Review #707: Breath of Fire

 Not accurate, you'll get to breathe other elements.

 Alright, let's get one thing straightened out before we begin... this was one of the SNES' very first JRPGs, so before you even think about taking this game for a spin be forewarned that in order to enjoy the game you have to accept some of its most aged elements, like lack of direction and grinding. This GBA port redid the UI, made the colors clearer(So that it'd look better on a back-lit screen) and doubled the amount of XP and gold earned per battle, which helps make the game more palatable and might even make it the better version of the game.

 The story sees you playing as the last remaining able warrior of the Light Dragon clan, Ryu, who survives an assault by the Dark Dragons thanks his sister, Sara, who gets taken captive by them. Entrusted with vengeance and the hope of saving his sister, Ryu sets out to defeat the Dark Dragons. But it's not as simple as it sounds, and this adventure of his' will take him through the entire world of Breath of Fire, meeting various different allies along the way, including winged Nina's first ever incarnation. While party members are pretty flat personality-wise, they are a varied bunch. Nina sports wings, Bo is a Wolfman, Ox is an Oxman, Gobi is a Fishman, Mogu is a Moleman, Deis/Bleau is a Snakewoman and, lastly, there's the thief Karn, who is human looking, like Ryu, but has the ability to fuse with different combinations of the furry members. Party members being so diverse is a direct consequence of Breath of Fire's huge variety in towns and races, which is something that sets it apart from other JRPGs. Mind you, it's not like there's a ton of lore in Breath of Fire, but it's nice getting to visit the Fishmen's underwater city, or the Mole's underground town... it's an appealing world.

 Breath of Fire has a few interesting qualities that makes it stand out even to this day. For instance, characters have various different abilities to use on the world map and dungeons. For instance, Karn can open any locked door and Ox can destroy cracked walls. If you've been keeping notes, you can backtrack to previously visited dungeons in order to get some very useful loot once these characers join in order to get stuff you couldn't previously get to. Gobi can turn into a giant fish while underwater, which allows you to move much faster and avoid random encounters, as well as barter in the Flea Market, the place where you can get a ton of your party's best equipment pieces. Bo can hunt on the overworld, which helps you get money, and eventually Nina gets the ability to fly on the world map. There's one negative about this, you need to have the party member on your active party in order to use their skills, which can be a bit annoying, say that you need to dig but aren't a fan of Mogu, tough luck, you have to enter the Status screen and swap him in, interact with the ground, proceed and then enter the Status Screen again and restore your initial party. To be fair, you could also wait until you trigger a random encounter and switch positions then, but it's a still an annoyance. There's also a day-and-night cycle, which was pretty rare for such an early SNES JRPG, with a few events that only trigger at either day or night.

 Don't think twice about it: Get yourself a FAQ and stick with it. There are numerous times in the game in which it's absolutely impossible to figure out what to do on your own. Like, where are you supposed to get the Flute to speak with the people of Tunlan, or how to get all the ingredients to make the Tonic. How about the part in which you have to dig inside the Obelisk? Of course, Mogu himself can't do it since it's too tough, so your first thought would be to enter the Mole's City and find an expert digger. But he can't do anything for you since he doesn't have the I.Claw. A villager will tell you that he lost a 'city treasure in the ocean', so you'll go snorkeling around the Ocean for the item. Wrong. You have to find this one hut in the middle of nowhere, talk to a woman, who wants to find another weapon fanatic, and hope to remember where the old man that praised your boomerang is due to this one single line of dialogue. It's absolutely ridiculous how bad this can get, but par for the course as far as ancient JRPGs go, so know what you're getting into before you tackle this game, and get yourself a friendly FAQ to aid you.

 Combat is pretty much your standard JRPG fare, with your tried and true turn-based battles. You've got a party made up of four different members, and if you so want it, you can switch between your reserve members. One of the funniest things about the game is that physical attacks are worthless for the earliest part of the game, but as soon as you get the E. Key from an early boss you're supposed to use this object as an Item during battle. This item never runs out and deals 30 damage to every enemy on screen, more damage than you could hope to do with a single attack this early. For a long while you'll be having your weakest member spam this item as your other characters do what they can. Ryu can equip swords and boomerangs, but hilariously enough, you're better off using the boomerangs, since they hit every enemy on-screen. These peculiarities aside, battles are pretty decent, and if you like to veer off the beaten path... or have a FAQ at your side, you'll be able to unlock Dragon forms for Ryu. Having a Super Mode for a protagonist is pretty neat!

 While the boosted XP and Money gain are welcome, you'll still need to grind every now and then, but it won't be as soulcrushing as it was on the SNES version. The worst moment would be this one time that Gobi needs to go underwater in order to get Gills for the other party members so that they too can breathe underwater. The enemies here are tough, and spamming the E.Key just won't do it since they have too much HP and Gobi has too little. Instead, you'll probably grind about 5-6 levels, spamming Gobi's spells, so that you can endure 3-4 hits and get to wherever you need to without dying. The game also has an unbearably high encounter rate. It seems a few areas have it worse than others, but it could get as bad as taking three steps between fights.

 Before scoring this game, let me admit that perhaps I was a bit too harsh with Breath of Fire IV back when I reviewed it many years ago. I mean, I was probably playing a ton of really great JRPGs, so maybe Breath of Fire IV couldn't stand out among them. Plus, the review was horribly written and is in need of a serious touch-up. So, with that said, I'm not saying that BoF 1 is better than 4, because it isn't, but after putting myself into the correct mindset for such an old JRPG... I was able to enjoy it. It's far from the best JRPG on either SNES or GBA, and its age shows a bit too much, but it's an enjoyable time for fans of the more classic JRPGs.
 6.0 out of 10