"A new and exciting change to the BoF Series."

Breath Of Fire V: Dragon Quarter

I've always liked the Breath Of fire games. Though I have not played all of them, I did enjoy playing them. I was very surprised when I saw the first screenshots of this game. Me, being an obsessive RPG Gamer, thought that this game was not going to make any money at all. I was wrong. When I bought BoF 5, I totally loved it. It is so much more unique and interesting than most RPGs. I'll now explain all of it, in my second review.

Story 10/10

You are a ranger, with a D-Ration of 1/8192 (Determines your strength and how well you do. In this case, it is very low.) You and your partner, Bosch (D-Ration 1/64. Very high, and the type of person which is snobby) are sent out to guard the lift. While you do so, the main character, supposedly named Ryu, examines a strange experiment. A voice is now in his head, and later on you reveal the power to transform, with unimaginable power to defeat enemies…but there is always a catch. Later on you meet up with Nina, and a rebellious person, Lin. Together, you must uncover the truth and reach your mission, to reach the top and to save…eh play it your self to find out. Very good and creative story, no?

Graphics: 9/10

I have only played one RPG Cel-Shaded game before, and it was Paper Mario (Well, sorta sel-shaded anyways). While cel-shaded games have turned people away, I think it's really cool looking. The game has many large dungeons with a very nice looking environment to them. The spells also look very good, and the character designs are unique and have plenty of detail.

Gameplay 10/10

This is where the game gets to really shine. It is not like a normal rpg (Such as the Final Fantasy Series Instead of the usual attack,attack,magic,defend kind of style, you will get to move around and plan out your strategy. Characters will have varieties of spells and skills to use and defeat the enemy.
Before entering battle, you have some options. You can lay out traps, to either damage the enemy, run away or sneak on it. It is Always an advantage to attack first. The characters also have their own special skills in battle or out. Nina has the ability to gather in Items. Lin can shoot from far range with her gun. And Ryu can use D-Dash, which makes invincible and fast but I’ll talk about that later on. In battle, Ryu can transform, Nina can set magic/trap circle which damage the enemies, can Lin can use her long, powerful combos for a long-range attack.

When you attack, you can hold R2 and then press some more attack buttons (if you have enough AP) and link your attacks together to do some major damage. Every time you link up a different attack, the combo percentage will rise equaling in a more damaging attack.

Characters will be able to equip three things: Weapon,Shield and Clothes. Each character can equip 3-LVL 1 Skills (10 AP Each), 3 LVL2 Skills (20 AP Each) and 3 LVL 3 Skills (30 AP Each). Each weapon can vary on how many skills it has, so it may not be worth using it if it only has, say, 4 slots. Shields can also hold one slot, and can vary effects, such as stealing items, regain strength etc.

The next thing is the D-Counter. It is the little percentage thing at the top. When it reaches 100%, the game will end. The D-Counter can rise from various things. I.e, using Ryu’s D-Dash, Transforming into the Dragon, Using the dragon’s special abilities. Walking around also tends to make it rise, but only 0.001%.
That’s what makes this game a little difficult. As when you are in dragon form, you tend to do a lot of damage with your attacks.

And very lastly, is the SoL. There is an option which you can select. You can SoL: Restart, or SoL: Restore.
Everytime you die, or complete the game, otherwise “Retry”, you can bring back your items, weapons and some of your EXP and Lvl. Also, the more times you retry, the more special movies and scenes you get to see while playing. That makes this game more fun and replayable.

Sounds 10

While most people find music and sounds important, I don’t really mind. But for sure, I can guarantee that the music fits in with the scene, and the sounds of attacking and casting magic sound really good. Altough, I would’ve really liked it if I heard them talk instead of reading all of it. I guess it’s just tradition, as it was in the previous Breath Of Fire games...

Controls 10

Very simple and very easy to learn. It’s not too hard but RPGers and gamers would know it. I personally think that only the PlayStaion2’s controls would’ve worked for BoF V. When you really think of it, GameCube’s or Xbox’s Controls would’ve been too hard to work out and remember.

Final Score/Summary

It is really a great RPG Game and some people will never know it unless the play it to it’s full potential. It may be a little difficult to some gamers, and it really takes up a lot of time. Getting the best weapons and armors, all the items, raising your D-Ratio, and raising your stats seriously takes time. This game is really worth your money and I’ve hope you have understand why from this Review. I really hope you readers have enjoyed the game as much as I’ve done.

Final Score 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/03, Updated 07/15/03