Welcome to a new edition of Retro Corner Reviews and we look at one of Capcom's RPGs for the Super NES. During the 90s, JRPGs saw a rise in popularity thanks to companies like Square Soft and Enix (before the merger in 2003). Many hit titles from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest to originals like Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger flooded the market. It became even more so when the PS1 saw a massive release of JRPGs in the late 90s. It doesn’t surprise us that Final Fantasy VII jump started this more than any JRPG could in 1997 and led to many new entries from the brand. However, in the Fourth Gen many studios wanted to cash in on the niche’s success (it was like this before 1997) and would release their own versions. Taito, Tecmo and Atlus were among those studios that would release titles like Lufia, and the lesser known games called Secret of the Stars. The most notable one is Breath of Fire on the Super NES, and it’s a genre Capcom rarely dipped their hands into. The only experience they ever had was Willow on the NES and despite being Adventure, it was the closet to a JRPG. Gameplay During my first play through of the Breath of Fire I knew what to expect after experiencing several of its kind. It has everything the genre usual had with an overhead view and a four party system. Each character follows a set fighting class and they all had unique abilities and styles. The entire cast is needed to get through the level design as seen from Karn unlocking doors and disarming traps. Of course, then there’s abilities like Bo's forest navigating and Gobi’s sea traveling. We can’t forget Ryu's and Karn's transformations that helped get through the majority of the boss battles. Depending on which dragon level is in use can cause massive damage between 90 to 300 points. With the bosses acting like tanks made this mechanic an essential power to hit them where it hurts these monsters the most. Karn’s super forms combines two to three party members at once and gives his regular attacks double damage. The downside is Bo can’t use his spells, but they eventually become obsolete anyway after Bleu joins the party. Speaking of Bleu, you can’t have an RPG without the traditional black mage and that's where she comes in. Her spells cause massive damage to the bosses as it becomes even more so later in the adventure. My favorite features of these B titles come from stopping random encounters from happening often. That’s one of my biggest gripes with most games in this genre as I can’t step no more than five to seven steps before encountering a battle. Those Mrbl3s and Smoke Balls did so many wonders when trying to get to a boss or the chests in the levels. Another item I couldn’t get enough of was the Mrbl1 (it’s nothing like the Mrbl3) where it allows any fighter to perform a critical hit once per turn. I forget to mention one thing that really annoyed me and that's the boss getting a second wind most of the time. The Dark Dragon bosses did this every time I encountered one in battle and after draining their health, I still needed a few turns to finish them off. I'll chalk this up to Capcom's inexperience in designing RPGs. The second screen is finding the Dragon equipment for Ryu using the Rod5 to fish in wells and ponds. Its used to gain access to the later shrines as the DragonSD is needed to challenge the second one. Of course, upon reading a couple of reviews found in game magazines several years ago that claimed certain things were an issue. It’s easy to admit some of these were valid but for the others I just question how much they played the game. After going through the first BoF a few times and reaching the end, I know this is simply untrue. In fact, it's my fourth play through and not all the bosses got designed in this manner they complained about. Yes, I agree Capcom should’ve design the bosses at the start to not act like tanks and making the party’s physical attacks weak. However, either they didn’t play the game all the through or simply stopped after receiving the Light Key in Auria. I’m also guessing the reviewers equipped the Flame RP for Nina instead of using it from the menu. That also tells me they didn’t do their research on the game, but used the feelings made during that short play session. I bet most reviewers don’t even know the fast grind spots with the gold blobs that can level them up quickly around Bleak. You can get all these before even reaching the Light Key in Auria but obviously they didn’t want to do their research. It’s not like this is the 90s where the internet didn’t exist, and you needed hours of play time to know that. There is no excuse for why they couldn’t take an hour to research this through several play throughs on YouTube and GameFAQs. It’s their job to inform the gamers who might be on the fence with certain games. As you guessed the Metal Slime makes it's appearance and this is one of the few variety encountered. I mentioned the gold blobs found near Bleak but for the Metal Slime it's only found at the end of the game once Nina gets her giant bird ability. Its found on a island