Breath of Fire IV continues the adventurous variety of its previous title, but ultimately lacks a soul, feeling more like a rehash recycling III's formula with a less interesting cast of characters and plot. The efforts of the game's writing, featuring two subplots, are wasted in both dissatisfying conclusions, and while the tweaks to mechanics streamline the slight frustration found in Breath of Fire III (including an interesting element combo mechanic), much of everything else falls a little flat. The soundtrack and animations improve upon the sheer quality of III, but the gameplay variety and plot isn't nearly as memorable, despite the effort.

Breath of Fire IV is beautiful and has quite a few interesting ideas, but I didn't find the story to be that compelling or coherent and many of the mechanics are disconnected, unexplained, or unimportant.

The characters in your party don't have much connection or reason to be along for the journey and seem to just be character designs thrown together or in the case of Nina and Ryu, exist just because BoF games always have them.
The story is very scattered and complex, but doesn't make a ton of sense. Most of the major player's motivations are arbitrary or unexplained. It is hard to get on board with why the heroes are doing what they are doing because the stakes and objectives are so nebulous and seem to change from scene to scene.

There are a ton of mechanics in this game. You can learn abilities from enemies, take on a master for each party member to learn abilities, perform combo attacks, combine spells in some way, there is a fishing mini game, a town building mini game, and most of the dungeons have a mechanical gimmick you have to overcome. Like the story and the characters, this all feels disjointed. It is as though it was thrown together from a bunch of prototypes. None of it is explained that well and most of it doesn't matter that much or add much to the design or the player experience.
The combat system itself has a very solid foundation that makes battles feel strategic and exciting in a way most jrpgs do not. It is definitely one of the high points in BoF4 and is probably why I stuck with the game at all.
Your whole party is active at once and you can swap who is performing abilities in the front row while the back row recovers their mana. The aforementioned combo system works with this to let you set up full turn combos which almost comes together beautifully, but the rules behind how abilities chain and combine is fairly arbitrary, which hamstrings most of the potential this would otherwise have.

BoF4 looks incredible. The sprite work is expressive and detailed and every enemy and player is unique and cool. The animations especially are very impressive and entertain throughout. There is some 90s style 3d that is serviceable, but stands out all the more for being paired with the beautiful 2d in the rest of the game. Most of these are also in overlong attack cutscenes which are only half skippable. In general, the pace of this game is definitely reflective of its time, with very long, ponderous attacks that manage to eat up a lot of the running time without much value (enemy status attacks, I am looking at you).
The camera is also turned 45 degrees from the grid your character walks on, which makes controlling your character outside of battles a nightmare. Q-bert controls or badly detecting diagonal inputs are the only option. The camera shift doesn't add much to the game and is incredibly frustrating.

Breath of Fire is a beautiful jrpg with a very solid combat system that is trying a ton of unique things, but doesn't pull very much of it (besides the art) off that well. Worth a look only if you are a huge fan, but watch some of the battles on YouTube to check out the sprite work.

Breath of Fire IV é um clássico do ps1 e amado até hoje pelos fãs do genero, também pode ser uma porta de entrada para fãs novos, difícil chamar de superestimado ou ruim quando você se lembra do esforço que a Capcom teve pra sair um pouco da fórmula repetitiva que a trilogia anterior possuía, mas sem perder a essência do que Breath of Fire realmente é.

História: 5/5

Apesar do conceito de deuses criarem o mundo ou deus ser o vilão ser algo usado de forma repetitiva e as vezes sem criatividade, Breath of Fire IV faz isso muito bem. Deuses (incompletos) como o Ryu tem a capacidade de alterar o destino daqueles ao seu redor, a sua influência é o que guiou Nina e Cray a um objetivo diferente, também houveram participações incluídas nessa influência como Scias e Ursula. Cada vez que se descobre a ligação de Ryu e Fou-lu, a jornada em buscar Elina, as crueldades do Império e o nascimento dos deuses dragões são coisas que se alinham numa só enriquecendo o enredo e conectando todos os pontos sem deixar nenhum arco parecer um filler.

