What are your thoughts on Breath of Fire IV Sup Forums?

What are your thoughts on Breath of Fire IV Sup Forums?

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youtube.com/watch?v=eDiWPEXJT9k
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youtube.com/watch?v=k1yW9qGqnks
youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZH9VZiLB8
lparchive.org/Breath-of-Fire-IV/Analysis/
s1.zetaboards.com/Four_Against_Nature/topic/5100042/1/
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Pretty good game with a great soundtrack.

Best Nina

Beautiful pixels,otherwise 3 Is better.

Visually it's very, very nice. I've only ever rented it.

unfinished trash

No matter what Breath of Fire it is, Ryu will always be canon to Nina

I enjoyed IV's row system a lot more personally. III's combat system is pretty weak and only really has the formations and dragon genes that make it unique. The dragon genes are a great conceot but the fact you only really need them for boss battles and are most likely going to only use a couple of them since experimentation is pointless kind of ruins them. The combo system of IV was a lot of fun and I found myself learning new combos until the end.

the huge amount of AP needed to maintain the form really limited their usefulness. at the same time they were strong enough to feel like you were really gaining something through transforming (most of the time).

BoF IV >>> BoF V > BoF III > BoF II > BoF

Where do I start with this series?
One of the few series I've never seen hate towards on Sup Forums

It's a shame since it's a great concept. the execution was just off with the gameplay not really built to take advantage of it. I wish BoF was still alive, I would love to see it return and better executed.

>One of the few series I've never seen hate towards on Sup Forums
Just because it's not as popular as the FF series or other popular JRPGs, otherwise people would be shitposting left and right about it.

I suggest either III or IV. III is pretty slow but it has a nice more "down to earth" style for the first half of the game. IV has better pacing but is pretty different from the other games as it has a more Eastern inspired story and world, the others being pretty typical high fantasy with some sci fi elements. BoFII can also be looked into but it can be quite repetitive with some pretty bad encounter rates and backtracking. Really every game has some kind of appeal and has it's fans, it's just that III and IV are more well known and thus discussed more often.

2 has pic related though

Fou-lu did nothing wrong

He was wrong, it's just that seeing his experience and how he became the way he did made us sympathize with him. He isn't a true villain or an anti hero, he's just someone whose personal experience caused him to be misguided and do what he thought needed to be done.

Thanks, man. I'll try BoF III then.

III is best just for shota Ryu, he's fucking adorable

Fou-lu going nuclear is probably the strongest point of BoF4 because the game actually took time to show us his unfortunate journey and weird affection with a mortal girl that could only end in tragedy.
He and 9S from Automata are probably my favourite characters fitting these tropes.

R.I.P in peace

When he stops flailing his sword because he wants to protect Nina in fights it's adorable.

Never thought I'd see someone who shared my exact taste in BoF. Although I would separate IV and V so much.

>that moment when Balio and Sunder suddenly realise that they are fucked if you cure Nina and let her escape from combat
Narrative-wise 3 is much weaker than 4 but holy shit it had some good moments.

>Katt
Is it THE TIME?

[Chinese Drum-n'-Bass intensifies]

there's always time for Katt

I think it's GREAT

>wasted assloads of heals fighting Igh, not even thinking that you need to lose the battle and just trying to bash his shield off
>getting rather annoyed
>he suddenly crits Ryu to death and he hulks into a fucking Kaiser as if supporting my frustration with this battle
Shit was great.

...

Yeah, I think I have fonder memories just because it had little stuff like that or the party chilling in camp or the arc where you stop what you're doing to help a nerd nail his hot childhood friend.

I also really liked the tournament as an excuse to learn more about Ryu's power through experience and develop the party's strength. It reminded me of YYH. Especially when you met Stallion and whooped his equine ass.

...

I haven't played either since the PS1 days but 3's story sticks out to me much more than 4's just because it had more of those moments.

Also it had memorably giant pains-in-the-ass like training the nerd to fight, the rope-pulling mini-game and the desert of fucking boredom.

I wouldn't be so upset about this game if it wasn't considered part of mainline. If it was some dumb spin off, I'd just shrug it off.

Liked a lot about it, but I absolutely hate Ryu's design for it.

youtube.com/watch?v=eDiWPEXJT9k
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Such an amazing soundtrack.

My favorite part of the Fou-lu sections.

youtube.com/watch?v=HlbYkWDrtbc

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>but I absolutely hate Ryu's design for it
Really? It's one of the few jrpg protagonist designs I really like. It gives him the appearance of a simple traveler and not anyone special, that's why I like the hero of DQVII's design a lot too.

Best BoF, best Ryu design, amazing final boss track. That sitar.

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These tracks are fantastic.
But why is the main battle theme so bland?
youtube.com/watch?v=k1yW9qGqnks

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>cues sitar solo
WOOP
OOOOOWOOOOHHH

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I like it fine but yeah, easily the weakest of the game's battle themes.

