Breath of Fire III for PlayStation 1
- ESRB Descriptor: Suggestive Themes
- ESRB Rating: T - (Teen)
- Publisher: Capcom
- Genre: Role-Playing
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Old School RPG Fun
Pros
familiar game and characters
Cons
huge AP use, unbalanced characters
Recommended it?
Yes
The Breath of Fire series has become one of my favorite RPGs in recent years. Having finished 1, 2, and 3, and now on the last leg of 4, Breath of Fire has become like a dear friend. Some would criticize the series for having characters that span games (Ryu and Nina specifically) and for not having the flashy graphics of some of the newer games; but in doing so they miss the whole fun of the series.
Breath of Fire 3 starts you out with young Ryu who's just been awoken from being trapped in chrysm ore. He is taken in by Rei and Teepo as an orphan, but what starts out as a few raids around the country side ends up as a journey around the world to find out about Ryu's past and why the dragon clan was nearly wiped out. The story line is familiar, yet is still engaging. I would have liked more character development as many of the characters seem as if they'd have some very interesting backgrounds (Teepo is a good example of this...). Getting to play as Ryu in his childhood is fun, but I would have liked to spend alot less time as a kid.
Graphic and sound-wise is solid. Sure, no ground breaking 3D modeled characters are present, but this is an old school RPG, remember? The characters and monsters are well drawn and animated. The dungeons, towns, and buildings are 3D and can be rotated to give you a better view of things that may be hidden. The sound is good with some catchy tunes (especially the boss music) and the character voices in battle are funny. I'm glad they left the voices in Japanese, as it adds a really neat touch to the game.
The thing I guess most people complain about is the game play itself. While it's pretty solid, there are some issues with it that can make it a rather frustrating experience sometimes. You can only have 3 characters in battle. While this is also true in 4, the characters you don't use never level up until you use them. This can be frustrating when you absolutely HAVE to have a certain set of characters in your party and you've spent no time leveling those characters because they're not your favorites, so you either have to spend time leveling them up or get your tails beat trying to go through the scenario that requires those characters (the plant level is a good example). Also, the characters feel unbalanced. While the dragon gene system is a hoot to experiment with, it's hindered by the huge amounts of AP that it takes per round to maintain the your draconic form. The fact that Ryu was delegated as the primary healer for some strange reason doesn't serve to help matters. If there were more items available for regaining your AP (in a reasonable amount since you need so much), then this wouldn't be so bad.
Even with these problems, the game is still very enjoyable and fans of the series should add this one to their library. As a side note, here's a recommendation on the dragon form I chose for the final battle. Tiamat, I found, was a good choice with lower AP consumption than Kaiser (especially the second controllable form), resistance to any status changing spells (like venom), and since it replaces your party, they're saved from damage while you pound away on Myria. Don't use the breath attack while in this form, since it's damage is altered by your HP (which will be slowly dwindling as Myria unloads on you).
Breath of Fire 3 starts you out with young Ryu who's just been awoken from being trapped in chrysm ore. He is taken in by Rei and Teepo as an orphan, but what starts out as a few raids around the country side ends up as a journey around the world to find out about Ryu's past and why the dragon clan was nearly wiped out. The story line is familiar, yet is still engaging. I would have liked more character development as many of the characters seem as if they'd have some very interesting backgrounds (Teepo is a good example of this...). Getting to play as Ryu in his childhood is fun, but I would have liked to spend alot less time as a kid.
Graphic and sound-wise is solid. Sure, no ground breaking 3D modeled characters are present, but this is an old school RPG, remember? The characters and monsters are well drawn and animated. The dungeons, towns, and buildings are 3D and can be rotated to give you a better view of things that may be hidden. The sound is good with some catchy tunes (especially the boss music) and the character voices in battle are funny. I'm glad they left the voices in Japanese, as it adds a really neat touch to the game.
The thing I guess most people complain about is the game play itself. While it's pretty solid, there are some issues with it that can make it a rather frustrating experience sometimes. You can only have 3 characters in battle. While this is also true in 4, the characters you don't use never level up until you use them. This can be frustrating when you absolutely HAVE to have a certain set of characters in your party and you've spent no time leveling those characters because they're not your favorites, so you either have to spend time leveling them up or get your tails beat trying to go through the scenario that requires those characters (the plant level is a good example). Also, the characters feel unbalanced. While the dragon gene system is a hoot to experiment with, it's hindered by the huge amounts of AP that it takes per round to maintain the your draconic form. The fact that Ryu was delegated as the primary healer for some strange reason doesn't serve to help matters. If there were more items available for regaining your AP (in a reasonable amount since you need so much), then this wouldn't be so bad.
Even with these problems, the game is still very enjoyable and fans of the series should add this one to their library. As a side note, here's a recommendation on the dragon form I chose for the final battle. Tiamat, I found, was a good choice with lower AP consumption than Kaiser (especially the second controllable form), resistance to any status changing spells (like venom), and since it replaces your party, they're saved from damage while you pound away on Myria. Don't use the breath attack while in this form, since it's damage is altered by your HP (which will be slowly dwindling as Myria unloads on you).
