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The Fourth Installment

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: February 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ah, the Fourth installment of the Breath of Fire series. It's finally here, BUT...! Was it worth the wait?

I had been waiting for this game for a long time. So when I was waltzing through my local Blockbuster Video, I saw it, and the next thing I knew it was in my hands. After paying the rent fee, I sped home and threw it in my Playstation without glancing at the instructions. Here's what I thought of it.

First, this game is about Ryu, who once again, can transform into dragons. He's trying to figure out who he is, yet again. The story first involves a search for Nina's sister, but then it soon evolves into something much greater, involving Nina, Ryu, Ershin (A strange woman who wears armor), Scias (A mercenary who was hired to watch over the party), Cray (The leader of the Woren Tribe (AKA Cat People) and Nina's companion), Ursula (A woman toting a magic gun), and Fou-Lu (An emperor that has risen from the dead).

When I saw the anime intro, I was expecting it to be in english, but Capcom needed to put more work in it. They shouldn've translated it! The title screen was almost completely japanese as well and I was afraid I had somehow gotten an import copy. After that, much to my relief, the language was completely english. The 3D enviornments were horrible, as I noticed when watching the opening. The sprite cahracters, however, were perfectly drawn. The battle effects were nice, except for a bit of pixelation in some spell effects. The camera angles were frustrating as well. Overall, the graphics needed a small tune-up.

The music was GREAT! I was expecting repetitive songs and other things like that, but I got a surprise when I heard the musical score. The battle theme was good (Both Ryu and Fou-Lu battle themes), the victory theme was good, same with the boss theme. The world map theme, however, needed a boost. The minigame theme was one of the only musics that got repetitive. But we need a translation! caughanimecenimacaugh. Other than that, the music overall was perfect for the game.

The controls were a tad frustrating. The akward camera angles left me searching for the place to find Sandflier parts for at least half an hour. We need a free-following camera! The other controls are fine, just positioning yourself can be frustrating. It can be hard to get yourself jst right so you can get that item or read that sign. Battle controls are simple, yet effecive. It's easy to choose what spell to cast or who to attack. It's alse simple to switch party members from the front to back rows. The world map controls are simple because there are only a few things to do on it. Overall, the controls could be a lot better in this game.

Ah, the gameplay review. The storylne is greatfrom beginning to end. The combat system is ingenious, leaving the option to learn advanced abilities from enemies. Only isntead of a completely different command to learn abilities, the game usus the "Defend" command to both reduce damage AND learn abilities. The out-of-battle abilities are simple, yet effective. For example, Nina can fly up and look around so you can see everything that's around. Overall, this game was worth the wait and should land itself in any RPG player's collection. While not quite as good as BoF2 in storyline, it surpasses BoF3 in almost any way.

RATINGS (Out of 5)
Graphics- 4.0
Sound- 4.5
Control- 4.0

Overall Gameplay- 5.0

A huge leap from previous games in the series

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: February 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Every aspect of this game was improved a truckload since BoF 3...namely, playing the game isn't painful anymore. I'm a huge fan of the series (played it since the first, loved them all, even if after 2 hours or so the game got repetetive), but this game still lacks in several ways.

1) Control is...less than stellar. Poor camera angles, rigid movement (8 principle directions, not free range like FF series games), and awkward speed changes make it hard to move exactly where you need to be to read that dang sign.

2) Graphics - The sprite animation is incredible, but the 3d graphics this game posesses just hurt my feelings. If Square can make leaps and bounds, you can too, Capcom!

3) Fishing - Capcom made this way too hard in this game. They kinda perfected the system in BOF3 and then decided to butcher it again for 4, I suppose.

On the bright side, the game has several plusses:

1) All the mini games are really fun, worth your time, and actually beneficial towards the flow of the game. Thank God.

2) The music and plot get increasingly more complex, linear, and sensical as the series progresses.

3) YOU CAN SKIP THE ANIMATION SEQUENCES FOR LONG SPELLS! Square, take notes! This makes the game SO much less painful to play.

Keep Them Coming Guys.........They just keep Getting BETTER!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 15
Date: January 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have to stop and give Capcom another round of applause, because they did it again. I thought after playing Breath Of Fire III, that the series couldn't get any better. I was wrong. As soon as I started to play Breath Of Fire(BOF) IV, I was reminded of XENOGEARS. Another RPG for the PS1, but made by Squaresoft. I absolutely loved that game. The only thing that I didn't really like about XENOGEARS, was the fact that the main character was a big wimp. This game puts into effect the XENOGEARS feel, but they put into place an awesome Main Character. It's hard to put into words how great a game like this can be, except my recommendation for you is to somehow play this game. Of course with how this game was introduced to the United States, it won't have as many copies sold as BOF III, becasue It isn't being mass produced in the same manner. It's too bad actually. But please, if you enjoy playing RPG's, or just like to play great games. PLAY IT!!! You will NOT be disapointed.

