Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
by Capcom
(Click here)
Product Summary
Brand: CapcomRelease Date: 2006-08-07
Platform: PlayStation2
Model: 26015
Publisher: Capcom
Product features:
- PETS (Positive Encounter and Tactics System) - A revolutionary feature to RPGs in which players can setup traps and decoys in the environment prior to going into battle against monsters.
- "Survival" Game Play - Players are challenged with an abundance of enemies and a large variety of strategic elements such as deciding whether to fight or avoid enemies, or timing when to attack.
- Ability Point System - All actions, including spells and attacks, will cost Ability Points (AP's). The accumulation of AP's can be used to deliver more powerful attacks or combos.
- SOL (Scenario Overlay System) - What theplayer has accomplished up to that point carries over to the newly restarted game. Not only do Experience Points and items carry over but, in-game events and dungeons will change based on the player's previous accomplishments.
Video Game Reviews of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Customer Review: An underappreciated gem.
Summary: 5 Stars
This game deserves far more love than it's getting here. From reading about it, I myself hesitated a long time picking it up. Now I'm just thankful that it was still available, as the experience was truly worthwhile. It's true, you will have to play through various parts of the game more than once, but in this case, it's not something that you shouldn't look forward to. Going back, you get extra story elements which really do round out the picture of what your characters (and, by extension, you) are going through. And, of course, it's very cool to be able to lay the smackdown to enemies who gave you nothing but trouble the first time you came across them.
Now, all this talk about dying and losing everything and going back to the start is misleading, at best. The manual itself clearly states that you will be best served using "Give Up" effectively, which will allow you to carry over your party experience and money (Hint: sell any equipment you can't carry over before giving up), all your skills, and anything you had in storage. As long as you don't use your accrued party experience the first time through, you should not have any problem getting through the game in two trips. My first time out, I got very far without using any party experience, and only using the dragon transformation when completely necessary to survive.
It is true, the save system for this game is a bit on the onerous side, and penalizes you more than it should. However, anyone complaining they can only play for an hour or so but have to go to a save point to save their progress simply don't know what they are doing. You can "soft save" at any point in the game. You can leave whenever you want to. It's just that you lose that save as soon as you load a game from it, and continue like you had never saved at all. This particular system would truly be abysmal during a power failure or whatnot, but beyond that, it's only a minor annoyance. I found plenty of save spheres (or whatever they're called) myself, certainly enough to get through the game comfortably. Now, that's not to say I don't think the save feature isn't the worst implemented part of this game--not being able to back up save info onto another memory card is absolute nonsense, IMHO--but it is by no means a deal killer.
What really struck me about this game was that it was deeply personal. Ryu came across a very helpless little girl and determined that, come hell or high water, he was going to help her. That's it. And, of course, Nina is about the cutest little thing you are likely to ever come across in your video game experiences. The rest of the story fed off of and into that very basic dynamic, and was wholly successful. For the story alone, I wanted to finish this game.
It helped greatly that the battle system is top notch, as well, and that the ant farm is a fun and interesting diversion to carry out along the way. And quite profitable, if you work it right!
I can understand how some people might become easily frustrated with the mechanics of this game, but if you can put any preconceived notions aside and play it for what it is (and know you will have to go through some parts at least twice), this is a very gratifying game to play through. I truly would rank it up with some of the best games I've ever played. To give you an idea of what that list consists of, we're talking FFX, KOTOR, Ratchet and Clank, Radiata Stories, Soul Calibur III, Gran Tourismo 4, Disgaea--these are some of the titles I'd rank this one up with. I really can't give it a hearty enough recommendation. Don't let the naysayers put you off--this is truly a worthy title.
As a final word, I would point out that, if you are having too much trouble, there is a great little file save manipulation tutorial you can use to get around some of the most onerous parts of the save system at GameFAQs. I will confess, I let myself run down(?) to 100 percent in my D-Meter, just to see what would happen, and was quite upset when I discovered that I lost half my party ability points and money because I let myself die. The FAQ helped me equalize this disparity, and it was smooth sailing from that point on. I'd like to give the author a medal, for that one, as it compensates for really the only poorly thought out element of the entire game.
Once again, if you are on the fence, as I was, take the plunge. You'll be glad you did. I know I am.
Description of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Renowned for its innovative gameplay mechanics, this latest incarnation redefines the Breath of Fire role-playing game. Breath of Fire series for the PlayStation 2 sports a whole new 3D-world look, an engrossing storyline, brand new stylized visuals and innovative gameplay features. Breath of Fire series now introduces a "Survival" style of gaAll Games
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