Breath of Fire IV - (PS1) PlayStation 1 [Pre-Owned]

Product Description

Product description Breath of Fire IV is a single-player game that continues the story with these "dragon people," who gave their lives to eradicate the evil goddess and restore peace in their world. This time around, battle has broken out between two powerful continents, and the fair Princess Elena has disappeared during a tour of the war-torn region. The princess's sister, Nina, who reigns o'er the Windia Kingdom, vows to retrieve her missing sibling. She meets Ryu along the way, who joins the epic quest Amazon.com You don't have to be a hard-core gamer to notice that innumerable--not to mention impressive--role-playing games (RPGs) have been released for the Sony PlayStation. Although the fourth installment in the Breath of Fire series is a fine RPG, it's doesn't quite hold a flame to the best of the aforementioned alternatives.Breath of Fire IV is a single-player game that continues the story with these "dragon people," who gave their lives to eradicate the evil goddess and restore peace in their world. This time around, battle has broken out between two powerful continents, and the fair Princess Elena has disappeared during a tour of the war-torn region. The princess's sister, Nina, who reigns o'er the Windia Kingdom, vows to retrieve her missing sibling. She meets Ryu along the way, who joins the epic quest.Breath of Fire IV's gameplay is refreshingly simple, with only a few minor additions to its predecessor's battle system. Most noticeably, a new combo system lets spells dish out more damage than when cast alone, by working in conjunction with other spells. As before, Ryu can transform into a dragon or hybrid half-human, half-dragon creature to gain special attack powers. The party will pick up other drifters throughout the game, some of whom have the power to transform. Each town opens up a new set of subquests and minigames (yup--there's another fishing game here, folks), both of which add longevity and replayability to Breath of Fire IV, although not everyone will appreciate the mandatory nature of these diversions. Like many Japanese-bred RPGs, the musical score and crisp sound effects are excellent, but there is very little voice talent in the game. In all, Breath of Fire IV is a solid, although not fantastic, RPG. --Todd MowattPros:Solid story Effective battle system Extraordinary musical score Cons:Average graphics Sometimes-awkward control and camera angles P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review Let's face it, the Breath of Fire series has always been a pale imitation of the RPG mainstays, firmly built on the unchallenging foundations of mediocrity and predictability - until now. Breath of Fire IV spins and builds on its traditions while telling a more compelling story than before, making it easily the best of the series. Nina's sister, the princess of Windia, has disappeared. On Nina's journey to find her sister, Nina discovers Ryu, a mysterious and silent boy with the power of the dragon. Together they set out on a globe-spanning quest to find the missing princess. Meanwhile, the vengeful Emperor Fou-lu is resurrected and seeks to reclaim the throne he lost 500 years prior. Nina and Ryu's quest ultimately crosses with Fou-lu's own, once again fulfilling the Legend of the Dragons. On their way, Nina and Ryu will collect the typically bizarre menagerie of characters - a fist-shooting robot, a well-muscled tiger-man, and an ever-protective samurai dog, for example. The game maintains some of the series' personal side quests and silly diversions, but Breath of Fire IV's largely political story takes place in a more fleshed-out and serious world than do previous offerings. New to the Breath of Fire traditions are an improved battle system and a new combo system. Like Square's Chrono Cross, Capcom has smudged the definition of battle turns, letting you command your characters to attack in any order they choose. While only three characters can be directly involved in the battle, additional party members can be switched in whenever needed to further build your complement of attack possibilities. Additionally, resting characters will regain temporary ability points and provide occasional backup, lending the battle system some interesting strategic ramifications. The coolest new feature, however, is the combo system. Certain spells can be chained together to create more-powerful spells - follow up the earthquake-inducing Burei spell with the fire spell, Pam, and the two will combine to form Grieve, a ground-splitting volcanic attack. While combo potions are limited early in the game, more and more will become available as you progress. As noted before, many of the Breath of Fire traditions return. Ryu can of course transform into a number of dragon forms, and the party can learn a variety of new skills and attacks by analyzing those of their enemies. Each of your characters can once again apprentice under a variety of masters, providing you with additional stat boosts at level up. Unlike before, new skills are conferred by masters after reaching specified combo goals - chain enough hits together or inflict enough damage with a combo, and you'll be rewarded with a new attack. Finally, medals let you swap learned abilities between your characters for greater customization. Breath of Fire IV's biggest drawback is its obsession with silly minigames. While the standard (and welcome) fishing game is back, too many events are marred by silly minigames. Want information out of the old man? Play the "feeding the old man" minigame. Want to save Nina from a lecherous frog captain? Stack boxes in the "stack boxes on the boat crane" minigame. While the intention is understandable, Capcom has used these little gimmicks too often, cheapening them and breaking up what is otherwise a solid RPG. Like the series' other PlayStation installment, Breath of Fire IV mixes 2D sprites and polygons. Both the 2D and 3D aspects of the graphics have been improved on considerably, sporting more frames of animation for the former and better textures for the latter. Breath of Fire IV also has a distinct style, something the third installment lacked in its 3D adolescence - from the town architecture to the skillful camera work, the game is surprisingly polished. Some of the game's bosses do make use of 3D, mostly to ill effect - the personality and detail found in the 2D sprites is missing, largely due to a dearth of polygons in the 3D models themselves. The game's sound is a result of improved efforts as well - sound effects and voices both add to the battle experience, and the game's music is mellow and catchy. If Breath of Fire IV is any indication, it seems that Capcom may have finally settled into the RPG groove it's coveted for so long. Skillful and interesting gameplay systems, graphical polish, and a solid story make Breath of Fire IV the RPG Capcom's been trying to make for years.--Peter Bartholow--Copyright © 2000 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpot Review