So Capcom announced Breath of Fire 6.

[Kent]

I've also heard BoF was straying from what it was even in Dragon Quarter but I didn't play that so I don't know (only played the first two because I was nintendo only for the first few generations).

You should see about playing III and IV. They're legitimately-great JRPGs of the PlayStation-era.

I'm particularly fond of III because of the gene system for dragon transformations, it makes IV's system for dragon transformations (which is incredibly basic in comparison) just feel like a huge step backward. I did go back and try to play II afterward when it got the GBA release, but... It just didn't feel anywhere near as good as III or IV. It's one of those examples of JRPG design getting progressively much better as a series goes on.

Well, up until Dragon Quarter hit and killed the series in an Unlimited SaGa fashion. Dragon Quarter does a lot of fun things with combat (the combat system is pretty much fantastic) but the main hook of the series, the ability of the main character to transform into a dragon, is turned on its head as a clutch-only mechanic that will delete your save file if you use it too much.

This wouldn't be so bad if it were manageable to any reasonable degree... But when a single use of the transformation will take your meter from being basically-empty to 75% (where 100% is when bad things happen), it really just gets to the point where it might as well not even be a mechanic - kind of like Elixirs in most RPGs, where you go out of your way to never use them because of the theoretical possibility of needing it in some future scenario, which inevitably never happens.

That said... I don't actually mind the idea of Breath of Fire being used for the setting of an online multiplayer RPG, just like how Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star Online got online RPGs using them and turned out fine (initially). The problem here, is that this isn't what's happening... It's specifically a smartphone/browser social game. The exact opposite of anything any sensible person, as a player, is okay with.

[Polly]

I liked everything about Breath of Fire IV up until progress was gated by tons of dumb minigames that I got tired of playing. x(

[Tyreek]

You should see about playing III and IV. They're legitimately-great JRPGs of the PlayStation-era.

I'm particularly fond of III because of the gene system for dragon transformations, it makes IV's system for dragon transformations (which is incredibly basic in comparison) just feel like a huge step backward. I did go back and try to play II afterward when it got the GBA release, but... It just didn't feel anywhere near as good as III or IV. It's one of those examples of JRPG design getting progressively much better as a series goes on.

Well, up until Dragon Quarter hit and killed the series in an Unlimited SaGa fashion. Dragon Quarter does a lot of fun things with combat (the combat system is pretty much fantastic) but the main hook of the series, the ability of the main character to transform into a dragon, is turned on its head as a clutch-only mechanic that will delete your save file if you use it too much.

This wouldn't be so bad if it were manageable to any reasonable degree... But when a single use of the transformation will take your meter from being basically-empty to 75% (where 100% is when bad things happen), it really just gets to the point where it might as well not even be a mechanic - kind of like Elixirs in most RPGs, where you go out of your way to never use them because of the theoretical possibility of needing it in some future scenario, which inevitably never happens.

That said... I don't actually mind the idea of Breath of Fire being used for the setting of an online multiplayer RPG, just like how Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star Online got online RPGs using them and turned out fine (initially). The problem here, is that this isn't what's happening... It's specifically a smartphone/browser social game. The exact opposite of anything any sensible person, as a player, is okay with.

Kent did bring a good point about Dragon Quarter's mechanics. While I did enjoy the game a lot, it introduced a system I feared ever coming to videogames;

Spoiler!

Raising your D-gauge to 100% will kill you. Permanently. And in turn stop all of your progress up to that point.

On the plus side, you can bring everything with you with a new save, so not all is lost. But it was a total WTF moment for me the first it happend. I thought they took a small note from Onimusha's system when this mechanic was introduced, but nope.

I do like the mechanic of the story revealing itself more and more as you beat the game multiple times. Unfortunately I burned out after 6 or so playthroughs.

I remember an interview with the creator about what he planned for Dragon Quarter, and why he introduced the system. Something along the lines of wanting the player to feel that Ryu's life is about survival, and he's always in danger. And I believe he wanted to bring a way to stop the player from abusing the dragon transformation too much, since it made going through the games easy. I think. I'll have to search for that interview.

