Breath of Fire is a role-playing video game developed by Capcom originally for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Initially released in Japan in April 1993, the game was later made available in North America in August 1994 by Square Soft, who handled the title's English localization and promotion. It is the first entry in the Breath of Fire series.
Recognized by Capcom as their first traditional role-playing video game, Breath of Fire would set the precedent for future entries in the series, and features character designs artist Keiji Inafune, as well as music by members of Capcom's in-house sound team Alph Lyla. In 2001, the game was re-released for the Game Boy Advance handheld system with new save features and minor graphical enhancements, with the English version being released in Europe for the first time. In 2016, it was released for the New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. In 2019, it was released for the Nintendo Switch SNES games library.
Set in a fantasy world, Breath of Fire follows the journey of a boy named Ryu, one of the last surviving members of an ancient race with the ability to transform into mighty dragons, as he searches the world for his sister. During his quest, Ryu meets other warriors who share his quest, and comes into conflict with the Dark Dragon Clan, a militaristic empire who seeks to take over the world by reviving a mad goddess. The game experienced mostly positive reception upon release, and was followed by a direct sequel, Breath of Fire II, in 1994.
Gameplay Breath of Fire is a traditional role-playing video game, featuring two-dimensional character sprites and environments presented from a top-down perspective. Players move their characters in four directions while navigating through a number of environments ranging from towns to dungeons filled with traps and monsters. In order to advance the story, the player must take part in story-based scenarios that require them to enter dangerous areas and defeat enemies while also interacting with non-player characters to become involved in the plot.
During gameplay the player's main character, Ryu, will meet other characters that join his party, each with their own distinct abilities in and out of battle. These include differing magic spells as well as unique Personal Actions that can be performed in certain situations that allow the player to interact with the game world, solve puzzles, or navigate environments more easily. A player's active group can consist of up to four members at a time, but may switch any of them with reserve members at any time, even in the middle of battle. The game uses an icon-based menu system that organizes the player's stock of items, equipment, and character information, with subsystem shortcuts than can be set to unused buttons on the game controller for ease of access. As the game progresses, players may purchase or find items and equipment that can aid each character and make them stronger.
Players advance the game by doing battle with enemy creatures. Combat in Breath of Fire takes place in hostile areas such as dungeons, with encounters occurring randomly every few steps. The game uses a turn-based system while in combat, where the player inputs commands for each character at the start of each round, which are then carried out by order of their "agility" rating. While each controllable character's health is indicated by numerical hit points, an enemy's vitality is represented by a colored bar that decreases as they take damage, and must be reduced to nothing in order to be defeated. Stronger boss characters have the ability to continue battle even after their health bar is depleted, with their true remaining health being obscured for the rest of the battle. Characters can cast spells to harm enemies or aid their allies, which require AP (Ability Points) in order to be cast. When a player defeats all enemies present, they are awarded with experience points that go towards leveling up characters, making them stronger and giving them access to new spells. Progress is saved in one of three slots using the game cartridge's internal battery back-up, which can be accessed by dragon statues at certain points throughout the game.
Plot
Characters Each character hails from a different clan made up of anthropomorphic animal-like beings or humans with fantastic powers, with their assortment of magic spells and personal field abilities that can be used out of battle to help the player progress through the game and find hidden items.
The main character is a young man named Ryu, one of the last surviving members of the Light Dragon Clan, who have been driven to near-extinction by their enemy, the Dark Dragon Clan. When his sister, Sara, is captured by the Dark Dragons, Ryu must travel the world searching for a way to get her back, as well as unlock his latent ability to transform into powerful dragons. During gameplay, the player can meet and recruit seven additional party members, including Nina, princess of the Kingdom of Windia whose race can transform into large birds; Bo (Gilliam in the Japanese version), a wolf-man held prisoner by the Dark Dragons after they attacked his homeland; Karn (Danc in the Japanese version), member of an ancient order of thieves with the ability to merge two or more party members together to create powerful fighters; Gobi (Manillo in the Japanese version), a fish-man and traveling merchant who can transform into a giant fish; Ox (Builder in the Japanese version), a large ox-man from a town of blacksmiths; Mogu, a mole-person with the ability to dig holes in certain areas; and Bleu (Deis in the Japanese version), an immortal sorceress with a snake-like lower body who commands powerful magic.
The principal antagonists are the Dark Dragon Clan, a militaristic empire made up of soldiers that can transform into dragons. They are led by Emperor Zog (Zorgon in the Japanese version), who seeks to take over the world by gaining the power of the Goddess Tyr (Myria in the Japanese version as well as the English version of the third game), who was sealed away centuries ago by the Light Dragons using six magic keys that have been scattered across the world. His main general is Jade (Judas in the Japanese version), who in turn commands his Four Devas: Cort (Kyura in the Japanese version), a mad scientist; Mote (Sigmund in the Japanese version), a wizard who has the power to terrorize people in their dreams; Cerl (Carla in the Japanese version), a half-breed magic user who resents her past mistreatment by humans; and Goda, an armored goliath.