north of Agua and Romero. Capcom did water down their version compared to Enix's own as this one doesn't run away but hey its an easy 9,999 experience points. The second image has the FlameRP being used against Talon the first shrine boss who is known to act like a tank. That's the reason you should never equipped it to Nina and this helps add further damage for a weak party member to do. That was something I wanted to get off my chest for a while especially after finding out several journalists didn’t watch The Witcher’s first season but still reviewed it. You have to play or watch a product all the way through if they want to write a proper review. With that said, here’s my take on the hit points being weak regarding physical attacks. For years this company specialized in fighting and platformer games like Mega Man, Street Fight and the occasional license title. However, JRPG design isn’t one of them and here is a perfect example. The biggest problem comes from Ryu and the other physical characters causing very little damage to the bosses. About half of these bosses are like tanks and their defense points is too high even for a mid-level one. Unless any party member has around 150-200 points in action won’t make a dent in their health. Often, I relied on the Earth Key, the Elemental RPs and Ryu’s dragon abilities to inflict any repeated damage. It’s even a problem for guys like Ox and Karn’s combined ability when they should be able to cause 60 to 90 hit points a turn. That is one thing for Nina and Bo to cause less physical damage but it’s another when a powerhouse can’t do the same. Fortunately, this is only a problem in 1/4th of the game which is in the beginning. Aside a couple of bosses acting like tanks after this, it doesn’t become a problem later. Rating: 7.8/10 Graphics/Presentation For a B quality JRPG does look like it almost got the full treatment we see often from the major releases. Then again, its Capcom and even when they trend unfamiliar territory the studio knew how to deliver. All the traditional environments are all used like clockwork and everything you would find in a medieval fantasy world. As the player continues in their adventure, the team visits the usual town, cavern and dungeon to explore. Probably the best feature of these places is the tiny details Capcom inserts into them. If you played any game from the publisher, this is a feature they always got right. The caverns had a rock structure that loomed above in the center of a few corridors. However, under these secondary layers was a drop of water dripping down on to a puddle with an echo sound effect. These visuals got amplified during the battles and BoF had some of the better animation compared to even the bigger games. Final Fantasy VI wasn’t this broad and animated with its visuals during the battles. I mean how many RPG titles can say that during the fourth gen. The sprites during the battles had the broadest of detail most of its kind didn’t see in that era. It’s highlighted the best with the bosses who seem menacing and massive as if they were tanks themselves. Of course, the animation from these characters created another layer and for once none of them were limited to their overhead appearance. The visuals do bare a resemblance to the Super NES's Final Fantasy titles as the layout looks similar. You have to give it to Capcom to put in those tiny details as the first image illustrates this with animated water effects in the background near the other continents. At the top of Agua is the room that takes you to Tyr and these fantasy space type zones always gets to me, I mean, you are inside a tower that leads to a magical space area. I can’t understand why more known developers like Square limited their sprites to their overhead designs instead of going the extra mile. They even made non-animated images for the enemies and bosses who only seemed to flash to indicate the monsters did an attack. It’s understandable if this was the console’s first two year with Final Fantasy IV but after 1993, there's no excuse. If Capcom always nailed something down, then the soundtrack is one of them. Just listen to any game they produced on the Super NES, and it’s like a work of art. I have stated to still enjoy low budget OSTs from Lufia and Children of the Stars. However, it’s hard to deny Capcom outclassed that tinny music by taking advantage of the sound chip. The INN song is hands down the most pleasant tavern like theme I have listen to compared to most in its genre. It both has this welcoming and tavern like tone that always puts a smile on your face. Of course, we can’t forget the theme of the Royal Castle and Forest that matched what these stood for. The royal castle song sounded reserved and adventurous as it welcomed the hero. While the music of the forest provided this mysterious and haunting them that fits perfectly in a dark fantasy setting. The OST might not be as fantastic as FFVI but the music by it's self still fits the theme well. Rating: 8.5/10 Story The theme is the usual light verses dark story and it involves the many tribes of species in medieval settings. The