Breath Of Fire (video Game)
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''Breath of Fire'' is a
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
developed by
Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
originally for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
. Initially released in Japan in April 1993, the game was later made available in North America in August 1994 by
Square Soft also known under its international brand name SquareSoft, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It was founded in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto, who spun off the computer game software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line constructio ...
, who handled the title's English localization and promotion. It is the first entry in the ''
Breath of Fire ''Breath of Fire'' is a role-playing video game series developed by Capcom. It originated on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. The series has recurring characters and ambiguous continuity; though each game is its own self-contai ...
'' series. Recognized by Capcom as their first traditional
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
, ''Breath of Fire'' would set the precedent for future entries in the series, and features character designs artist
Keiji Inafune is a Japanese video game producer, character designer, game designer, and businessman. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time. Starting his career at Capcom in the late 1980s, his job was as an artist and ...
, 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 The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
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
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Virtual Console. In 2019, it was released for the
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SNES games library. Set in a
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
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
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
s, 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.


Gameplay

''Breath of Fire'' is a traditional role-playing video game, featuring two-dimensional character sprites and environments presented from a top-down perspective. Players move their characters in four directions while navigating through a number of environments ranging from towns to dungeons filled with traps and monsters. In order to advance the story, the player must take part in story-based scenarios that require them to enter dangerous areas and defeat enemies while also interacting with non-player characters to become involved in the plot. During gameplay the player's main character, Ryu, will meet other characters that join his party, each with their own distinct abilities in and out of battle. These include differing magic spells as well as unique Personal Actions that can be performed in certain situations that allow the player to interact with the game world, solve puzzles, or navigate environments more easily. A player's active group can consist of up to four members at a time, but may switch any of them with reserve members at any time, even in the middle of battle. The game uses an icon-based menu system that organizes the player's stock of items, equipment, and character information, with subsystem shortcuts than can be set to unused buttons on the game controller for ease of access. As the game progresses, players may purchase or find items and equipment that can aid each character and make them stronger. Players advance the game by doing battle with enemy creatures. Combat in ''Breath of Fire'' takes place in hostile areas such as dungeons, with encounters occurring randomly every few steps. The game uses a
turn-based Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...
system while in combat, where the player inputs commands for each character at the start of each round, which are then carried out by order of their "agility" rating. While each controllable character's health is indicated by numerical
hit points Health is a video game or tabletop game quality that determines the maximum amount of damage or fatigue something takes before leaving the main game. In role-playing games, this typically takes the form of hit points (HP), a numerical attribute ...
, an enemy's vitality is represented by a colored bar that decreases as they take damage, and must be reduced to nothing in order to be defeated. Stronger
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characters have the ability to continue battle even after their health bar is depleted, with their true remaining health being obscured for the rest of the battle. Characters can cast spells to harm enemies or aid their allies, which require AP (Ability Points) in order to be cast. When a player defeats all enemies present, they are awarded with experience points that go towards leveling up characters, making them stronger and giving them access to new spells. Progress is saved in one of three slots using the
game cartridge A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, cassette, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, ...
's internal battery back-up, which can be accessed by
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
statues at certain points throughout the game.


