RPGFan Feature: "How Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter Dared to Be Different"

[OdjnRyu]

Article: https://www.rpgfan.com/feature/to-s...of-fire-dragon-quarter-dared-to-be-different/

This is a good read, doesn't lay into Dark Souls comparisons TOO much, and helped put to words a lot of what I loved about the challenge and difficulty of this game. I also never quite thought about the "survival horror" elements of the game beyond the Ink Ribbon-esque Save Token system, but they're certainly there; the idea of failure allowing you to breeze through the re-attempt now that you know what's coming, a la dying and restarting in Resident Evil.

How about it, Era? Any fondness for Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter? You gotta at least admit, the Sakimoto soundtrack's excellent (and affordable on Steam).

 

[Magneto]

Such a great game. Very different from what was expected from BOF, but it was really good.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

i still want to smack bosch across the face 18 years later

also it got us Dead Rising so that's good, love me some Dead Rising (before Capcom Vancouver ruined it with 3 and 4)

 

[Deleted member 14377]

Haven't played it, but with the advent of roguelike/lite games in the past ten or so years, the discourse around this game seems to be growing in it's favor. It's been fun to see over the years since it's release. From the absolute hate it got on release, to people giving it a chance and really enjoying it with a modern lense/taste.

It's safe to say the game was ahead of it's time.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

One of my all time favorites, and I maintain that it was a game in the wrong place at the wrong time.

An HD re-release would be dope as hell. Game has a great look that holds up.

 

[BasilZero]

I remember hating it when I first got it because it was so different from BoF1 and BoF2 which were the only BoF games I played prior to this one.


I soon loved it (like Super Mario Sunshine) after the first playthrough - the music was the best and the battles were hyped.

 

[Richardi]

Best BoF game by far, IV was good too but not close to the greatness of V.

 

[Lulu]

really wish I played this but it was definitely polarizing at the time

 

[OdjnRyu]

really wish I played this but it was definitely polarizing at the time

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That, it was! Even I was adverse to it when I first played it, and just kinda gave up on playing it for a few years, until I picked it up again and fell in love with it. So hard, so challenging, but so SATISFYING once you "get" it.

Fans are so heavily split over it, but I think it's worthy of the Breath of Fire name.

 

[Dice]

The fucking MUSIC 😩 👍







Highly underrated and such an imppecable vision and oppresive atmosphere,.... Capcom went different and nailed it, IMO. The game especially sticks the landing of the "big journey" storyline.

The Chrono Cross of the Breath of Fire series. I'm sad this was, more or less, the stopping point for the series. But I agree that this game might have been better received today haha

Breath of Fire Collection when? :( I'm so sad this series seems almost doomed into obscurity with every passing year.

 

[Qwark]

I didn't like this game at the time, but reading this article I think I didn't understand a lot of the mechanics. This makes me want to give it another try, it sounds really cool in theory.

 

[Daouzin]

I loved it on release, but no one would give it a shot. I love seeing history be rewritten in it's favor. Definitely an amazing game.

 

[Izanagi89]

Man.....I was legit planning to make a post about this game because I finished it about it 3 weeks ago 😅 Oh well. That said, I completely agree with this piece and I firmly believe this game was released in the wrong era, back when JRPGs were all big world trotting adventures. The way it also incorporates story elements into the 'roguelike' mechanics through SOL was so good and ahead of its time.
A game of this quality should never have been considered to have killed off the franchise. Never.

 

[Ctrl Alt Del]

I'm a huge fan of the BoF series, but I never played this game (I did start playing on emulator ages ago but that was spotty and I dropped it). Will give it a try sometime.

Btw, you just let me know one can find every BoF's soundtrack on Steam but not the games themselves. How quaint.

 

[Tigerfog]

The atmosphere, story and art direction for this game were absolutely fantastic.
The difficulty can be a bit overwhelming at times, but it's what makes it stand out from the other Breath of Fire games.
A good use of traps and items can a long way in helping you out in battle.

 

[RPGam3r]

I loved all the previous BoF, especially 3 & 4. So this game is a like-hate. When I pretend it's not BoF I enjoy it's unique approach. But I know this was the last we got and I will always be jaded by that.

 

[Ferrio]

Amazing game, got way too much hate from longtime fans that it did not deserve. One of my favorite battles systems as soon as it clicked.

