Another sequel in Capcom's long line of Breath of Fire games, number four is everything you would expect from a Breath of Fire game, fishing included! I picked this game up for my old Playstation One, but it is now available for the Gameboy Advance as well. If you have never played a Breath of Fire game before, do not worry, this series features simple game play and a strong storyline that require no knowledge of the previous Breath of Fire titles.
The story is by far the strongest aspect of this game. You begin playing Craig and Nina, who are flying across the desert, only to be attacked by a mysterious dragon which forces them to crash land damaging their sandflier and their hopes of a reasonable journey home. At this same time you meet a mysterious boy named Ash who appears, totally naked, before Nina. Having no knowledge of his past or how he got there, Nina decides to help him - like all good video game characters would. As you seek to discover the true nature of your friend, Ash, you begin an adventure involving warring tribes, warring kingdoms, exploration, and even the gods themselves! While the main storyline is linear up until the very final battle (which has multiple endings) there are many side quests to perform.
The combat system is similar to the previous Breath of Fire games, where you input commands for each person prior to combat and then watch the round unfold. There are some very unique features in Breath of Fire IV worth mentioning though. The magic combo system is probably the largest innovation for Breath of Fire. While your characters gain many basic spells as they gain levels, you can chain certain spells together to create stronger effects. For instance, a fire spell followed by a wind spell creates an entirely new spell that is more powerful than the original spell would have been. This creates some new strategic elements, as you want to have certain people grouped together for back-to-back spell casting. Another feature is that your characters can train under masters, who give the party various tasks related to their trade. As you complete these tasks the master teaches someone in the party a new skill. I found these skills to be almost entirely useless, but it is at least an interesting idea. Masters also affect your overall stats, giving bonuses to that person in a related field.
The controls and interface of this game is where it falls most short. Overall, for its time, Breath of Fire had good visual effects, but the game can be hard to navigate as it is set entirely on a diagonal plane, requiring you to be pressing two directional keys at all times to move. Worse yet, occasionally you come across areas where you have to move very carefully, such as a maze of lasers that damage you when you walk into them. This can be very frustrating when your fingers slip and your characters get zapped. They also gave you 4 camera angles to chose from, however, once in a while none of the 4 will suffice to see what you are looking for, and certain areas have a set camera angle that you can not change.
Overall this game is excellent and I would recommend it to anyone who is either a fan of the Final Fantasy series or enjoys RPGs without complex combat. It involves a fair amount of random encounters and will provide many hours of play to defeat the final foe. But so long as you take your time with the game, the hardest part about it may be some of the puzzle challenges that your characters will face more so than any combat sequence. The only thing standing between world peace and world destruction is a boy with no memory and no clothing… what could be a better plot!?
I am the PR Manager for a successful game company and enjoy writing reviews for non-competing products. I am married to a lovely wife and we have a lovely daughter named Rowan, who is currently two. I am also a professional juggler and swordfighter, which comes in handy in a variety of situations.