Plot


Characters

Each character hails from a different clan made up of
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
animal-like beings or humans with
fantastic Fantastic or Fantastik may refer to: Music * ''Fantastic'' (Toy-Box album) * ''Fantastic'' (Wham! album) * '' Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1)'', an album by Slum Village * '' Fantastic, Vol. 2'', an album by Slum Village * ''Fantastic'' (EP), an EP by ...
powers, with their assortment of magic spells and personal field abilities that can be used out of battle to help the player progress through the game and find hidden items. The main character is a young man named Ryu, one of the last surviving members of the Light Dragon Clan, who have been driven to near-extinction by their enemy, the Dark Dragon Clan. When his sister, Sara, is captured by the Dark Dragons, Ryu must travel the world searching for a way to get her back, as well as unlock his latent ability to transform into powerful
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
s. During gameplay, the player can meet and recruit seven additional party members, including Nina, princess of the Kingdom of Windia whose race can transform into large birds; Bo (Gilliam in the Japanese version), a wolf-man held prisoner by the Dark Dragons after they attacked his homeland; Karn (Danc in the Japanese version), member of an ancient order of thieves with the ability to merge two or more party members together to create powerful fighters; Gobi (Manillo in the Japanese version), a fish-man and traveling merchant who can transform into a giant fish; Ox (Builder in the Japanese version), a large ox-man from a town of blacksmiths; Mogu, a mole-person with the ability to dig holes in certain areas; and Bleu (Deis in the Japanese version), an immortal
sorceress A sorceress is a female practitioner of sorcery (disambiguation), sorcery. Other uses include: Film * Sorceress (1982 film), ''Sorceress'' (1982 film), a fantasy film directed by Jack Hill * Sorceress (1987 film), ''Sorceress'' (1987 film) releas ...
with a snake-like lower body who commands powerful magic. The principal antagonists are the Dark Dragon Clan, a militaristic empire made up of soldiers that can transform into dragons. They are led by
Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
Zog (Zorgon in the Japanese version), who seeks to take over the world by gaining the power of the Goddess Tyr (Myria in the Japanese version as well as the English version of the third game), who was sealed away centuries ago by the Light Dragons using six magic keys that have been scattered across the world. His main general is Jade (Judas in the Japanese version), who in turn commands his Four Devas: Cort (Kyura in the Japanese version), a
mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...
; Mote (Sigmund in the Japanese version), a wizard who has the power to terrorize people in their dreams; Cerl (Carla in the Japanese version), a half-breed magic user who resents her past mistreatment by humans; and Goda, an armored goliath.


