I know it’s longer than your Master’s Thesis, but I hope whoever dares to read the whole thing finds it enjoyable.
http://jamieobeso.blogspot.com/2008/07/breath-of-fire-overview-of-series.html
I only actually finished BoF I and II when they were first release. They were probably my second and third RPGs I ever played after FF VI. I thought they were really slow for their time.
I’ve seen my friend play BoF III and I thought it was the best. I don’t remember anything about BoF IV, and I hated BoF V’s dark atmosphere. I really hope that if Capcom decides to make another one that they don’t fuck it up.
Ooh, a challenge! Nice hook, SG. reads the blog post…
First of all:
I think you ARE a great writer. I’ve enjoyed every one of your reviews, even when I disagreed with your opinions. Believe me, I read a LOT of stuff regularly, including reviews by “professionals” on newspapers and such, and yours are the kind I think most people would enjoy: informed without sounding pedant.
(Btw: you’re only 21!? Funny, I always felt you were older. Maybe because you sounded more mature than most of the other folk who post here. 
)
I find that I agree with most of your points in the summary, and where I don’t it’s usually due to personal taste. I tend to prefer games with turn-based combat and extended combat fields (though not to the size of full Strategy Games’) for example.
In fact, you’ve made me think about what is required to “sell” an RPG these days, and I realize now that it’s the same conundrum (ooh look at me use big money words! 
) that comic books face today: they want to attract new customers, but don’t want to lose the ones they have. The problem is, how do you offer “new” stuff" without losing the basic appeal of RPGs? Most of the time (judging from what I’ve seen of course) they change the setting and add new combat systems but the story and character types are the same. Ironically, considering they’re ROLE playing games, you end up playing the SAME kind of roles all the time- look, I’m the young handsome moral hero AGAIN! 
I think they should experiment with the story more, and base most of the game elements on that (new magic systems, more unusual PC choices, etc.) while retaining the basics (for combat, exploration, etc.)
Anyway, thanks for your efforts, they’ve been greatly appreciated. Just in case nobody told you.
I found it a very interesting read, and you are a good writer. Excellent work.
Though, if I may pick one small nit? There were a handful of bosses in BoF1 that had elemental weaknesses. However, it did not make as substantial a difference, and there was no way to tell besides trial and error. You really couldn’t go wrong just using the thunder dragons against every boss.
It’s not longer than my master’s thesis… that was over 100 pages. 8p Sorry… just don’t have the time to wade through this, and BoF isn’t my favorite series in any case.
I generally agree, but I read the BoF II one. In retrospect, it was mostly true, but I enjoyed the game immensely anyway.
I made the anchors so you could just go to whichever part you might want to read. The main purpose of this is to get BoF fans’ attention, so they can get off their asses and let Capcom know they want something new, except that, ever since the most recent BoF game, there’s a big division in what people want in a new game. So, it was sort of like “Hey guys, if you ever want a new, GOOD Breath of Fire that will ensure the franchise will continue, you need to get over some things.”
Would love to take up the challenge, but I have to depart for the oposite end of the country right now(without even the time to spell check ;_; ).
See you next week.
Heh, sometime later, SG.