 

[Soulstar]

I loved it when it came out and I love it now. I remember thinking it looked so cool in the lead up to release.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

I just got angry from reading this piece... I hated this game so much when I tried it earlier this year.

 

[noinspiration]

Fantastic game and it's a real shame that it didn't get a rerelease along with the other lost Capcom classics on PS3.

 

[OdjnRyu]

I'm a huge fan of the BoF series, but I never played this game (I did start playing on emulator ages ago but that was spotty and I dropped it). Will give it a try sometime.

Btw, you just let me know one can find every BoF's soundtrack on Steam but not the games themselves. How quaint.

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Yeah, there was a thread about it way back in June! ;D https://www.resetera.com/threads/ca...eir-game-soundtracks-on-steam-it-seems.235171

 

[apocat]

It's such an interesting design. I really should go back to it, I played through a significant part of it back when it was released, but never finished it.

 

[azfaru]

Wow perfect timing. I just finished playing it (actually replaying for third time. Didn't get to the end before). And was thinking about doing a thread but it'll be my first thread so I'm anxious to do so haha.

But yeah I finished it last week and was itching to talk about it. For those who haven't tried, or even those who have tried and got pissed off at it, try again with an emulator. Save states, while a bit cheat-y is extremely useful and takes the edge off of your frustrations. That said I did have to restart twice, but it was all good and made me even eager to go through the game again with my knowledge of the previous runs.

Man what a journey though. It's hard. It's satisfying. It has one of the best iteration of a classic turn-based battle system I said it. This is what you get when you try to evolve turn-based. Not every JRPG has to end up like a freaking character action game jeez.

You overthink EVERY SINGLE ACTION. Like when was the last time you paused and thought about which enemy to attack first in a JRPG. Nah you usually just button mash through them all. With the AP system you have make sure you make full use of every move, and pull off optimized combos, to get the right damage output. The battle system is extremely rewarding and makes you feel like you had to earn every victory. Nothing is ever clear cut. Even the equipment system is not a totally linear path. In the end I was swapping weapons mid fight to optimize my damage. The party XP thing is genius too and gives you the choice to power level or save it for your next run. Oh and I kinda wish the antz colony happened sooner. That whole system is a much needed break from the dungeons.

I suppose if there's anything I would complain about is the character progression system. I wish it wasn't all tied to finding or buying skills. Maybe they needed another layer of player choice in creating your own builds.

And can I touch on the story and characters. Fucking loved them. There was strong alignment to MC's motivation to bring Nina to the surface. I really wanted to get her up there too no matter the cost. And it's such a simple and effective story too. JRPGs get so worked up on complexity (FFXIII...). There wasn't much exposition but it still worked. The mystery of it all just makes your imagination flourish and keen to soldier onwards to see the end. Maybe a biiit more expository content to make the world richer could really push it to be the best in class.

And the ending!!! Not gonna spoil but this is exactly what I feel a lot of modern devs are trying to achieve. Marrying gameplay mechanics and narrative in a way that is inventive, risky and ultimately emotional. A shame we probably will never get an evolution of the team's ideas.

Edit: oh god apologies for the wall of text. It's just one of my favorite JRPGs of all time. Way ahead of its time. Finding a thread about it just made me over excited.

 

[Modest_Modsoul]

It's 'different' so much in terms of difficulty, I died on the first battle, thus soured me to not continue playing it. 😄

Maybe someday again.

 

[Lulu]

That, it was! Even I was adverse to it when I first played it, and just kinda gave up on playing it for a few years, until I picked it up again and fell in love with it. So hard, so challenging, but so SATISFYING once you "get" it.

Fans are so heavily split over it, but I think it's worthy of the Breath of Fire name.

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I think it's regarded much more highly in retrospect

 

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Yeah, there was a thread about it way back in June! ;D https://www.resetera.com/threads/ca...eir-game-soundtracks-on-steam-it-seems.235171

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Gotta hope they'll have those classics themselves up on the store someday!

 

[Dreamboum]

One of the best game ever made. Basically did 15 years ago what Hades is praised for today

 

[bakedpony]

I played the game not knowing using dragon increases the gauge which would mean gameover if it reached 100.

 

[Philippo]

Made an an LttP about this in Spring.

Even if I initially wasn't very into it, even if I played my 1st run completely wrong, it ended up being one of f not the finest gaming experience of this year.