Story

''Breath of Fire'' takes place in an unnamed
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
world. In addition to ordinary humans, it is populated by various "
clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
s" of
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
animals. The Dragon Clan—a race of humans who are able to transform into dragons—differ from the others in that their members appear (for the most part) to be human. The
back-story A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's preparat ...
of the game is summarized during its
prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...
: Thousands of years ago, a
goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...
named Myria (also known as "Tyr" and "Maria" in some
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
translations and "Miria" in ''Breath of Fire II'') sowed discord amongst the Dragon Clan by offering to grant any
wish A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used. Sociology Several cu ...
. Feuding over the goddess' favor eventually split the Clan into two feuding sides, the Light Dragons and the Dark Dragons, who engaged in a war. Myria encouraged the fighting and watched the war escalate. Just as the world was on the brink of destruction, the "Goddess War" ended when a heroic Light Dragon imprisoned Myria and sealed her away using six keys. Each key has a unique magical property which affects the surrounding landscape; the Light Key is hidden in the
port town A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...
of Auria, providing boundless prosperity for its residents. Alternatively, the Dark Key resides near the
slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...
s of Bleak, accounting for that town's perpetual darkness. The Dark Dragons continue to hunt their longtime enemies, the Light Dragons, and have driven them into isolation. Unbeknownst to the Dark Dragons, the Light Dragon Clan sealed away its dragon powers long ago. The game's protagonist, Ryu, is living peacefully in Drogon, a village of Light Dragons survivors. Ryu was
orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...
ed when he was young and was raised by his sister, Sara, a priestess who can summon powerful magic. One night he dreams of a dragon that warns him of impending danger; he awakens to find his village has been set ablaze. Sara uses her magic to draw the Dark Dragons away from Ryu and the other villagers, but is taken prisoner. The Dark Dragon
Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
, Zog, has announced that it is the birthright of the Dark Dragons to conquer the planet. Zog intends to release Myria by assembling the six Goddess keys. However, it could be that Zog is about to make a mistake that will lead the world to its destruction instead, so Ryu leaves the village and embarks on a quest to collect the keys before Zog can. Ryu's first destination is the town of Nanai, under which the Earth Key is sealed. He seizes the key from the Dark Dragon forces stationed there, but ends up leveling the town doing so since the Earth Key governs seismic activity. He then travels to Windia ("Winlan" in the official translation) but discovers that the King there has been poisoned. He briefly meets Nina, the princess of Windia, and then has to rescue her from the tower of Karma after her mission to obtain the remedy for her father goes awry due to the use of a toxic weapon called Xeon Gas, which was seemingly developed by the Dark Dragons. Once Nina's father recovers, Nina elects to join Ryu on his further adventures, and the two next travel to Tantar, the home of the wolf-like Forest Clan. They eventually discover that the chieftain of the neighboring village of Tuntar is an impostor working for the Dark Dragon Empire. Ryu and Nina venture to a nearby forest to rescue the real chief, but end up walking into a trap. Fortunately, they and the real chief are rescued by Bo, a warrior of the Forest Clan who had just escaped the custody of the Dark Dragons. He also joins them on their quest and helps them locate another Goddess Key, the Space Key. En route to the port town of Auria, Ryu, Nina and Bo find a mysterious shrine. It is here that Ryu is forced to undergo a great trial: once he completes it, his dragon powers awaken. At Auria, the trio are mistaken for thieves and arrested, but Karn, a thief they meet inside their cell, frees them. They meet Karn again inside a tomb in the desert, and when they recover a tome containing thieving secrets, he joins the team. Back at Auria, the party discovers that the Dark Dragons have blackmailed the town's richest resident into surrendering the Light Key. They manage to foil this plot, however, by claiming the Dark Key and the Mirror from a tower near the thieves' town of Bleak and using the Mirror to allow the rich man's wife to communicate with him from beyond the grave. However, the Dark Dragons then resort to more aggressive tactics and sink the ship the party planned to board. The captain of the ship and the gold digging merchant Gobi approach the group with a plan to obtain a new ship. Their new ship is sunk as well, though, stranding them on a desert island. In order for the party to continue their quest, Gobi ventures forth alone and succeeds in acquiring the Gills, which allow Ryu and his friends to breathe underwater, and they continue on their way with Gobi as a companion. The party's next stop is the underwater city of Prima. Gobi leads them to one of the inns there, where an aspiring blacksmith is on his sickbed while a ghost waits to take his soul into the beyond. Upon defeating the ghost, the blacksmith delivers some alarming news: the Dark Dragons are developing a new weapon and have taken the blacksmiths of the industrial town of Gant prisoner so they can build it for them. The party promises to help the blacksmith rescue his friends and family. He introduces himself as Ox and takes the party to the castle of Nabal, where the people of Gant are imprisoned. It is here that the true nature of the Dark Dragons' new weapon is revealed — a torpedo which can be used to level Prima. Ox tags along with the group as they seek the immortal witch Bleu, who has taken up residence in a moving town in the desert. With Bleu's help, the party are able to thwart the Dark Dragons' scheme to destroy Prima with the torpedo. Ox and Bleu realize the gravity of the current situation and pledge their skills to Ryu's cause. The party's adventure continues after Karn obtains the ability to fuse his comrades together, and Gobi gains the ability to transform into a giant fish using a special item. The group continues to an underground settlement, clashing with the evil scientist and Four Devas member Cort along the way. When they arrive, they discover that one of the warriors there, a young mole person named Mogu, has been imprisoned in the Dream World by Mote, another of the Four Devas. They rescue him from the dream by obtaining a special item from Tunlan, where the Time Key is also kept (the group loses this key when Four Deva member Cerl takes it). Mogu joins the party when he is rescued, and the party next travels to the town of Spring. The Sky Key is kept in a tower near the town, but someone has used it to create a permanent winter in the area. While investigating the tower, the party discover that the culprit is Mote, and fight him within the Dream World with the aid of his conscience. After restoring the weather to normal, the party continue towards the Dark Dragon capital of Scande, but are delayed once more when they enter the town of Carmen where time is standing still. Aided by a villager named Alan, they investigate a nearby tower and confront Cerl again, who is revealed to be a childhood friend of Alan's. Consumed with a desire for vengeance against humans, she attacks and critically wounds Alan, but later swears off her vendetta when the party delivers a fruit from the village where she and Alan grew up. The final Deva Goda then appears and ambushes the party. Cerl surrenders the Time Key to Ryu's party and stays behind to cover their escape while Alan enters Cerl's castle to be with her again. While restoring the flow of time, however, something goes wrong and Nina is forced out of the party by a warping of time and space. The party finds her moments later in Tunlan. However, she is suffering from amnesia. When the party restores her memories, the now visibly older Nina rejoins them and tells everyone that she can transform into the Great Bird. With her new ability, the party flies to Scande, where they do battle with Zog and vanquish him. Afterwards, Jade traps them in a room with Sara. Jade plays on Ryu's emotions by placing Sara under a powerful mind control spell. She takes the keys from Ryu and delivers them to Jade. The party pursues him to the tower where Myria is sealed, but are stopped midway through the tower by Sara, who attacks them. The party is forced to kill her to break Jade's hold on her; the mind control is too strong to completely dispel any other way. As she lies dying, she tells Ryu and his friends that they have done nothing wrong — Jade and Myria are to blame as they created a situation where she had to die. The party resolves to stop Jade at any cost, but are too late to prevent him from freeing Myria completely. Ryu wakes up three days later in his hometown, which is still in ruins. He learns from his comrades and the surviving Light Dragon members that Jade has unearthed the Obelisk from beneath Scande and that he, Goda and Myria have taken up residence within. They infiltrate the Obelisk with the assistance of Mogu's clan. Goda attempts to bar their path within the Obelisk, but is defeated. The party presses on to find Jade, who is enraptured by the power of Myria and engages the party in battle, but is defeated and slain. He ominously announces that the party will soon face the fell goddess responsible for the Goddess War thousands of years ago. The party confronts Myria in the deepest room of the Obelisk, initially in the guise of a defenseless female. However, when Ryu uses the ultimate dragon power against her, Myria becomes enraged and transforms herself into a demon. The party battles her one final time and defeat her. She vows to return and destroys the ground under the party's feet. They are rescued by Nina's clan and taken to Wyndia, where Ryu sees Sara's apparition one last time. She expresses pride in Ryu for defeating Myria when the Light Dragon Warrior of the past failed to do so. The party members go their separate ways and devote themselves to reconstruction efforts across the globe now that the war is over.


