Breath of Fire 3 Review (Playstation)

After disappearing from the world for what seemed like an eternity, the Breath of Fire series looked to lay buried with its own history. With Final Fantasy VII a massive global success Capcom decided to reintroduce the 'Dragon Clan' once more - and we should all be grateful that they did.

Breath of Fire III follows the path of a boy named Ryu and his incredible power. The story goes that an ancient legend speaks of a powerful Dragon Clan that suddenly vanished without explanation. Far from having disappeared completely, the remains of the Dragon people have formed into ore that can be used as energy. One day, while miners were excavating such ore, they come across a small dragon imprisoned in the mine - thus a new legend was forged. 

While the story and world of Breath of Fire III are reminiscent of the titles that preceded it, most other things have changed. Battles are still turn-based but the interface now comes in the form of a "+" shape - simply press left, right, up or down to select from the options available - something that really helps the flow of battles no end, and a work of genius by the development team. Furthermore, a number of other unique underlying features have been put into place, most notable of these is the way random battles occur. 

Wandering around dungeons or other areas holds to the tried and true formula visited by other RPGs (ie - your characters meet with encounters at random intervals). However, while working your way around the BoF III map screen there are no random battles whatsoever. This allows you to explore the map without fear of being attacked every two and a half seconds. Should you wish to level up characters on the map screen, exclamation marks appear from time to time, and by pressing the attack button you will be placed in a small area of land containing an item that prefigures a number of random battles before you can acquire it. 

In graphical terms, the game isn't really anything to shout about - characters are a touch flat and lacking in colour though they are consistent with the series style. While the graphics aren't the best, they are entirely serviceable and keep Ryu and his compatriots anchored firmly in the Breath of Fire world. Ditto for magic attacks - while basically 'by-the-numbers', there are certainly some nice flourishes, especially when our hero transforms into one of many huge dragons. 

What infuses a good RPG is normally the constituent elements of plot and the right control system (to allow you to explore said plot through to its conclusion). It is here where Breath of Fire III truly excels. The story unfolds before you at a breakneck pace and only when you stop to save do you realise that you've been playing for around twenty odd hours, or that the seasons have changed. That's not to say the game's a breeze, indeed there are a number of situations which require players to swallow their pride and beat a formal retreat, or instances where your party will be wiped out completely.

It is hard to know whether it's the inspired plot, the endearing and differing characters, or the minor milieu of genius that really helps to push Breath of Fire III toward the highest rung of gaming. In truth, it is no doubt the delicate marriage of a number of flawless and well-realised situations, coupled with the above high points, that will see players continually rushing through the game wanting - indeed needing - to know what comes next. In conclusion, Breath of Fire III is one of the finest role-playing games ever made, and absolutely essential for those wanting to lose themselves in a different world - a different reality - for weeks.

Overall 10/10 

Breath of Fire 2 Review (GBA)

Following on from the excellent first instalment in the Breath of Fire series, Breath of Fire II has a lot to live up to. Set in the same world as the first title but five hundred years later, the second installment continues the story.

Though there may not seem to be too many similarities between the stories of the two titles, certain things remain the same - you still control the hero Ryu who will learn he has the power to turn into a dragon, and at the end of all the twists and turns there will still be a showdown with a mysterious goddess.

The story goes that, after the destruction of the evil Milia, the warriors hid themselves away from the world in such a way that they could never be found - as with their great power they had exposed the world to danger. Five hundred years later, after the memory of the eight brave fighters has drifted away like a gentle snowflake on the wind, a small boy in a tiny village is leading a humble existence with his father and sister. The boy's name is Ryu and he will shortly learn that his fate is entwined with the fate of the world around him.

Certain things have changed since the first game in the series: now you can no longer tell how much energy the enemy has left, healing is not always the first action that happens each turn in a battle, and a new town-building feature has been added. Breath of Fire had a large amount of features that meant the story kept progressing at a decent pace, with a smart player being able to gain the upper hand most of the time.

With the removal of some of these, the second title really makes it hard for you to achieve your goal. While some may welcome the dramatic increase in difficulty, the balance of the original seems to have vanished completely. This means that you may well end up doing the same section of the game at least fifteen or twenty times before getting through. This does not help the flow of an otherwise brilliant story - in fact, after you've heard the same part of the plot regurgitated time and again, you become indifferent to the detail; the broken narrative.

Cosmetically, the second instalment is much improved from the original. Characters and landscapes are bigger and contain a lot more detail - bringing the game closer to being a sort of Anime comic strip, though not quite making it. The world around you is depicted beautifully, with clouds passing overhead and a lot more variation in the terrain than before and all holding true to the established style of the series. Every aspect from a graphical point of view is bigger, more detailed and generally more charming.

