Breath of Fire III | A Young Dragon’s Coming of Age Tale (Retrospective)

[@Eener1000]

The Final Fantasy games always were these epic big theatre spectacles, while the Breath of Fire games felt like personal adventures with friends

[@mikurox3389]

Rei was such a cool character. Still one of my favorite JRPG characters ever.

[@matt-ld6ge]

Doesn't that just beat all?

[@arturoescorcia]

He was not only super cool, but he was quite broken: Weretiger +influence to keep him in check and have him be the leader in a Chain formation... He is ridiculously strong.

[@sdlock83]

Rinpoo > Rei > Cray & Lin.

[@Taydrz]

Mine as well...

[@kingmasterlord]

@@arturoescorcia same with Kaiser.

[@Thefury06484]

The fishing mini game is amazing in bof3 . I wish they made a bof inspired fishing title with these mechanics.

[@bizznick444joe7]

Sorry but no if they were going to put any effort into anything related to Breath of Fire the fishing part should only be a cog in an actual sequel. I will probably never see that sequel that isn't some shitty mobile game.

[@WinVisten]

I also like how expressive the text boxes are. Like when a character shouts really loud, the text is HUGE when it first shows up (Like with the dolphin at 13:57), and if they're nervous, it'll be shaking back and forth, or it'll be tiny if they're whispering. I wish more games did that.. at least ones without voice acting.

[@alexandrezeddam7817]

Just finished the game for a second time. It is my favourite JRPG of all time and I wanted to relive the adventure for the first time in 3 years. To see if it was indeed the same game I remembered and praised. I loved it even more on the second playthrough. Thank you for this video. It's one of the most honest reviews on KZbin for BoFIII out there. It's quite hard to give an unbiased overview of a game that stuck with someone for years. There are some things you said I reckon are not really accurate or diverge from my personal experience with it. I disagree with the slow start. Whilst the ultimate motivation takes about 30-40 hours to be set in motion, the childhood half has a really interesting intrigue for the most part (Balio and Sunder are great villains) and sets a few important questions for the player to think about. Until Garr joins the party and tells Ryu he thinks Rei and Teepo are dead, Ryu only has one goal : find his missing friends. The game never tries to deviate from this goal until the Angel Tower ark, something I wish more JRPGs would do. There is also the whole philosophical/moral implications that are never presented as right or wrong to the player but rather force them to answer them themselves. There was a now deleted video about it by Casp'O Saurus. One of my favourite scenes is Rei rampage during the second half. I couldn't see its beauty until very recently, during my second playthrough. He has been driven completely crazy by the loss of his "sons" and knows no limits when it comes to revenge. He slaughters everyone who has done wrong to him as well as the entirety of Syn City. He is also the first non-initial party member to be encountered in the second half of the game, showing a great dichotomy in the themes of both halves. Whilst a child Ryu couldn't see the wickedness of the world, adult Ryu has come to form his own paradigm and perceives "right" from "wrong". The music, the themes, the bosses, the dialogue all reflect this sudden change in perspective. Without the first half, the second one would not be nearly as impactful. It does take some time to get going, yes, but in retrospective, every little scene is important in the grand scheme. If one were to pay very close attention from the very start, they could even notice some hints as to the upcoming events and story. The sprites for the game are well-made, but from a 2021 perspective, they really do look stiff. I think I, II and IV have better sprite designs. The main exception is during battles where, although there are not many animations, they do mostly look fluid. When it comes to mini games, they are pretty tedious on the first playthrough but with precise enough guides (which are plenty on the Internet nowadays), most hardly present a challenge. The only real exception is the Shisu quest with mackerel grinding and the infamous well-vinegar atrocity. Even the tedious mini-games such as Beyd training, Desert of Death traveling or the electric floor in the final dungeon are not that bad if you know what you are doing. When it comes to movement, it feels very alienating compared to other PS games in particular, but is not too bad when the player gets used to it. Last point I wanted to share is the ending. I am used to Final Fantasy games which usually have half-baked endings. Breath of Fire III's is seemingly open to interpretation and is made such that the player thinks about it. Much like in numerous other instances in the game, the ending's meaning is implied through the visuals of Ryu and co looking at the desert as well as the track. There is also the fact that Myria didn't seem to be lying and her fear of the Desert spreading might actually happen. Now, did Ryu and the team save or doom the world ? Myria has committed terrible crimes but without her, the future of the world is uncertain. Once again, I would like to thank you for this thought provoking video. It seems like everyone's got a different interpretation of the game, which imo contributes to its legacy.

