Product description
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Breath of Fire III is a role-playing video game developed and
published by Capcom originally for the PlayStation console as
part of the Breath of Fire series. It is the first game in the
franchise to feature three-dimensional graphics and voice acting.
The story takes place in a fantasy world where humans live
alongside anthropomorphic creatures, and centers the story on
Ryu, the last of The Brood (a race of people who can transform
into powerful dragons), as he searches the world to uncover the
mystery of his people and reunite with his surrogate family.
Ryu's journey takes him into adulthood where he is joined by a
number of other characters who aid him in his quest. Breath of
Fire III is notable as being one of the few RPGs that don't
feature a major villain in its story, only having minor ones for
some of the game's segments.
Review
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In most role-playing games, the player finds himself in the role
of an adventurer who, sooner or later, must meet and defeat a
fire-breathing dragon. But in a nice change of pace, Capcom's new
RPG Breath of Fire III allows you to be adventurer and dragon all
rolled into one.
You play Ryu (or whatever you want to call him - the game leaves
it up to you), the last of a race of beings who once sought to
rule the world. A dragon that appears in the form of a young boy
most of the time, Ryu travels the globe in a quest to reunite
with two friends. But as his journey unfolds, he uncovers the
truth behind their disappearances, as well as a larger plot of
unspeakable evil - one that only Ryu can stop.
RPG fans have heard this kind of story before, and in many
respects, they've played this game before. Breath of Fire III has
all the standard RPG trappings: the "you hit me, now I hit you"
combat engine, control over a multiple-character party, and a
number of smaller quests you have to accomplish along the way to
finishing the overall one. This is not necessarily a criticism.
Innovation is none too common in the world of RPGs, and even
"cutting-edge" examples such as Final Fantasy VII stay pretty
much within the narrow path beaten by their predecessors. But
Breath of Fire III does bring a few fresh offerings to the table,
such as its "examine" command, fishing minigame, masters'
apprenticeship, and, most notably, its dragon gene system.
The examine command is an option you can choose for any or all of
your characters during battle. It instructs them to watch their
enemies as they perform specialized attacks - and if they're
lucky, pick up the attack as their own, which often comes in
handy in later battles. Whenever you decide to visit a fishing
spot, a fishing minigame provides you with the chance to catch
different status-enhancing fish (eating a rainbow trout restores
magic points, blowfish cure poison, and so on). It's kind of fun
and doesn't take up too much time, making it pretty much like any
other minigame found in a RPG, but hey, it's fishing!
Apprenticing to one of the world's masters entails different
requirements for each master, such as providing a certain item,
money, or nothing at all, and pays off in status bonuses that
sometimes take away a few points from other areas as well. When
it comes down to it, it's just another way to build up your
characters, though the variety's nice.
The dragon gene system is one of the most notable features of the
title. Instead of just turning into one dragon, Ryu can become
every dragon by combining different dragon stones found
throughout the game. The more powerful the form he takes on, the
more magic points get sucked up each round of battle, and the
more quickly he reverts back to boyhood. The key is to find the
right balance of strength, breath attacks, and stamina. With 18
stones in all, you can spend a lot of time experimenting with
different combinations and effects.
Graphically, Breath of Fire III straddles the line between 2D and
3D, with sprite-based graphics in an isometric 3D environment.
The effect breathes some life, if not fire, into the traditional
RPG look, sort of like Konami's Suikoden with a greater feeling
of depth. It's an interesting attempt, but the style is a little
too cartoonish for my liking. The soundtrack is above average,
with a variety of tracks ranging from the expected epic style to
what's best summed up as "RPG lounge."
Not everything is right in fantasyland though, since the game has
a habit of forcing you through needless, time-wasting sequences.
Random encounters happen far too frequently in Breath of Fire
III, somewhere within the beat of every 30 seconds when in a
hostile environment. While you can often flee, this severely
inhibits your desire to explore your surroundings and gives the
game a Beyond the Beyond-like quality. Also, having to build
characters up inch by inch over hours of beating up weakling
monsters so that your party is strong enough to survive a big
fight can be extremely tedious and boring. While there are
certainly plenty of things to do in the game and it's quite long
in terms of the number of play hours, much of that time is less
enjoyable than it should be. If the examine command were a little
easier to pull off successfully and the frequency of random
encounters turned down a notch or two, many of these problems
would be solved.
Even with its handful of new features, Breath of Fire III breaks
little new ground. Die-hard RPG fans may find it entertaining,
but those looking for something new in this increasingly static
genre will come away disappointed. --Joe Fielder
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
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