Breath of Fire III

"Classic Nostalgia in Portable Form"

This review is for the PAL edition. I can't read Japanese, so its the obvious choice.

Ah Breath of Fire III. I loved this game when I was just getting into RPG's (I was about 13), and it still rocks today. This game is about Ryu, a descendant of the ancient Dragon Clan. His past is mysterious but throughout the game it becomes more and more clear. Just like the more modern Breath of Fire's, you start off naked. Just thought I'd add that.

Graphics
Basic 2d sprites. Theres nothing wrong with it but compared to Aletier Iris and Disgaea, they kinda loose their appeal. Its fine with me because I grew up with these kind of graphics, but newcomers might be a little sketchy on the topic.

Nothing wrong here. I love the art style.

Gameplay
Breath of Fire III is a turn based rpg with some unique additions to the battle system. First off there is the Dragon system, which allows you to create combinations of different dragon forms for Ryu to morph into during battle. Also, your party is able to use a "Blue Magic" type of system where they forfeit their attack in order to observe the enemy. If they use a skill unique to them during the observation phase, one of the members watching has a chance to learn it. It's an interesting system and allows you to learn some pretty cool skills and build hybrid characters. Only one character in the party can have a certain skill at a time, but once learned, the player can unequip them and put them in a skill journal for others to pick up on.

Everything else is RPG-like. The story is very good and full of plot twists. It was definitely one of the better stories written during the psx era. The only problem is it starts off a bit slow and seems too juvenile in the first four or so hours; after 5 hours in it gets good.

The only problem is that the save points are a little spaced out, which was fine for console gaming, but not for portable games. Its alright though, because you can always put your psp to sleep.

Sound
The soundtrack is pretty good. Nothing too memorable, but all in all it fits the style of the game. It's pleasant to listen to and you'll never feel the urge to turn it off, so it does it's job.

Replay
There isn't a whole lot of replay outside of the fact of playing the game over again for the fun of it and picking up stuff you missed. New to the psp version is a fishing minigame, but thats about it.

Take a very good story, cool characters, nice music and blend them together and the final result is this game. It is the better or, in my opinion, the best game in the BoF series, so definitely pick it up.

There is about a 1% chance it will get released stateside, so import. Its one of the better imports to get, so don't hesitate to pick this one up. It is a very, very good game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/18/06