Breath of Fire 3

Breath of Fire 3

BoF 3 was a good game that I played about a month before school started. I had seen pics of the game about 1 1/2           yearsbefore the game was actually released in the States, and when I first saw it looked AWESOME! But, with the release of many other excellent RPG’s, and BoF3 being delayed, it took some of the steam out of the game(for me at least).

The graphics are a very nice combination of sprite characters and fully polygonal backgrounds. The graphics are VERY detailed and colorful, making other RPG’s look dark and drab compared to BoF3’s. The sprites are some of the best I’ve seen on the PlayStation, because of their color, detail, and smoothness. The polygonal backgrounds arent quite as good, with cheap tricks such as trees having flat branches(rotate the camera in a forest and you’ll see what I mean) but they are still pretty nice. Quite excellent spell effects are the icing on the cake! Capcom did a solid job in the Graphics department! Reckonize!!!

On the flip side, Capcom did a terrible job the music department. Elevator tunes, with a slight hint of Jazz make up the BoF3 soundtrack...Yuck! I’ve read that the music style is called "Muzak", I’ve never heard of it before, but now I know to run when I hear that style of music..... The music isn’t downright horrible, but its just so....out of place in an RPG! RPG’s should have an epic soundtrack, one that will at least put you in the mood of the game. While they did a pretty bad job on the music, the sound effects are great. Cool Japanese voices throughout the battles along with appropriate fighting sound effects make me move the SOUND score up 1 point, but its still not enough.......

Capcom really impressed me with the story! It was detailed, moved at a nice pace, and had surprisingly in-depth characters. If you have played the previous BoF’s, then you know the backstory. You are Ryu, one of the last dragons left. Ryu is found in a mine, apparently sleeping or something, and the fearful miners along with a fearful baby dragon, arent a good combination....Ryu is eventually captured and sent on a train to who knows where, but breaks free and escapes into a forest. A thief named Rei who is hunting for food finds Ryu and takes him in. Ryu cant remember any of his past, which helps keep you motivated to play until you learn all there is to know about Ryu’s mysterious agenda and why the dragons disappeared. Anyhoo, Rei shows Ryu a fellow "orphan"(this is what he assumes Ryu is) by the name of Teepo. The strange thing is Teepo knows Ryu’s name before he even tells him....Interesting, considered the strange dreams Ryu has after he meets Teepo....Hmmm.....This is the kinda story that holds you until the end! I love BoF3’s story, characters, and rich personalities.....I hope Capcom makes sure they use the same people who made BoF3 as they do on BoF 4(whenever that comes out), because the story is the one part they went above and beyond the call of duty.

The battle system is almost exactly the same as the previous BoF’s, which is a double edged sword, at best. Its a cinch to learn and any RPGamer shouldn’t have any trouble with it. The command interface is almost a direct copy off of the Lufia series, with a + sign being the interface....(Wild ARMS also copied off this interface, so if you see it again, remember who made it first! Lufia!!! Respect!!!) Theres also a Master system that teaches you techniques after you gain a level, kinda like the materia system. This adds some depth...Yawn.....Nothing new or exciting here, just plain turn based battles. Oh, but you get to turn into a Dragon! oooooh! You could do that in all the previous BoF’s, but I guess its still pretty cool, since its the only game(that I know of) that allows you to do that! There is no innovation whatsoever.......except for the mini games( read below), and an interesting "training" session..... The mini games are great!!! Imagine: A fairy village, under your direct control....Choose which fairy would be the best at that certain job, and if you choose wisely, you will be rewarded, handsomely....(the...power!)..Imagine: A fishing mini-game so realistic, so revolutionary, that its so much like real fishing that....Wait a min! This fishing game isn’t realistic at all! In fact, you just cast where the fish is and it bites(if it likes the bait)! But thats what makes it so fun, is because its action packed fishing! Its also a very big fishing mini-game, with about 25 diff types of fish! If only it was dual-shock compatible......sigh. Anyhoo, this game has some excellent extras, which is good because you wont be bored at the end of the game! Imagine: A cunning young man, awesome at RPG’s, with the ability to write reviews(good)! Wait! This is not your imagination...he exists! And he is writing what you are reading as we speak! teehee! The presentation is captivating, IF you wait a little while after the BoF3 logo shows up.....In the VERY beginning it just shows some painting on the wall with the people from previous BoF’s fighting the Final boss.....But, after the logo, it shows the miners discussing if they should dig up the baby dragon, and the narrator telling the history of the Dragons, leading up to their sad demise....And, at the end, after a long silence, it says : "This story is dedicated to the Dragons"......Cool!!!!!! You’d just have to see it to understand...... BoF3 is very long, as the rest of the series is, and as all RPG’s should be. It took me about 50 solid hours to finish this game, with fishing!

BoF3’s gameplay is very enjoyable and I could tell Capcom worked hard on this one. The slight slowdown in battles(mainly due to the sheer number of animation’s!) and terrible frequency of random battles (about every 5 sec!) may turn off some RPG newbies, but to us veteran RPGamers, its only minor probs. An engrossing story, great graphics, and a lot of play time make this a great RPG. Its not groundbreaking, but its not your average run of the mill RPG either.....I guess the intro sums it up: "This story is dedicated to the Dragons".....C’mon, play this game for the Dragons, because, as we all know, Dragons are just downright cool! Reckonize!!!

Graphics 9.5
Sound 6.5
Battle System 8
Extras 9.5
Presentation 9.5
Depth 10.
Gameplay 9.5
Reviewers Tilt 9
Story 10
Total Score 9.1


Ice Man Ash's Reviews
Breath of Fire 3 Reviews


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