Breath of Fire III (1997)

The 3rd Breath of Fire entry is a beloved JRPG from Capcom that represents both the charm and challenges of its era. The MC is called Ryu, a boy with the mysterious power to transform into a dragon, and his companions as they set out on a journey of self-discovery, friendship, and survival in a world that doesn’t always welcome them. The narrative has a steady balance of lighthearted moments, often carried by quirky characters like Rei and Nina, and darker, more mature themes surrounding identity, loss, and the burden of power.

Visually, the game stood out at the time by combining beautifully animated 2D sprites with polygonal 3D backgrounds, giving it a distinctive hybrid style. The combat is traditional turn-based, but the Dragon Gene system adds a creative layer of strategy: you can combine different genes to transform Ryu into a wide variety of dragons, each with unique strengths. This is by far the most unique mechanic, despite it being a common feature, this entry has the most depth to it.

Not to mention you get double the amount of dragon designs since you play as child and adult versions of Ryu, so you get double the amount of dragon transformation designs. The Master System also deepens character customization, letting you shape their party’s abilities through mentorships, which was innovative for its time. The soundtrack blends jazz influences with emotional melodies, perfectly capturing both the adventurous and somber tones of the story.

However, like many JRPGs of the late ’90s, the game does show its age, random encounters can feel too frequent, some sections drag in pacing, and the difficulty curve can be uneven. Despite these flaws, this videogame remains one of the most memorable entries in the series. Its heartfelt story, unique mechanics, and strong atmosphere have earned it a dedicated fanbase, and it’s often remembered as the high point of Capcom’s foray into traditional RPGs.

“Live your own life, for you will surely die your own death.”
– Latin proverb

The Breath of Fire franchise was Capcom’s RPG answer to the wildly more popular Final Fantasy series by Square. While Breath of Fire rose to the occasion by presenting standard representations of its genre, it would always be overshadowed by its more famous rival. This was true of Breath of Fire II and Final Fantasy VI on the SNES, and now we can see it to be true of Breath of Fire III and Final Fantasy VII on the PlayStation.

Everyone has heard of FFVII and its characters. Even people who haven’t played it. But how many people remember Breath of Fire III on the PS One? How many who’ve played it remember all of its characters as quickly as FFVII’s?

Yet the comparison isn’t truly fair, for BoF III is a great RPG, stubbornly clinging to the ancient ways, but a great RPG nonetheless. I wrote this concerning its prequel, and I think it says everything I want to say about how BoF III being “standard” isn’t the same thing as being “boring”…

When compared with titles like Final Fantasy VI, Breath of Fire II will inevitably feel out-dated, formulaic, customary, even unoriginal. While Square was toying about with Active Time Battle systems to speed up the energy of random encounters, or changing about the way characters interacted and learned magic skills, the Breath of Fire series stuck to the traditional guns of strictly turn-based battle systems, learning magic by gaining levels, gaining levels by getting experience points, dungeons with bosses at the end, equipping weapons and armor to increase character stats, traversing through a linear storyline, and adding new characters to your party with little to no customizable traits. None of these things mean Breath of Fire II is a bad RPG. They simply mean it comes from a series that didn’t push the genre any further but did what it did best in a purely time-honored fashion.

Lost and perchance drowning in a sea of ingenuity and innovation as the genre continued to develop, it’s no wonder that Breath of Fire, with its penchant for methodical, tried-and-true gameplay, went the way of the dinosaur. It seems the series is extinct and the remains are fossils.

Again, does that mean these are terrible games? Certainly not. They may not tantalize with new features or tickle the fancies of those wearied of the ceremony of random battles and grinding for level ups, but they are valuable relics of what RPG’s once were and still play as excellent exercises in conventional storytelling through video games. Not quite as successful nor fancy as its peers, the Breath of Fire games stand distinct as steadfast anchors of tradition.

Click here for the full review... https://thewellredmage.wordpress.com/2016/10/08/br...

Gameplay: 7.5

You general wouldn’t think that a pretty standard RPG would be the type of game to trip you up with its gameplay, but Breath of Fire III managed to find a way. Now, okay, it’s not that bad, it just never really felt good for the most part. Controls aren’t what you’d intuitively expect them to be and movement can be a nightmare in certain areas, but other than that things were fine, mostly.

The good news is that what isn’t a pain is actually really good. Combat if fun, if not a little too frequent, fishing is excellent and there’s some great systems involved in learning and managing abilities under various Masters. My only complaint with these systems, fishing aside, is that they’re horribly under-explained if explained at all. Skill Ink is a mystery without looking up its purpose and even once you know what to do with it it’s far too easy to accidentally waste. Masters would have been missed entirely if not for my following a guide…

Story / Value: 6.8

I sank about 16 hours into Breath of Fire III and I don’t feel like the game respected a single one of them. Our story begins with Ryu, a boy who is also a dragon, escaping from a mine and ending up in the care of a couple of lovable delinquents. A series of unforeseen events separates Ryu from his newfound friends, and he’s got to get them back! This is a perfectly fine set up for any RPG, any game really. The problem is that this is effectively the entire story for the first 12 hours of Breath of Fire III! By the time any real plot begins to develop I’m already too exhausted to care.

What’s more is that the game seems to be unable to convey any sense of weight to the story. There’s a point after that 12 hour mark where 10 years pass by, and Ryu is thought dead by all of his comrades. The result of this decade-long absence is that… nothing’s changed! Nothing’s changed and your friends’ reactions to seeing not-really-dead you after all these years is “Oh hey Ryu, long time no see!”. Come on! Because of this, what should have been a major turning point int he game’s story and character development, just comes off as an excuse to swap a few sprites…

Presentation: 8.5

Breath of Fire III manages to take bland 3D environments and lovely 2D sprites and cram them together into a game that ends up looking really good! Characters and enemies are all extremely well animated and fun to watch, while the polygons that make of the game’s zones all come together in a way that looks clean and coherent. A clean and complete UI is the cherry on top.

Music: 7.0

There’s nothing inherently wrong with the game’s soundtrack, and some tunes even pop up in my head from time to time, but there’s nothing really exceptional about the music here either. It works, it fits, it’s fine.

Sound: 7.0

Sound effects are fine for the most part, but the characters’ voice clips were hit or miss in combat. Particularly annoying was young Ryu’s voice, which didn’t get any better after he dropped his dragon eggs… Still not enough to detract from the overall experience.

Fun / Afterthoughts: 7.0

Now, yes, I’m a bit salty about feeling like this game strung me along for 12+ hours before even hinting at a payoff. Even still, I’m having trouble actually disliking the RPG, almost as much trouble as I’m having finding the motivation to finish it. As a kid, I first played Breath of Fire III coming straight off Suikoden I and II, and it’s entirely possible that the memories I have of this game are affected by their proximity to memories of other excellent games, but I don’t know that that’s entirely true. What Breath of Fire III does well it does really well, I just wish the story and, perhaps more importantly the pacing were on point enough to keep me interested in playing it…

Review: 7.3

Gameplay: 16 Hours