[@GamingBroductions]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video and thank you for your insightful comment as well. You make a lot of good and interesting points, some of which I hadn't thought of in that way. As you mentioned, I do really love the whole morality aspect and open interpretation to this game and is one of my favorite parts about it. A lot of rpgs from back then seemed to always tell you what exactly is right and wrong, along with how stuff will play out to a T. I love that this game defied that and did its own thing, leaving a lot of thinking up to the players themselves. This aspect resonates with me more than ever as an adult as I've come to see the world as more than just mere black and white. And yeah, I didn't touch on it in the video but the shisu quest was easily the worst mini game type segment, so tedious. I never experienced that part as a kid so when I got to it as an adult I remember thinking to myself, "oh wow, as a kid I never would have been able to get past this part or figure out what to do" lol Again thanks for watching and your detailed response, great to see other passionate jrpg fans out there

[@NegaNova]

I agree with Alexandre Zeddam, this review was awesome and honest, and it does justice to a game that not many people really talk about. Breath of Fire 3 also being my favourite JRPG of all time, each time I play through, it seems very apparent that the beginning slower half is actually what creates the extremely powerful character development which we don't see in a lot of other RPGs. In fact I would say the character development and story are this game's greatest strength, especially with the camping mechanic which allows you to see into the thoughts of each of the characters, and that dialogue gets updated after literally every moment in story-progression or geographical movement, in some areas it really allows you to see the subtle, yet intriguing shifts in perspective for some of the characters - whoever programmed this part showed dedication to the story - and whoever did the translation did a crazy good job. I'd say the most powerful moment in the game is moving out into the overworld again after facing Garr and growing up, that music "To a Distant Place" plays and perfectly captures that feeling of innocence lost and that sense that you can never go back, knowing that Teepo and Rei are likely dead, and now there are two even greater callings/journeys, The Self and Myria. I always loved that. Gaming Broductions you did a really fantastic job with this. And I loved your explanation too Alexandre Zeddam (though I think the sprites are still top notch haha).

[@christopherbranch1368]

Awesome retrospect

[@Ohmargod]

What I love about the representation of Ryu especially is his changing battle sprite during the game. He starts of just wiggling his sword and being more afraid of fighting and getting hurt. But as soon as his confidence kicked in,he stood strong and slashed with determination. And not to forget “adult” Ryu, being an experienced fighter and swordsman. And I like his almost crouched attack.

[@prinnywizzard9608]

2 years late, aheh, sorry... The funny part is the time Ryu finds his confidence also happens to be the time Nina joins the party. Leading you to wonder is he showing off, or does he realise he's not just defending himself now? Child-Ryu's idle sprites change through the game too, it's lovely attention to detail.

[@lukex1337]

The jazzy OST is another reason why I’ll always have this as my favorite JRPG.

[@GamingBroductions]

Overworld theme: insert Pacha meme

[@gianpopo2007]

I played this game when I was actually a lot older, around 18 or so back in 2010 and I found this game to be amazing. I had already played ff7 and 8 in my childhood and had a sort of RPG renaissance in my life after I graduated highschool. Right after beating this game I jumped on bof 4 and it didn't have the same impact as this one so I definitely choose 3 over 4

[@bizznick444joe7]

Ryu's sword swings actually change even as a child. When he's with Rei and Teepo he does that frantic scared multiple jab thing but after Rei and Teepo are gone and he meets Nina, he starts swinging it down in a slice. That was also when he started turning into a dragon.

[@saltyk9869]

His Defense animation also changes. At the start, he cowers and covers his head. After meeting Nina, he crosses his arms across his chest. Protecting Nina and fighting Balio and Sunder really forced him to mature.

