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Capcom
surprised (and pleased) gamers when they announced a port of the
original Breath of Fire to Game Boy Advance in 2001. To
combat the highly overrated Golden Sun, Nintendo ported it's SNES
classic (co-developed by Square) to the small screen. I was first in
line to get it, as the original BoF was one of my favorites in the
2nd generation SNES era.
So is it
a worthy port, and most importantly, a fun game to play? Read on...
Much like
every Breath of Fire, the story involves Ryu, a member of the Dragon
Clan, who goes on a journey to vanquish evil after his town is
destroyed by Dark Dragons led by Jade. As Ryu, you must find the
Goddess Keys that summon Tyr and save the world from certain doom.
Those
looking for an actual story and character development better opt for
Tactics Ogre instead, as Breath of Fire has very little of both. The
plot is extremely basic and barely developed, as with the
characters, which could very well say nothing to the same effect.
Ryu is another mute with a sword (and, refreshingly, a mullet), Nina
receives no development and neither do the rest. Their attacks, the
animation and their stats then gauge the value of a character in BoF.
In those respects, Bleu is the best character in the game.
BoF plays
like any other RPG of its time (and actually, many RPGs of our time)
- travel from town to dungeon battling enemies, leveling up and
progressing a miniscule plot headed by cliche'd characters. The
primary objective is finding seven or so Goddess Keys before the
Dark Dragons do, and you accomplish this by raiding the dungeons
encasing each key. These dungeons usually have key protectors, or in
RPG terms, 'bosses'. Defeating the main boss will (of course)
complete that dungeon and grant you the Key. Essentially, that's the
flow of the game, although there's more to it.
BoF
branches off unlike any game before it or after it. The sub-quests
('fetch quests') are absolutely BRUTAL. "Go to village X to find
item Y. To find item Y you need to explore dungeon Z, to open the
door to dungeon Z you need special ability A, to find special
ability A you must find the ingredients for Potion B, said
ingredients require at least an hours worth of searching the world
for the right place to fish or the right enemy to fight". Of course,
the entire game doesn't look like this, but when it does branch off,
that is what you get. It's a lot like a Tolkien tangent; after it is
through with, it's difficult to remember what you were doing before
the story veered off in another direction.
Dungeons
aren't anything special, by any standard. Phantasy Star 2, which
came out 4 years before, had much more imagination in its dungeon
design than the SNES and GBA versions of BoF (which are identical).
What we have here are simplistic dungeons with easy bosses that
don't get any better until the final 3 or 4. Nothing special, not
bad.
While
exploring dungeons you fight random encounters, obviously. These
issue the battle system where the 'meat' of the gameplay (battling)
lies. The most unique thing here is the perspective of the camera,
and yes that is quite sad. In previous RPGs, it was either facing
them horizontally or facing the enemy from the character's
perspective. Breath of Fire's is on an isometric 3/4th view looking
downward. Battling itself involves melee, magic, and special
attacks. The first two are self-explanatory. Specials are either
Ryu's dragon transformations, or Karn's Fusion (where he fuses with
other characters). Specials raise that character's abilities and
health. As for the enemies, they have an HP bar displaying current
health. Some bosses will become furious after their bar reaches
zero, at which point they attack with stronger abilities but less
health. The battle is over once either the enemy or the team reaches
zero HP. Battles gain experience, experience increase levels,
increased levels bring increased stats....yadda yadda yadda
Battling
isn't 'bad'. It is generic but passable. Battles are actually quite
intense at times and move quickly, and the simplicity gives the game
a 'jump in and have fun' quality that is typically alien to the
genre.
BoF isn't
free of high points, however. The last few dungeons are really fun,
as I said, and travelling the world searching for items towards the
end is addictive. It's a shame BoF is plagued by such lengthy
fetch-quests, as I would've given it an 8 at least.
Graphics
were amazing on SNES, and still so on GBA. BoF is brighter than most
titles on GBA, and thus easier to see. This is a definite positive
for any game on the unfortunately non-backlit Game Boy Advance.
Despite the smaller screen, the animation is clear and bright,
capturing the details of the SNES version well.
One word
best encapsulates this game's music: listenable. Not better or worse
than 'listenable'. It’s forgettable but fitting for the game.
Breath of
Fire is generic RPG fare. Is it good? Yes, but far from deserving of
the accolades bestowed upon it by rabid franchise fans. I guess it's
fun for a while, losing some steam when the boredom and insipidness
of fetch questing kicks in. It's decent for an RPG, but nothing
spectacular.
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