http://dragon-tear.net/bof4/images/BOVLogo.jpg I'll admit that there are some things that just draw me in. Jet Set Radio's beautiful cel-shading, No More Heroes stylish sense of self, and Fallout 3 for it's unshakable atmosphere. A world that breathes, rises and falls with the seasons, and generally leaves lingering dreams months and years after its final playthrough. Games like these can rarely go two years without calling me to re-experience their beauty, and I've recently found myself drudging through the desert landscapes of the Playstation jRPG Breath of Fire IV.
The fourth installment of the Breath of Fire series, BoF IV is the second title released on the Playstation and artistically different from the previous three titles.
The gameplay of BoF IV is none too unique from other titles of the jRPG genre. A faux-3D top-down role playing game whose characters are from a vaguely fantasy setting. The battle system is turn-based, with each character having their own unique statistics, capabilities, and roles in and out of battle. The main character, Ryu, and female lead Nina, are regulars of the series are much alike their predecessors' counterparts. Ryu can transform into dragons, and Nina is an angel whose speed and healing capabilities are quite powerful. As well as that, turns in combat are both based on a character's Speed rating, and that character's placement on the battle map. The person in the first (of three) slots will always try to go first, even if the person in second or third has a higher speed rating. These differences manage to set BoF IV apart from other jRPGs, and give the old and tired turn-based system a fresh face. Despite that praise, Breath of Fire IV is still a traditional jRPG.
Because of that, the slow gameplay style and less than fluid controls make the unique gameplay style a little clunky, which slows the entire narrative down. As well as that, the "four camera angles" faux-3D sometimes makes the game confusing to see. This is especially bad when there are multiple buildings of varying heights in the city. This makes more a lot of camera-switching when in crowded towns, and will often grind progression to a halt. Simply because it's nearly impossible to see.
http://i.neoseeker.com/p/Games/Playstation/Role-Playing/Fantasy/breathoffire4_profilelarge.jpg
Camera problems aside, the art design in BoF IV is positively breath-taking. The simple, and occasionally pixelated, cel-shading-styled sprites in a brightly-colored landscape build a world that is completely gorgeous. There is not a single town, song, or individual in BoF IV that doesn't just ooze with personality. Each town has a story to tell, each merchant, passer-by, or character a reason to be there. Matched with a highly-stylized soundtrack produced by Yoshino Aoki. Every track has some personality, and matches to the T with every single map.
This style pervades into every other facet of this game, including the storyline. The story is about Nina, the princess of a kingdom called Windia. With her body-guard, she's going out to rescue her kidnapped sister, the younger princess of the Windia. In her travels across the desert, her transportation is destroyed. She encounters a naked man, Ryu, in the wreckage of a merchant's cart. They join together in order to repair Nina's transportation, which ultimately leads them onto a dizzying adventure across multiple continents.
The game has a healthy host of mini-games and side missions to explore, including stat and skill-altering masters for each character, "blue magic"-style learning skills from enemies, and a combo-system which links and combines elemental attacks into newer and stronger ones that change the properties of the skills cast. As well as that, achieving a total number of points total (from mini-games, map discovery, fishing, and other such things) will allow you to upgrade the protagonist's dragon forms to newer levels. All of this, despite it being a very linear title, adds a lot of replay value for people looking to sink many hours into gaming.
Bottom Line: Breath of Fire IV is a graphically simple, artfully designed, and subtly complex title that should be a delight for jRPG fans, and may even contain a few treats for those who aren't interested in the usual turn-based affairs.
Recommendation: Buy It. A diamond in a sea of mediocrity, only hampered by its own inability to be as light, airy, and approachable as its art direction.
The fourth installment of the Breath of Fire series, BoF IV is the second title released on the Playstation and artistically different from the previous three titles.
The gameplay of BoF IV is none too unique from other titles of the jRPG genre. A faux-3D top-down role playing game whose characters are from a vaguely fantasy setting. The battle system is turn-based, with each character having their own unique statistics, capabilities, and roles in and out of battle. The main character, Ryu, and female lead Nina, are regulars of the series are much alike their predecessors' counterparts. Ryu can transform into dragons, and Nina is an angel whose speed and healing capabilities are quite powerful. As well as that, turns in combat are both based on a character's Speed rating, and that character's placement on the battle map. The person in the first (of three) slots will always try to go first, even if the person in second or third has a higher speed rating. These differences manage to set BoF IV apart from other jRPGs, and give the old and tired turn-based system a fresh face. Despite that praise, Breath of Fire IV is still a traditional jRPG.
Because of that, the slow gameplay style and less than fluid controls make the unique gameplay style a little clunky, which slows the entire narrative down. As well as that, the "four camera angles" faux-3D sometimes makes the game confusing to see. This is especially bad when there are multiple buildings of varying heights in the city. This makes more a lot of camera-switching when in crowded towns, and will often grind progression to a halt. Simply because it's nearly impossible to see.
http://i.neoseeker.com/p/Games/Playstation/Role-Playing/Fantasy/breathoffire4_profilelarge.jpg
Camera problems aside, the art design in BoF IV is positively breath-taking. The simple, and occasionally pixelated, cel-shading-styled sprites in a brightly-colored landscape build a world that is completely gorgeous. There is not a single town, song, or individual in BoF IV that doesn't just ooze with personality. Each town has a story to tell, each merchant, passer-by, or character a reason to be there. Matched with a highly-stylized soundtrack produced by Yoshino Aoki. Every track has some personality, and matches to the T with every single map.
This style pervades into every other facet of this game, including the storyline. The story is about Nina, the princess of a kingdom called Windia. With her body-guard, she's going out to rescue her kidnapped sister, the younger princess of the Windia. In her travels across the desert, her transportation is destroyed. She encounters a naked man, Ryu, in the wreckage of a merchant's cart. They join together in order to repair Nina's transportation, which ultimately leads them onto a dizzying adventure across multiple continents.
The game has a healthy host of mini-games and side missions to explore, including stat and skill-altering masters for each character, "blue magic"-style learning skills from enemies, and a combo-system which links and combines elemental attacks into newer and stronger ones that change the properties of the skills cast. As well as that, achieving a total number of points total (from mini-games, map discovery, fishing, and other such things) will allow you to upgrade the protagonist's dragon forms to newer levels. All of this, despite it being a very linear title, adds a lot of replay value for people looking to sink many hours into gaming.
Bottom Line: Breath of Fire IV is a graphically simple, artfully designed, and subtly complex title that should be a delight for jRPG fans, and may even contain a few treats for those who aren't interested in the usual turn-based affairs.
Recommendation: Buy It. A diamond in a sea of mediocrity, only hampered by its own inability to be as light, airy, and approachable as its art direction.