Top 20 Best RPG Series of All Time

#12. – Breath of Fire

# of Good Games in the Franchise: 4

Active: No

Breath of Fire was released as a result of Capcom trying to get in on the RPG phenomenon in the early 90s. This game was a strange combination of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. It also had an absolute banger of a soundtrack. The sequel was more refined. Capcom (like most developers) moved on to the Sony PlayStation with a third and fourth iteration. They then finished things up on the PS2 in a drastic departure from the gameplay conventions in all the other titles. There is a Breath of Fire 6, but it’s on mobile, and doesn’t fit in witih the rest of the series.

I think the Breath of Fire series is really underrated. The battle system is very traditional, but polished in each installment. Furthermore each iteration features worlds that are super interesting to explore. The puzzles are basic but I had a lot of fun with them. Breath of Fire II suffers from a bad translation but in terms of complexity can stand with Final Fantasy. The only drawback is that the story is very basic and removed from gameplay. The third Breath of Fire lacked the complexity of other RPGs of this era, and also had a weak story. Same thing goes for the fourth iteration. Breath of Fire V changes things up significantly but not in any good way. This title is actually bad.

The Best Way to Play:

Normally I would say that the original titles are best on the Super Nintendo. The original titles have the better graphics and soundtrack after all. On the Gameboy Advance you can hold the B button to move much faster outside of battle. This simple quality of life enhancement makes them all the much better. Breath of Fire III was great on the PS1, but it had an enhanced port on the PSP which can also be played on the Vita. Thanks to the widescreen format I recommend going with this one. Breath of Fire IV is still a PS1 (though it had a release on PSN for PS3/PSP/Vita) exclusive so I recommend going with that. Honestly you don’t need to pay Breath of Fire V.