Another PSone game that was released around the same time that the PlayStation 2 hit store shelves, Breath of Fire IV got a little lost among the initial transition. And that's a real shame, because we reckon that Capcom's final numbered Breath of Fire title is right up there with the best role-playing games on Sony's first console.
The story's split between two main characters: Ryu and Fou-Lu. Ryu's your typical blue-haired, amnesic, silent protagonist, while Fou-Lu's the angered founder of an ancient empire, who's re-awakened to take back what he thinks is rightfully his. The two leads are both playable, too, so you'll be switching between them as the plot moves forward, which makes for quite a cool contrast – especially as Fou-Lu starts out at a high level, slaughtering normal enemies with ease.
You'll be spending most of your time as Ryu, though, as you follow a story that twists and turns until the whole world's involved in a conflict that could spell the end for its inhabitants. It's even got a few surprisingly dark plot points, which are both shocking and horribly morbid, adding to the drama when the narrative needs them most. Good old Fou-Lu ends up becoming the antagonist of the tale, and it's not long until you're travelling across the globe while being pursued by the Fou Empire, which remains at large despite its age.
It's a story that's full of great characters, with your party members being especially memorable. Indeed, the playable cast is superb, diverse, and full of personality. Cray is the tough bodyguard of Princess Nina, travelling together to find her missing sister; Ershin is an incredibly quirky suit of armour who's far more than meets the eye; Scias is a stuttering mercenary and quite possibly the most laid back RPG party member on the PSone; the stoic and bold Ursula is the granddaughter of a powerful Fou Empire official.
When it comes to gameplay, Breath of Fire IV changes things up just a little bit as far as the franchise is concerned. Sporting the same isometric viewpoint as Breath of Fire III, exploration requires a lot of camera turning as you peek around corners and discover hidden alleyways, but it's a style that really gives the title a unique look. Meanwhile, field exploration takes place on a world map where you move between icons. As you move, you might come across points of interest, which, when investigated, take you to a small, explorable area that contains random battles, and usually some loot.
Speaking of which, battles are turn based, and often quite tactical. You learn new skills and moves as you level up, and using certain techniques in tandem will create combination attacks. It's mostly standard Japanese RPG fare, but there's a good amount of depth, especially when you factor in masters – non-playable characters who'll teach you new abilities as you study under them and complete their assigned goals. To top it all off, once you've got your full six member team, you'll be able to switch out your three active combatants at any time, mixing up your strategy on the fly.
Battles have a great look to them, as well, thanks to some crisp, beautifully drawn characters and lovingly animated attacks. The game as a whole has an eye-catching art style that boasts a subdued, but attractive colour pallet, while its settings range from dusty deserts to ancient jungle ruins. However, a particularly memorable scenario occurs when the party has to cross the sea between the Western continent and the Eastern landmass, but surprisingly, this isn't done by boat. Instead, you wander across a natural causeway that's built from sand dunes and marshland, which only appears when the sea parts. Needless to say, it makes for an incredibly unique journey.
Gluing all of this together is a fantastic soundtrack. The two aforementioned continents have their own style and subsequent musical themes, with the West sporting rousing, orchestral scores, and the East boasting intricate sitars and strange electronic rhythms. As is often the case with Japanese RPGs, though, the battle tunes steal the show, and still sound brilliant today.
Breath of Fire IV will forever live in the shadow of other, more famous PSone RPGs, but that shouldn't stop you from looking into one of Capcom's best fantasy adventures. The classic is currently up for grabs on the North American PlayStation Store, but it's sadly nowhere to be seen here in Europe. Still, if you get a chance to sample this engrossing journey, we can't recommend it highly enough.
Comments 29
Get this on the EU PlayStation Store, Capcom!
I've played Breath of Fire IV once but have never dared too again. I loved it so much I would get up at 5am before school to play it just to squeeze those extra few hours in. Sadly during the two weeks it took to complete it, both my cat and grandfather passed away. I'm not one to be superstitious, but I'm sure the game is cursed to me. But Robert is alive and well so hopefully everyone else will play safe playing too.
@NicolaHayden That's incredibly sad Nicola!
@ShogunRok It was such a good game too ;_;
When you say it's on the store, which store are you referring to? PS3? PS4? Vita? Combination of those three?
I've never played Breath of Fire IV.