My favorite RPG for over a year.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Yes, this game has stayed my favorite in the year I've had it, though I only got the idea in my head to write this review now.

Quite simply put, this game is marvelous. It may have sub-Square graphics and the controls may annoy some at times, but it has everything else an RPG needs, and in abundance. These aren't going to be in any particular order.

1. Dragons: Dragons are wonderful. Most RPGs still only involve them as monsters to defeat, or just someting you ride around. Here, you *are* the dragon. (Yes, I know that's technically a spoiler, but if you can't figure out that Ryu is a dragon before you even open the game, that's sad.) The other dragons in the game are more than just mindless tools, as well. Capcom also wasn't afraid to give each dragon their own completely unique design.

2. Soundtrack: The soundtrack for this game is nothing short of phenomenal. Every last track fits perfectly with the setting it's used in, blending in perfectly as if the scenery itself created the music. But most of the tracks are also excellent to listen to by themselves, particularly the opening track and the main theme, Endings and Beginnings. If you can, I'd recommend finding an import of the OST.

3. The opening itself: Beautiful sequence with beautiful music, and beautiful voices. To everybody who thinks Capcom should have translated the voice acting, I say NO! Subtitles might have been helpful, but even if you could find good enough American voice actors, their voices just wouldn't... fit. The opening is very Japanese, and English dialogue would have simply shattered the mood. Besides, nobody can compare to Ryu and Fou-Lu's voice actor.

4. Story: Everybody who's said there is anything unoriginal about the storyline has no idea what they're talking about. Without giving too much of the plot away, this game is a captivating story about finding who you are, and reconciling deep hatred you bear. Through the Ryu/Fou-Lu plot switches, the game shows how subtle differences in circumstances can make a world of difference in how a person turns out. For this reason, I also disagree with those who dismiss the side quests as distractions from the story. The side quests *are* the story. This game isn't about some grand hero who's destined to save the world. This game is about it's characters, which brings me to...

5. Characters: It beomes obvious quite quickly that this game differs from the others in the series in it's efforts to make every character important. Even though Ryu is still the main character, he in no way takes all of the focus of the game. Nina serves as the narrator in this game, and in fact is the first character you meet, not Ryu. Fou-Lu has his whole story of his own ordeals. Every single character makes a contribution to the whole, forming an exquisite tapestry. Every character seems like they could be a real person, and there are several moments in the game that are just the most touching scenes I've ever seen in a game, with the possible exception of Breath of Fire II.

6. Miscellaneous: Minigames are great. I've spent entire days just fishing, trying to get whales. (I managed to get 2.) Battle system is excellent. The inclusion of all the characters in the battle is also an indication of how important each and every one of them is. Both the skills system and the combo magic system are easy to learn, and quite useful. (And the skill system is a vast improvement over the one in III.) As has been mentioned countless times, YOU CAN SKIP THE SUMMON SEQUENCES! YES! Of course, who could forget the fairy village? Not only are the little creatures extremely amusing, but they can be incredibly useful at times as well.

This game is competely worth whatever you may have to pay for it.

Still room for improvement

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: December 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Breath of Fire 4 is a remarkably good game, having improved vastly on BOF3, by having better music, and definately better Dragon summoning sequences, and the Anime intro is colorful and really well done. Another new feature is a 'combo' system when you pile together magic and special attacks and sometimes they combine, or do additional dammage, or have added effects etc. So, what could bad about this game? The control is absolutely horrible! Although the RPG is fully 3D, the control makes the character movement jerky because the controller seems to only want to move the character in 4 directions. This can become frustrating fast. Also, the Camera angles are probably the worst possible. A lot of times, the player's vision is obstructed even in towns, and although the camera can be rotated sometimes, it can only move to fixed angles (90, 180, 270) which generally doesn't help out at all. But with only those flaws, BOF4 is still a worthwhile game to get, hopefully CAPCOM will fix these mistakes for BOF5.

Excellent Game, A Must Buy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

While having only played the first game for SNES, I found this game to be pretty darn good. An incredible opening sequence, interesting storyline (though it did have a tendancy to dry up from time to time), decent game play, good control, and while being a more a fan of the Final Fantasy series I find this to be an all around good RPG. I'll say it definately inspires me to check out the previous two. As for those who say the control sucks, buy an analog controller. It is what I used and I didn't have any problems

Improves with Age...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

When I bought BOF IV on its release, I was thoroughly unimpressed with the simple plot and rather poor graphics.

However, being (as I am) temporarily broke, with the prospect of any new PS 2 games being but a distant horizon-blip, I decided to give it another go, and I have to say, I am delighted I did.

BOF IV is not a game about technical bedazzlement or complicated quests with much philosophising. It is not a Final Fantasy game! Nor, in fifteen years' time, will it be remembered as a Classic, like the FInal Fantasies. But it's still an excellent homage to the early days of RPGs like Shining Wisdom, the original Zelda, and The Legend of Oasis games.

