TITLE: Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
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Battle System - 8
Interface - 8
Music - Sound - 9
Originality - 8
Plot - 7
Localization - 8
Replay Value - 9
Visuals - 7
Difficulty - Borderline Hard (see below)
Time to Complete - 15-20
OVERALL - 8
BOTTOM LINE: Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter may not be for everyone;but it SHOULD be.
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Introduction Capcom has broken the hallowed mediocrity of their Breath of Fire Series. While retaining much that is familiar character wise, they give the boot to just about everything else.
Battle System: This battle system is a cross between Parasite Eve, Xenogears, and Chrono Cross. Get used to conglomerations right now, this game chokes on them.
This game is built on an "Ability Points" System that being that per turn your character has so many ability points to expend. This means he can use them all repositioning himself, just flat out attacking without moving at all, or not use them at all, storing them up for the next turn.
Attacks and Movements all take AP. However, using items does not. This is a lifesaver in many battles, as your inventory is limited.
By equipping skills to your weapons and armor, you can enable certain abilities for your character. Some weapons have limited slots, so you have to choose between a more powerful weapon, or one with more slots to use for skills.
Linking skills together create combinations that successively do more damage. Some combos create special moves that are even better. Some create status effects. Mixing and matching skills is the only way to discover which have what effect.
Interface This is where things can be a little complicated. There is so much to manager in this game, that to tackle a streamlined interfacing of it all is daunting. I think this game does a creditable job. Do I get confused and go to the wrong screens? Yes. Do I generally accomplish what I need to? Yes.
The buttoning system is customizable to your needs, and shortcuts are available for some functions.
Music & Sound - How should I put it? The music and sound here is wonderful. Owing to the talents that created the Vagrant Story/FFT and Chrono Trigger/Cross soundtracks, you will not find a dull track around. Okay, so you may find SOME dull tracks. But overall, the score is very effective in evoking the emotion it is made to.
Originality - Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter can be best described as a conglomeration of various other ideas. You can find the Parasite Eve/Vagrant Story "Battle sphere" as well as the Chrono Cross "skill system". The limited space granted and the restriction on hard saving is reminiscent of some survival horror genre games.
However, the fact that all these various elements are merged together is pretty unique in of itself.
The SOL system is something that I have never encountered before. While you get the nominal "Clear save" data from previous games, it is not rendered mundane (like in BOF4, where you get clear save just to be only able to fight the last boss), as this enables you to restart the game with a newly reconsidered "D-level". The better this score, the better able you are to get into rooms that were locked in previous games.
The concept of party experience was used heavily in Valkyrie Profile. Breath of Fire takes this a step further in making party experience tranferable from restart and restore. This sweetens the otherwise bitter taste of defeat as you are forced to quit the game because of too hight a "D-counter".
Which leads to the "D-Counter" concept in itself. Ryu's dragon is so insanely powerful that they put severe limitations on its use. NOTHING will make the "D-counter" go up like Ryu using his dragon powers. The best advice I can give is to use the dragon as sparingly as possible. You will need him come the end of the game.
Other things make the "D-counter" go up as well. Walking, using Ryu's dash, are all contributors. It is for you to keep it as low as possibly for as long as you can.
Plot: Okay, let me get this out of the way.
Yes, there is a girl called Nina with wings.
Yes, there is a boy called Ryu, and he can turn into a dragon.
Yes, there is a cat-hybrid.
Now that those are out of the way, I can actually focus on the important storyline concepts.
The setting appears futuristic, and mankind has been driven underground because of some gigantic catastrophe above. Two organizations seem to be vying for control underground, the "rangers", which is where Ryu begins this journey, and "Trinity" the so-called terrorist organization.
Life underground seems rather dull and hopeless, as even the top of the cave is painted to reflect what "the sky" is supposed to look like.
People are classed quite harshly, their futures determined by their "D-level" The smaller the number, the better your chances at a decent life are.
Ryu starts this show with an abysmal 1/8192 rating. He's not going to go anywhere in this life, to go by that number.
But hey, he's the protaganist of this story, so we all know better.
Localization – The localization is very decent. Each character has their own "voice" which is characterized in the words spoken and the attitude evidenced through body language and expression. I never found myself jolted out of the story by cheesy translation.
Replay Value - This game was made for replay. The SOL system was designed so that people would have to venture through this game multiple times to get the whole story in all the little nuggets of detail. The party experience system can be abused so that the subsequent playthrough would be laughably easy, and the fact that worn equipment and lockered items follow you through it just icing on the cake.
Subsequent replays opens new scenes, and new rooms. The argument can be made that replaying the whole game to catch so little more can be made. To which I just wave my hand dismissively your way.
Actually no. That's a valid point. If you are hoping for a brand new storyline to come to light through the replay, prepare to be disappointed. However, the new scenes that are opened give just a little more filler on what’s happening behind the scenes. Questions that you may have had can and sometimes will be answered.
While you can walk away from this game after the first win and feel like you completed the game, people that liked playing will be happy to know that on their replay more will be waiting for them.
Visuals - The Cel-shading is quite nice. The jagged black line can be disconcerting at times, but the detail made in creating expressions, locations and people are apparent. The complaint can be made (and has been) that one dungeon looks like the next-well, actually they are right. But in the context of the storyline, nothing else would really fit as well.
The visuals are crisp and not at all muddy. It became pleasant to watch as time wore on and you began to see little details emerge (like Lin's tail twitching ;) )
The Cut scenes are pretty much indecipherable from the game itself, which is a nice touch. Nothing jarring you back and forth from storyline to gameplay.
Difficulty - The Difficulty here is in regards to the initial play-through. As the SOL system is rather original in concept and application, this game is made to become easier through subsequent restarts, restores and ultimately replays. The initial learning curve can be quite steep if you are a stranger to "survival" games. Other players should feel right at home.
Time to Complete - Initial playthrough time varies from 15-20 hours for most gamers. (Hence the reason it took me twice as long)
Conclusion - The Breath of Fire series had always been noted for being "traditional". That tradition has been broken in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. While elements in the game are very reminiscent of earlier incarnations of this series. The overall look, feel and mechanics of play have been completely overhauled. The results are a mixed bag that creates a viable world with characters that think, feel, and fight for something that we too, can relate with. Whether you are the fan of the old series that is still squalling for the fishing game, or a fan of "other" rpgs that would like something that at least shoots for (and mostly hits) originality, this game should not be underestimated. It should be judged on its own merits, in which it stands quite well.