Development

''Breath of Fire'' was developed by
Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
for the
Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...
by designer Yoshinori Kawano (credited as Botunori) and producer
Tokuro Fujiwara , sometimes credited as Professor F or Arthur King, is a Japanese video game designer, involved in the development of many classic Capcom video games. He directed early Capcom titles such as the run-and-gun shooter ''Commando'' (1985), the plat ...
, previously known as the creator of the ''
Ghosts 'n Goblins ''Ghosts 'n Goblins'', known in Japan as , is a series of Shoot 'em up, run-and-gun Platformer, platform video games developed and owned by Capcom. The first entry in the series was ''Ghosts 'n Goblins (video game), Ghosts 'n Goblins'', release ...
'' series. Keiji Inafune (credited in the staff credits, as Inafking) designed the game's characters. However, Inafune's supervisor took him off the project and replaced him with Tatsuya Yoshikawa. The latter artist kept many of Inafune's design features in the new illustrations. Capcom added
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s into the game in the form of cameo appearances by characters from other company franchises, including
Chun-Li Chun-Li (; Japanese: , Hepburn: ) is a character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' video game series. She first appeared in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in 1991 and is the first female playable character to appear in a fighting game t ...
from ''
Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...
''. The game's English release in August 1994 was a joint effort between Capcom USA and
Square Soft also known under its international brand name SquareSoft, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It was founded in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto, who spun off the computer game software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line constructio ...
, who handled most of the title's localization and promotion in North America due to Capcom USA's lack of experience with text-heavy role-playing games. Square Soft would feature the game in the fourth issue of its North American newsletter, ''The Ogopogo Examiner'', and would advertise the game as being "from the makers of the ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
'' series". ''Breath of Fires English localization was handled primarily by
Ted Woolsey Ted Woolsey is an American video game translator and producer. He had the primary role in the North American production and localization of Square's role-playing video games released for the Super NES between 1991 and 1996. He is best known for t ...
, whose previous works included ''
Final Fantasy Legend III ''Final Fantasy Legend III'', known in Japan as ''SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha'', is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. The third entry in the ''SaGa'' series, it was released in Japan in 1991 and in North Ame ...
'', ''
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest ''Final Fantasy Mystic Quest'', released as ''Mystic Quest Legend'' in PAL regions and as in Japan, is a role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released as a spin-off to Square's ''Final Fantasy'' series of ...
'', and ''
Secret of Mana ''Secret of Mana'', originally released in Japan as is a 1993 action role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sequel to the 1991 game ''Seiken Densetsu'', released in North Ameri ...
''. Because of space limitations in game's text fields, many items, as well as character and spell names had to be truncated in order to fit, resulting in numerous abbreviations. In March 2001, Capcom Japan announced that ''Breath of Fire'' would be ported to Nintendo's
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
handheld system with new features and a more "intuitive" gameplay system. The new version includes re-drawn character portraits, as well as a re-designed menu system that resembles '' Breath of Fire II'', along with updated cutscene graphics at certain points during gameplay. Additionally, Capcom added the ability for players to temporarily save their progress at any point using a new "quick save" feature, as well as a new dash button that allows for faster movement through the game. Using the Game Boy Advance link cable, two players may also exchange items between
game cartridges A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, cassette, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, ...
using a new trade feature. Two months before the 2001
Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual Trade fair, trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, wit ...
in
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, Capcom USA announced that they would be publishing an English version of the game initially for release the following September.


