Breath of Fire 1-5
When you think about classic JRPGs, odds are your mind goes to the Super Nintendo games of yore. Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario RPG. If you wanted a turn-based JRPG that would eventually stand the test of time, the SNES was your go-to console and Square Soft your equally go-to publisher/developer. But there was one non-Square franchise that, while fantastic and beloved, has not received much attention from its makers as of late: Breath of Fire.
There’s a joke on the Internet; if you’ve played one turn-based JRPG, you’ve played them all. Like many other JRPGs, the Breath of Fire franchise lets players control up to four eclectic characters (you literally can’t get more diverse than a team made up of a naga, an angel, a monkey, and a catgirl). The games tend to devolve into the time-worn pattern of battle, grind, level up, buy new equipment, and repeat until the end; but that’s not a bad thing. Like most JRPGs, Breath of Fire’s stories tend to be decent with a few plot twists. However, the fifth entry in the franchise, confusingly titled Dragon Quarter, throws several wrenches into the formula with finite consumables and enemies, as well as an in-game timer (of doom) that is significantly cut whenever the main protagonist uses certain attacks.
Modern JRPGs have slowly been making their way back to their turn-based roots, so now would be the perfect time for Capcom to grace gamers with a Breath of Fire collection. After all, Square Enix recently revived Chrono Trigger, so why can’t Breath of Fire come back, roaring like a dragon reborn? The franchise needs a good shot in the arm, especially since 2016’s mobile game, Breath of Fire 6, was critically panned.