Are these characters supposed to have something in common?

Is that Alan Schezar?

...

It feels too bland to me honestly. The biggest problem is his sprite looks like a guy in a tank top and sweat pants.

My favorite of the series and one of the all time best RPGs

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Gorgeous game. One of the prettiest games on the playstation 1. Amazing soundtrack. That shit's fucking great. The interaction between story and characters is arguably the second best in the series. The story is also noticeably a lot more... severe. It felt as if the series continued to grow with the playerbase. The feeling of exploration and journey from Breath of Fire 3 is here in full force though not done as well as Breath of Fire 3 it was still really amazing. A shit ton more non essential things like microing your fairy village and the minigames. Fishing is much better as well.

It's one of my favorite games. When this game came out I was blown away at the time. I think I was in my junior year in highschool. I thought the sky was the limit moving forward. Oh if only I knew what future Breath of Fire 6 awaited.

The soundtrack was fucking fire

All that work and effort to just fail in the end and put the thumb on the wrong side of the hand...

I remember finding out about BoF 5 way after it was released and I wondered why I never heard of it until then.

That was just the world trying to spare me the disappointment.

>The story is also noticeably a lot more... severe.
I'd say II was even darker. All BOF games had some really dark moments throught the story, III was the more light-hearted one, I think the only suffering happens at a few points in the beginning and then at the very end of the game while the other games stormed you with despair.

>Cray kills Nina's sister
>He never speaks another line till the end of the game

I would say each game actually got darker honestly. BoFI is a mostly light hearted DQ clone while BoFV is a post apocalyptic nightmare of genetic experimentation and genocide.

youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZH9VZiLB8

One of my favorite towns of all time. The way they made every citizen move around and do their own thing is just amazing, unbelieavably charming.

BoF IV is equal to III in almost all ways (that matter).
BoF V is a great game that didn't deserve the hate it gets
The omnipresent Katt poster needs to die soon.

I don't see katt poster anymore because all the images he uses are filtered. Just avoid talking about BoF II as well so you don't have to deal with that either.

>literally being too much of a babby for 5

>that didn't deserve the hate it gets
It didn't deserve to have Breath of Fire plastered on the title either. There were expectations that were built up for YEARS with that titles name. An idea of gameflow, adventure, and pacing. Dragon Quarter had none of the things that tied it into the series besides character names and some effects.

Yes it's a good game. But no it shouldn't get any less hate than it does. It's not like SaGa where every game's going to be different in some significant way. It's Breath of Fire. Which had a series of easily trackable and visually identifiable progression. Which jumped off the bridge and terms of presentation and aesthetics to deliver an experimental title. It turns out that in the eyes of the fans, that bet failed.

BOF I had some weird-ass monsters.

Cray is pretty interesting and arguably the most developed character in the entire series, just nowhere near as likable as many others. I really did change my view of him after that section as it really shows that the journey has changed him as a person. Before he was a generally good but morally questionable person often seen in how he was willing to betray Ryu to get closer to Alena but after having to do what he did he realizes what he really has to do.

This analysis of him is pretty good.
lparchive.org/Breath-of-Fire-IV/Analysis/

>Just avoid talking about BoF II
Spoken like a true III/IV superior, my friend, *tips*.

Fun fact: BoFII fanbase is fucking huge and all fanart of this series is just Katt and Nina II, so you are not doing anyone a disservice.

meant to post this

While a lot of people praise the plot I sadly think many miss the symbolism present in certain scenes and locations due to them being more related to Asian religions and cultures.

This is a pretty cool one for example. The pattern below Fou Lu looks like some generic fantasy pattern just there to look cool but it has actual meaning.

This is taken from a online walkthrough and let's play.
>That ring of green trigrams is a Primordial/Earlier Heaven bagua. "The fuck is that?", the average goon says. Bagua means Eight Symbols in Chinese, and is an important diagram in Taoist philosophy. It represents the flow and structure of reality, with the trigrams representing parts of reality along with elements of yin and yang. Going clockwise from the trigram at Fou-Lu's feet, they are Heaven, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth, Thunder, Fire, and Lake. They are also associated with seasons, cardinal directions (with Heaven as north, just like the compass says), emotions, concepts, families, and a whole bunch of other stuff. They're also an element in feng shui, used to map out the house to be in balance with creation and affect the owner's life. There's probably a metric shitload more symbolism here than I'm aware of (especially with the western symbol looking a lot like that Bangla script Om discussed in the previous symbolism update), but the fact that Fou-Lu's standing on Heaven while you approach him from Earth isn't exactly subtle.

>Just avoid talking about BoFII as well so you don't have to deal with that either.
We aren't talking about BoFII and he is here.