[@VanWelij]

I had a somewhat similar experience with some differences. To me, Breath of Fire 3 was in 1998 what Final Fantasy 7 was to me in 1997. It was a game that I played every single day for months as a 12-year-old kid. I think the timing was perfect, being so young and all. I loved every single minigame and every single thing that happened in the game. I had a bomb Fairie Village and I even looked forward to fishing the whales on the uncharted continent. I used a guide on GameFAQs for the desert, because videos back then were non-existent, and I still liked it; I just never got bored with it. And because it lasted for so long, I grew attached to the characters as if they were my real friends. It's what always caused me to be sad once the game ended, because it felt similar to when your friends move away to a different city. Sure, you can call them now and then and hang out during holidays, but it'll never be the same again as when you first shared all those adventures. Being a 12-year-old helped with that, because back then the world was just simpler. You allowed yourself to befriend a cast of characters because you were young and innocent, and parasocial relationships like that had no negative consequences. The suspension of disbelief was subconscious and automatic, untainted by the cinicism and weariness of an adult mind. It was just fun, comforting, and enjoyable. I had a great childhood, and Breath of Fire 3 was most definitely part of that.

[@quatreiquorizawa1284]

I also love how at the first part when he was a kid up to i think a little bit after he save nina several times, his kid sword attack action changes to a more confident and honed one

[@reddawn2001]

this is one of the first RPG's i've ever played on the playstation. it is easily my favourite game in the world.

[@Ryan91487]

Fairy Village essentially breaks the game though, invest in it enough and you can do several things * Get items that are incredibly overpowered far earlier than you should (Ivory Charms, AP Shells, etc) * Duplicate ANY item you have (This also includes Stat Boosting items like Swallow Eyes in where you can only get them as a drop from 2 enemies in the whole game or treasures in certain locations) * Sell antiques at full value (You can see where this can head with the aforementioned item duplication) People do dump on it, it is a time sink, but it pays off immensely as it lets you breeze through later segments far more easily.

[@TylerEdlin84]

This game is hard as hell. Beat it back in the 90s before guides. Took me forever as a kid. I did love the fishing though.

[@adampindell]

I took me over 90 hours to beat this game for the first time (late 90s) the desert of death beat the shit out of me, but by the time I made it through, I was probably 10 levels higher then I would have otherwise been. And I had a blast with the fishing mini game, too.

[@bizznick444joe7]

@@adampindell Desert of Death is what I call unintentional grinding. I call that good game design. It gives you a goal in mind so you don't think of grinding you just happened to do it while getting to the hard to reach goal or at least the hard to figure out goal. That's how all games should be played anyway.

[@TBoneTony]

3:56 That Bunny Girl looks really nice. If she could have been in the main party, I would have loved to play this back in the day.

[@adriangonzalez3600]

Bro the fishing system and fairy village were pretty cool side quests to do for that era. You get pretty good rewards for fishing too, and you can borderline 100% catches once you're good enough. For me, playing this game is like rereading your favorite 1000 page novel. You don't wanna do it every year, but when you do, going in with the expectation of a slow burn and really taking the time to enjoy the smaller details is what's going to make the replay fun. This is always going to be my favorite JRPG, which I 95%ed in 1999 and beat for the first time in 2010, and when I play replay it in 5-10 years, I can't wait to approach the game differently and maybe try to actually make Peco and Momo work instead of the Rei/Garr hyper-cool team I always rely on. Either way, I'm going to appreciate the time I spend with it. It's always been hard for me to beat this game because of how much I enjoy it, and I'm one of those people that used to struggle to complete JRPGs back in the day because of the feeling of sadness beating them brings.

[@thesparkleinyourwater9484]

If you leave Peco at level 1 until you can make Fahl his master and then level him up he becomes super powerful.

[@JRPG-Mickey]

Cool retrospective dude...I did a let's play of this game that lasted for 10 years. Dope to see you remind me of that.

[@GamingBroductions]

Thanks man. That's a hell of a let's play lol. What a journey, I'm sure finally making it to the end was a momentous and perhaps bittersweet occasion

[@BigCowProductions]

That just makes me think of playing it at like 15, stopping at the age gap and playing it again at 25 and finishing lol

[@bizznick444joe7]

You're telling me your let's play lasted 10 years or was it 10 years ago?