Personagens 4/5:

Os personagens são algo que não deixam a desejar, mas também poderiam ser mais bem elaborados. As vezes eu sentia que Scias e Ursula ficavam muito distintos do quarteto principal, mas a caracterização deles não era ruim, porém eu sei que Scias teve seu lado alcoólatra censurado no ocidente o que explica a falta de personalidade dele em alguns pontos. Ershin é facilmente a melhor personagem desse jogo, e sua dinâmica com Deis mostra diálogos divertidos e reconfortantes, como Nina agora tem uma personalidade mais gentil e um pouco dependente comparada as suas contrapartes anteriores, mas também se mostra valente para fazer o que for preciso em salvar sua irmã junto com Cray.

Gameplay 3/5:

O sistema de combos é algo único no jogo, criando as mais diversas habilidades entre os personagens, o que incentiva mais a não deixar de lado os party members e grindar cada um. Os mestres não é algo super arriscado como BoF III, que você precisa tomar certo cuidado pra colocar um membro da equipe sob treinamento em tal lvl, mas as vezes sinto que há muitos professores inúteis ou facilmente descartáveis, pois algumas habilidades não providenciam combos novos e muitas vezes vocês aprendem coisa bem melhor analisando os monstros mundo afora.

Soundtrack 3/5:

Não falo que ela é ruim, é ótima e bastante relaxante, porém imemoravel em certos pontos e não parecem dar uma identidade pra BoF IV, no máximo apenas a música do mapa mundi e de batalha pois vão ser as coisas que você mais vai escutar na sua gameplay.

This will be a long one, cause this was one of my favorite PS1 games and it was the very first RPG i played in my life.

First thing to clear is; this game suffers from all the well known JRPG problems of its age: Slowness, no customization on character (no costumes, armors doesn't reflect on characters appearance, not even the weapons) annoying random encounters and the most important: painful EASINESS, which IMO is the biggest flop of this game, cause it affect others thing the game do well, like gameplay.

The story is mid, the whole idea is good, there's some good moments, twist or revelations, but ultimately fails to have you emotionally involved in the long run. I liked the ending, for the most part, but Yuna should have died.

So, with bad things clear out, here is why i still like the game:

1. I like the the way it does turn base combat, with commands executing in a kind of simultaneous way, this allow the Combo System, which i love.
2. I love the Master System, it's like an In-game-rewarded "trophies/achievements" system.
3. One of my most beloved role on Final Fantasy is Blue Mage, this game is the reason why. Here, Blue Mage is a universal mechanic for all characters.
4. Love the music, it's not as good as FF, but is very good.
5. This is probably the only RPG where i like the whole roster.
The rest is just a bunch of little things and quirks i like about the game, like how the money in this game have value, a lot mini games, the faeries thing, etc.

I just wish the game were harder, all those nice mechanics and quirks are ultimately worthless because the game is WAY too easy, it's just a walk until you reach the very last locations (The Tomb, Capital and Final Castle) that help to make the game feels boring, your are never in peril, i finish the game with only 1 game over (against the last boss and mostly because I thought it was scripted to die) I wish that final area difficulty was the default from the beginning. It also lack some end game dungeon/area where you can use all the things you master. The game let's you play after the last save, but there's no real reason to do it, since you already kill 99% of enemies.

What drew me to this game was 100% the art style, which is arguably the best hybrid between super detailed sprites and 3D environments on the PS1, it's just gorgeous. That being said I was glad to see the rest of the game was great too. The writing is pretty standard by JRPG standards, but the colorful cast of characters and the characterization of the villain are standout aspects. The combat has a unique hook with the combo system and how you learn new abilities that keeps it interesting throughout.

Really my only complaints are that the overworld camera can be pretty rough at times, and there are some big difficulty spikes that necessitate grinding.

My score for this game is probably a reflection of how subjective tastes can be. There is so much to like about this, but somehow as a whole the game didn't blow me away; I found that while it improved on the previous games in many ways, it was also a noticeable downgrade from BoF 3 in others.

The good:
- The spritework is absolutely stunning.
- The combat was engaging and deep, with the combo system and character switching adding up to what are probably the best combat mechanics of the series.
- The world is vast and colorful.
- The story was effective and haunting, and kept me up at night thinking about it sometimes.