To any that it may interest here's a great read about BoFIV. This is a thread where a guy plays the Japanese and American version of Breath of Fire IV side by side and compares each line to see differences. It's a great analysis and covers every story relevant scene, sadly random npc dialogue isn't looked at but it's still an impressive act.

s1.zetaboards.com/Four_Against_Nature/topic/5100042/1/

Fedoracore: 3/4
Waifucore: 2
Dogshit: 1
Patrician: 5

I have a stutter in real life and Scias was my favorite character, showing something that is usually just the butt of a joke. I didn't know it was censorship to get around him being a drunk when I played it.

Honestly as someone who typically is annoyed at changes I loved the stutter. Having a stutter is much more original and likable then just being always drunk which is a tired troupe. The only censored thing I'm pissed about is the decapitation of the emperor as that is actually story relevant as you see Yuna take the god slayer sword. In the US version him having it seemed out of nowhere while in the original scene we get to see him take it.

Had no idea that whole thing was just a way of playing around the censor, it honestly ended up being better than the original.

Fuck any JRPG with a time limit. That means you too, Valkyrie Profile.

It's weird as alcohol is referenced and the game had a T rating but yeah, making him a drunk wasn't allowed I guess. I do agree though, the stutter is better.

Not every JRPG need to be leasurely exploring a colorful world, the timer in 5 was really well executed and added a great layer of tension and strategy to the game. Sure I wouldn't want every RPG to have that but it was a more than welcome experiment, it really doesn't hurt to have something try something new every once in a while.

Most games with time limits give you plenty. VP included.

This looks great, thanks man.

Pleb alert

This, 5's timer seems really intimidating at first but it ends up being more than generous.

That makes me think they might've simply failed to get an E rating, even after trying to accomodate for it.

4 is objectively the best one.

Better use of the full party, gear itemization, masters aren't fucking shit, skill learning is easy, dragons wreck shoip, spell combos. THE BEST FISHING. BEST NINA.

motherfucking 1/2 of BoF 3 is running like a little bitch from those horse dudes.

best BoF and best mini games in any RPG hands down.
so much fucking time spent hunting, corralling shit into pits to slaughter god damn
also fairy village was neat

No problem, I discovered it randomly and thought it was a great read. I had heard many claims regarding changes but seeing what was actually altered was interesting to read about.
Nah, IV could never have got an E rating unless it was basically entirely reworked. Some scenes like Nina first meeting Ryu who is kept completely naked was in the English release. I think it is possible it might have been altered for a E10 rating had it existed but honestly I think BoFIV is too much for below a T, shit like the hex machine and the part where where you explore all those organs only to learn they are part of Alena's body don't seem like they could pass for E or even E10.

I agree, but someone in charge of the localisation must've for some unknown reason thought it would work, at least that's the only reason I can think of as for why they would even bother with the changes.

Best Nina is 2

Isn't pokemon rated E? In the first one you kill your rivals favorite pokemon, he comes crying to you about it and you move on with your life, on to the next child to kill their favorite pet.

I've wondered if it may be because they thought it would seem more natural but that is just a possible theory. Nothing is really known about the localization process sadly so it just seems to be a weird quirk. Maybe some day some information could come to light hopefully. Still, I am happy with change. I can get being pissed about changes where story or characters are heavily altered or now misunderstood but smaller changes like this can sometimes be charming.and I feel it made him more memorable.

It's the second best Bof next to 5. Unfortunately they doomed 5 when they gave it a breath of fire title it's a great game on it's own but fans of the series were understandably unhappy.

5>4>3>2=1

In my first playthrough, my D-Counter was at 90% when I got somewhere around the midcenter. Got rekt at some point when the counter was just about to reach 100% and decided to just reset everything with SOL, all because I used the dragon form on the first fight against Bosch and used the dragon laser thing to overkill the enemies because I thought dealing over 1000 damage for holding a button was amusing, completely unaware that my D-Counter was increasing.

I liked the game enough that I didn't mind doing it all over with all my old shit again.

>THE BEST FISHING
Let's not get crazy here.

You can't get a 1/4 rank if you use dragon at any time other than tutorial and the one fight where you are forced to 100%

Worse than 3. On par with 1.

On top of that never being directly mentioned in the game and more just heavily implied, many kids would never pick up on that probably, things were a bit less strict r able to pass in some regards. While some things like religion were often glossed over things like references to death and such were becoming more acceptable to show with the popularity of violent games like Resident Evil for example.

>Let's not get crazy here.

nigga u gay

There were some fights that I thought were simply impossible without the dragon form back then, like the Shadow Rangers who had a fuckton of HP and were shrugging off all my attacks. Maybe it was because I was a stupid kid but things got easier in my second run after SOL where I only used the dragon form against the three final bosses. In my third one I don't think I used it at all.

The game is meant to be played repeatedly as you will naturally become more efficient and players are able to do and see more.