Briefly, the plot: Cray and Princess Nina are investigating the disappearance of Nina's sister Elina, when they run across Ryu, a strange boy with no past and no direction. Their quest to find Elina and give Ryu a life takes them across several continents, accumulating a cast of memorable characters and unravelling a plot that involves Dragons, Civil War and theological Entities.

What I am most impressed with is the simplicity and clarity with which BOF IV plays. Stylishly retro, the graphics are actually rather good - with more frames of animation and bigger, brighter characters than before - and some lovely spell effects. Everything is drawn in real-time, and the option to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees compensates much for the lousy camera angles one often runs across.

The control system, too, is very easy to get to grips with and user-friendly - spells and abilities are learned and interchangeable - and the Combo system is a nice, innovative touch.

The characters are decent, well-thought out personalities, but lack diversity. So far, so good.

Sadly, BOF IV, like Onimusha after it, is just a little too far entrenched on the side of 'mundane' to be a truly memorable classic. It does take a good three or four hours of play time before the plot and characterisation picks up and by this time, you may well be unable to forgive the game its rather uninspiring opening. Similarly confusing, and dull, are the playable early sections starring Fou-Lu, the Laguna Loire to Ryo's Squall. Like the rest of the game, thankfully, these sections get progressively better, and by the end, you'll have formed an affectionate attachment to BOF IV.

All in all, an excellent little title with one or two sadly fatal flaws that keep it from being a Classic, BOF IV is a definite reccommendation if you can get it cheap...

My take: better than BOF 3

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Many have said that this game is not as good as BOF 3. I must part ways with that opinion. There are two things that I liked more in Breath of Fire 3:
-More Dragon forms and variations were in 3; however each Dragon form in this game (4) has more than a handful of abilities. Each Dragon form in this game has about six or seven unique abilities. Also, the Dragons each have a spell that is like a summon; this is a neat angle for those who enjoy Final Fantasy spells like Ramuh and Titan.
- Overall I like fishing in this game better; however there is a tendency for a fish to get "hung up." This happens fairly rarely though.

Now, the ways in which this game is better:
-There are more skills for your party to learn, and a new combo system. I came up with an 82 hit combo! There is a tactical challenge in this game that is far greater. There are twelve masters, and there is some freedom with how you develop the characters' stats. Also, there is more diversity in creating combos.
-This game is broken into four chapters, and the last two allow for less linear gameplay and storylines. You must search for the Dragons around the world.
-The benefits of doing the Fairie village may be better in 3, but the village sidequest in 4 is more accessible. It is easier to understand what you need to do.
-The graphics are better in this game, more detailed and there are some good special moves animation.
-The music is awesome! I like the boss music, the dungeons have some good music, really the music is great in creating the right attitude: For instance, a song with a creepy feeling when you are investigating in caves, or a light hearted tune in the fairie village, the music is well chosen and prepared.

I really enjoyed this breath of fire. I believe that 3 was good, 4 was really good, and Dragon Quarter was totally awesome (the BOF for Playstation 2). Each Breath of Fire seems to get better and better. I can't wait for the next one!

Best Breath Of Fire!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: January 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

When I first heard of this game I was skeptic at first, this is because I had beaten all the other BOF games and those were okay, some of them kinda boring (3) but I was wrong! This game is amazing, one of the best RPG's on the playstation. This game is for people who like their rpgs simple but have certain quirks, like the fishing game, which you can use a special fishing rod control, and learning the enemys ablities. Also the plot and the characters rule, to the silent Scias to the funny robot thing, Ershin. The plot is great too, going between two different dragons. Buy this game right now, but, after you beat Final Fantsy IX ^_^

A typical sequal...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: March 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I would like to start off by saying that I loved Breath of Fire III and was excited to hear about the newest installment. I rushed out to buy it. I was expecting cool dragons, great game play and best of all....ANIME! I was VERY suprised to find that there is only one anime sequence in the opening...and it's in Japanese..... One strike. The control , I couldn't navigate very well even by the end of the game. Fishing was REAL bad this time around. There is no way to see fish, you can get snagged very easily and the fish have no real health meter (which means it takes 5 minutes to reel in a dam* jellyfish). BADDD fairy village BADDD, tedious and not worth the effort..BADDD. The fight system is just like the last, the characters can learn abilities from masters or by watching enemies perform them. Nothing new. That's two strikes. The redeeming quality of this game was the character design and background art. The scenes for some of the towns are done in futal Japan style...I loved it. There is also a hint of Japanese tradition and custom in many of the Fu Empire cites...I loved it. And yes, the dragons were uber cool. The story was better than some, but not extraordinary...it involved the nature of humanity toward gods and the such. It was nice, but not that nice...

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