Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter for PlayStation 2

I fondly remember playing Breath of Fire 3 and 4 for the original PlayStation system, and I picked up Dragon Quarter at a local Electronics Boutique store for pretty cheap. I had heard this title was worth looking it for its innovative twist of the typical RPG.

Story
This installment of the Breath of Fire series is set in the underground. Dragons once came to ravage the surface world, and because the world was presumably destroyed, the people were driven underground to survive. What has evolved over time is a caste-driven society, where the ruling Regents preside on the top layers of the underground and the poor unfortunate people (measured by D-ratios, or their potential for power) are in the deepest depths. As you go further underground, the architecture and the environment becomes increasingly polluted.

Legends speak of a "sky," not the painted ceilings of most underground towns.

Dragon Quarter begins with Ryu, a young Ranger assigned to guard duty to the lift of a nearby laboratory. He crosses paths with Nina, a little girl / prototype to combat pollution in the underground, and Lin, an adventurous Woren (ahem, the tail) who's part of the resistance movement against the Regents called Trinity. Ryu crosses path with the extinguished body of a mighty Dragon; the surviving soul "chooses" Ryu to thwart the Regents in their effort to contain people from reaching the surface. Ryu finds Nina after a successful siege by Lin, and they later team up with Lin to protect the girl. Simple enough.

Gameplay
Admittedly, Dragon Quarter provides one of the most innovative RPG gaming experiences I have encountered in quite some time. It operates much like an action-adventure flick. The camera follows Ryu closely in the third-person perspective as he navigates his way through various dungeon levels. A radar map on the lower right corner of the screen details the various turns and pathways on each floor.

Battles are fought through a tactical system called PETS -- forgive me for forgetting what that stands for, but it involves strategic position and various baits (i.e. attracts/repels enemies, cause damage, cause status effects) to weaken foes before encountering them. Hitting an enemy with your weapon will give that character the first turn in combat. Similarly, getting tagged will put you at a disadvantage.

The real trick of battle involves avoiding getting overrun by groups of monsters. Baits can isolate massive clusters of enemies into a manageable few targets at a time. Of course, if you're bad enough to take on a whole bunch of baddies at once, the game rewards you appropriately. In addition to earning battle XP, you earn an added percentage of points depending on how many baddies you take on at once, how well you fight, and how much damage you take. Characters earn XP through fighting while bonus XP accumulates in a separate pool.

Naturally, each character has specialties. Ryu is your strong fighter; Nina is a magic user (and probably the best character in the game); and Lin has an eccentric gun-fighting style. After defeating all the monsters on a given floor, you can pick up Treasure Keys to unlock chests that usually hold character skills. You can also steal skills from enemies in combat. You can "thread" these skills onto your weapons and shields, and the arrangement of various skills can create combos in battle.

Each character starts out with a set amount of AP which is expended through movement and attacks. You can end your turn prematurely, thus saving up to twice your max of AP points; or, you can let your foes have it. While AP involves a certain measure of strategy, in most cases, you can usually get away with thwacking your foes down.

Unleash the Dragon... not Sisqo, you idiot.
The gimmick of the game is Dragon Mode. After a certain point in the game, Ryu can transform into a Dragon in order to annihilate foes. Of course, it's with a catch. Once Ryu gains the Dragon power, a counter appears in the upper right corner that steadily increases. Walking around normally will only increase the meter by hundreths of a percent, whereas using Dragon powers in battle and D-Dashing (running around, dodging monsters with hyper speed) drastically increase your meter. Game instantly ends if you hit 100%, so you have to use this meter wisely.

Scenario Overlay
Scenario Overlay is a feature that activates once your game ends, whether you are defeated in battle or if you reach the 100% mark on the meter. Players may find themselves initially frustrated when permanent saves require Save Tokens -- fortunately, you'll encounter one every dungeon or two most often. If worse comes to worse, you'll have to start at your last save with some of your newly acquired party XP preserved or, you can be ballsy and start at the beginning with the whole amount of party XP.

The real "reward" of SOLs are the added cutscenes that play as you go through the adventure. Of course, at best, these are plot-related fragments that supplement the story. But, in all honesty, these few added scenes really don't relieve the frustration of making it more than halfway through the game only to repeat -- or, at worst, restart -- the entire game.

And, of course, strategy can't help but interface with luck. Zenny certainly isn't plentiful, so you may find yourself quickly falling behind the most advanced weapons and armor that can help you get through the levels. Because you are limited in the number of supplies you can carry, unless you fully stock up (and check and double-check) at every possible opportunity, you can find yourself overrun rather quickly -- especially in the later dungeons. Urging caution would be an understatement.

Sounds and Graphics
Dragon Quarter features cel-shaded graphics. Pitted against predominately dark underground backgrounds though, the game really doesn't press the PS2's graphical quality. For people somewhat accustomed to the glitz and glamour of Final Fantasy X and similar titles, DQ will appear significantly more dark and dreary. The dungeon layouts appear tedious and uninspired; they turn nearly claustrophobic if you find yourself caught in a monster's den. Poor, unintuitive camera controls further add to the aggravation, especially when a Pit Spider creeps from around the corner and you had no clue it was coming. (While useful, the radar is not enhanced enough to show monsters approaching until they're practically on... top... of... you.)

The most inspired graphics include Nina's spells, especially the Level 3 commands. The rest seems a little less exciting. Monsters don't seem particularly threatening or interesting, especially when the battle area is a bit more open and the camera takes a higher birds' eye point of view.

Sounds also seem particularly muted. You'll get more than your share of Ryu's yells, Nina's muffled whimpers and squeals, and Lin's "language" commands. (It only makes sense that she shouts things in Japanese before firing, right? It's Capcom, folks, and it's already been done to death.) Felled monsters let out a muffled groan while humanoids run the gamut of shriek to shriek.

Dungeon music becomes somewhat enjoyable after the first few zones have been explored. While some areas drone with overextended vocals and synthesized sewer drain tracks, other areas feature much more upbeat and exciting music. The battle theme changes about halfway through the game, and when the enemies get you first, the theme sounds rather intimidating. I've heard better stuff, but Dragon Quarter's musical repetoire isn't too rough on the ears.

The Parting Quirks
The game reintroduces the Faerie Village. Your job is to invest your zenny into hiring ants to dig up and explore different rooms. These rooms can be turned into a variety of stores to generate income, and you can also hire suitable ants to man these shops.

If you manage to beat the game -- and considering the difficulty, I'm crossing my fingers for you too, especially if you're the gutsy type who yells "Screw it!" to game guides -- your D-ratio rises, which allows you to explore areas you couldn't access the first time through.

Dragon Quarter's innovation does not adequately address some of the mechanical design flaws and the troughs in the gameplay experience. It was only with a LOT of patience and determination that I managed to get through the game, and even though I get to access a few more cutscenes and areas in the second runthrough, I can't say for sure if I enjoyed the game enough to go through it again. The dramatic spike in difficulty toward the end and the monotony of most of the dungeon zones gave me a halfhearted experience.

These flaws notwithstanding, I think diehard Breath of Fire players will want to check out this title. Rent it first. If you're up for the challenge, pick it up; it's rather cheap.