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RTTP: Breath of Fire III
- Thread starter Fou-Lu
- Start date
DragonQuarter said:
The banquet gif is always a fascinating one because of just how much it says about each of the characters present, without actually saying anything. For instance, Ryu clearly has zero interest in his wine and doesn't have half a clue what to do with most of the things on his plate or with silverware in general. Meanwhile Nina isn't eating because the King isn't, but is also very accustomed to having wine at mealtimes since her glass is empty and she's got two wine bottles at her side. Hell, even the knight captain gets a bit of characterization here and they don't even get a name.
Seven Force
Banned
Says a lot about how well the game's spritework is used to convey characterization. It's often mentioned in BoFIII threads, but Kid Ryu' attack animation gradually changing from an awkaward, terrified flailing, to a more composed, confident strike (And coming to it's logical conclusion with Adult Ryu's generally more finessed looking animations) is one of the best examples of it in action.
Donniewahlberg
Banned
Sadly never got to this one! Really would like to play it one day, is the psp version decent?
Definitely get to dragon quarter properly at some point OP. Very different both in gameplay and the way it tells its story, but I had a great time with it back in the day. Remember enjoying the music a good deal too.
Definitely get to dragon quarter properly at some point OP. Very different both in gameplay and the way it tells its story, but I had a great time with it back in the day. Remember enjoying the music a good deal too.
KyanMehwulfe
Member
I actually ended up disliking the game, and never finished it... lost interest by the time I got to some factory boat or something, maybe 10-15 hours in. (Great game; just wasn't my thing).
But the part that brought me back to the game 3-4 times (even though I'd eventually quit each time) was the art, and especially how much I liked the art of Teepo and Rei.
In general, I loved the sort of.... wilderness/warriors sort of art, I guess? The forest, the young bandits, that first lumberjack master, the entire camping system... there was a sort of wilderness adventure aesthetic to it that I really liked a lot.
//edit// Probably the same for every BOF, actually... the gameplay and stories for me has always been good, serviceable... but it's always been the sort of aesthetic, the art, or I guess aesthetic themes that really make me get into them. BOF1 had the overworld hunting, the cool merchant character, the merchant trade system, the fishing, the thieve's town, etc. The 'merges' or whatever looked bad ass. BOF2 was much the same. BOF3, described above, and even BOF4 -- the number one thing that I loved about BOF4 could be summed up in its magazine ad (if anyone remembers the ads that were in PSM, etc) with the dark pine trees in the background and Fou-Lu in the foreground. Even Dragon Quarter, the whole reason I loved it wasn't really the gameplay per se or the soundtrack, though that helped, was really the awesome subterranean setting and the whole underground city/patrol aesthetic. For whatever reason the series always nails the art for me.
MegaManTrigger
Banned
Using the DQ V formula is the game's strongest point. Thanks for reminding me that I still have to finish it.
Lumpy Onion
Member
One of my favorite games of all time! ^_^
One thing this game does so well is the sense of journey. You really feel like you have travelled over miles of land and sea and even years of time to get to the final destination. Final dungeon and areas blew my mind as did the reason for things taking place. There is something truly arduous about the journey in BoF 3 that I find utterly satisfying.
Characters were so charming as well and the animations make me happy. The jazzy music adds to the charm and gives the game a unique feel. I remember a few old magazine reviews saying it was for the "kiddies" which really judges a book by its cover and ignores the dark themes woven into the story.
Currently reached the adult arc on PSTV and haven't played in years and think this is my favorite version by far. Controlling it via analog and a widescreen display with color vibrant and popping.
Lighthouse Chrysm puzzle can burn in hell though. Puyek!
One thing this game does so well is the sense of journey. You really feel like you have travelled over miles of land and sea and even years of time to get to the final destination. Final dungeon and areas blew my mind as did the reason for things taking place. There is something truly arduous about the journey in BoF 3 that I find utterly satisfying.
Characters were so charming as well and the animations make me happy. The jazzy music adds to the charm and gives the game a unique feel. I remember a few old magazine reviews saying it was for the "kiddies" which really judges a book by its cover and ignores the dark themes woven into the story.
Currently reached the adult arc on PSTV and haven't played in years and think this is my favorite version by far. Controlling it via analog and a widescreen display with color vibrant and popping.
Lighthouse Chrysm puzzle can burn in hell though. Puyek!
IMO, 4 is better in almost every way, faster, better combat, better art and animations. The only way it loses to 3 in my eyes is the ending and some of the emotional moments in 3's story.