@JaxonH It's a PSone Classic, so it should be on the PS3 and Vita stores.
Played it for the 1st time last year. Fantastic game. Really, really disturbing parts in it at times tho....... :0
You guys are absolutely knocking it out of the park with these articles so far, this and Rogue Galaxy are two of my favourite games! I must have been about 12 or 13 when I picked BOF IV up second hand a couple years after release when our local Choices store shut down. I didn't get much pocket money so could very rarely afford games, and as such would put obscene amounts of time into the ones I had.
Because of that, this game, Final Fantasy VII and Shadow Madness made up a huge chunk of my gaming around that time, and all remain very special games to me (although in hindsight, Shadow Madness was actually probably not very good, but I still love it)! From what I remember I'm pretty sure I managed to complete everything in this in the end, including all of the side quests like the fishing and the fairy village etc! Good times
Sadly never used series this. Nina and all the gang from BOF3, the best one, are going to be in the Sonic comic this summer in a Sega/Capcom crossover - http://www.seganerds.com/2015/02/24/archie-comics-reveals-more-characters-in-segacapcom-comic-crossover/ (great site for any Sega fanboys reading this) and is probably the only chance we have of seeing anything new to do with BOF ever again. Phone sequel doesn't count.
I've played the first 2 and would love to play 3 and 4. If these ever get released on the psstore I would buy them in a heart beat
The only BoF game I have ever played was the first one on SNES and its one of my favorite RPGs on that console. I never played a BoF on the PS but I do remember watching my friend play BoF III and I remember hearing about BoF IV when it came out. I think like you said because it was released at the beginning of the PS2 life I was too wrapped up in PS2 to check this game out.
Anyone know does a disc copy of this run at a reasonable price?
@ShogunRok Just wanted to add great article man.
@Tasuki Thanks for reading it!
I'm a big JRPG fan, but I've never played this series before. Hmmm. Maybe I'll have to check it out.
@ztpayne7 The first game is a little bit basic by today's standards, but II, III, and IV are all fantastic.
@ShogunRok I don't know I still enjoy the first one to this day. I can remember being in awe by the day/night cycle when I first played the game lol.
Bought bof4 on the vita In a sale. Starts off well when your an escapee dragon and joining the band of outcasts but I had to pull out a guide not long after (just after you mug someone on the highroad) Jrpgs have moved on since this and nostalgia has got the better of you here. Its generic and what you have to do next is obscure. I wouldn't recommend it to go back to if you havnt played it back in the day.
I think I purposely skipped this series for a reason but cant remember why. Guess I need to at least go find out why.
I liked this game very much. I always wondered why it was never released as a PSone Classic in Europe.
ohh ya, well I never played ANY Breath of Fire game! I watched my uncle play the first one alil' on SNES, and my friend play alil' of IV on PSOne, but I never ever thought to get into the series for some reason oO
I think I need to get this....
Y-You never played Breath of Fire IV?
I mean, come on...
.....
What?
.....
Really???
.....
Are you sirius?
Maaaaan, I can't even...
Okay man, that's okay.
It's cool..
That's your life,
So, yeah...
it's none of my business okaay!?
Bye.
I really like these kind of articles on push square I remember really wanting BOF4 but never getting round to buying it, I had some good time spent on BOF3 on ps one though
@themcnoisy I'm sorry but all I heard there was "I don't like this game because I couldn't work out what to do"...
@SteveButler2210 probably, I think it may be bof3 after rereading the article I was playing. Will give it a whirl when I'm done with ffx as the next rpg I play. But I was genuinely stuck at one point and it put me off.
@themcnoisy actually thinking about it I'm fairly confident you were playing BOF3, based on the comment. If there was a section fairly early on where you had to break into a mansion then it was 3 (also 4 was PS1 only, whereas the version of 3 on the store was a PSP re-release). 3 has probably aged a fair bit worse than 4 from memory, but I still really enjoyed what I played of it. Each to their own I guess!
I actually need to go back and play 3 properly. I remember renting it when I was about 8/9 and really enjoying it, but I didn't get overly far before having to take it back. Will probably just wait for it to join a sale on the PSN store
The camera killed it for me. I just couldn't see ANYTHING.
Trully a classic. Played it to completion on PS1, I remember the opening to this day, that theme... Amazing RPG, would like to play it again.
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