Just a laser-focused game that perfectly blends it's story, aesthetics and game design, to impose n you a feeling of dread and turn the entire experience in a desperate struggle, whether it's the D-Ratio system, the punishing combat, the oppressive regime, the absurdly limited inventory or the deadly transformation gamble.

Everything is there for one purpose, and in that, not the combat difficulty or the "retry" system, I find the biggest Dark Souls similarity.

What a game!

 

[sredgrin]

Game was like a decade ahead of its time.

 

[Dice]

Game was like a decade ahead of its time.

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One of the best game ever made. Basically did 15 years ago what Hades is praised for today

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Given the current state of the series, this sort of phrase makes me both proud to have played it (and love it!) back then, but a little heartbroken at the same time.

 

[Dashful]

When it came out and I played it. I loved the gameplay, although a bit turned-off from the departure from traditionnal BoF. But at the time, we were still getting BoF games so, whaatever.

But I wasn't a fan of the setting, lore and characters. To me it was too much of a departure and felt like it barely had anything to do with Breath of Fire.

I never got far into it though. If I had the time I'd give it another go, but don't know when that will be.

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

One of this game I will play through this game. The having to use a consumable item to save killed my interest the first time I tried.

 

[miserable]

When I first played it, I really disliked it because it was such a departure from classic BoF. I tried it for a hot minute then tossed it aside because there were so many other RPGs out that time that I liked better. It didn't help that I did not own a PS2 then and I was borrowing a console from a friend to play.

Many years later I gave it another go, I learned to separate it from the other BoF's and I just loved it. The gameplay, the setting, the soundtrack! Loved every minute. I wish there were more games like it.

 

[Listai]

I'm yet to play it. I bought it back in the day and never got around to it. I hooked my PS2 back up to a CRT recently so it's definitely on my list of games to play through.

 

[alpha]

i still want to smack bosch across the face 18 years later

also it got us Dead Rising so that's good, love me some Dead Rising (before Capcom Vancouver ruined it with 3 and 4)

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Spoiler: Dragon Quarter Spoilers

One of my favorite game moments ever is when Bosch gets bodied by Ryu and instead of pulling the usual "I'm not like you, so I'll spare you" story, Ryu straight up finishes him.

 

[sir_crocodile]

It was fine but it wasn't the game I wanted

BOF3 is my fave JRPG ever.

 

[Dice]

Spoiler: Dragon Quarter Spoilers

One of my favorite game moments ever is when Bosch gets bodied by Ryu and instead of pulling the usual "I'm not like you, so I'll spare you" story, Ryu straight up finishes him.

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The Breath of Fire series honestly features some of the more brutal/sad deaths for games.

Rand's mom?
Mami cannon?
The Nue family?!!?!?

 

[Yerffej]

I loved it and get pumped to this day listening to certain tracks. Electricity Supply Building never gets old for me.

 

[Deleted member 6230]

really loved this game. I want to go back and finish it hopefully it gets ported somewhere

 

[Dary]

Like FF12, it's one of those games that was judged at the time more on what it wasn't than what it was.

 

[MrWindUpBird]

One of the best game ever made. Basically did 15 years ago what Hades is praised for today

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Honestly, yeah. This is a great way of looking at it. Such an underrated masterpiece in game and narrative design.

 

[Maedhros]

Hated it coming from 3 and 4. And now it's too late to retry it, since my time for games is even less than before... I don't even like JRPGs that much anymore... =/

 

[Sumio Mondo]

It's a masterpiece. From the bottom to the top.

Just brilliant. 10/10 soundtrack too.

 

[Death Penalty]

This should have been the next step for the series, but instead it died before its time because people don't like it when things aren't what they used to be. This entry in the series finally getting some small cult recognition is really nice to see.

 

[Brood]

I played it when it first came out and didn't really like it. D-counter/D-ratio ruined the game for me. The music was garbage.

 

[Quinton]

Amazing work from an amazing colleague. Loved this. <3

 

[werezompire]

When people discuss games as high art, this is the first game that comes to my mind. The way it intertwines story & gameplay is truly masterful. Killer soundtrack & some of the best directed game cutscenes ever. It's a difficult (but fair) game and well worth anyone's time. I really wish Capcom would port it to something modern so more people could experience it.

 

[Dreamboum]

Whenever I listen to this song, it takes me back

 

[OdjnRyu]

I loved it and get pumped to this day listening to certain tracks. Electricity Supply Building never gets old for me.

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Fun fact, the official localization of that track is "PowerOne" as confirmed by this tracklist: