Breath of Fire III

"The only black sheep in the series........"

When I first looked at this game on the shelves at KB Toys, I stayed there for about a half an hour in awe back in '98. So long had I waited for a sequel to Breath of fire II. Little did I know that great disappointment was just around the corner.... I thought,'' Alright It's finally here!'', but nay, looks can be decieving.


Story: 7/10 - ''oh, how original'', This has only been the story of both BoFs in the past! About a kid named Ryu (no relation to ken) who finds out later on that he is a member of the ancient ''Dragon Clan'', people with imense power that could turn into dragons. He finds out about a maniacle demon of death that threatens humanity- or in this game, cat people, midgets, and people with wings! It is your duty as the last survivor of this ancient race to save the world, and I state again, ''oh, how original''.


Graphics: 10/10 - The graphics are nothing short of spectacular. They used sprites in a background similar to that of grandia, except you're limited to small camera movement. No real blockeyness (is that a word?) when the camera zooms in to the sprite characters. The spell efects are cool, especially the fire attack: simoon. The battles are all 3D too, except for the characters.


Gameplay: 8/10 - The battle system is the same as it's always been. No suprises here. The one thing that caught my eye was the way to turn yourself into a dragon once you reached a certain part in the game. You could collect items that would modify the type you turn into. A fire emblem with a defense emblem fused, would turn you into an adult dragon with fire-based attacks, for example. There are also basic emblems that turn you into a kid dragon as well. The spells are weird. Ex: simoon, what the heck does that mean anyway?? But they are powerful, very powerful!


Sound/music: 6/10 - This is where I was REALLY disappointed. Remember the world map theme from BoF 1 and 2? It's long gone in this game. My favorite theme was the first world map theme in breath of fire 1. the map themes change throuout the game. This same theme was the second world mape theme in Breath of fire 2, but way upgraded. I was hoping Capcom would use this awesome and inspiring theme in breath of fire 3, but hope was lost. The battle music was ok, but the boss music sucked. Whatever happened to the times when boss music could be classified as the best music in the game? Like FF4 and 6 for example. Even BoF 2's boss music was great. But my altime favorite boss music has to be Seiken Densetsu 3/ Secret of Mana 2's ''nuclear fusion''.


Replay value: 8/10 - The best part of the game has to be collecting species modification emblems. I always get different ones every time I play through. What I say is, ''who the hell cares about story once you've played it through once, huh?''


Overall: 7/10 - once again, the game itself was pretty good, I was always wanting, nay, yearning for better music. I tell ya, wit' RPGs, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC BABY!! So it was a sour disappointment to the BoF series.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/18/00, Updated 05/18/00