Picture this: you’re trying to explain what a jRPG is to someone who’s never heard of ’em. How would you define it? I embarked on a quest to find out exactly that, and I ended up in a pickle. There’s no single answer. You ask ten different people, you’ll get ten different ideas. Even Wikipedia doesn’t have a definition or even a page related to it. The closest we get is a comment from a Wikipedia Editor in the “List of Best-selling Japanese Role-Playing Games” article:
We can already see flaws in this definition, and it was dissected by Aaron Peterson in a very helpful article “What is a JRPG? What Defines a Japanese Roleplaying Game?”. Without going into too much detail, defining a jRPG is very hard. If we go with the above definition, it would seem that Zelda or Souls games are jRPG.
So it seems that there’s no single answer. You ask ten different people, you’ll get ten different ideas. Maybe it’s the turn-based fighting that comes to mind? Or those stories that are just bursting with feeling? Or maybe it’s that distinct look, almost like you’re watching an anime. Truth is, it’s probably a little bit of all of that, and something else you can’t quite put your finger on. It’s more of a… you just feel it when you see it. So it’s kind of a case of a term being defined by itself. Originally, I wanted to start this article off with “Let me tell you a story”, and I kind of felt that for me, this would be the perfect definition of a jRPG – the story.
I remember the first time I saw a jRPG game. I came to visit my friend and he was playing something on his Playstation. It looked amazing. It was a boss battle and I was totally mesmerized by what I saw on the screen. You might think that this is the perfect segue to the title of this article, but no! Not yet! The game I saw my friend play was Final Fantasy VIII. I borrowed that game and played it like there’s no tomorrow, going over the 99:99 ingame clock a couple of times. This is the game that started it for me. After that I explored the genre and found many more titles and in each of them one element that always stuck with me was the story. They all had their differences – combat was a bit different, some had materia, others had magic, other had guardian forces, and the graphical styles were all over the place.
Over time I found out, that what really resonated with me were the titles without photorealistic graphic. I started leaning more towards pixel-art graphics. Those didn’t just show me the story. They expanded my imagination, because the style of graphics kind of required me to fill in the blanks.
Now THIS is where we get to the good part. Let’s finally talk about
Breath of Fire IV
Breath of Fire IV is a very curious case. It’s in theory not the most popular one in the series – Capcom’s Super Elections had it’s predecessor at number 10.
While doing research I saw an enormous love for Breath of Fire III, with smaller pockets of dedicated fans swearing by Breath of Fire IV. And it kind of reminded me of my beginnings with Final Fantasy VIII. When you ask anyone about the best FF game they would likely say “Final Fantasy VII”. And I agree, it’s great. I just prefer FFVIII. Possibly because it was the first jRPG for me. And I think many other people think the same way about Breath of Fire IV. It may not be universally agreed as the best in the series, but for many people it IS the best, because it reminds them of something. Or because they appreciated many elements of the game that were innovative for the series, but we will get to that in a moment.
And that theory is supported by the response Breath of Fire IV had in our Dreamlist. Just look at the statistics!
And now you can re-live all your memories and get that pinch of nostalgia, because Breath of Fire IV is now available on GOG.COM. Check it out!
Breath of Fresh air
So what is so special about Breath of Fire IV? We have Ryu again, there’s dragons and a lot of elements that were already there in the previous versions. But for me, it was 3 things – graphics, combat and storytelling tools. Let’s tackle the graphics first.
I saw many people say, that they didn’t enjoy BOFIV that much, because the graphical style was more toned down, with less bursts of color. And yes, it is more toned down, but not always. The graphical style serves a purpose for storytelling – you are in a desert, obviously the color palette will be more toned towards that. But get out of the desert and suddenly the world gains colors. You may not notice it at first or even think about it, but your subconscious will make you feel different, not just because the story moved forward, but also because the color palette works in tandem with the story, supplementing it with the change.
But this is not the only thing that’s different about the graphics. Yes, they are toned down, more earthy, but they are also amazing, especially when you consider when BOFIV came out. Let me remind you that the game released in the year 2000. Looking at another famous jRPG series, we were already on Final Fantasy IX by then (well, it came out 3 months later), so we already had games going the way of more realistic graphics for a few years. And yet, here’s Breath of Fire IV with pixel-art style, focused on telling a great story. And it succeeded in not only telling that story, but also in employing the graphical style to help emphasising that story without needing to use photorealistic graphics. For me, that is an amazing feat.
C-C-C-Combo breaker
Before my absolute favorite change, I would like to tackle combat. I was used to the typical jRPG combat style – a party of 3 against enemies, with turn-based system, some magic, some summons, some healing potions. But Breath of Fire IV adds to that offering two major elements – size of the party and (you guessed it) combo system.