Strangelove77
Member
So many memorable moments in that game.
Killing the Nue, breaking into the mansion full of ghosts, the coliseum fights, getting Peco after killing the big mutant plant, Garr trying to kill you, and that's just the first half of the game.
Crossing the sea and arriving at that sci-if town is probably what sticks with me the most. It was just so bizarre at the time I played it. I didn't expect for the story and setting to change that drastically. But it all works.
Killing the Nue, breaking into the mansion full of ghosts, the coliseum fights, getting Peco after killing the big mutant plant, Garr trying to kill you, and that's just the first half of the game.
Crossing the sea and arriving at that sci-if town is probably what sticks with me the most. It was just so bizarre at the time I played it. I didn't expect for the story and setting to change that drastically. But it all works.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
You mean 2 is better in every way right?
I always through it was kind of weird how Child Ryu, Nina, Teepo, and Garr's sprites didn't look much like their artwork, but apparently that's because the artist changed his entire style during development, and it must have been after they had already done some of the graphics. You can see how those sprites are actually a pretty spot on reflection of the early designs:
There's a similar thing with Breath of Fire 1 where some of the field sprites don't resemble the final character designs because they were based on early artwork done by Keiji Inafune.
There's a similar thing with Breath of Fire 1 where some of the field sprites don't resemble the final character designs because they were based on early artwork done by Keiji Inafune.
With the retranslation 2 might possibly have the best story and characters, but 4 definitely has better combat.
Never did finish this game but I hold it fondly in my in childhood memories. My brothers and I loved the hell out of this game. My brother and I took out the PSX out of my closet last summer after testing some AV cables. The game that was inside? Breath of Fire III. I loaded up the last save and it was right after the ship lands in the robot town before having to cross the desert. Having to fight giant roaches and a chicken at the McNeil Mansion was hilarious. The prologue was pretty dark in retrospect because Ryu obliviously massacred a small town that was trying to kill him. I remember the enjoying developing the fairy's town and kicking Mikba's ass after reuniting with Rei.
I remember going to a neighbor's house to watch him brag about how he got the Royal Sword from fishing and watched him try to defeat the last boss. He kept getting wrecked by her. I never did play the subsequent sequels but heard so much about them because the music takes a massive turn. VMPire covered the entire series' soundtrack a few years ago and is worth a listen for any fan of the series: http://www.vgmpire.com/2014/06/25/vgmpire-71-20-years-of-breath-of-fire/
I remember going to a neighbor's house to watch him brag about how he got the Royal Sword from fishing and watched him try to defeat the last boss. He kept getting wrecked by her. I never did play the subsequent sequels but heard so much about them because the music takes a massive turn. VMPire covered the entire series' soundtrack a few years ago and is worth a listen for any fan of the series: http://www.vgmpire.com/2014/06/25/vgmpire-71-20-years-of-breath-of-fire/
I found BoF2 to be pretty difficult at times but I think the style is pretty damn cool. It seems like it's the darkest in the series.
Something I miss from the first game was being able to stay in dragon form the whole battle. BoFIII finds a nice balance. I don't really like it in II where it's like a really powerful spell that uses all your MP.
I miss this series so damn much personally but I don't think it's ever coming back to handhelds or consoles. I would even play the mobile game if it was ever released/translated in English. Ah well, feels bad. Sales must've been bad for V but the NA boxart is absolutely lame compared to the JP one. I don't normally like to say stuff like that but it's true in this case.
I could not find a smaller image of the na boxart, sorry. Not savvy enough to resize it myself either!
Something I miss from the first game was being able to stay in dragon form the whole battle. BoFIII finds a nice balance. I don't really like it in II where it's like a really powerful spell that uses all your MP.
I miss this series so damn much personally but I don't think it's ever coming back to handhelds or consoles. I would even play the mobile game if it was ever released/translated in English. Ah well, feels bad. Sales must've been bad for V but the NA boxart is absolutely lame compared to the JP one. I don't normally like to say stuff like that but it's true in this case.
[
I could not find a smaller image of the na boxart, sorry. Not savvy enough to resize it myself either!
Pull_Shapes
Neo Member
One of my earliest and favourite rpgs. Love everything about it.
Enjoyed 4 as well, but could not get on board with 5
Enjoyed 4 as well, but could not get on board with 5
HerroRygar
Member
Yeah, really fond memories of this one. Multiple people have mentioned it already, but Ryu's changing attack animation was such an amazing touch. I only played through once and never beat it (stopped right before the final boss), so I don't remember it that well. This was in the days where I'd pick characters that I thought were the coolest and not really experiment much, so my final party was Ryu, Rei and Garr. Apparently Pico is a BAMF and I missed out by not using him?
