To those of you wondering why some of the great mechanics from BOF 3 (i.e. gene-splicing) were not in BOF 4, this entire game was made in only 9 months from conception to launch, which is a metaphorical blink of an eye in the game dev world, especially with the quality of the game that was shipped out. I wish I could say the same for the later series, but man, if this had been given 1 or 2 years development, it might have rivalled the final fantasy series.
yup sad I wish they went with the six equipment slots from the 3rd game because switching equipment during combat (with no round wasted) is something you could do since bof2 and it has even more uses this time the weapons such as Ryu's king sword (and the replica) and Fou Lou's Royal Sword have spells you can use from the item menu during combat costing no AP! so yeah... I liked ryu in this game because he was sorta a combination of the first (dragon form for combat) the second (dragon summons for one mighty attack) with the combat form from the last game for combat. Cray sucks unless you give him proper training early on (speed, ap and wisdom department though his support skills are awesome) scias doesn't have his analysis spell (unlike Momo's his was cut out T.T) I could go on. I liked however that the ending heavily implied this is the first actual game in the series and Yuna is the "father" of Deis and Myria who believes herself to be a goddess but actually isn't. And sadly there is dragon quarter which despite everything the dev's had to cut out I still recommend anyway.
It was good, I enjoyed it. The story was amazing and brought new elements that I couldn't imagine happen in a story as a kid. However I can't say it had as much of a grandiose impression on me compared to BoF3.
i never noticed this, i always think that this game is polished, and it's given enough care and love by the developer. BOF 4 is the best BOF game, one of the best RPG in ps1 in BOF3, everything is, well generic, the character design, the environment, the town, there are no personality in it. in BOF4 however, the design is very polished, there are oriental theme town, there are middle east theme town, every town is unique and have their own flair to it, the Architecture design is just Great. the character design fit the environment, everyone looks like they're belong to the world. some character like Scias, fou-lu and Ershin gave the game its charm the music, the story, the architecture, everything is a Masterpiece also they didn't hold back with the improvement at all, especially the battle system. i love how you can learn skill from the enemy attack, how you can combine skills, the transform system i'm absolutely amazed how they can built such an immersive world in just 9 Months, it looked so polished. back in the day, even though there are a lot of great game with good graphics like final fantasy, 2d Game like Breath of Fire, Wild arm 2 and Tales of Eternia always on the top of my list, i didn't even care about graphics at all, if the game is good, it's good this game is in dire need for a proper Remake, it just too bad that people won't have any chance of experiencing one of the PS1 Masterpiece like this
I grew up really poor and I remember going with my mom to the Metreon in San Francisco and my mom bought BOF4 for me there despite it being 56$. I took it back to my Aunt's house and spent all week playing it. It was one of my favorite experiences in life. Thank you mom
I still remember being up late at night, day after day, when I was 11 or 12 years old. Summer vacation really went by fast. And even though I didn't understand much back then, this game just captivated me. And 20 years later, it still does. BoF IV has just something magical about it, I've never seen or felt in other games. Be it old school JRPGs or games released in the last 10 years.
I really wish they'd make a Breath of Fire collection on modern platforms. I know 1 and 2 on switch online but would love to have physical of all breath of Fire on switch or ps4 .would also like to see the series revived. I first played breath of Fire on the gba ports. This video made me buy a sealed copy I just found of breath of fire 3 psp for only $35. I also got 4 on ps3 digital
I played this game when I was 20yo, using emulator, and I was honestly stunned at the presentation. The story, the art direction, and the music was on par with Final Fantasy, this game is a true gem!
One of the most underrated JRPG ever imo. People dont talk enough about it or count it among the best when it's certainly one of the best the genre has to offer. Please Capcom remaster this game.
Nah, crapcom is too busy making the new street fighter or whatever addition to the resident evil saga they can come up with. One thing there are mostly known for is destroying themselves more times than Square had faced bankruptcy due to their bad movies.
This game pales in comparison with many others of the PS1 era alone. It's not that really underrated. BoF3 was a stronger competitor, this game was a downgrade from 3. And even so, there are way better RPGs out there than BoF, especially in the PS1 era.
Fou-lu was close to just giving up his crown and living as a peasant with mami by the sounds of it until the empire came and forced him to run, then of course hitting him with the equivalent of a nuke made from the tortured soul of mami, he even has her charm drop from the sky during this to him, so.. he kinda had more than enough good reason to go insane and hate everything.
This video is incredible! Breath of Fire 4 is still in my top 5 favourite games of all time and revisiting it with you was a lovely trip down memory lane.
I got this game for christmas when I was very young. I did not know what type of game it was but it ended up becoming one of my favorite games of all time. The atmosphere the story and the gameplay has always stuck with me. And I Have spent countless hours playing it. This game is a strong link in my childhood.
I was seriously ill for a time when I was a kid. I couldn't eat more than broth and nearly died. Playing BoF IV was one of the few bright spots in that time. I've never made time to go back to it (I did finish it), but I always try to remember the bright spot that it was at that time for me.
One of my all time fav jrpg. The presentation and design choice does a lot for me. PS1 is the era of bad polygons in rpgs and i generally hated them. BOF4 is different
This and 3 are two of my favorite RPGs of all time. You did them both justice here and I too wish that some companies would bring their old rpg series back without trying to hard to "modernize" them with with action combat or the like. Turn based is still great.
I'm a die-hard fan of the third game and it's crazy that there's so many of the characters from in the third game in this one because I legit just met up with Bunyan with Fou-Lu, and I've heard from another video that Momo breaks the fourth wall with some of her commentary basically questioning if this is an alternate reality I was like holy s*** that's what I think of this game too lol
I can say the Bof series is easily my favorite jrpgs. 3 and 4 specifically. It has been very sad and depressing that the games havnt had any remasters,ports, or anything done with it after Dragon quarter. I don’t consider the one on mobile a true sequal in the series personally.