backstory states that a powerful goddess known as Tyr caused havoc across the world. Due to the chaos Tyr was causing, several tribes from the Light Dragons to the Forest Clan found a way to imprison the evil goddess. With six keys representing Earth, Light, Dark, Sky, Space and Time were created, and the many clans were successful in sealing her away using these relics. Thousands of years have passed since then but now Zog the emperor of the Dark Dragons wishes to revive the evil goddess. His intent is to gain more power, and his first strike is against the Light Dragon who he believes are a threat to him. Upon reading through the backstory it’s a good start to tell what the theme is about. The most original thing about the plot is the species and its nothing that you would usually find in Final Fantasy. Of course, there are dragons in those stories, but I don’t recall people being able to draw their abilities from transformations. Well, maybe from Terra who had something similar in FFVI but that was more of a half form compared to a complete transformation. Ryu morphs into a dragon while Nina can turn into a massive bird and Gobi a larger fish. The plot has several issues involved, and the dialogue sounds so generic that it came off annoying. Similar to the first Lufia, the main cast would always state the obvious when it didn’t need mentioning. The characters who had this the worst was Bo, Ox and Mogu as they were solely there to help Ryu in battle. Even when they discussed important topics and strategy in facing the Dark Dragons, the conversations fell flat. Take Ox as an example and he mentions his people (both men and women) were held captured by the Dark Dragons. Then Ox states later on how he felt about his pregnant wife carrying their child during this war. Zog and Jade at least weren't given the Garland treatment and are revealed through the quest with their intentions. However, I found them mostly unappealing and just like Daos from Lufia, both of them come out of the Golbez/ExDeath cookie cutter mold. I would like for the villains to have engaging personalities and not simply "I want to conquer the world" mentally only. Again, the dialogue fell flat so many times I didn’t care if the heroes won against Zog. I didn’t even care what personal problems they faced during the story. Then there are Zog’s five generals, the Sinistrals of this game and how they get introduced at the midpoint of the story. Only two out of the five see any development but even then, Capcom writes them with wooden dialogue. So why was Mota conflicted with himself that his reasonable side wanted the evil part of him destroyed? It’s never explained as this part was mostly used to get Mogu to gain his courage back within the dream world. Then there is Cerl and Jade the only two to receive any developmental during the plot. Cerl wanted revenge for the way humans treated her during childhood. The village she stayed in as a kid kicked her out for not being like them. Alan her childhood friend knows Cerl had a good heart and she even showed conflict when trying to engage the heroes. Once again, the writing made me not care or show pity towards these two throughout the arc. The only time it came off sad is when Ryu returns to the empty castle lot as two little kids representing Cerl and Alan appear. The sad theme plays as Cerl claims as a child she will marry Alan when they get older as both of them run off screen. These small moments between the cast were slightly comical and reminds me of Jerin's and Lufia's typical short arguments. I just wish the writers would build on the cast and only Karn had any personality. The second image happens after returning to the empty castle lot once obtaining the Time Key. Its the only moment that made me care about any character since its truly sad those two couldn't live a happy life after the war. If you are wondering what happened, the writers never explained their fate after the castle disappeared. It could be that their spirits were reliving a memory of their childhood before moving on together. We now move on to Jade the antagonist you see at the start of the game facing Sara in a battle. He is Zog’s top general in this war, but it turns out Jade was using the emperor for his own purpose. The cloaked man the player encounters is actually him in disguised trying to help the heroes get to Zog. His plan was for the heroes to eliminate the emperor so then he could take the power of Tyr for himself to rule the world. It’s the typical general back stabs his/her ruler to take the spoils of war for their own selfish gain. Sara is the powerful leader and mage of the Light Dragons and is Ryu’s sister. At the start Sara turns the residents of Drogen into stone to protect them from the fire and battles Jade. There isn’t much to her personality as she only appears in the opening and at the end as a boss before facing Tyr. If she was such an important person then why is it Sara sees no development or ever gets mentioned in the dialogue. That is how much effort went into the story and most of these characters suffers from wooden personalities. With no