When I say “size of the party” I don’t mean that you control more than 3 people at once. What I mean is that all available characters are present. Your main party is the one doing the battle, but the rest of them sit in the back waiting. They are waiting for you to swap to them so they can join the fight replacing one of the other characters in the active slot. And while waiting, they regenerate resources. It’s a great system that makes the combat way more complex and incorporates strategic thinking about who to use when. Now you don’t only think about what spells to use, but who to use when, who to send to back row to recover. It’s kind of like a micromanagement system from RTS games, just less APM needed.
Before we get to the combos, I want to mention one more thing, and that is again the graphics. Setting aside the fact, that the whole battle screen looks amazing, it’s also set in an isometric view, when most of the games showed it from the side. That view was obviously present in previous games in the series, but remember – we’re talking about the time, where Final Fantasy VII and VIII already happened some time ago. And yet, it’s here, combined with those graphics, that the battle screen shines.
Now the combo system. Because we don’t have enough complexity and strategy during the battle already, let’s add one more thing to think about. Breath of Fire IV introduced a system, where casting certain spells and skills in order could produce additional effects. Some of them would be just increased damage, but some would create a new type of attack – like fire and wind spells creating an attack based on explosions. Years later, a similar system would allow me to rain meteors on my girlfriend’s head when we were playing Magicka.
All of those systems combined, enclosed in a beautiful battle screen. This makes the combat in BOFIV an amazing experience.
Breath of Nostalgia
Now let me tell you about my absolute favorite system in the game, that is a part of storytelling. For those who know, one name will suffice – Fou-lu.
For those of you who never played Breath of Fire IV, let me explain. And warn you about spoilers. Although I think after 25 years, it’s past the statute of limitations.
I remember my absolute confusion when first playing Final Fantasy VIII, and suddenly my party went to slee,p and I started playing totally different people, with random points of time, weird locations, weird weapons. I had no idea what was going on. Of course, many of you instantly know I am talking about Laguna flashbacks. It was an amazing storytelling tool that, by the end of the game, painted a whole picture with the rest of the story. Only at the end could you fully understand everything.
Breath of Fire IV goes a step further. The element of playing someone else is present here, but cranked to 11, because as it turns out – you’re suddenly playing Fou-lu, an emperor, and the main villain in the story. And it’s not just a flash to his greatest deeds, but you see him struggle, fail, and battle monsters. At some point you start to even like him. It’s a weird feeling when you’ve played and bonded with a character when later you find out you have to battle him.
But this whole segment serves one more purpose in the story, and it’s again connected to the player’s subconscious.
You see, when you play as Fou-lu, there is a noticeable difference in two main areas – first of all the power level of monsters and attack damage are way higher, showing Fou-lu’s prowess. Second of all, the battle music is totally different from your normal one when you play the main cast.
Now imagine the feeling, when after hours of hearing that music when YOU slay powerful enemies as Fou-lu, suddenly you hear that same music when engaging Fou-lu as a final boss. Suddenly, all those flashes of Fou-lu’s power flood your brain, and you know a hard battle is coming. Now this is what I call “boss music”.
Breath of Community
I started this article with the question – what is a jRPG. I still have no definite answer that I could put in an encyclopedia, but I know one thing – jRPG is such specific, that you will know it when you see it. And Breath of Fire IV is definitely a prime example of how jRPG look and feel. Yes, it doesn’t have every system present in an jRPG game, but those that it has it cranks to 11 and takes an innovative spin.
I think all those elements combined make Breath of Fire IV such an interesting game, not only in terms of story, but also in terms of importance for the community and for the fans. And I think Capcom knew, that the community for this game will be an amazing group. It is obvious even by looking at the development of the game, when Dengeki PlayStation magazine took ideas from fans for weapons, armor, accessories and other elements and funneled best ideas to the development team. Moreover, four winning submissions got included in the special, Japanese-only section unlocked with a Dengeki PlayStation demo disc. Those four winners got their items included in a hidden Dengeki Store unlocked only by that disc. ((https://www.dragnier.net/breath-of-fire-iv/)) ((Dengeki PlayStation No. 131. “Dengeki Scoop 6: Breath of Fire IV: Utsurowazaru Mono”. January 14, 2000. p. 42 – 43. Retrieved 19 January, 2025.))
Breath of Final Words
Breath of Fire was a very late discovery for me. When it came out I was busy trying many different games and it slipped under my radar initially. But when I finally got to play it, I fell in love. History might repeat itself here, and I might become a bigger fan of BOFIV than previous titles – same as with Final Fantasy. But to be honest, I don’t really care if I go against the current. As I forged memories playing FFVIII back in the day, I will now be forging new memories with Breath of Fire IV. And those memories will be preserved thanks to the preservation of this title for years to come. And of course thanks to you – people passionate about bringing games back, voting on the Dreamlist and fighting for video game preservation.
And now, I will go back to playing and find out every last secret I can!