Magnet_Man
Member
Really? All you have to do is walk in a straight line between those two red stars. Olden days of GameFAQs not being a complete joke site.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Yes, if you apprentice him to fahl from level one, he becomes a tank.
Best party imo is Ryu(apprenticed to bunyan from level one while being given every magic shard, farming them from the gift shop to get his AP up to acceptable levels), Rei (apprenticed to meryleep for agility and selected as the core of the chain formation to raise peco & ryu's agility) and peco with fahl.
No, not that much. Maybe some name dropping.
It's a great game with a lot more of a tactical emphasis. I think you will dig it. The cell-shading is a little bold though. My advice is to not expect to beat it your first run and to be somewhat sparing with your dragon usage,
Yeah III was one of my favourites as a kid. Haven't gone back to it too much in a good while, maybe late teens was the last time I played a good chunk of it. My impressions of the game after the Port Town where you cross the sea are pretty hazy, think I only went past that point as a kid. I remember the rest vividly though, and the music is really nice.
I liked IV and V as well, not as much, although I like the art direction in those games more.
It's a good series and if a new one came out, I'd probably play it.
I liked IV and V as well, not as much, although I like the art direction in those games more.
It's a good series and if a new one came out, I'd probably play it.
Seven Force
Banned
I'm personally of the opinion that IV is a total reboot continuity wise, but it could honestly go either way. There's plenty of evidence in favor of it being a distant prequel to the main trilogy, too.
With that said, I love the ties III has to I. My first time going through the game, I didn't realize what the mural in the game's title screen intro was depicting until it was brought up waaaaay later in Dragnier. Blew my mind as a kid.
With that said, I love the ties III has to I. My first time going through the game, I didn't realize what the mural in the game's title screen intro was depicting until it was brought up waaaaay later in Dragnier. Blew my mind as a kid.
Lumpy Onion
Member
As much as I love IV I really can't get behind what they did with the dragon stuff compared to the first three. Mixing and matching genes and the cool forms you could create were so much fun. Some of the combinations were utterly bizarre. I guess you have different abilities to use from IV's transformations but the unique visuals for each form were sorely missed.
Kinda interesting to have 3D pllygonsl dragon summons dependent on how well you do the mini games though. I read that on the internet recently and had no idea that was a thing.
Kinda interesting to have 3D pllygonsl dragon summons dependent on how well you do the mini games though. I read that on the internet recently and had no idea that was a thing.
How more games aren't aping the back up party mechanics and the magic combos? So good.
baddvision
Member
this is my favorite jrpg, and in my top 10 goat, the journey this game takes you on is fantastic, and so is the soundtrack
Breath of Fire III is the only one with the gene system. I and II only had a few transformations each. Hell in II they were just big spell attacks, not even real transformations. III did it best, but I think IV did it better than I or II.
I know right? Perfect advancement of turn based JRPGs and yet almost no games have utilized similar systems.
Lumpy Onion
Member
Haven't played 1&2 in 20+ years so I probably shouldn't mentioned them. Thanks for correcting.
LordKasual
Banned
This is one of my most memorable games. Loved the combat, loved the story, loved the music, loved the characters. I was really young when i played this....i'll never forget how ignorant i was of RPGs when playing this game. It led to alot of funny habits.
I knew nothing about Breath of Fire (or RPGs really) when i got this game. I remember the manual of the game had a menu snapshot with the timeskip characters in it, and I BELIEVE it was Ryu / Rei / Garr. And you lose Rei and Teepo early on in the story, so this blew my mind when i saw it.
I had no clue that the story would timeskip the characters, so i spent a crazy amount of time going back and forward through the maps every now and then looking for Rei and Teepo. I also remember getting stuck on the Tower where you meet momo. So i went back into that little area where Nina and Ryu slide down the mountain and grinded myself to whatever level the Ryu in the manual was, thinking he'd change form and get stronger.
Ignorance was fucking bliss, i'd give anything to play a game again like i played BOF3. Knowing how linear BOF games are today makes this story even more hilarious, but every day i turned the game on, i was excited for something new.
I, II and III are connected. But the story for III does not require any of them to enjoy. (I didn't play I or II before beating III.)
Apparently the main antagonist of III is the same person from I and II. Which makes her actions a bit deeper and more confusing, but i can't really comment on it.
