Breath of Fire IV

"What can I say? This game simply rocks."

Capcom has been in the industry for all sorts of games for many years. RPG's are my favorite among Capcom for they include superb graphics and dramatic plot, as well as a few cool features there and here. Breath of Fire IV is the fourth series up to date. It features dragons and excellent characters. Breath of Fire IV will not disappoint RPG gamers.

Story: 9.6/10

Hmm...The story could have used a bit of improvement, but overall it fills you in with good details. You start out as Nina whose ship is destroyed by a creature which appears to be a dragon. Nina finds Ryu, the reincarnated dragon who has lost his memory and knows of nothing. Nina and Ryu set forth on a quest to save Princess Elena which happens to be Nina's sister. During their quest, they encounter merciless dragons and monsters which an epic tale of magic and mystery now unfolds. You also play as Fou-Lu, an unknown dragon type of warrior like that of Ryu's, in another world.

Graphics: 9.5/10

WOW! These graphics are rendered so well and pixelated so beautifully, it must have took an artist to create such a masterpiece. Breath of Fire IV features uses amazing 3D backgrounds and 2D sprite-based characters. The backgrounds are done almost perfectly with a few exceptions. The 2D-sprites are perfectly done in high-resolution that fits in with the 3D background textures. Each character has over 3,000 animation patterns which is actually pretty cool; It blends with the story. The whole game itself features a fully rotating 360 degree-angle camera for those hard-to-see secret items. This is somewhat frustrating because players must constantly rotate the background to move on.

Gameplay: 9.8/10

Breath of Fire IV features a battle system of 6 characters; 3 of them in the front row being active and 3 of them in the back row being inactive. You use all 6 characters throughout the game. You can switch back and forth between the 6 characters. Each time a character is inactive, their AP restores making the battles better. In battles, you can Attack, do Special abilities, Use Items, and Guard. Guarding allows you to defend and learn enemies' abilities. Breath of Fire IV has a new combo attack system which allows players to do combos that can do massive damage. Combining spells will produce 2-hit+ combos. These can do up to 8,000 damage! Breath of Fire IV also has minigames such as the Fish-Catching game from it's prequels. In Breath of Fire IV, the Master System is improved from Breath of Fire III. You can now have more than 1 Master and Master's give you better skills. The map system is pretty crappy. Instead of freely moving, you can only move from place to place like those of in tactic games. Breath of Fire IV also lets you camp. You can use an Aurum (like a skill ink) to change skills when camping, along with saving, resting, and see your Master info. Best of all, you can turn into Dragons that look really awesome! With all the minigames and side quests, Breath of Fire IV is more than enough to satisfy your gaming needs.

Music/Sounds: 8.6/10

The music isn't that great but still cool, I liked Breath of Fire III's more. The music sounds like a mix of cool sounds. Besides, music doesn't make up a game but really adds mood into it. The dialogue and speech is OK and the sound effects are awesome. The sound effects sound real from the yelling and dashing effects to the slashing clash of destroying your enemy. Therefore, the music/sound rating is a little above average.

To buy or rent? That is the question.

Well, if you like the Final Fantasy series, you should rent this one. Breath of Fire series are a total different aspect. Unless like the Active Time Battles featured in Final Fantasies, Breath of Fire IV is plain. I bought the game on the first day it came out because Breath of Fire series are awesome to me. So, if you really want a game that won't disappoint you, I suggest buying this. Unless, you have never played any of Capcom's RPGs, then rent this.

Total Rating: 9.4/10 rounded to a HIGH 9/10

And that concludes my review.

[ Story: 9.6/10 - Graphics: 9.5/10 - Gameplay: 9.8/10 - Music/Sounds: 8.6/10 - Total Rating Rounded: 9/10 ]

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/00, Updated 12/02/00