It is a travesty these have yet to see modern ports of any kind. 3/4 are just begging for switch ports, and if they got the remaster treatment like the ps1 FF games did that would be even better. 3 especially could stand for a speed up option in battles
@Gaming Broductions No argument here. I agree with you on that. I’m just surprised that something as a simple port hasn’t even been a thought to Capcom.Another travesty is letting Jade cocoon 1 and 2 to rot away as well. :/
@@GamingBroductions I feel capcom and konami are the 2 dumbest companies missing golden opertunities to remaster these and suikoden while remastering is HOT right now.
Jade Cocoon was similarly incredible! But BoF4 is still one of my favourite games of all time so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for a BoF7 some day.
What a freaking run in this genre from the 90s through the mid 00s. Here's to hoping a new golden age began with the back half of the PS4 and will continue for a long while!
I would say we have currently been enjoying another jrpg renaissance as of right now. Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default 2, Shin Megami Tensei 5, Persona 5 Royal, Triangle Strategy, Dragon Quest 11, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Trails of Mana, Tales or Arise etc... And so many more are coming very soon such as Fire Emblem Engage, Octopath Traveler 2, Tactics Ogre Reborn, Final Fantasy Rebirth, Sea of Stars, Eiyuden Chronicles, Suikoden 1 and 2 remasters. The last few years til now has been the best time to be a jrpg fan since the late 90s
That SOB getting away caused me rampage through bof4 again and again until I caught the whale with a spoon in hope of finding any possible triggers. And lastly resorted to codes so that I could comb the whole world every nook and cranny just before the final battles. GFDM!
For a 22 yo game, the visuals actually hold up. The art direction is pretty good. WISH they have a port of this for the switch. WOULD love to play this again.
Man this is my childhood game.. I love the game even now, i always play it once a year. I play this game first time in 2004 i f im not mistaken. At that time anime dragon ball and samurai x is popular in my country, so scias iai do and ryu dragon transformation looks really cool to me. Good retrospective bro 👍
I got this game on release, and i loved it. It has always been my favorite bof game, having beat all of them (even dq). I felt it had the best art direction, and the battle system was awesome (i even preferred the dragon system).
BOF4 is a game that has stuck in my mind since I first played it in the early 2000s. Perhaps nostalgia is a part of it, but I truly think it had some of the most beautiful designs and world-building of any RPG I've played. I barely even remember what the story was about, but I can vividly remember exploring the different towns and how unique they felt compared to any other JRPG I'd tried, even BOF3. The blend of cultural influences and the mixture of technology and fantasy elements was effortless and felt so different from similar games.
Me and my sister played this game more than 17 years ago.. we didn't understand that much english cause we live in Austria. This is also why we never finished the game back then! Only when i learned more and more english at school i managed to get through the story being every now and then stuck in some parts of the game for months.. But when i finally managed to beat it.. boy, we were happy. I remember how intense it was to fight Fou-Lu because i was only lvl 56 there.. haha.. nowaday i have a playthrough every 1-2 years and it's not getting boring. i still love it and i love to complete it 100% like.. really 100%. We are deeply in love and deeply connected to Breath of Fire IV. This game is our absolute favourite game of all the games we played. The story is so captivating, full of hard hitting plot twists and sad scenes.. I wish Capcom could see this video and many other activites from fans around the world to give us at least the opportunity to buy this game on modern consoles.. A remaster would be more than pure bliss for me.. i'd throw my money at it without asking. i twice wrote a long letter to capcom telling them and begging them to give us a remaster/remake or at least consider it and not killing this series off.. of course i never got a response but i guess if every fan would do that, i'd have a bigger impact.. i tried to reach out to japanese fans with the help of reddit but it's harder than you think.. i'm just sad that theres not much i can do..
Damn, those werw good times ... My best friend back then got it for week, but it was in english (german here) - so i translated and we played almost every wake minute. It was so damn intense and the atmosphere of this whole game felt so fresh and good. It's just totally different to all other RPGs i played, making it unique. It gave me a nice and cozy feeling, was cool and impressive, the fishing was calming af (and is still my most loved fishing-minigame by far) and then the story sometimes hit me like a train, with its very dark segments that spread sheer terror within me. It was also one of the very few games back then, that threw me trough all kind of emotions, cause i truly emphatised with the characters like i never did before - yeah, even shedding tears (just happened on Secret of Mana before, when the ghost of Poyo showed up at the end). I honestly can't name a game, that left me this deeply impressed in it's overall story and the feelings it put me through. But i have to admit, back then in the week we had to play, we just managed to do the "bad" ending, cause Fou-Lu wiped the floor with our low party xD (but even this ending felt kinda right and left us thinking about humanity and all its faults). But daaaaaamn, we had so much fun in this summer ... Guess it's about time for a replay ! Thank you so much for this RS. It reminded me of how great this game is and how overwhelming it felt back then :) PS: btw, i tried BoF 2 and 3 after that summer and skipped them, cause none of them came even close to this majestic piece of art - in almost every terms mattering for me.
Thank you! There is some quality content over the game out there but we hadn’t really seen a super deep dive into it like there are for some other PS1 RPGs so wanted to try to fill that gap.
These games look so good I just can't underestand why they don't make games with this art style anymore (3-4), the enviroment, enemies, and character models and animations look so good... I'm playing BoF 1 on the switch and that one already looks fantastic
Really enjoyed this retrospective! I am currently playing this game again for this first time in about 18 years (I also never beat it) and have been thoroughly enjoying it and can echo so many of your sentiments. The cast is great, the sprites are immaculate and I adore the story so far (just finished Fou Lou's tomb) When I started playing it was in small increments because the pacing of the battle felt slow to me (having been spoiled by current game sensibilities) for example the blobs using giant growth over and over. But I stuck with it and have found it to he so rewarding. Actually alot of the systems are. Once I figured out how masters worked to improve stats and define character builds, how the faerie village grew and how to use techs in fishing I have been having an absolute blast. Would love if Capcom released a remaster collection of 3 and 4 in a single game. Anyways thanks once again.
Great video as always! Breath of Fire IV is still my favorite in the series. Also, just a quick note in case you or anyone else was unaware: the mini-games actually do serve a purpose aside from being for "fun." The points you earn accumulate, and if you have enough points when you transform into a dragon in battle, that dragon will evolve into a new form. This is only for the kind of dumb ones like catching the chickens, not for fishing which is a thing of its own.