Story Breath of Fire takes place in an unnamed medieval fantasy world. In addition to ordinary humans, it is populated by various "clans" of anthropomorphic animals. The Dragon Clan, a race of humans who are able to transform into dragons, differ from the others in that their members appear (for the most part) to be human. The back-story of the game is summarized during its prologue: Thousands of years ago, a goddess named Myria (also known as "Tyr" and "Maria" in some English translations and "Miria" in Breath of Fire II) sowed discord amongst the Dragon Clan by offering to grant any wish. Feuding over the goddess' favor eventually split the Clan into two feuding sides, the Light Dragons and the Dark Dragons, who engaged in a war. Myria encouraged the fighting and watched the war escalate. Just as the world was on the brink of destruction, the "Goddess War" ended when a heroic Light Dragon imprisoned Myria and sealed her away using six keys.Prologue: When the Dragon Family was at the peak of its power, a goddess of desire appeared. The goddess, Tyr, granted wishes. The Dragons fought each other for her power. Tyr encouraged the fighting and watched the war between the Dragons escalate. When the world was at the brink of destruction, a warrior stepped forward. The warrior battled Tyr with his 7 companions and locked her up using 6 keys. These "Goddess Keys" were scattered throughout the world and hidden away. Each key has a unique magical property which affects the surrounding landscape; the Light Key is hidden in the port town of Auria, providing boundless prosperity for its residents. Alternatively, the Dark Key resides near the slums of Bleak, accounting for that town's perpetual darkness.
The Dark Dragons continue to hunt their longtime enemies, the Light Dragons, and have driven them into isolation. Unbeknownst to the Dark Dragons, the Light Dragon Clan sealed away its dragon powers long ago. The game's protagonist, Ryu, is living peacefully in Drogon, a village of Light Dragons survivors. Ryu was orphaned when he was young and was raised by his sister, Sara, a priestess who can summon powerful magic. One night he dreams of a dragon that warns him of impending danger; he awakens to find his village has been set ablaze. Sara uses her magic to draw the Dark Dragons away from Ryu and the other villagers, but is taken prisoner. The Dark Dragon Emperor, Zog, has announced that it is the birthright of the Dark Dragons to conquer the planet.Male villager: I head that Zog, the Dark Dragon King, vowed to conquer the world. And his first target is the Light Dragons! Zog intends to release Myria by assembling the six Goddess keys. However, it could be that Zog is about to make a mistake that will lead the world to its destruction instead, so Ryu leaves the village and embarks on a quest to collect the keys before Zog can.
Ryu's first destination is the town of Nanai, under which the Earth Key is sealed. He seizes the key from the Dark Dragon forces stationed there, but ends up leveling the town doing so since the Earth Key governs seismic activity. He then travels to Windia ("Winlan" in the official translation) but discovers that the King there has been poisoned. He briefly meets Nina, the princess of Windia, and then has to rescue her from the tower of Karma after her mission to obtain the remedy for her father goes awry due to the use of a toxic weapon called Xeon Gas, which was seemingly developed by the Dark Dragons. Once Nina's father recovers, Nina elects to join Ryu on his further adventures, and the two next travel to Tantar, the home of the wolf-like Forest Clan. They eventually discover that the chieftain of the neighboring village of Tuntar is an impostor working for the Dark Dragon Empire. Ryu and Nina venture to a nearby forest to rescue the real chief, but end up walking into a trap. Fortunately, they and the real chief are rescued by Bo, a warrior of the Forest Clan who had just escaped the custody of the Dark Dragons. He also joins them on their quest and helps them locate another Goddess Key, the Space Key.
En route to the port town of Auria, Ryu, Nina and Bo find a mysterious shrine. It is here that Ryu is forced to undergo a great trial: once he completes it, his dragon powers awaken. At Auria, the trio are mistaken for thieves and arrested, but Karn, a thief they meet inside their cell, frees them. They meet Karn again inside a tomb in the desert, and when they recover a tome containing thieving secrets, he joins the team. Back at Auria, the party discovers that the Dark Dragons have blackmailed the town's richest resident into surrendering the Light Key. They manage to foil this plot, however, by claiming the Dark Key and the Mirror from a tower near the thieves' town of Bleak and using the Mirror to allow the rich man's wife to communicate with him from beyond the grave. However, the Dark Dragons then resort to more aggressive tactics and sink the ship the party planned to board. The captain of the ship and the gold digging merchant Gobi approach the group with a plan to obtain a new ship. Their new ship is sunk as well, though, stranding them on a desert island. In order for the party to continue their quest, Gobi ventures forth alone and succeeds in acquiring the Gills, which allow Ryu and his friends to breathe underwater, and they continue on their way with Gobi as a companion.