The bad:
- The 3D models didn't age well. Seeing the beautiful character sprites sharing the screen with a 3D-rendered dragon that looks like a giant gummy worm is jarring.
- The music feels slightly bland especially compared to the unique smooth jazz feel of BoF 3.
- The dragon transformation system is a vast downgrade from its predecessor (or even the shamans from BoF 2).
- The lack of an overworld screen made the world seem smaller than it really was. Also, the camera angles made some areas a real chore to navigate.
- There was a lot of padding, especially towards the end. The last 10 hours or so has barely anything happen storyline-wise: you're trying to get to a city, and you just keep running into dungeons along the way that have no reason to exist other than padding the game time.

My rather lengthy list of gripes above makes it seem like I dislike the game, but it had so many cool set-pieces and just plain hard-hitting storyline moments, and the meat of the game (the combat) was very solidly done. Fine margins and matters of subjective taste made this a 'very good' rather than 'excellent' game for me, but I can definitely respect that many consider the best in the series, and I do recommend it to any RPG fan.

This review contains segmented spoilers. You should be able to read the bulk of my thoughts and opinions on the game without being spoiled. I just want people to see what I think without immediately turning them away because of a spoiler warning. Spoilers will be forecasted and clearly marked, you have been warned. This review is also looooong, primarily because of the spoilery part, if you want the tldr, then all I can say it's really good. It's beautiful, and makes strides over BoFIII in some areas while fumbling ever so slightly in others. Play it right now.

Breath of Fire IV is an odd game. An emotionally resonant one, at least for me. A game that I love despite its oddities - despite its admittedly abrupt endings, and how for every stride it makes over BoFIII, it takes one step back. It has an undeniable string of small issues, maybe because it was rushed towards the end, or the devs had the desire for a slightly different take on a Breath of Fire game, possibly even both, and I see it often ranked lower than III as a result. I, however, adore Breath of Fire IV both for what it accomplishes and its unfulfilled potential. It's a game about opposing ideologies, Yin and Yang, Light and Dark, both from a narrative and general game sense, with the result feeling like a natural progression from its predecessors, but also as if it's an alternate universe successor to Breath of Fire II. Despite this, Breath of Fire IV emerges as an all-time great JRPG, and, in my opinion, the best in the series.

Getting the good (and in some cases obvious) out of the way, the visuals are gorgeous, possibly some of the best sprite art and animation I've ever seen in a video game. It's all so fluid, vibrant, detailed, and expressive, moreso than the Breath of Fire norm. The music alternates between being ethereal and surreal, and traditional, classical Chinese folk music (I don't know if there's a proper name or genre for this) accentuated by its flutes, erhus, and various other wind, brass, and string instruments. Both styles compliment the game's main theme and world excellently. Sound design is extra satisfying, too. From the menu blips, item and minigame jingles, the sound of dust kicking up behind characters' feet as they run through the sand. It helps that the user interface has this really comfy, rustic feel to it - the whole game feels so inviting thanks to all of this.

The world and story are more grounded, more grim, more engrossing - forgoing the traditional, Breath of Fire happy-go-lucky yet at times grim story about saving the world and instead telling a tale of a millennium old empire, its deified first emperor, its decline in current times, the poverty and death sown by its fruitless, persistent pursuits in conquest... It's a world that feels less lived in or interconnected than III's, yes, but that's the whole point - villages, cities and colonies are far apart, seperated by God-knows how much inhabitable desert. Many of which are war torn, in ruins, or totally rural. It's rare for an "evil empire" in a jrpg to have such a large influence on its world, being so omnipresent, yet never blatant about it - Breath of Fire IV really nails the post-war, hostile, blemished world vibe.