[NeverDT]

it's unlikely I'll go back and play a lot of these in the near future because I find most TBC games dull atm (and trust me, I used to love TBC games until I got into action RPGs) but I'll have to look at 3 and 4 if I do again.

that mechanic in DQ sounds like one of the most pathetic attempts at screwing with a player's mind that I've ever seen

fun story about elixirs: the only time I ever finished Lufia 1, I was way underlevelled going into the final area because I was getting bored of repetitive fights (L1's combat system sucked, something that L2 massively improved on) and although I used gimmicks to beat the first 3 bosses, the only way I could beat the final one was to spam the 80 some miracles (instant revive/full restore to 1 character) I'd picked up over the course of the game while I slowly, slowly killed him

attacks that can confuse your entire party are stupid

[Akaimizu]

With Capcom these days it's basically. If it's Monster Hunter, your series is still safe (at this time). If it's Resident Evil, your series is almost safe (but you must cross fingers the next game, in the series, is any good). If it's Street Fighter. (You're safe, but you must pay out the behind for it and we will milk the same exact game until you buy it 3 or 4 times from us just to get the small roster updates we sell as complete games). Anything else, er....we'll get back to you. But we'll leave you with this stock message from our management.

"Fans of game X. Not to worry. Capcom still has plans for things in the X franchise."

Ahh. I remember the days when Capcom would release the next Street Fighter game and it would actually have different game systems, new controls, new moves for old fighters, or new features to the fighting game and it wasn't just adding new characters with tiny balances. Outside of Alpha 2 Gold, that used to be the Capcom way. And even then, the releases were thoughtfully spread apart.

Love how Upper Management Capcom tests the waters, too. Of course, all kinds of petitions, and people asking for something like *I don't know* Vampire Hunter/Darkstalkers come around. The classic move is. "Well, we aren't confident it'll sell. Um. We might consider it if we make a lot of sales on a re-release of the same old Darkstalkers they already own. I'm pretty sure, their want for the same one they have and the willingness to buy it again, equals the want they would have for a new game in the series."

Though, I wonder if the latest fighting game practices of Capcom are starting to turn off Darkstalker fans due to the worry they'll screw it up. Charge people full price for a 3D rendition that contains a whopping 5 characters from the roster, and the rest will be DLC. But then sell it 4 months later as an Arcade Edition with all but 3 of the DLC characters included. Then an Ultra version 3 months after that, with an additional 2 characters included, but you'll still have to buy the 3 characters that are still DLC-only. Kaching! We'll get each player to pay $150+ for this year's fighting game. Compared to the single purchase price of $50 for similar year's worth of content and more, from all the other companies.

[Powder Keg]

Touch-controlled game.... lol, RIP Breath of Fire. I kinda thought that after 4 anyway, but this confirms it.

[Outrider]

Touch-controlled game.... lol, RIP Breath of Fire. I kinda thought that after 4 anyway, but this confirms it.

I mean, I get the knee-jerk reaction, but what about touch-based controls will hurt a turn-based RPG? It's like... literally one of the few "core" genres that doesn't actually lose anything when it's shifted away from a controller. It's not like BoF is a shooter or an action game.

Anywho, the more important question is: Why does Capcom think that Breath of Fire is a series that will draw in mainstream gamers? I mean, even among long-time JRPG fans, Breath of Fire isn't as well-known or well-regarded as most games. It's a niche series within a niche genre... does Capcom really think that adding the name to this product will help it in some significant way? There's also the fact that the few pre-existing fans of the franchise will likely be alienated by the shift to free-to-play, so... yeah, I'm not sure I understand this decision.

[Powder Keg]

I completely despise touch/motion controls in general. That's just a personal preference, though. I'm sure the younger generation doesn't see it as that big of a deal. I'm sure it's not as bad as Zelda: Spirit Tracks, but don't forget that BoF likes to force a lot of minigames on you too given it's history.

[Outrider]

I completely despise touch/motion controls in general. That's just a personal preference, though. I'm sure the younger generation doesn't see it as that big of a deal. I'm sure it's not as bad as Zelda: Spirit Tracks, but don't forget that BoF likes to force a lot of minigames on you too given it's history.

That's fair. I'll be the first to admit that Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks have iffy controls at best, but the unhurried nature of turn-based combat means most of the gameplay should be fine. I think you're spot on about minigames, though. Maybe they'll just be touch-based, a la every friggin' DS game released in 2004-2005.

[CelestialBlade]

Don't forget guys, mobile games are very popular in Japan right now. Capcom doesn't do anything to "appease the fans" in the western world because the figures show nobody's buying it. Breath of Fire was popular in the SNES and PS1 days, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a whole lot of people that remember it nowadays outside of Japan. Hell it's probably niche there too. Kinda sounds like they wanted to see if they could make some money off the niche fanbase with some easy-to-code mobile game.

Not sure what else they coulda done with the series anyway. BoFI-III were a lot of fun but I didn't really like the direction IV went, personally.