I recently discovered SMT 3, Vagrant Story, Digital Devil Saga, BOF 4, Chrono Trigger, Persona 4 all on my PS3 and man did I miss out. These will be games I come back to always they are awesome and so much fun.
One of my favourites of all time. Such a great game. Just mentioning it transports me to being a young boy playing this whilst staying at my grandparents.
This game is probably the PS1 play I want to play the most. It looks so good and I have enjoyed the prior entries in the BofF series. I recently found this channel a week or so ago and have been binging all of the past videos. Such quality videos and wish I had found it sooner! I had been putting Tales of Symphonia aside for the longest time but your retrospective convinced me to play it this year for sure. Thanks again!
The concept artist for this game is absolutely amazing. I fell in love with his work in like 2004, and then finally got Breath of Fire about 5 years later. I love love love this game. I worried nobody else knew about it. I will also give a shoutout to BoF 2, because my friend played it with me and we beat the game together. I love 3, too. mostly cause of Gar. But I'm so glad people know how great this game is! Beautiful story and beautiful art. There is an art book for all BoF games. I have it. XD I really liked Ursula mostly because of her storyline, but Fou Lu didn't just take the cake, he robbed the whole bakery.
About Yuna, my favourite fan-theory and headcanon is that BoF4 actually takes place before the other games, and Yuna is the one who created the goddess Myria and gave Deis a body of her own.
Could be so, Deis said something about the multiverse of dragon gods at some point in the game, making the events of Dragon Quarter even more comprehensive. Not to mention the war between religious beliefs in the series and alchemical science dilemmas
The nostalgia of seeing the Breath of Fire blowout pages in gaming magazines back in the day. It was the only rpg that looked as cool or more cool than ff7 growing up. Never got the chance to play it, but it always looked great.
One of my favorite RPGs of all time. I played and replayed this one so much back in the day, and the dark scenes stuck with me even after all these years. I remember feeling super distraught in the same scene you mentioned in the video and thinking about it long after I’ve stopped playing. Thank you for the memories!
It’s one of those games that’s deceptively dark which makes it hit even harder I think as you don’t really expect it. I never got to experience those moments as a kid but am curious to know how I would have reacted back then lol No problem and thank you for watching 😌
Thank you so much for making this video, guys! You have no idea how special this game is for me. Playing this game is probably the most fun I had ever since I got into gaming. Cheers to you guys! edit: and since Capcom is doing remakes now with REs, it's my life long wish they remake this too.
I totally ignored Ursula on my first playthrough and almost got wiped by the last boss with only her left alive. She got killed and triggered Guts (revived with 1hp), but since she was out of mp by that point, I just did the only thing I could, a basic attack, and it killed the final boss! I rented the game and it was almost time for me to bring it back. If it wasn't from that timely Guts, I wouldn't have had time to redo the whole thing! I couldn't believe my luck!
Just finished the FFVI PR and found your channel while looking for some more JRPGs to play. 10 minutes into the video and I'll give BoF a shot! Really like your content, keep it up.
Yuna needs to be seen continuing his atrocities at the end, because he (or any other evil individual) is beside the point - that humanity at large is worth preserving despite Yuna and those like him, who will always exist. Hunting down and killing Yuna would be a single-case fix to an existential problem. If it was possible to just get rid of every Yuna in the world (it's not), then Fou-lu wouldn't have had a real case against mortals. And Ryu killing Fou-lu in defense of mortals despite knowing their capacity for evil wouldn't have been such a poignant ending
I often struggle to decide what my favorite video game franchise is. Especially now that I'm taking such efforts to try to play them less. I can try to pretend that other franchises are in fact my favorite. But in the end, it always comes back to Breath of Fire. It was the very first video game I ever wanted to play, and it was the first video game that swept my imagination and made me a gamer as a child. Although I try not to play video games these days, I will always have a place for Breath of Fire
This is one of those games that I only ever got to play once, back in the day 20 years or so ago, and never got to touch again so it was nice to revisit it in such granular quality detail. I'm glad to see that my fond memories of it are not just rose-tinted glasses and that it does indeed seem to hold up as a solid game to this day. My 2 main complaints of the game are that the skill/spell animations are too slow, thus really bogging down an otherwise great battle system, and that the main battle theme sucks in comparison to Fou Lou's! Give us his battle themes all of the time instead (regular and boss battles)! Also loved the little bit of naming the PSX era JRPGs using the old memory card UI! I see you Evan! 😎 Great job to you both and thank you!
Definitely feel you there, pacing of battles does feel a little slow at times. If they were to ever give these games modern ports/remasters, a speed up option during battles like the ps1 FF remasters would be very welcome. Also agreed about Fou-Lu’s battle theme! I didn’t mind the main one but yeah his is much better still. Thanks man 😌 appreciate your support as always!
I had a really similar experience with the first xenosaga game. Where I distinctly remembered my brother playing the first 2-3 hours but he sold it long before I ever had the chance to play it myself and he didn't even remember the game lol. It's still never exactly left my memory. I wish my copy I had now and my PS2 both performed better cause I generally have issues with performance with all 3 of the games. Not the games fault tho.
If its not Street Fighter, Resident Evil or Monster Hunter, don't hold your breath. You'd be lucky to get some in-between IPs like Dragon's Dogma and Devil May Cry
Great vid. I, like you, played the game earlier in life, but only picked it up again to beat it last year (at 34 years old lol). It's a truly special game, though it doesn't hold the same place in my heart as BOF III. The battle system is great. The sprite models and animations are top-tier and still hold up today. The plot is great and well-paced (mostly). But damn, yeah, they did Scias dirty. He could have brought so much more to the plot as the alcoholic war vet! BOF III also had the better fishing mini-game lol... In any case, the fact that the game was as poignant to my older self as some of the classics from my early teens speaks volumes as to it's maturity.