Breath of Fire II truly is a gaming conundrum: you are presented with a beautifully detailed world, underpinned with interesting characters and a brilliantly developed plot, but you cannot progress anywhere because the difficulty level is so ridiculous. It just seems stupid - why make almost every section of the game so tough that you have to level up your characters for a couple of hours just to get through? And then, when reaching the next section, you have to do the same thing again. Surely it would have been better to simply reduce the difficulty of the sections to keep the story flowing and the player interested?

What we are left with is an RPG that is screaming out for 'essential' status, but due to the complete lack of a learning gradient ends up being unnecessarily difficult and frustrating to play. The title is still very good, and the story so engaging that some players will do whatever it takes to advance the plot, but for RPG fans in general, this amounts to little more than a failure to expand upon an exceptional first instalment. Breath of Fire II is good - but it could and should have been a lot better. Disappointing.

Overall 7/10

Breath of Fire Review (Gameboy Advance)

Over the years, the Breath of Fire series has always managed to be overshadowed by some other title. On the Super Nintendo, Breath of Fire 1 & 2 were overlooked through a combination of Western RPG apathy and the emergence of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Later, on the PSone, things were much the same. Breath of Fire 3 launched to critical acclaim, but few people would look outside of their Final Fantasy 'comfort' zones - so it was inevitable that when the fourth instalment of the series arrived, many more would fail to acknowledge it. The Game Boy Advance now offers players another chance to sample one of the most magical adventures ever made.

The story surrounding the first game in the series (and which may appear a little fragmented if you weren't paying attention) is a magical yarn that helps to pull you in, and really makes you care about what is happening to the world. It starts when our hero Ryu is rushed from a burning building, with the story of a prophecy ringing in his ears. The great thing about Breath of Fire is that very little of the story is disclosed, with Ryu not having a clue what is happening, but gradually uncovering small pieces of information as the adventure unfolds.

Scripting is first-class, with twists and turns that always keep you guessing until the very last battle. The action is presented in a typical turn-based adventure style. Most of the time you'll walk around the map screen engaging in random battles; it then switches to the battle screen where you can choose your commands - standard fare for anyone who is familiar with turn-based RPGs. The action breaks down into a fairly simple scheme- go to a village and talk to people, then go to the cause of that village's problem and enter a tower or dungeon. Kill a big monster at the end, gain some new skill that allows you to enter the next area, and so on until you finish the game.

Although the way things are done is fairly straightforward, the magical setting makes you push on to see the next part of the story. Graphically, while designed for the Super Nintendo, everything is perfectly acceptable. Sprites have been polished to make them sharper, but apart from that things are kept fairly simple. This is in no way a bad thing however. Far from being just functional, the graphics help to give the game a unique look that sets it apart from other role-playing games.

Characters constructed out of limited colour palettes are bright and vibrant, with well-animated movements. When exploring, it is easy to tell where you are in the world as no two areas look the same (and also contain different enemies). Over the years we have played a lot of RPGs, and every now and then one of them tries to do something a bit different - or so we thought. Let us bring your attention to the Playstation 2 game, Final Fantasy X, hailed upon release for the way in which battles were made more flexible by being able to switch characters in the middle of a fight. Well, guess what? You can do that in Breath of Fire too, and this game originally came out in the early-Nineties (and Dragon Quest games were arguably doing it even earlier).

The title has more innovative touches than possibly any other single RPG. As well as the tagging system 'borrowed' by FFX, all the characters in your party gain experience at the same level. This means that while in other games characters outside of your main party remain weak, in Breath of Fire you can switch characters without fearing they will not be able to cope with enemies. Characters also have a number of individual actions available to them - find an object for Gobi for instance and you can travel around underwater inside a big fish- with doing so meaning you will not be attacked, letting players explore areas without fear of constant random battles. Furthermore, when Mina reaches a certain level she can warp the party to any town you have visited - this is positively a breath of fresh air.

It allows players to freely explore without needing to worry if they will make it back to safety when weak. These are just a few of the extremely helpful features that the game offers, thus easing frustration and aiding progress. In terms of difficulty, the game is well-structured with a near-extraordinary understanding of both pace and learning requirements. To start with, you only have two characters to control and they are both very weak. The characters do not really know what is going on and are not aware of their true powers - thus a lot of the time enemies that appear will be too strong for you, forcing you to run instead of fight.

At first this seems like a flaw, but it is only after you have made it past the first quarter of the game that you realise it is intentional. From here, characters begin to get stronger and realise their destinies, this makes battles a lot easier. Everything is set up to merge seamlessly with the storyline and is an amazing accomplishment.

Overall, Breath of Fire is one of the finest RPGs to appear on any format. Though bettered by latter incarnations of the series, the original remains both innovative and a pure joy to play. While not the most difficult game to beat, it offers up a sturdy challenge - and when games are this long, you don't really need a Final Fantasy VIII-style level of hardcore 'comfort', do you? This title has charm, humour and an epic storyline to round it off, and if you tire of the adventuring you can even opt for fishing. How many other games can boast that? A brilliant game guaranteed to get you hooked (no pun intended).

9/10