now with two mice instead of one. I don’t know what levels will look like on the hardest difficulty (I only had time for a couple of songs on normal) but I bet they’re incredibly complex.
A New Frontier Of Control Schemes
There’s another mini-game I didn’t get to play called Ringabel’s Panic Cruise. In this game, the goal is to steer an airship through a ring course using both Joy-Cons to manipulate the various controls in the cockpit, including the throttle and steering wheel.
This game uses mouse mode to simulate motion controls, and I don’t think it’s a particularly compelling way to utilize this new feature. Motion simulation, including Drag x Drive’s wheelchair controls, is a novelty that’s fine for launch titles, but as the Switch 2 matures, I hope we’ll see developers implementing novel ways to play games with two mice, rather than treating them like Wiimotes you have to lay flat on a table.
Luxencheer Rhythm Catch is a great starting point for the new dual mouse frontier. It requires a level of precision that a mouse can provide but motion controls can not, making it a game that’s built around the strengths of a mouse, rather than retrofitted onto mouse mode from some other, better control scheme. Whoever can tap into the qualities that make mouse controls unique will be able to make some truly original experiences on the Switch 2, and I can’t wait to see what those games will be.
