Breath of Fire is an RPG that will consume all your attention for its dwarf 10 hour length.
User Rating: 8 | Breath of Fire: Ryuu no Senshi GBA
I personally loved this game, having missed it back in the SNES hay days, I felt a hanker'n to try it out. Come to my surprise, the insane difficulty that its SNES counterpart was said to have was now extinct. I found myself playing through the game with some what of an ease, though there were a couple parts that had me stumped for about 10 to 15 minutes, but nothing too serious. I had even wondered why they called the game Breath of Fire for a moment, until I went back and discovered that I had totally skipped over the part of the game where you can get the power to morph into a dragon during battles. Even without this main special attack, anyone can still trounce through the game like no tomorrow, even the last boss was some kind of a joke. The storyline is what makes the game as great as it is, having your home village burned to the ground from the get go really starts things off nicely...or badly, if you want to put it into perspective. Anyone can easily be consumed by the story's surprising moments, and the script's excellent execution. The battling system is your standard old school fair; you wait while I attack you, then you attack me while I wait. I loved the battles quite frankly, but if you're tired of this tried and true system, you'll be absolutely annoyed with this game, considering that you'll encounter many battles along the way. Breath of Fire delivers an overall appealing presentation filled with orchestrated tunes that do their part in completing the mood for each situation, though they aren't what you call over the top, there are some superb songs wedged into the game now and then. In the graphics department, you'll find some stale visuals come awkwardly onto the screen, but overall your face will light up with joy as you explore through the well detailed towns and landscapes packed into the game. However the battling effects will seem dull when compared to games like Golden Sun, but the affects offer their own graphic style that slides right into the game's overall bright, slightly anime-like visual layout. If your an old-schooler at heart, you'll enjoy what the game has to offer, but don't expect to be locked into your experience for long, because it'll be cut short. This is a perfect title for anyone looking for a start in the RPG genre, since it's generally forgiving and won't acquire a large attention span to complete.