A much-needed improvement over III is how party members' usability and character building are handled. Every party member has their own uses and are all interchangeable in battle, with every character capable of fulfilling several roles. Nina's probably the only exception, excelling as a mage, but she's leaps and bounds more useful than her BoFIII counterpart. You can make Ershin an aggro-tank, a mage-tank or an all-arounder, for example. Scias and Ursula are equally capable of becoming either fast, hard-hitting mages or physical damage dealers as well, and the list goes on. In III, you'd generally just use Ryu, Momo, Peco and Rei interchangeably for their better base growths and the fact that non-active party members don't gain experience, but in IV I found myself constantly alternating between characters mid-battle to either set up combo chains and use abilities I'd given to them individually. The game's pretty easy a result, but I'll be damned if it isn't an excellent battle system. You can change what masters your characters can apprentice under from camp now too, though you still need to talk to them in person to get new abilities - the latter being a non-issue as you have a dedicated fast travel option now, thank God.

These aren't without small setbacks, however. Buffs are far less useful now, especially in the late game, where bosses love to spam party-wide status negativing abilities. They take longer to set up, and unfortunately don't synergise well with combos as only a fraction of the buff's effectiveness is applied. A lot of attacks feel far less useful than they should be too - abilities that "bypass enemy defence" or claim to scale off defence or agility always did less damage than regular attacks. The large array of abilities at least encouraged experimentation and mixing and matching, much like Breath of Fire III did, and the abundance of aurum incentivise this far more than the admittedly scarce skill ink of old, but abilities in III were far more useful, thus necessitating this. Dragon gene splicing is gone, as are unique dragon forms that Ryu can undertake. Experimenting and finding your preferred transformations was really cool, as well as seeing the unique appearances that encompassed them, but now it's a single menu option and you're done. It streamlines the process, but ultimately removes a fantastic feature from its predecessor.

Another minor downgrade is movement. Moving diagonally seems to cut your movement speed - and while being easy to get used to, the decision to cut the speed to begin with is odd (again, one of this game's many oddities). Maybe I'm just imagining that, but what I'm certain of is that movement is back to being grid-based, and I found myself sometimes fumbling around ladders and interactable objects, triggering otherwise avoidable random encounters. Oh yeah, encounters aren't seamless transitions on the overworld anymore, instead taking place on a separate plane dedicated to them much like many other JRPGs of the era. For a JRPG, this seems inconsequential, but Breath of Fire III proved that removing the separate screen for battles is a massive boon for the genre, cutting out so many loading transitions and wasted time.

Again, these are small problems, but enough for some to prefer III - though the positives definitely outweigh the negatives for me. The one thing that Breath of Fire IV absolutely nails, however, is its narrative and the way it's conveyed to the player. I didn't want to mark this review as having spoilers, because I want people to see what I love about this game and hopefully incentivise them to try it out, but there's a distinct segment around the late-midgame that's absolutely masterful and a defining moment of not only this game, but my entire life having played jrpgs. It sounds like hyperbole, and...it kind of is, but also kind of isn't. Regardless, this sequence of events is incredible, and I want to gush about it. Actually, no whole game is incredible. It takes a bit to get the ball rolling, but once it does, it's every bit as poignant as Breath of Fire III was and then some. Play it and come back to read below once you have. Spoilers for the mid to lategame and the endings are ahead.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Spoilers<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

All of this is a lengthy explanation of events that I don't think I'd otherwise be able to remotely do any justice in text, in addition to my thoughts on them. It's a lot of rambling, so it's probably best to consider it separate from the main review above. It's such an incredibly pieced together sequence of events that perfectly embody Breath of Fire IV's themes and will likely remain one of, if not my favourite sequences in a video game. I just really want to talk about how good this is, and hope that people who've played the game can relate with how it may have touched them as well, so bear with me. The endings will also be touched upon.

Up to this point, the game's been pretty standard Breath of Fire fare - a colourful cast of characters, cute minigames, Ryu's a dragon (Ryu literally means "dragon" in Japanese, very on the nose, capcom), stuff you'd be used to by now had you played 2 and 3 prior, with some things from 3 being changed and streamlined. There've been perspective changes between Ryu's party and Fou-Lu a couple times, a really cool change of pace that shows you what Ryu's other half is up to, but still nothing too out of the ordinary. All you know so far is that you're looking for Nina's sister, Elina, and that it's been a bit of a wild goose chase. It's around the halfway point of the game where the true purpose of Ryu's journey is made apparent.

