Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter

"Uniquely Satisfying"

The Breath of Fire series has never really been known for its originality. Breath of Fire 1 was a basic, yet fun RPG with all of the elements you would expect from an RPG involved. The series has not really evolved much from the inception, choosing to build instead on what was a rather solid frame. In any case, I was getting rather tired of the same formula and didn't really enjoy the fourth incarnation all that much. I have to say it comes as a substantial shock to me then that Breath of Fire V (BOFV) is one of the most unique RPG experiences I have had in a fairly long time.

BOFV's storyline starts off a tad tame but soon leaps into some very interesting excursions. Basically you are a young Ranger (Ryu) whose job it is to secure and keep the peace of the underground city you live in. You soon encounter a young girl by the name of Nina who is in trouble and our young hero feels the need to save her. I know it sounds cliched but the whole thing comes together in a very original environment and in a very suspenseful atmosphere. The neat catch is that the whole BOFV world takes place underground and changes as you move up through it. This really varies the pace by providing environments that not only look stunning, but are completely unique.

If I had to say one bad thing about BOFV's plot and storyline, it is that the character development doesn't really get as deep as I think it could have. You really only have 3 main characters throughout the game, and while they are fleshed out to some extent, at the end I still had questions. The real fault however comes from the main villains. When you first run into them, they seem so mysterious, so full of secrets you really want to learn more about them. Unfortunately, you never really learn all that much about them at all. At the end I was left wondering about their motives and such, it feels like Capcom simply ran out of time and didn't completely finish the plot.

BOFV sports so many new systems you are going to need an acronym dictionary. The Positive Encounter and Tactics System, or PETS, is basically an overlong name for the battle system. The great thing is that it absolutely rocks. This is as tactical as an RPG gets without actually being tactical. You can see enemies in the dungeons and can either swipe at them for a first hit or get surprised by them only to be beaten down for a round. This leads to some very suspenseful fights where a hideously powerful creature will get you from behind and proceed to nail your coffin shut. Once battle ensues, Capcom busts out yet another acronym, the APS, or Active Points System. Basically you have a set number of ability points that you can use to move, attack, cast spells, or all of the above. You can continue to act until you run out of points. What this leads to are some extremely well thought out fights and some great strategy as you decide how you want to defeat the critter barring your way.

BOFV also employs the SOL, or Scenario Overlay System. Basically what this entails is that different plot scenes will be uncovered based on certain conditions. On your first run-through of the game you will not see a good portion of the plot. Oh sure, you will see enough that it all makes sense and comes together, but as you go through the game multiple times extra scenes will play out for you and you will get a better realization of the deep BOFV world around you. I know, it sounds monotonous to have to go through a game multiple times, but luckily BOFV makes this not only a lot easier, but also a lot of fun by allowing you to keep a vast majority of the items claimed in prior run-throughs. All of your equipped/stored weapons, stored items, money, and party experience can be transferred over to each successive run through. Basically what this results in is you racing through the game with minimal trouble and in record time, fun stuff.

There is one unique, yet rather annoying tweak to the gameplay which I feel must be noted. You do not have unlimited saves. That's right, for people like me who love to save all the time, forget about it. You need a save token to save the game and they are very, very rare. Expect to see maybe 10 of them the entire game. Capcom has seen fit to provide an instant save which allows you to save from anywhere at anytime but it is erased the second you load it back up. To tell the truth, this feature worried me at first but luckily it didn't really hinder me much. I found I had enough tokens to save every two hours or so and I could do so before every major boss fight. All in all though, I wasn't terribly happy with this system and hope in the future Capcom considers us gamers who do not like to lose 4 hours of their time if they happen to die...

Graphically BOFV is a beauty. With a little bit of cell shading thrown in, yet not so much that it detracts, this game looks beautiful. The backgrounds are all lovingly crafted and minor touches like your weapon/shield changing on the character model when you equip them help make this game look spectacular. As for the character models, well, you will either love them or hate them. I had my roommate walk in and say that Ryu looked like a girl, and I think Nina looks kind of weird. The game also sports two anime rendered scenes and let me say that they look absolutely beautiful. Far better than most anime! All in all, a very unique looking game.

The music in this game is amazing, plain and simple. As I write this I am listening to the soundtrack and I love it. There is a new track for EVERYTHING. Every new town, every new dungeon, heck even some of the boss fights, there is always something new to listen to and it is always fantastic. The music just seems to fit the atmosphere so well. If there is a mysterious section in the plot, the music goes deep and moody. If there is a high stress boss battle, the music picks up and rages with great sounding beats. The sound effects are decent and the trademarked ''combat voices'' are back but they merely serve to help heighten an already heightened phonic experience.

Overall, you are either going to hate BOFV or love it. It is so truly different from past BOFs that past fans may not enjoy it since it strays so far from the series' roots. On the other hand, new comers to the fray may not enjoy the dungeon crawl type environments or the fear inducing save system. I on the other hand think that all the uniqueness comes together to form such an endearing package that I would think it a crime to miss it. If you are feeling hardcore and in the mood for something that will truly refresh you and re-instill your confidence in the RPG gender as far as new ideas go, then please by all means give BOFV a shot. Just make sure you hang onto those save tokens.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/25/03, Updated 02/25/03