Audio

The music for ''Breath of Fire'' was composed by four members of Capcom's sound team Alph Lyla:
Yasuaki Fujita is a video game composer and sound designer. Best known for his work with Capcom, he normally went by the alias of Bun Bun. During the ''NES'' era, he worked on the music for ''Mega Man 3'' (in lieu of Harumi Fujita), ''Tenchi wo Kurau II (Famil ...
, Mari Yamaguchi, Minae Fuji, and
Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. Shimomura wrote music for severa ...
, originally credited under the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
s "Bun Bun", "Mari", "Ojarin", and "Pii♪", respectively. Tatsuya Nishimura also composed music and sound effects for the game, but remained uncredited. Although no official soundtrack for the game was made available during its original release, the background themes from the title would later be included on the ''Breath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Box'' released in March 2006, which featured music from the first five games of the series. To help promote the title, Capcom used the song "Running Wild" by Toshi and rock band the Night Hawks in the game's television commercial in Japan, with a re-recorded version featuring slightly different lyrics called "Breath of Fire" later appearing on the Night Hawks' June 1994 album ''The Midnight Hawks''.


Reception


Contemporary

''Breath of Fire'' met with "considerable success" during its original release in Japan. While the title was initially only "modestly successful" in North America, ''Nintendo Power'' noted a spike in sales following the release of the game's sequel in December 1995, calling it "a rare second wind". The game was mostly well received by critics during its release in North America in 1994. ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...
'' awarded it a score of 9 out of 10. ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...
'' praised the title's "excellent graphics and sound", ultimately stating that "Even if you're not a fan of these kinds of more paced games, you'll still get hooked on this one!" Its five reviewers gave it ratings of 8, 8, 7, 8 and 9 out of 10. ''GameFan''s three reviewers gave it scores of 94, 90 and 90 out of 100, concluding that it has "beautiful art work, a great story, very good fight scenes, and some of the most amazing music". ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...
'' praised its level of exploration and found it to be "not as linear as other RPGs such as ''
Final Fantasy II is a 1988 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Family Computer as the second installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Like other ''Final Fantasy'' sequels, the game is set in its own world, and does not follow ...
''", but said that its plot was relatively standard and contained "more fighting than adventure fans might like". ''
GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' similarly felt that the game's story was "nondescript and average" and that Capcom "should have tried for more interesting enemies, different battle screens, or butt-kicking graphics", finding the overall experience to be "bland". ''
Electronic Games ''Electronic Games'' was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States and ran from October 15, 1981, to 1997 under different titles. It was co-founded by Bill Kunkel, Joyce Worley, and Arnie Katz. History The h ...
'' gave it a full A+ rating, stating that it is "considerably longer" than ''Final Fantasy II'' and "superior in every way" to ''
Wizardry V ''Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom'' is the fifth scenario in the ''Wizardry (video game series), Wizardry'' series of role-playing video games. It was published in 1988 by Sir-Tech for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC compatibles (as a s ...
'' and '' Eye of the Beholder'', and concluded that "Capcom's masterpiece" has "all of the necessary elements of a top-notch RPG".


