Memory Lane has Fairies and Dragons!
Straight to the point: What an RPG! This is one of the classics of the Playstation and if you missed it, get it now and play through it (Especially with emulators being so easy to come by). You won’t have wasted your time. Capcom did a great job here. It’s just a shame the series descended into the calamity that was Breath of Fire V.
The Plot
Ryu is a young, rather mute boy with a mass of childish blue hair that very much looks like a turban. Looking like that fossilized mosquito from Jurassic Park, he is dug out from a long drawn out slumber and set to a very rude awakening via explosive force.
As you can imagine, Ryu, in his cutest dragon form, is a very p****ed off reptilian monster. Wouldn’t you be after dynamite woke you up from a well deserved lay in?
After fighting your way out of several encounters to escape the mine, you are knocked out, stashed into a crate and sent off on a train to only lord knows where. After escaping the cage by having some sort of dragon-like epileptic fit, Ryu transforms into a naked boy and is rescued by a teenager who saves the mutating dragon-boy from inevitable nomming by savage wild dogs.
From here the story takes off, taking the player on a whirlwind of an emotional storyline set to keep you entertained for long, long hours. It has to be the first game I’ve played that made me wish I didn’t have to kill a boss and claim all those post-battle goodies.
It was only defending its cubs, damn it!
The plot takes many twists and turns. It may take a long time to get there, but you watch the characters grow to maturity and feel like you’ve watched a true epic go by.
The Game
The game is typical of the RPG’s around that time. It follows the trend of turn based combat, each combatants getting a chance to whack each other with assortments of weaponry and flashy assortments of magic.
It’s an easy game to get hooked into. Beware though, for it hailed from an era of RPG’s that were full of brutal merciless creatures. There is no leash to drag you through like so many easy games of late. I found some of the random encounters more difficult than the actual bosses, which left the party crippled when it came to actually fighting boss battles.
The graphics are isometric with the ability to shift it about. Many an item is hidden around corners and can only be found this way! But what can you expect of a game from 1997? This is when Cloud and Sephiroth’s brick hands were the epitome of top end graphics. There is also a distinct anime feel permeating the entirety of the game and the childish chibi look doesn’t look a miss, even in combat.
There are several unique systems that make Breath of Fire 3 differ from its RPG siblings. First of all is the Master system. Every character can take a Master, granting it different stat progression of level up. Want Ryu to be more of a Wizard? Sure, just head on over to one of the many hidden Masters. These mysterious NPC’s come in all shapes and sizes (One even being a giant tree), and can also teach various abilities and spells after reaching specific prerequisites.
Secondly, the Gene aspect really stands out. I mentioned Ryu is a mutating dragon –thing— right? Technically called the Brood, but whatever. Well as you progress through the plot you garner lost parts of the characters historical heritage: The genes of ancient dragons.
Mixing these genes together, the player can create a rather broad spectrum of different dragons, even merging with other characters to summon forth truly unique characters.
Then there are the Fairies. Ryu and Co save a colony of starved pink, crazy glitter flies from a homicidal shark. Afterward, the player can build up the Fairy town which leads to obtaining several items and your own personal shopping center to visit.
To compliment game play the sound effects are ridiculously cute when most of the characters are still youngsters. The soundtrack has a jazz inspired motif that just fits with the milieu.
Conclusion
Despite some really difficult encounters and several dungeon trawls through complicated environments, Breath of Fire 3 was and still is a very enjoyable experience. I spent over 50 hours replaying it and didn’t regret a moment. The graphics do not pull you away from the game play. The storyline is emotional and fulfilling. The mini-games were fun and the characters interesting. If you missed this classic, you know what you gotta do!