I love your videos man! I’ve watched this channel nonstop the last couple weeks. I’m bummed that it’s hard to find this game on handhelds. I want a switch version 😢
Amazing video! Didn't know the channel, but now I allready subscribed. Great job man! Abou the video itself, Breath of Fire IV is my favorite game of all time, so much in fact, that I even have a tattoo of it. I just wished Capcom brought back the franchise with a proper new game, maybe looking for the newest great hits of the jRPG of the last years, like Persona 5, SMT V, DQ XI, FF Remake and Tales of Arise, as an indication that the market for these types of game should not be limited to lesser known titles and companies. Also, I would love for them to release a collection cointaining BoF 1-4 + DQ, as a way of allowing us to play those amazing games in new consoles/PC.
While im in awe with the art, music, presentation and such. The hide and seek and too much padding really killed it for me. Still i love it for the Capcom's masterful touch
Thank you for this, this is a really great video! It would be so cool if Capcom would remake this game like Square did with Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I'm waiting for remakes or remasters of Breath of Fire series and/or the Onimusha series :)
I still playing this game... for me yes my fav is bof4 and actually idk anything about other bof cuz i never been yet....but bof4 is enough..so much story. I really love this game
No way! This video was just longer than initially planned on and took longer to finish up in result. We’re really trying to make our videos as polished as possible now which takes a bit more time as well. But we plan on getting a shorter video out for the next one in a much quicker timeframe 👌
A lot like BoF3 but my fav will always be this game. Everything from the story to the graphics to the gameplay was very solid. Dam you even mention Wild Arms. Love that opening and song.
This is my favourite Jrpg game and was my favourite game in general on the PSP. Everything from the visuals, to the gameplay and ost was perfect. Although i didn't understand the story too much as a child it still left an impact. Remasters and mobile ports would be the best send off for the series, given that Capcom clearly doesn't want a remake or sequel.
Breath of fire 3 & 4 has to be my all time favourite JRPG games until today. They need to do a continuation of 3 & 4 then after combine the story. Imagine how it would look on unreal engine 5 😲 In my honest opinion, the jrpg games in the passed always had a great story line, combat, music etc Also keep up with the great work on the channel, loving it
played only breath of fire 4, haven't played previous games. It was a winter 2004 when I get ps1, and I played BoF4 right after FF9, and it was awesome.
i cannot stress enough how magical this game is. came across it randomly in EB back around early 00s. bought for about 25$ then. i was blown away as soon as the OP started. stunning visuals. amazing art development. some the most fluid game mechanics ive experienced. and an OST that still gives me goosebumps to this day. FISHING!!!!!! ...still remember the day i finally killed a tree stump. lol.
Part 4, FF9 and Suikoden 1 & 2 only rpg i own on Ps.The combo system was awesome the story was good. The visuals was great. Still my fav games too thus day. Opps and Vandal Hearts 1 n 2
![BOLIVIA vs. COLOMBIA [1-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 9](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zg15uVWjuf4/mqdefault.jpg)
![CHILE vs. BRASIL [1-2] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 9](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5ObJt_71AYc/mqdefault.jpg)
To those of you wondering why some of the great mechanics from BOF 3 (i.e. gene-splicing) were not in BOF 4, this entire game was made in only 9 months from conception to launch, which is a metaphorical blink of an eye in the game dev world, especially with the quality of the game that was shipped out. I wish I could say the same for the later series, but man, if this had been given 1 or 2 years development, it might have rivalled the final fantasy series.
yup sad I wish they went with the six equipment slots from the 3rd game because switching equipment during combat (with no round wasted) is something you could do since bof2 and it has even more uses this time the weapons such as Ryu's king sword (and the replica) and Fou Lou's Royal Sword have spells you can use from the item menu during combat costing no AP! so yeah...
I liked ryu in this game because he was sorta a combination of the first (dragon form for combat) the second (dragon summons for one mighty attack) with the combat form from the last game for combat. Cray sucks unless you give him proper training early on (speed, ap and wisdom department though his support skills are awesome) scias doesn't have his analysis spell (unlike Momo's his was cut out T.T) I could go on.
I liked however that the ending heavily implied this is the first actual game in the series and Yuna is the "father" of Deis and Myria who believes herself to be a goddess but actually isn't.
And sadly there is dragon quarter which despite everything the dev's had to cut out I still recommend anyway.
It was good, I enjoyed it. The story was amazing and brought new elements that I couldn't imagine happen in a story as a kid. However I can't say it had as much of a grandiose impression on me compared to BoF3.
i never noticed this, i always think that this game is polished, and it's given enough care and love by the developer.
BOF 4 is the best BOF game, one of the best RPG in ps1
in BOF3, everything is, well generic, the character design, the environment, the town, there are no personality in it.
in BOF4 however, the design is very polished, there are oriental theme town, there are middle east theme town,
every town is unique and have their own flair to it, the Architecture design is just Great.
the character design fit the environment, everyone looks like they're belong to the world.
some character like Scias, fou-lu and Ershin gave the game its charm
the music, the story, the architecture, everything is a Masterpiece
also they didn't hold back with the improvement at all, especially the battle system.
i love how you can learn skill from the enemy attack, how you can combine skills, the transform system
i'm absolutely amazed how they can built such an immersive world in just 9 Months, it looked so polished.
back in the day, even though there are a lot of great game with good graphics like final fantasy,
2d Game like Breath of Fire, Wild arm 2 and Tales of Eternia always on the top of my list, i didn't even care about graphics at all,
if the game is good, it's good
this game is in dire need for a proper Remake, it just too bad that people won't have any chance of
experiencing one of the PS1 Masterpiece like this
It actually took longer for game to arrive in Europe than to make it. (not to mention 3 year gap between PS and PC versions).
Presumably, that's also why you don't get to fight a certain complete monster.
I grew up really poor and I remember going with my mom to the Metreon in San Francisco and my mom bought BOF4 for me there despite it being 56$. I took it back to my Aunt's house and spent all week playing it. It was one of my favorite experiences in life. Thank you mom
This is quickly turning into my favorite channel for old school JRPG videos. Keep up the great work!
Love to hear that, thank you very much and will do!