Retrospective

Retrospectively, the Super NES version maintains a 78% average score on aggregate review website
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
. The game's re-release on the Game Boy Advance maintains a 76% review average on Game Rankings and a 79% on
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
. It debuted on the Japanese software charts as the third highest-selling game of its first week, selling 22,236 copies, and would go on to sell a total of 63,407 copies in the region by the end of 2001. '' Play Magazine'' called the game's port job from the Super NES "flawed in execution", commenting on handheld version's high
color saturation Colorfulness, chroma and saturation are attributes of perceived color relating to chromatic intensity. As defined formally by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) they respectively describe three different aspects of chromatic ...
and lower sound quality.
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
felt that the game was overall a faithful translation of the original, but that the music sounded "tinny" when compared to its predecessor, also stating that "While it's not the best-looking or most technically impressive RPG out for the system, Breath of Fire is still a rock-solid game."
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
would also comment on the game's presentation, declaring that it was "not much more than your typical Japanese-style RPG" and that its graphics were outdone by titles developed specifically for the system, additionally lambasting its high random encounter rate and simplistic puzzles, and ultimately calling ''Breath of Fire'' "a decent diversion". ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' took note of the conversion's shortcomings, but praised its new save feature that allowed players to stop the game at any time, declaring that "Overall, BoF exemplifies hand-held role-playing done right." Other publications such as ''Game Informer'' recommended the game to anyone who "likes RPGs", along with ''Nintendo Power'' who referred to it as an "excellent epic that still holds up". ''GamePro'' found the title to be "an enjoyable RPG that easily kills spare time" but that it was overall less involving than later games in the series, calling its narrative "lifeless".


Accolades

In 1997, ''Breath of Fire'' was ranked 82nd in ''Nintendo Powers list of the top 100 games released on
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
consoles, and in 2006, it placed 161st in the magazine's top 200. In 2002, ''Breath of Fire'' became runner-up for "Best Game Boy Advance Role-Playing Game" in IGN's Best of 2001 awards. In 2018,
Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
rated Breath of Fire 27th on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time". IGN ranked the game 43rd in its Top 100 SNES Games.


Legacy

''Breath of Fire'' influenced two officially licensed
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
which were first serialized in Japanese magazines. The first, ''Breath of Fire: Ryū no Senshi'' by Hiroshi Yakumo, is a re-telling of the events of the video game which was first published in ''Family Computer Magazine'' before being released as a two-volume collection by Tokuma Shoten. The manga embellishes on certain parts of the plot while omitting others entirely, and introduces new characters such as Bo's son Dele. The second, ''Breath of Fire: Tsubasa no Oujo'' (ブレス オブ ファイア -翼の王女-, ''lit. Breath of Fire: Princess of the Wings'') by Kouji Hayato, takes place after the events of the game and focuses on the relationship between Ryu and Nina, and first appeared in
Monthly Shōnen Jump was a shōnen manga magazine which was published monthly in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. History The ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' magazine star ...
before also being released in a two-volume compilation by Shueisha Jump Comics. Hayato followed up the manga with a side-story called ''Breath of Fire Part II: Chiisana Boukensha'' (ブレスオブファイア PART2 ~小さな冒険者~, ''lit. Breath of Fire Part 2: Little Adventurers''), which featured the adventures of Ryu and Bo's sons, which was later released as its own single volume.


Notes


References


External links


Official Game Boy Advance version website
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