Breath Of Fire 4

Platform : PlayStation

Developer : Capcom

Publisher : Capcom

Players : 1

Format : 1 CD

Intro:
The Breath of Fire series started out on the Snes in 1995,with the second version also on the Snes and the third on the Playstation. This is the fourth game in the series, and the question is, is it a worthy successor? Well, actually, yes, not only the graphics improved a lot, but the real treat in this game is the soundtrack, which is magnificent, more about this later.

Gameplay/Battlesystem:
Most of the gameplay is similar to Breath of Fire III, with traditional turn-based battles, but with the difference that you have 3 characters in control during battle, and 3 more in the back row to switch with in case you get weak or die in battle. Characters in the back row will also recover AP points and sometimes support your front team and perform an attack. The world map has also changed, and instead of a free roaming world map, you move between dots now, just like Final fantasy tactics style, don't worry about this, you still have choice enough to level your characters up or do some fishing (the bad thing about this is that it will reduce game play-hours at the end).
Every time you see this ?,you can enter a map where you can get some healing or fishing items or where you can fight to level up some more.

Story:
Good storyline with a princess called Nina who's in search for her sister Elena, and a man named Cray (looks a lot like Garr to me if you played BoFIII), they're crossing the desert but they got stranded because of a dragon, so Nina leave Cray with the sand flier to look for some replacement-parts for the ship, on her way, on the site of a wrecked ship, she finds a man, and of course it's none other than the dragon boy himself, Ryu.
This is where the story really starts. Is it just me or does this story sounds more like a Breath of Fire 3,5,than a true sequel, most of the things seems to be borrowed from Breath of Fire III, including the annoying Golden plains puzzle. Also a word of the bad guy, a man who's always been chased by others and just defends himself do they call a bad guy, I just had the feeling that I fought the wrong guy, I want a real villain next time Capcom!

Music/sound effects:
The best part of the game for me, not only because I'm a VGM-music lover, but for this outstanding soundtrack they deliver here, the oriental music is simply magnificent.
Another music-master to add to my list: Yoshino Toki.
The usually battle cry's and stuff are well done too, like you expect from an RPG.

Graphics:
Very nice done 3D backgrounds, featuring 2D sprites and they are very well detailed, the FMV opening sequence is wonderful, but there are very few FMV scenes in the game, but we need a game not FMV, so it's not a problem.
Most respect goes to the Bosses, they're very well detailed, and how more you're progressing through the game, the more impressive they look, Capcom did a good job in this department!
The Dragon evocations and breath attacks are for the most part spectacular, that add another level of excellence to the battles.

Conclusion:
Another worthy successor to the series, a few things could be better, but it's very good overall, great story, great game play and a wonderful soundtrack, what more do you want in an RPG-game?

Verdict:88%