While swapping between Ryu and Fou-Lu's perspectives, it's made very apparent that the latter has had an awful streak of luck; constantly being on the run, severely wounded twice, and in both instances: found and unconditionally nursed back to health by complete strangers out of sheer compassion for another's life. Initially, he appears to be a malevolent, misanthropic, godlike entity, only focused on meeting up with his other half, and becoming whole again, but is later shown to be not totally lacking in emotion or compassion. You know that, if he and Ryu ever meet up and become one, the world has the potential to end or prosper, and it seems clear that if he has his way, the former will come to pass, but this conception is challenged when, without realising it, Fou-Lu begins
helping Mami - the second of Fou-Lu's carers - and her fellow villagers on several occasions, thus humanising a previously emotionally distant and indifferent deity. Things quickly take a turn for the worse, however, as Mami's relative is repeatedly sceptical of the Fou-Lu's presence, ultimately leading imperial soldiers to raid the village in search of the emperor. Mami sacrifices herself to be executed to save Fou-Lu, and the emotionally confused god lingers in the village, feeling great attachment to her. Something he never lets go of, even during the ending confrontation.

Amidst all this, on the other side of the world, Ryu's witnessed the aftermath of a slaughter conducted by the empire to learn of Ryu's whereabouts, and goes berserk. He assumes his kaiser form, utterly obliterating Rasso - the one responsible for the massacre and stands to be the only human life Ryu ever takes throughout the game. Despite being a silent protagonist, Ryu's given two dialogue boxes here, technically his only two in the whole game, and the latter is accompanied by a raw, emotional scream. Voice samples during dialogue are rare in this game, and in this case elevate an already powerful scene. Silent protagonists are supposed to be a blank slate for the player to give their own identity to - maybe their own, or that of a friend's, so interpretations of this are going to vary - but Ryu responded exactly how I would during this moment where he is supposed to be disconnected from the player. There've been many times in my life that I've absolutely wanted to uncontrollably lash out at someone who's done something to offend, upset or hurt me, without any regard for the consequences. It's vindictive, and you're probably saying "wow. You want to do bad things out of anger. Never heard that before", but I've never handled anger, or rather, emotions in general, well. I have mild anger issues. I never act unprovoked, but I loathe to admit I'm no stranger to raging or getting melodramatic over a slightest inconvenience. I often feel mentally weak as a result. I've never seen someone get killed in cold blood before my very eyes, and I've never wanted to kill someone either, let alone even harm someone as I simply don't have the guts to, but seeing Ryu - a character I had begun to identify with, as is typical of a silent protagonist, lash out and enact their punishment - resonated with me. An act atypical of the average lead character, who, in their better judgement, would likely allow a character like Rasso to live.

And then, came guilt. Ursula stands before Ryu, trembling with fear, her gun aimed straight at him - a detail I didn't even notice when first playing. Rasso is nowhere to be seen, likely reduced to dust in the death he was given moments prior. It isn't until Nina, his most emotionally attached partner in his journey to save her sister, clutching Ryu on her knees, begs him to stop that his rage subsides. I felt guilt not for a life taken, but for Nina's monologue that followed:

"Watching what happened, I knew something was not right in the world. That something...was out of balance."

"And for the first time, when looking at a dragon...."

"I felt afraid."

That last, solitary line is what got me. One of my greatest fears is letting people down, disappointing them. Throughout the whole game, Nina insists that Ryu isn't someone who would do great harm to anyone. She finds comfort in him. And for a brief moment that ripples throughout the whole narrative, Ryu had let her down. I had let her down.

Things only get more depressing.

Back to Fou-Lu. He's stayed in the village a little while longer - likely in hopes of seeing Mami or saving her - but is instructed by a villager to head to a shrine to the south. Fou-Lu bears witness yet again to an act of compassion towards him, this time from a monster he had quelled for the sake of the village some time prior. The monster kills itself to let Fou-Lu proceed into the shrine, with the god questioning why it would help him, and lamenting that his presence constantly affects innocents. He presses onward regardless, until he is given a sudden vision of Mami's execution, beholding the death of the one human he had come to truly care for since his re-awakening. To add insult to injury, Mami's execution is used to fuel a bioweapon that gets used on Fou-Lu himself, who yet again survives, but emerges broken, and driven now by spite, revenge, and an immense hatred for humans. And... I don't think anyone can blame him? Time and time again, he's been hounded by those who are supposed to be welcoming his return, had what little solace he's been given quickly taken from him, and most crucially, lost a bond with a being that, in any other timeline, would've likely never come to pass.

