Breath of Fire (1993)
About
Breath of Fire (Japanese: ブレス オブ ファイア 竜の戦士, Hepburn: Buresu obu Faia: Ryū no Senshi, Breath of Fire: The Dragon Warrior) is a role-playing video game developed by Capcom originally for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Initially released in Japan in April 1993, the game was later made available in North America in August 1994 by Square Soft, who handled the title's English localization and promotion.
Recognized by Capcom as their first traditional role-playing video game, Breath of Fire would set the precedent for future entries in the series, and features character designs artist Keiji Inafune, as well as music by members of Capcom's in-house sound team Alph Lyla. In 2001, the game was re-released for the Game Boy Advance handheld system with new save features and minor graphical enhancements, with the English version being released in Europe for the first time. In 2016, it was released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.
Set in a fantasy world, Breath of Fire follows the journey of a boy named Ryu, one of the last surviving members of an ancient race with the ability to transform into mighty dragons, as he searches the world for his sister. During his quest, Ryu meets other warriors who share his quest, and comes into conflict with the Dark Dragon Clan, a militaristic empire who seeks to take over the world by reviving a mad goddess. The game experienced mostly positive reception upon release, and was followed by a direct sequel, Breath of Fire II, in 1994.
System requirements for SNES
System requirements for Game Boy Advance
System requirements for Wii U
System requirements for Nintendo 3DS
Where to buy
Breath of Fire (1993) reviews and comments
There are whole areas with barely any activity, characters that needed stories to be relevant, many, many items that never get used, lots of weapons not worth equipping, and a really weak ending in terms of both story AND gameplay. The whole ending is conquered by a single power being repetitiously used.
This is a good game though, for an early era RPG. I’ve heard nothing but good recommendations for the sequel which is also on the Nintendo Switch SNES emulator.