It's time to add in a bit of fire into the comp! Lets lit it up!
Breath of Fire III
https://www.menosfios.com/wp-content...th-of-Fire.png
VS
Breath of Fire IV
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5KI3LGdkL...600/banner.png
*CLOSES IN ABOUT 24 HOURS! *
Printable View
It's time to add in a bit of fire into the comp! Lets lit it up!
Breath of Fire III
https://www.menosfios.com/wp-content...th-of-Fire.png
VS
Breath of Fire IV
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5KI3LGdkL...600/banner.png
*CLOSES IN ABOUT 24 HOURS! *
III is good
IV is life
Breath of Fire 3. There are some ways that BoF4 improved on the system of BoF3 (like the backup party actions), but overall I liked the third entry best for a few reasons.
1. Story - The basic struggle between freedom and security manifested in the war of the Goddess against the Dragons was something I found more compelling than the journey of Fou-Lu and his transformation to a human hating god.
2. Dragon transformation - This is a pretty big one for me on the gameplay and overall aesthetic front for Breath of Fire games and BoF4 makes nearly the same misstep here as BoF2, turning the dragons into essentially summons. Loads of games have summons. Dragon TRANSFORMATION is what sets BoF apart and it does itself a disservice when it diminishes that. In this game we have both transformations and summons. However, every transformation looks like the Warrior transformation from BoF3. You only see the distinction when you use breath attacks. Thus, they're basically still summons. The gene system of BoF3, by contrast, was Dragon Transformation perfection, with a wide variety of different dragons you could make and discover by mixing different genes.
3. Nostalgia - That mural hearkening back to the first game really gets to me and I do like that the Goddess is the villain again here.
This is the first real contest for me. The others I either cared about neither game, or one of the games just wasn't even close to the other for me. In this case, it's a pretty narrow lead, but BoF3 definitely gets it for me.
I love both, but as most people know, BoFIII is my favorite entry in the franchise. The story better balances warmheartedness and dark moments while having an overall more tightly designed gameplay. Fou-Lu is the best part of IV but Ryu's section just gets too bogged down by meaningless and transparent mini-game distractions, and the new game mechanics either don't mesh well with what they brought back from III or they changed it in a way that feels a bit too backtracking like the Dragon mechanics.
I love the character designs on Breath of Fire. I love IV's Nina the best.
This is true, but let's not forget that BoF3 has it's own share of annoying mini-game distractions. The rope pulling game *shudder.* Making those stupid mini-games mandatory is one of the biggest flaws of the series. I should say of the Playstation games, because I don't really remember too much stuff like that in the first two.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno
Oh yeah, BoFIII is just as guilty of mini-game nonsense like making that mackerel dinner or helping a guy get tough enough to beat the town bully, but it's a lot worse in IV. It's almost impossible to go anywhere in a Ryu segment of IV that doesn't have some gimmicky element attached to it. Whether you're talking to parrots, avoiding a town of traps, having to play hide-and seek with orphans, chasing chickens into a coop, riding a Nautilus across a plain, and a bunch of other stuff. Any player will quickly realize that no matter how simple of a task you have, you're going to have some non-story relevant task at every town you go to. III at least had the decency to try and tie all the side story into the overall theme or story in some way outside of some of the BS I already mentioned.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord GolbezThis is true, but let's not forget that BoF3 has it's own share of annoying mini-game distractions. The rope pulling game *shudder.* Making those stupid mini-games mandatory is one of the biggest flaws of the series. I should say of the Playstation games, because I don't really remember too much stuff like that in the first two.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno
As for the previous entries. I is straightforward and kind of overly simple. II has the distinction of getting you character sidetracked for two-thirds of the game by two different sidequests that just happen to have your party stumble onto the real plot of the game.
For BOFIII, my main problem is that the first half is really good and the second is disappointing because of it. In part one you deal with a very personal conflict with a very real, tangible threat constantly looming in the background, and an epic final showdown with them near the end. The best parts of the second half are when loose threads from the first half are resolved. While the more overarching story is interesting on paper, the game never sets it up properly - and does it really poorly if compared to the masterful pacing of the first half. You’re told you need to go kill God suddenly, you don’t ever really get to see why it’s so important, and a lot of stuff just comes out of nowhere later on. What I’m saying is, the God plot would have worked much better if it had been better represented from the start, so that you’re driven do see it to the end as much as you were driven to kick Balio and Sunder’s fused ass once they were cornered.
Though the reasons I prefer IV are many, I will say I feel the game does this element better too, since you have plenty of build up for what comes later as you go along. And yes, Fou Lu’s Story is done better, but then there’s stuff like Ershin’s arc or the reveal of what happened to Elina that can hit very hard - much harder than the final bit of BoFIII did to me.
It's a draw! Though since I voted for BOF 3 I will remove my vote, meaning that BOF 4 is the victor! It was a close one guys !
https://retrodragon.files.wordpress....14/03/bof3.jpg
*closed *
I’m so happy
Lost on a bogus technicality. It was definitely a tie.
Ties in such tournaments need to be resolved so ehow
I disagree actually. You're not asked to "kill god" that is actually never even mentioned. The Adult Act is really about exploring what happened to the Brood and uncovering the truth about the world. In fact, the game's primary theme of "the morality of power" kicks into full swing in the second half of the plot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fynn
Heavy plot spoilers for those who care]Garr tries to kill Ryu because his god commanded it a thousand years ago, but Ryu unleashes his true power in a moment of desperation, which leads to Garr realizing that his kind actually never stood a chance against the Brood and only won because the Brood let them as they had come to the same conclusion as Myria did concerning their power. The second half of the game explores this whole plot arc, and the search for god is not to kill her, but ask her why the Brood had to die and in the meantime, the game unveils the truth about the world, that it was nearly destroyed centuries ago, and Myria is controlling civilization to nurture it back to health by controlling the technology level of the other species. The mini stories that follow work towards this goal such as Momo's conclusion to the tale of her father, Garr's old friend who shamefully shirked his duties because he figured out what was really going on, the revelations of Caer Xhan space station, and even the reunion with Teepo all play into this theme of power and it's quite well thought out. The party only slays Myria because she's a well-intentional extremist who is holding back civilization. Hell when you actually meet the Brood, they still have animosity towards Myria but ultimately agree that she was right in believing they were too dangerous. It's all honestly tastefully done.
I’d still argue it really doesn’t feel like it ties in well with the first part, but I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree
I feel like you almost have it backwards. The childhood arc drags on way too long and starts getting kind of redundant with all the kidnapping, which happens like 3 times. I do appreciate the culmination with Rei in the second half, but it's a bit much.
No, I don’t have it backwards. I just feel it’s better written and works much better build-up-wise. It’s all a matter of opinion really.