I think like you man!! this channel is pure GOLD!!
Ikr
i know i just found them is there a discord?
Strongly agree!
I still remember being up late at night, day after day, when I was 11 or 12 years old. Summer vacation really went by fast. And even though I didn't understand much back then, this game just captivated me. And 20 years later, it still does. BoF IV has just something magical about it, I've never seen or felt in other games. Be it old school JRPGs or games released in the last 10 years.
I really wish they'd make a Breath of Fire collection on modern platforms. I know 1 and 2 on switch online but would love to have physical of all breath of Fire on switch or ps4 .would also like to see the series revived. I first played breath of Fire on the gba ports. This video made me buy a sealed copy I just found of breath of fire 3 psp for only $35. I also got 4 on ps3 digital
I just started this adventure again a couple of days ago. I'm shocked how well the pixel animations hold up to this day.
They are indeed gorgeous, in a weird way they almost feel more impressive now than they did when it came out
I played this game when I was 20yo, using emulator, and I was honestly stunned at the presentation. The story, the art direction, and the music was on par with Final Fantasy, this game is a true gem!
One of the most underrated JRPG ever imo. People dont talk enough about it or count it among the best when it's certainly one of the best the genre has to offer. Please Capcom remaster this game.
Nah, crapcom is too busy making the new street fighter or whatever addition to the resident evil saga they can come up with. One thing there are mostly known for is destroying themselves more times than Square had faced bankruptcy due to their bad movies.
This game pales in comparison with many others of the PS1 era alone. It's not that really underrated. BoF3 was a stronger competitor, this game was a downgrade from 3. And even so, there are way better RPGs out there than BoF, especially in the PS1 era.
Fou-lu was close to just giving up his crown and living as a peasant with mami by the sounds of it until the empire came and forced him to run, then of course hitting him with the equivalent of a nuke made from the tortured soul of mami, he even has her charm drop from the sky during this to him, so.. he kinda had more than enough good reason to go insane and hate everything.
This video is incredible! Breath of Fire 4 is still in my top 5 favourite games of all time and revisiting it with you was a lovely trip down memory lane.
Thank you! Really glad to hear you enjoyed it. It’s such a timeless game that holds up so well today
@@GamingBroductions Might be about time to pick it up and play it again :)
This is my absolute favourite of the series, for the themes, the characters, and the vibes. The soundtrack is perfection!
I played this game when I was about 10-12 at the time, so nostalgic. Now I'm nearly 30, how time flies... :"(
Hah, same. I played it at ages 13 and 23. It got me deeply interested in Asian culture and that influence is still going strong.
This was a true masterpiece. I'm sad there is no collection.
I got this game for christmas when I was very young. I did not know what type of game it was but it ended up becoming one of my favorite games of all time. The atmosphere the story and the gameplay has always stuck with me. And I Have spent countless hours playing it. This game is a strong link in my childhood.
I was seriously ill for a time when I was a kid. I couldn't eat more than broth and nearly died. Playing BoF IV was one of the few bright spots in that time. I've never made time to go back to it (I did finish it), but I always try to remember the bright spot that it was at that time for me.
this was my first jrpg, i was blown away by how good the game was, the characters the music the story, this game just hook me good.
One of my all time fav jrpg. The presentation and design choice does a lot for me. PS1 is the era of bad polygons in rpgs and i generally hated them. BOF4 is different
Playing this for the first time. Couldn't figure out why I never played it before but that FF9 fact explains a lot.
I am glad I met this game first. FF9 was so disappointing to me, and while this is not my favorite BoF game, at least it was way better than FF9.
This and 3 are two of my favorite RPGs of all time. You did them both justice here and I too wish that some companies would bring their old rpg series back without trying to hard to "modernize" them with with action combat or the like. Turn based is still great.
Playing this one right now. Here is an IP that I absolutely adore.
Could do with another proper one, and/or remake/remaster of all of them
I'm a die-hard fan of the third game and it's crazy that there's so many of the characters from in the third game in this one because I legit just met up with Bunyan with Fou-Lu, and I've heard from another video that Momo breaks the fourth wall with some of her commentary basically questioning if this is an alternate reality I was like holy s*** that's what I think of this game too lol
I can say the Bof series is easily my favorite jrpgs. 3 and 4 specifically. It has been very sad and depressing that the games havnt had any remasters,ports, or anything done with it after Dragon quarter. I don’t consider the one on mobile a true sequal in the series personally.
It is a travesty these have yet to see modern ports of any kind. 3/4 are just begging for switch ports, and if they got the remaster treatment like the ps1 FF games did that would be even better. 3 especially could stand for a speed up option in battles
@Gaming Broductions No argument here. I agree with you on that. I’m just surprised that something as a simple port hasn’t even been a thought to Capcom.Another travesty is letting Jade cocoon 1 and 2 to rot away as well. :/
Fuck Crapcom for killing the franchise
@@GamingBroductions I feel capcom and konami are the 2 dumbest companies missing golden opertunities to remaster these and suikoden while remastering is HOT right now.
Jade Cocoon was similarly incredible! But BoF4 is still one of my favourite games of all time so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for a BoF7 some day.
What a freaking run in this genre from the 90s through the mid 00s. Here's to hoping a new golden age began with the back half of the PS4 and will continue for a long while!
外人に余計な口だしや難癖つけらて日本人の自由に作らせて貰えなかったからだよ！
@@林敏雄-f8y I can't read this homie 😂
I'd love a focus on remastered and porting all these jrpgs
I would say we have currently been enjoying another jrpg renaissance as of right now.
Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default 2, Shin Megami Tensei 5, Persona 5 Royal, Triangle Strategy, Dragon Quest 11, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Trails of Mana, Tales or Arise etc...
And so many more are coming very soon such as Fire Emblem Engage, Octopath Traveler 2, Tactics Ogre Reborn, Final Fantasy Rebirth, Sea of Stars, Eiyuden Chronicles, Suikoden 1 and 2 remasters.
The last few years til now has been the best time to be a jrpg fan since the late 90s
Look forward in 2024. Lots of gems will be released
That SOB getting away caused me rampage through bof4 again and again until I caught the whale with a spoon in hope of finding any possible triggers. And lastly resorted to codes so that I could comb the whole world every nook and cranny just before the final battles. GFDM!
For a 22 yo game, the visuals actually hold up. The art direction is pretty good. WISH they have a port of this for the switch. WOULD love to play this again.
Man this is my childhood game.. I love the game even now, i always play it once a year. I play this game first time in 2004 i f im not mistaken. At that time anime dragon ball and samurai x is popular in my country, so scias iai do and ryu dragon transformation looks really cool to me. Good retrospective bro 👍
Wow! Once a year. Awesome tradition
Wow! Once a year. Awesome tradition
I got this game on release, and i loved it. It has always been my favorite bof game, having beat all of them (even dq). I felt it had the best art direction, and the battle system was awesome (i even preferred the dragon system).
BOF4 is a game that has stuck in my mind since I first played it in the early 2000s. Perhaps nostalgia is a part of it, but I truly think it had some of the most beautiful designs and world-building of any RPG I've played. I barely even remember what the story was about, but I can vividly remember exploring the different towns and how unique they felt compared to any other JRPG I'd tried, even BOF3. The blend of cultural influences and the mixture of technology and fantasy elements was effortless and felt so different from similar games.
Me and my sister played this game more than 17 years ago.. we didn't understand that much english cause we live in Austria. This is also why we never finished the game back then!
Only when i learned more and more english at school i managed to get through the story being every now and then stuck in some parts of the game for months.. But when i finally managed to beat it.. boy, we were happy. I remember how intense it was to fight Fou-Lu because i was only lvl 56 there.. haha.. nowaday i have a playthrough every 1-2 years and it's not getting boring. i still love it and i love to complete it 100% like.. really 100%.
We are deeply in love and deeply connected to Breath of Fire IV.
This game is our absolute favourite game of all the games we played. The story is so captivating, full of hard hitting plot twists and sad scenes..
I wish Capcom could see this video and many other activites from fans around the world to give us at least the opportunity to buy this game on modern consoles.. A remaster would be more than pure bliss for me.. i'd throw my money at it without asking.
i twice wrote a long letter to capcom telling them and begging them to give us a remaster/remake or at least consider it and not killing this series off.. of course i never got a response but i guess if every fan would do that, i'd have a bigger impact.. i tried to reach out to japanese fans with the help of reddit but it's harder than you think.. i'm just sad that theres not much i can do..
Great game. Love the art style, music is fantastic(lots of D&B vibes in there), well paced. Super underrated title.
Damn, those werw good times ...
My best friend back then got it for week, but it was in english (german here) - so i translated and we played almost every wake minute. It was so damn intense and the atmosphere of this whole game felt so fresh and good. It's just totally different to all other RPGs i played, making it unique.
It gave me a nice and cozy feeling, was cool and impressive, the fishing was calming af (and is still my most loved fishing-minigame by far) and then the story sometimes hit me like a train, with its very dark segments that spread sheer terror within me. It was also one of the very few games back then, that threw me trough all kind of emotions, cause i truly emphatised with the characters like i never did before - yeah, even shedding tears (just happened on Secret of Mana before, when the ghost of Poyo showed up at the end).
I honestly can't name a game, that left me this deeply impressed in it's overall story and the feelings it put me through.
But i have to admit, back then in the week we had to play, we just managed to do the "bad" ending, cause Fou-Lu wiped the floor with our low party xD (but even this ending felt kinda right and left us thinking about humanity and all its faults).
But daaaaaamn, we had so much fun in this summer ...
Guess it's about time for a replay !
Thank you so much for this RS. It reminded me of how great this game is and how overwhelming it felt back then :)
PS: btw, i tried BoF 2 and 3 after that summer and skipped them, cause none of them came even close to this majestic piece of art - in almost every terms mattering for me.
PPS: sorry for typos and errors, sleepy as hell after work and getting in bed now ;)
Awesome vid mate. This is the video the game deserved.
Thank you! There is some quality content over the game out there but we hadn’t really seen a super deep dive into it like there are for some other PS1 RPGs so wanted to try to fill that gap.
So cool that you overcame a stuttering problem and now your whole career is based on your voice! Love that man! Keep it up!
Truth and Dreams also my favourite song from this game. What a track.
These games look so good I just can't underestand why they don't make games with this art style anymore (3-4), the enviroment, enemies, and character models and animations look so good... I'm playing BoF 1 on the switch and that one already looks fantastic
Really enjoyed this retrospective! I am currently playing this game again for this first time in about 18 years (I also never beat it) and have been thoroughly enjoying it and can echo so many of your sentiments.
The cast is great, the sprites are immaculate and I adore the story so far (just finished Fou Lou's tomb)
When I started playing it was in small increments because the pacing of the battle felt slow to me (having been spoiled by current game sensibilities) for example the blobs using giant growth over and over.
But I stuck with it and have found it to he so rewarding. Actually alot of the systems are. Once I figured out how masters worked to improve stats and define character builds, how the faerie village grew and how to use techs in fishing I have been having an absolute blast.
Would love if Capcom released a remaster collection of 3 and 4 in a single game. Anyways thanks once again.
Great video as always! Breath of Fire IV is still my favorite in the series. Also, just a quick note in case you or anyone else was unaware: the mini-games actually do serve a purpose aside from being for "fun." The points you earn accumulate, and if you have enough points when you transform into a dragon in battle, that dragon will evolve into a new form. This is only for the kind of dumb ones like catching the chickens, not for fishing which is a thing of its own.
I recently discovered SMT 3, Vagrant Story, Digital Devil Saga, BOF 4, Chrono Trigger, Persona 4 all on my PS3 and man did I miss out. These will be games I come back to always they are awesome and so much fun.
The best opening is from Wild Arms I. I still whistle that damn tune every once in awhile and get those early child hood feels.
I have the Wild Arms OP song in my spotify, hahaha, love this song!
I'd really like to agree with you, but the best opening has to go to Suikoden III
One of my favourites of all time. Such a great game. Just mentioning it transports me to being a young boy playing this whilst staying at my grandparents.
Can't wait to watch the whole video tonight! Breath of Fire IV baby!!!!
Hell yeah, hope you enjoy!
This game is probably the PS1 play I want to play the most. It looks so good and I have enjoyed the prior entries in the BofF series. I recently found this channel a week or so ago and have been binging all of the past videos. Such quality videos and wish I had found it sooner! I had been putting Tales of Symphonia aside for the longest time but your retrospective convinced me to play it this year for sure. Thanks again!
Wow you guys seem to be getting lots more views! Congrats on the channel success and keep up the great work!
The concept artist for this game is absolutely amazing. I fell in love with his work in like 2004, and then finally got Breath of Fire about 5 years later. I love love love this game. I worried nobody else knew about it. I will also give a shoutout to BoF 2, because my friend played it with me and we beat the game together. I love 3, too. mostly cause of Gar. But I'm so glad people know how great this game is! Beautiful story and beautiful art. There is an art book for all BoF games. I have it. XD
I really liked Ursula mostly because of her storyline, but Fou Lu didn't just take the cake, he robbed the whole bakery.
I don't know why but a new release "chained echoes" reminded me of BOF4, ultimately that brought me here.
Quality content hombre, new sub
About Yuna, my favourite fan-theory and headcanon is that BoF4 actually takes place before the other games, and Yuna is the one who created the goddess Myria and gave Deis a body of her own.
Could be so, Deis said something about the multiverse of dragon gods at some point in the game, making the events of Dragon Quarter even more comprehensive. Not to mention the war between religious beliefs in the series and alchemical science dilemmas
The nostalgia of seeing the Breath of Fire blowout pages in gaming magazines back in the day. It was the only rpg that looked as cool or more cool than ff7 growing up. Never got the chance to play it, but it always looked great.
One of my favorite RPGs of all time. I played and replayed this one so much back in the day, and the dark scenes stuck with me even after all these years. I remember feeling super distraught in the same scene you mentioned in the video and thinking about it long after I’ve stopped playing.
Thank you for the memories!
It’s one of those games that’s deceptively dark which makes it hit even harder I think as you don’t really expect it. I never got to experience those moments as a kid but am curious to know how I would have reacted back then lol
No problem and thank you for watching 😌
Thank you so much for making this video, guys! You have no idea how special this game is for me. Playing this game is probably the most fun I had ever since I got into gaming. Cheers to you guys!
edit: and since Capcom is doing remakes now with REs, it's my life long wish they remake this too.
I totally ignored Ursula on my first playthrough and almost got wiped by the last boss with only her left alive. She got killed and triggered Guts (revived with 1hp), but since she was out of mp by that point, I just did the only thing I could, a basic attack, and it killed the final boss! I rented the game and it was almost time for me to bring it back. If it wasn't from that timely Guts, I wouldn't have had time to redo the whole thing! I couldn't believe my luck!
The perfect RPG for me.
Just finished the FFVI PR and found your channel while looking for some more JRPGs to play. 10 minutes into the video and I'll give BoF a shot! Really like your content, keep it up.
Yuna needs to be seen continuing his atrocities at the end, because he (or any other evil individual) is beside the point - that humanity at large is worth preserving despite Yuna and those like him, who will always exist. Hunting down and killing Yuna would be a single-case fix to an existential problem. If it was possible to just get rid of every Yuna in the world (it's not), then Fou-lu wouldn't have had a real case against mortals. And Ryu killing Fou-lu in defense of mortals despite knowing their capacity for evil wouldn't have been such a poignant ending
Still, very lame.
I often struggle to decide what my favorite video game franchise is. Especially now that I'm taking such efforts to try to play them less. I can try to pretend that other franchises are in fact my favorite. But in the end, it always comes back to Breath of Fire. It was the very first video game I ever wanted to play, and it was the first video game that swept my imagination and made me a gamer as a child. Although I try not to play video games these days, I will always have a place for Breath of Fire
This is one of those games that I only ever got to play once, back in the day 20 years or so ago, and never got to touch again so it was nice to revisit it in such granular quality detail. I'm glad to see that my fond memories of it are not just rose-tinted glasses and that it does indeed seem to hold up as a solid game to this day. My 2 main complaints of the game are that the skill/spell animations are too slow, thus really bogging down an otherwise great battle system, and that the main battle theme sucks in comparison to Fou Lou's! Give us his battle themes all of the time instead (regular and boss battles)!
Also loved the little bit of naming the PSX era JRPGs using the old memory card UI! I see you Evan! 😎
Great job to you both and thank you!
Definitely feel you there, pacing of battles does feel a little slow at times. If they were to ever give these games modern ports/remasters, a speed up option during battles like the ps1 FF remasters would be very welcome. Also agreed about Fou-Lu’s battle theme! I didn’t mind the main one but yeah his is much better still.
Thanks man 😌 appreciate your support as always!
I had a really similar experience with the first xenosaga game. Where I distinctly remembered my brother playing the first 2-3 hours but he sold it long before I ever had the chance to play it myself and he didn't even remember the game lol. It's still never exactly left my memory. I wish my copy I had now and my PS2 both performed better cause I generally have issues with performance with all 3 of the games. Not the games fault tho.
This is legit one of my favourite games of all time. It holds up really well.
It’s such an incredibly charming game. The sprite work is truly outstanding and perhaps the best on the entire console
Another excellent video! I hope your channel gets more subs, and your videos get more views because you definitely deserve them. More power bros
Beautiful video. Thank you. It's nice to meet someone so much in love with this game the way I am.
Child hood game with breath of fire 3 my first rpg i played . Then final fantasy series.
If we could get a real BoF 5 in the graphical vein of Dragon quest 11, I'd crap myself.
Absolutely. Shame Capcom hasn't revisited the franchise beyond some half assed attempts at it.
I had that exact same thought when playing DQXI as well, “man a breath of fire game in this style would be absolutely amazing.” Come on Capcom…
If its not Street Fighter, Resident Evil or Monster Hunter, don't hold your breath. You'd be lucky to get some in-between IPs like Dragon's Dogma and Devil May Cry
Great vid. I, like you, played the game earlier in life, but only picked it up again to beat it last year (at 34 years old lol). It's a truly special game, though it doesn't hold the same place in my heart as BOF III. The battle system is great. The sprite models and animations are top-tier and still hold up today. The plot is great and well-paced (mostly). But damn, yeah, they did Scias dirty. He could have brought so much more to the plot as the alcoholic war vet! BOF III also had the better fishing mini-game lol... In any case, the fact that the game was as poignant to my older self as some of the classics from my early teens speaks volumes as to it's maturity.
I love your videos man! I’ve watched this channel nonstop the last couple weeks. I’m bummed that it’s hard to find this game on handhelds. I want a switch version 😢
Amazing video! Didn't know the channel, but now I allready subscribed. Great job man!
Abou the video itself, Breath of Fire IV is my favorite game of all time, so much in fact, that I even have a tattoo of it. I just wished Capcom brought back the franchise with a proper new game, maybe looking for the newest great hits of the jRPG of the last years, like Persona 5, SMT V, DQ XI, FF Remake and Tales of Arise, as an indication that the market for these types of game should not be limited to lesser known titles and companies.
Also, I would love for them to release a collection cointaining BoF 1-4 + DQ, as a way of allowing us to play those amazing games in new consoles/PC.
While im in awe with the art, music, presentation and such.
The hide and seek and too much padding really killed it for me.
Still i love it for the Capcom's masterful touch
Love this vid so much! Im making a 3d fan art of Nina from this game and nearly gave up...this vid gave me renewed vigor! Thanks man!
Thank you so much for such a full review. I watched it with great pleasure.
Love it. Thanks for the excellent work brother. 🌙 I’m a bof4 enjoyer to my soul. Love and coverage for the game is always good in my book.
Just wanted to commend you on your passion and knowledge of your videos. Always a highlight to see your videos. Keep it up!
Thank you for this, this is a really great video! It would be so cool if Capcom would remake this game like Square did with Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I'm waiting for remakes or remasters of Breath of Fire series and/or the Onimusha series :)
With the recent Nintendo Direct news, hopefully it’s only a matter of time more of these classics get a remake/remaster.
38:24 that hit hard
I remember feeling so dissappointed and betrayed
this channels going to get to 500k soon i know it its too good. keep em coming!!
This is still one of my favorite game all the time
I beat this title for the first time last month and was blown away by how fun it was!
Glad you enjoyed it! I think it’s aged super well and perhaps even better in some aspects now than when it was released
one of the best fishing mini games out there
Never been into jrpg but your narration is helping me sleep (a good thing)
I still playing this game... for me yes my fav is bof4 and actually idk anything about other bof cuz i never been yet....but bof4 is enough..so much story. I really love this game
Nice work! I'm overdue for a Breath of Fire IV replay!
Breath of fire 3 and 4 are 2 of my favorite games on the ps1 also Vagrant story, FF9, legend of dragoon, and finally Resident evil 2
Thanks god you're back! I thought
you'd have abandoned the channel. Please, keep up the good work!
No way! This video was just longer than initially planned on and took longer to finish up in result. We’re really trying to make our videos as polished as possible now which takes a bit more time as well. But we plan on getting a shorter video out for the next one in a much quicker timeframe 👌
One of my fav JRPG at the time. Amazing game.
A lot like BoF3 but my fav will always be this game. Everything from the story to the graphics to the gameplay was very solid. Dam you even mention Wild Arms. Love that opening and song.
Wasn't ready for the Mischief Makers reference at 33:10 lol
Have you seen our Brave Fencer Musashi retrospective? Got another Mischief Makers reference there lol, love that game
This is my favourite Jrpg game and was my favourite game in general on the PSP. Everything from the visuals, to the gameplay and ost was perfect. Although i didn't understand the story too much as a child it still left an impact. Remasters and mobile ports would be the best send off for the series, given that Capcom clearly doesn't want a remake or sequel.
Breath of fire 3 & 4 has to be my all time favourite JRPG games until today. They need to do a continuation of 3 & 4 then after combine the story. Imagine how it would look on unreal engine 5 😲
In my honest opinion, the jrpg games in the passed always had a great story line, combat, music etc
Also keep up with the great work on the channel, loving it
I'm in the same boat, I played this game a lot as a kid but never beat it. Might have to grab it again and give it a try.
played only breath of fire 4, haven't played previous games. It was a winter 2004 when I get ps1, and I played BoF4 right after FF9, and it was awesome.
I loved the little town building part of the game
Playing it at the moment on my Ayn Odin 2. It's far more interesting than I thought it'd be.
The BGM made me, a 33 yr old man.. cry.. oh my God.. my childhood.... ❤️
The enemy design on BOF generally is so good. Zombies on BOF1 were the absolute best looking enemies ever
this game is EASILY in my TOP 5 GOAT. i have MULTIPLE times put 150/200+ hours into this game. i even bought the japanese copy just because.
i cannot stress enough how magical this game is. came across it randomly in EB back around early 00s. bought for about 25$ then. i was blown away as soon as the OP started. stunning visuals. amazing art development. some the most fluid game mechanics ive experienced. and an OST that still gives me goosebumps to this day. FISHING!!!!!! ...still remember the day i finally killed a tree stump. lol.
Damn, my favorite game, and this came out on my birthday. Havin a good year so far lol
Just found the channel and subbed. Good work brother 👍
Lines from the intro
Nina: I believed it... From the start
Ryu: what are you trying to do? Where are you going?
Memories.
honestly, this game is one of a reasons i like rpg games especially when i was a kid, one of my favorites
We need a REMAKE!!! NOW!!!
BoF 4 is such a wonderful and resplendent game!!
Great video! Anyone ever tell you that your voice sounds a lot like Johnny Young Bosch?
Part 4, FF9 and Suikoden 1 & 2 only rpg i own on Ps.The combo system was awesome the story was good.
The visuals was great.
Still my fav games too thus day.
Opps and Vandal Hearts 1 n 2