All of this ties back to what I said earlier about wanting to act upon things that have upset or angered me. Breath of Fire IV never gives a right answer as to whether truly doing something about it is right or wrong. In Ryu's case, it's shown to be wrong - how it distances you from those who care and believe in you, even if someone gets what they deserve. In Fou-Lu's, it's shown to be right - if you don't do anything, things are just going to continue getting worse. In the Ryu's ending, Yuna receives no punishment for the atrocities he's committed, the family he's separated, the countless human lives needlessly lost for the sake of "creating a God" to fuel his bioweapon. A foolish, callous, self-pleasing endeavour that only serves to satisfy their sick urges and wreak destruction. But life goes on - and with the oppression of the empire gone, people are given a chance to start their lives anew, look towards the future, and simply cling to the hope that things will turn out alright. In Fou-Lu's ending, it's up to interpretation, but it's likely that humanity is either wiped out or forced under extreme oppression as an act of retribution. I've seen many believe that this is the better ending, given the atrocities committed within Breath of Fire IV's narrative and world are undeniable, and I'm honestly not sure. I think the whole point is that there isn't supposed a "good" or "better" ending, save for personal opinions. I want to believe in people, that we can change for the better, but I'm incessantly reminded of the prejudice we've enacted over the ages, the ever going petty conflicts over territory and power. Our folly is immeasurable - we're doomed to continue making these mistakes - but a world with the ones we care for in it is also a world also worth believing in and fighting for. I often just don't know what to think about our world, of our people, and Breath of Fire IV captures these conflicting thoughts of philanthropy and misanthropy wonderfully.

Finished 2 Endings
Platform: PlayStation
Release Date: November 28, 2000
Genre: Role-Playing » Japanese-Style
Finished in: 45 Hours

In the middle of journey of finishing Xenoblade series, I'd rather love to play a classic J-RPG on PS portability. Forty fives hours spent and I declared this one is a good standard classic rpg you should play. As good as Xenogears and Suikoden 2 the story engaging player to keep playing more and deep to know about all around the world.

After centuries of war, the two lands bordering an impenetrable swampland have finally reached an armistice. Mysteriously, the noble Princess Elena disappears somewhere near the war-ravaged front lines. Distraught, her sister Nina goes in search of the Princess alone and on her journey, meets a mysterious young warrior named Ryu. Their destinies soon entwine. The next chapter in the epic tale of magic and mystery now unfolds.

✔ Engaging story with 2 sides of a single coin
✔ Interesting combat mechanic using skills combo
✔ Mystery about collecting dragons and masters that you can learn from
✔ The gap of level in the last boss-fight is so far if you play normally (without grinding)
❌ High random encounter rate! True classic BOF 1 and 2 still implemented here
Verdict: 9/10 ❤❤❤❤❤

Lindo horrores visualmente, e preenchido o suficiente pra mim com uma temática bacana de compreensão sobre as incoerências humanas. Infelizmente os sistemas de equipamento, habilidades e combate dele são beeeeeeem medíocres, de você poder chegar até o final sem precisar pensar muito sobre o que fazer em batalha nem em preparação - o que é muito infeliz pela quantidade massiva de combates aleatórios que esse jogo, assim como os JRPGs clássicos, te força a enfrentar.

Também senti falta de uma trilha sonora mais rica e variada, embora goste das que existem nele.

O que me segurou mesmo foi o carisma dos personagens, seja pelo design, diálogos ou animações.

É um jogo simples e que eu hoje jamais suportaria ir até o final, por mais interessado que estivesse, por conta do game design exaustivo. Graças às opções de save state e rewind dos emuladores, além dos guias online, deu pra superar os problemas e me envolver pela história. Adoraria que lançassem um jogo modernizando o estilo do Breath of Fire IV.