Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter

"Adds Innovation to a Genre Definitely Lacking it"

I have always loved the Breath of Fire series. But when I heard about the completely revamped system in this game, I was more then a little weary of it. Personally though, once I got into the game, all my doubts were completely washed away. How I am going to fit this in a short review, I have NO idea... This game is so damn complex!

Graphics: 9/10
While, personally, I am not a fan of Cel-shaded graphics, I really liked this games style. The Cel-Shading allows the characters to have a LOT of detail, and to seem a lot more realistic all around. Certain scenes in this game actually feel like you are watching an anime instead of playing the game because of the graphics. Spell effects are beautiful, and well varied, and these are some very interesting character designs, unlike any I have seen before. There is of course, the same basic designs, like Nina having wings, and the next main character having a cat-like tail, but the costumes themselves are different, and the graphics show it well. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a drawing of a character, and the in game graphics.

Game Play: 10/10
Before I say anything else, let me put this down. Breath of Fire 5 is purely a Dungeon Crawler. No doubt about that. So if you dont usually like Dungeon Crawlers, you may want to stay away from this, but you should at least rent it before saying no. The basic game play of BoF5 is run around, fight a monster, see a cut-scene and try your hardest to survive. The latter might not seem so tough in a normal game, but the difficulty of this game makes even the hard mode on some of the survival horror games seem easy. If this game was not an RPG, it would definitely be a survival game. But not that excessive difficulty is a bad thing. I need a harder game, as a LOT of RPG's lately have been far too easy.
Because of this higher difficulty level, you WILL die. A lot but, good things come to those who die, one thing I never thought I would say. If you choose to die, and then completely restart the game on that same file, then you get extra EXP, as well as some extra scenes to fill out the story. As well as different enemy layout. This is done in a system called SoL. Also in the SoL(scenario Overly) you get to have the same skills you already earned the last time through, making it much easier.
The battle system is completely new and unique. Characters have a set range where they can move around, and each step they take, removes a certain amount of AP from the AP counter. This AP counter allows you to attack enemies, and use spells. The higher the AP, the more you will be able to attack. And certain characters have different strategies with this system. Take Lin, she doesnt have a very long range to move on, but she has the longest range of attack in the game. Or Nina, she does not physically attack at all, but she can use spells to damage enemies, and/or use a spell to make a trap on the floor, so it will take damage when walking to your characters.
Other then the new features, and the SoL system, BoF5 does have some RPG aspects to it. It keeps EXP, and the same skill system you are used to from the previous games. But the skill system has some added bonuses to make it more innovative. You can only equip 3 sets of 3 Skills on a character at a time, and how many you can equip depends on your weapon. Some weapons, while powerful, have a lower amount of skills they can hold, not making it worth it to use the weapons. A lot of thinking is required for this game.

Sound: 8/10
I personally really like the music in this game. It fits the entire game perfectly. A lot of people complain about BoF music not being good, but this game blows the other games away music wise. I guess the best part on the sounds, would have to be Ryu's voice. They didn't change it(or it doesn't sound changed), so it is a bit nostalgic. The sound effects are good, especially in cut-scenes.

Control: 8/10
While the controls are not at all bad in this game(in fact they are great, very responsive) they are just a little complex and very hard to learn. Simple things in battle are very hard to do until you learn all the little tricks possible. But I guess I cant blame the controls for that, only the deep game play. Other then a complex control scheme, the controls are great. Impatient people will love being able to skip cut-scenes.

Rent or Buy?
This is probably the most controversial aspect of this game. While the game play is deep, and the story great, not everyone will love this game as much as I did. Some of the newer gamers will go through hell with this difficulty level. But the story is fulfilling, and worth it. If you are not positive you want a harder game, you should probably rent it first. But this is a game that you can not beat and get everything you want in the first time through, so buying it is far more worth it.
I suggest buying it if you are a RPG fan, and if not, or fit into the few bins I named, then go for the rent first.

All in All: 9/10
Well...The only thing that really mars this game is that fact that the difficulty level is up there, and you almost never have enough money for anything. But the story is great, and the game play so unique, that I am so addicted! I love it. This is the breath of fresh air I have been looking for.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/23/03, Updated 02/23/03