development for the heroes or the villains is the reason, the writing suffers and made the plot less engaging. Rating: 7.2/10 Features/Content For this area, Capcom has done a solid job giving us some things to do in-between the main quest. Throughout the journey the player will run into three different dragon shrines, and they are used to give the player Ryu’s transformations. Don’t skip the first one as the dragon transformation are really needed unless you wish to fight the bosses for a while. I’ll give a hint as to how to beat the first shrine’s boss and you need to find the Flame RP in Agua. Once Karn joins the party head back to that floating island near Romero and the weapon awaits in the unexplored areas. After getting this sword don’t equipped the weapon to Nina as it can cause 90 points per turn from the item menu in a battle. I suggest doing the same for the ThundrRP and the Trident as any party member can use them from the menu. That leads us to the wells and ponds often discovered on the overworld in hidden locations. These optional items are unneeded to complete the game but if you’re a completionist then collecting any hidden equipment will be something to enjoy. The only thing you will get is the typical bad ending for not reaching certain requirements. Keep this in mind the second shrine requires you to get the Dragon Sword within a well to have access to the secondary powers. My favorite items to find were the boomerangs and it hits all enemies on screen. Gobi’s barter shop was another thing that helped the player use him in some way. The content is never a problem in a Capcom title and these portions delivered a "to do list" for us. The Dragon Shrines always helped once receiving Ryu's transformations considering the bosses take a great deal of damage at the beginning of the game. As mentioned, Gobi's shop was a much better mechanic as it helped get special equipment like ThurdrRP and Cure2. Its such a shame that other B titles in this genre never had such a feature as far as I could tell. The problem with Gobi is he’s the worst character in the entire cast as his spells and physical attacks do no justice. However, his banter abilities allow him to set up a store in either Prima or Tunlan. Now, you wonder what is so exciting about selling items that we can simply get at any shop? Gobi’s shop allows the player to obtain rare powerful equipment not found anywhere in the game. Even though it takes a long time for the right items to appear, I found this well worth the patience. To have more than one elemental weapon to use from the menu (ThundrRP and Trident) made this well worth the wait. Even then you can also collect Cure2s in abundance as the tonic heals a party member completely. What truly surprised me is there’s actually a cheat code that allows the player to go to any part of the game. Unfortunately, you need the second controller hooked up to enable the cheat. Usually, I rant about Capcom pulling this crap because that was their MO throughout the Fourth Gen. However, it’s worth the effort since this lets the player skip the beginning where most of the issues stem from. I have never seen a cheat of its kind in any RPG through my experience from the best to the lowest. Depending on what Street Fighter II character’s name is used upon starting a new file will let the player begin at certain points. The code has too many steps for me to explain, so I suggest looking it up on GameFAQs or YouTube. Rating: 7.5/10 Final Rating With Capcom’s first stab at the genre left solid results that followed most of the standards. The gameplay and level design were close to the early Final Fantasy titles mixed with some ideas from Dragon Quest. The fact we get auto target, can attack all enemies and have items like Mrbl3 in the same title was a godsend. BoF’s visuals went way above the average quality as the environments and sprites looked broad. It wasn’t often for 16-bit JRPGs to have animation as the only one that did such detail was the Phantasy Star series during the battles. The soundtrack wasn't the studios' best when compared to Mega Man VII and Demon Crest. However, it still sounded better than most B titles and after listening to Lufia’s tinny music shows the effort Capcom put into the game. The story is BoF’s weakest area as most of the time the characters’ writing fell flat. There wasn’t any moment that engaged me to care about this war with the Dark Dragons. There were many instances where they never went into why the other villains (mainly the four generals with Cerl being the exception) became evil. BoF’s content isn’t the best the genre saw especially when we put the game up against FFVI. However, it still felt fun enough to do any side things like the Dragon Shrines or Gobi’s Shop in-between. If you have a Nintendo Switch, I would recommend checking this out as BoF and its sequel are available on the Super NES Online app. Gameplay: 7.8/10 Graphics/Presentation: 8.5/10 Story: 7.2/10 Features/Content: 7.5/10 Final Rating: 7.6/10 Good
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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