Rise From Your Grave With $1 Xbox Live Indie RPG

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Rise From Your Grave With $1 Xbox Live Indie RPG


Your breath smells fine, so forget about purchasing that pack of mints and buy an old-school RPG instead.

Where can you get good value for your dollar these days? On the Xbox Live Indie Games store, as of this week. Recently made available was Zeboyd Games' Breath of Death VII: The Beginning [http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802585504bd/?bt=0&sb=1&mt=32&gu=66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802585504bd&p=1&of=0], an 8-bit old-school RPG that will only set you back a buck. That's correct, $1 U.S. currency (80 Microsoft Points) for a classic-style RPG. If you haven't already rushed to your Xbox 360 to download the game, here's why you might want to.

Developed by the two man team of Robert Boyd and William Stiernberg, Breath of Death VII is packaged as a parody of RPGs, meaning it has silly dialog and humorous main characters to experience the story with. Upon checking my stats when loading the game, it said I was the master of "not beating the game," which made me chuckle. The game tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world that was taken over by the undead, who are now its normal inhabitants. The main character is a skeleton that cannot talk, for he has no tongue, but he can think, even though he has no brain.

In my first hours playing the game, it felt very much like Retro Game Challenge's included RPG Guadia Quest, which wasn't a full fledged product, but worthy of around 6 hours of classic, grindy RPG play. Breath of Death VII should also take around 4-6 hours to complete, though it has both normal and hard difficulties, and a score attack mode.

The game's visuals are simple and not unlike what you might find in a high-quality NES RPG. The battle system is about the same, but leveling up does allow players to make meaningful decisions about each character's progression. Will you upgrade your character's strength or raise it just a little along with defense? Will you choose a new ability that attacks all enemies or one that builds up the combo meter? These are decisions you'll be making often as leveling up happens quickly in the early game, as do the random battles which makes the game leisurely to play through.

Breath of Death VII is a pretty simple product, but it's fun, and it only costs a buck. There isn't any animation in the battles, and everything is expressed with text, but it only costs a buck. I couldn't figure out how to sell items, and therefore it must be impossible, but the game only costs a buck. A chocobo doesn't live in any of the characters' hair, and the game doesn't involve a blond main character and start out in a train, but it only costs a buck. No, I didn't say a sawbuck, I said a regular buck. Go check it out if you like RPGs, and also own a buck.

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Icecoldcynic

New member
Oct 5, 2009
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Well after this nice little review (and the teeny tiny price), I'm definitely going to buy it.
 

Sir Kemper

New member
Jan 21, 2010
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I want to play this game bad, since you had me at the main character being a fucking skeleton.

but my 360's still broken.

FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
 

BlindMessiah94

The 94th Blind Messiah
Nov 12, 2009
2,654
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Sweet! I hate the MS points system as I always have spillover that sit around collecting dust, and I REFUSE to buy avatar marketplace crap or other such nicknacks that are pointless.

I will spend my moneys on this!
 

ThaBenMan

Mandalorian Buddha
Mar 6, 2008
3,682
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laryri said:
So how much does it cost?
Too much for you, apparently...

I'll get this, if I have a buck left on my balance. But if not, I don't feel like buying another MS Points card just for that, not right now, anyway.
 

FungiGamer

New member
Apr 23, 2008
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Makes me wish I cared about Microsoft enough to have a 360. Also, why didn't they include Breath of Death I, II, III, IV,V, and VI? :D
 

Dragon_of_red

New member
Dec 30, 2008
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rabidmidget said:
Damn Australia and its lack of indie marketplace...
We dont? Crap. I was going to get this... it sounded like the flash game Mardek for a while...

And how many times do you think he said the word "buck" in this article?
 

Mr. Gency

New member
Jan 26, 2010
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Hmm... If only I knew how much it costs.

OT: Right now my first priority is connecting my Xbox to Xbox live.

But I'll keep this game in mind.

laryri said:
So how much does it cost?
Damn! Ninjas be ninjaing me
 

sgtshock

New member
Feb 11, 2009
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Anyone else misinterpret the title and think it was new RPG required you to pay a dollar every time you died to keep playing?
 

Chipperz

New member
Apr 27, 2009
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Bah, my XBox died. Who do I have to firebomb/kidnap to get a PS3 release?

After all, it's only, like, 50p!
 

James B Hamster

New member
Apr 15, 2009
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I am so, so very glad that industrious young minds are still churning out there, taking their time to make games like these. I always find it shocking that so many indie studios will commit themselves to using current-generation graphics and mechanics only to resign themselves to lower-quality simulacra due to their lack of funding/manpower. To me, the most logical course is not to do a shoddy current-gen imitation but a competent past-gen re-imagining.

I mean, sure, games like these might offend the strictly modern sensibilities by daring to show you individual pixels, but for those of us who grew up in the eras of beautifully-imagined pixelated 2D gaming, you really don't need to go all that far to make a nice-looking product. In fact, this presentation rewards competent art design even moreso than 3D, since a solid sense of artistic direction is basically all that's available to shape the meager building blocks that comprise the game.

Verily, as soon as I wrest control of the family 360 from my father's greedy grasp and get it hooked up to an internet connection, this game shall be mine (and I shall revel in the retro glory).
 

Meggiepants

Not a pigeon roost
Jan 19, 2010
2,536
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I'll buy that for a dollar!

You know, I'd probably spend more money on XBL if they had more things like this. I hope it does smashingly, and we get more little indie titles to spend our dollars on.
 

GL2814E

New member
Feb 16, 2010
281
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"I'd Buy That For A Dollar!" *Cue girlies giggling*

I went ahead and bought this but I haven't had a chance to play it.
 

NotAPie

New member
Jan 19, 2009
2,095
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Yeah thanks for telling me this after I just bought an avatar t-shirt with the left over points I had from buying The Passing.
[sub] I hate you so much right now...[/sub]