Breath of Fire IV

About Breath of Fire IV

Breath of Fire IV (2000) is Capcom's fourth Breath of Fire, in which the dragon-shifting Ryu and his allies try to stop an awakened immortal emperor from ascending to godhood.

Breath of Fire IV in Depth

As in earlier games, the hero is a young man named Ryu who can transform into powerful dragons, and here he joins other skilled warriors to stop an awakened immortal emperor from ascending to godhood and destroying the world of man. Like Breath of Fire III, it mixes 2D and 3D graphics: hand-drawn character sprites move through fully 3D environments seen from overhead, with a camera that can rotate up to 360 degrees in places but no longer tilt. Each playable character has a "field skill" for clearing obstacles or solving puzzles, and battles strike at random in hostile areas and dungeons.

Turn-based battles pit teams of three against any number of enemies, with characters acting in any order chosen by the player and reserves swapped in from the back row, where they cannot fight but recover health. The "Master System" from Breath of Fire III returns, letting characters apprentice under masters around the world and gain skills and stat increases by meeting conditions such as a number of battles fought or specific items found. The series' fishing minigame returns, as does Faerie Town, a village players build to open new features.

Making Breath of Fire IV

Capcom developed and published it for the PlayStation in Japan and North America in 2000 and Europe in 2001, with a Windows version in Europe and Japan in 2003. Famitsu gave it 31 out of 40, and it sold an estimated 334,000 copies in Japan in 2000, qualifying for a budget "PlayStation the Best" re-release in 2002. Its English release in North America and Europe was similarly well received.