IV is completely stand alone AFAIK. Although it's possible it may be a prequel? I dunno.
I knew nothing about Breath of Fire (or RPGs really) when i got this game. I remember the manual of the game had a menu snapshot with the timeskip characters in it, and I BELIEVE it was Ryu / Rei / Garr. And you lose Rei and Teepo early on in the story, so this blew my mind when i saw it.
I had no clue that the story would timeskip the characters, so i spent a crazy amount of time going back and forward through the maps every now and then looking for Rei and Teepo. I also remember getting stuck on the Tower where you meet momo. So i went back into that little area where Nina and Ryu slide down the mountain and grinded myself to whatever level the Ryu in the manual was, thinking he'd change form and get stronger.
Ignorance was fucking bliss, i'd give anything to play a game again like i played BOF3. Knowing how linear BOF games are today makes this story even more hilarious, but every day i turned the game on, i was excited for something new.
I, II and III are connected. But the story for III does not require any of them to enjoy. (I didn't play I or II before beating III.)
Apparently the main antagonist of III is the same person from I and II. Which makes her actions a bit deeper and more confusing, but i can't really comment on it.
IV is completely stand alone AFAIK. Although it's possible it may be a prequel? I dunno.
Mostly self contrained but I, II and III ARE connected. IV might be, fans have their theories.
I always thought IV was a sequel to III since
the world was covered by the desert Myria was holding back and Deis ended up in that robot after she and Myria plunged into the abyss. There's plenty of time for Fou-Lu to show up and establish his kingdom before resting. We know III occurs after 1 and 2 based on the murals in the Dragon Temple.
Alex
Member
III is one of my favorite traditional RPGs, I liked it more than IV, personally. I actually remember having a pre-order for III, I remember wanting to ditch school to go get it, haha.
V is still the crown jewel of the series though, IMO. I miss that kind of creativity you'd get from the late PSone and PS2 JRPGs, now everything that can't afford to be a full blown traditional game is just made into a cheap Wizardry clone with pandering art.
V is still the crown jewel of the series though, IMO. I miss that kind of creativity you'd get from the late PSone and PS2 JRPGs, now everything that can't afford to be a full blown traditional game is just made into a cheap Wizardry clone with pandering art.
I played a little bit of it this summer, but the encounter rate was driving me crazy... I also remember that running away wasn't a great idea since every new area would throw at you pretty strong monsters, so you had to grind.
I think I was just at the beginning of Momo's Tower.
Does it get better about this? Did I fail to notice something really stupid that would have made walking around less painful\the combat easier? I loved BoF IV and I really want to love this game too, but I can't be bothered with the grind anymore.
I think I was just at the beginning of Momo's Tower.
Does it get better about this? Did I fail to notice something really stupid that would have made walking around less painful\the combat easier? I loved BoF IV and I really want to love this game too, but I can't be bothered with the grind anymore.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
I still think the best part of the game is the intro sequence with Rei and Teepo.
I'm stuck on training that stupid nerd on my current playthrough. I want to get to
, dammit!
I'm stuck on training that stupid nerd on my current playthrough. I want to get to
the timeskip
Paltheos
Member
I always through it was kind of weird how Child Ryu, Nina, Teepo, and Garr's sprites didn't look much like their artwork, but apparently that's because the artist changed his entire style during development, and it must have been after they had already done some of the graphics. You can see how those sprites are actually a pretty spot on reflection of the early designs:
There's a similar thing with Breath of Fire 1 where some of the field sprites don't resemble the final character designs because they were based on early artwork done by Keiji Inafune.
Oh, hey, that's pretty neat. I'd wondered about that since some of the differences are pretty striking.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Well, you get stronger characters. From Royal Tomb to Momo's Tower is probably the weakest your party ever is compared to the enemies, as you only have Ryu and Nina, and if you apprenticed Ryu to Mygas and screwed up his ATK, you're really having to slog through the battles. From momo's tower onwards, you'll pick up three characters in fairly quick succession and can have three heavy hitters in the team if you want. But yeah, BOF3 has a pretty high encounter rate. Nowhere near as bad as BOF2 though. I remember the forest near the colosseum being pretty brutal.
I always loved training beyd. You don't actually have to do it though, just go through the one night and up his defence so he can last a few turns, then cheat during the fight and kill Zig yourself.
Stronginthearm
Member
I bought this twice (physical on the psp, then digitally on psn so I could play it on my Vita), but I haven't started it yet!