[@AlsidBrood616]

"Dont that just beat all?" Me: [ugly crying] 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@TheSporewow]

Thank you for doing this retrospective, breath of fire 3 is one of my favourite JRPGs. There is a certain kind of down to earthness to this game that no other JRPG seems to evoke in me, sure you have a party composed of anime characters but it feels immersive in a way that i can't get into final fantasy or the tales for example (with some exceptions ofcourse).

[@GamingBroductions]

I definitely know what you mean. There's something just really charming and endearing about the characters and the way the world is presented. The overall aesthetic is quite immersive like you mentioned and is one of the first that I think of when PlayStation RPGs come to mind

[@HopeEternal316]

I totally agree! Somehow the world seems closer to the one we live in than a lot of others in jrpg. And with places like the Chrism Plant and Sin City, I see the parallels to Modern Life

[@dready8192]

i... actually liked the mini-games. especially fishing... minus the desert.

[@nautdead3197]

No one in my family could get passed the desert the directions to get though it didn't work. Honest think family's copy of the game must have been broken.

[@derrickcrowe3888]

@@nautdead3197 No, the directions are actually bad. It was either mistranslated or just written in the game wrong. I forget the details exactly, but I think one of the directions given to you mixes up east and west.

[@oakhardt]

I loved the mini games, the fishing was great. I played it so much. An that chopping wood game 😂

[@FreeFlow__]

This game has an amazing atmosphere.

[@leonmatthias321]

This was one of the games i got with my playstation for my 10th birthday. It was the first jrpg i ever played. When Reí first turned into the tiger and you fight that Australian shark on the beach shook me. The tension raiding the manor. Leveling up pecoros to become so powerful.All the dragon gene combining, this game was unique and memorable.

[@justinross9833]

Looking back, this is the only game I played blind without looking at guides and finished with satisfying awe. As a kid I didn't think I'd religiously check every nook and cranny just to find all that dragon genes. Now, I'm playing it for the 5th time and I still get amazed with the art-style and story. This and BOF4 (which I've yet to finish) is the only PS1 games I play again and again and don't get tired along with its flaws.

[@lindseybethea6979]

This story was so well written. The music was amazing as well. I've beaten this game probably 50+ times and run through it once or twice a year. It absolutely holds up today.

[@bizznick444joe7]

This game had a lot of min-maxing that I never encountered in Super Mario RPG and it was such a treat that it kept me engaged on everything that I did. The faerie village, fishing, masters, dragon genes, perma stat item farming, examining enemies for new skills, figuring out what skills worked best with what character, figuring out how to get more Skill Ink, getting the ultimate weapons/armor. The game had endless fun. I could turn it up today and still enjoy it and have my brain engaged. The game really is a timeless classic. The game has a lot of replayability and it's also very long. If you go out of your way to explore about 90 hours of gameplay. If you go straight through it around 60 hours if you're a noob probably less if you're more aware of the things in it.

[@joethearachnid]

Great video, covered a lot of what is great about this game. I got this game purely by accident as a kid (picked it off the shelf at a game store I guess?) and played it like you with my brother and friends for ages. I was kinda shocked years later when I looked up the game and saw that it had middling critical response and I really thought I was crazy until people started talking about how great it is online. It really felt like a game for the wrong time - in the midst of all the PS1 JRPGs being released, using sprites instead of the terrible 3D models everyone seemed to like at the time and with an unusual soundtrack it's really far more suited for modern tastes than those at the time of release. On the slow battles: I've always actually appreciated that BoF3's battles felt quite snappy. The PS1 FF games were more like: hit random encounter > screen effect whilst ugly battle arena loads in > slow pan around battle arena > battle (relatively slow anyway) > victory screens > load back to normal gameplay. BoF3 by having the encounters in the normal environments always felt faster and less jarring to me. I also appreciated that *most* of the spells had pretty short animations (damn you War Shout) with no lengthy summon animations etc. Breath of Fire IV's battles felt far worse to me for the same reasons.

[@decusq]

Sadly Capcom has said that the Breath of Fire series is on Hiatus. I honestly don't know if the series can make a comeback after the mobile game but I do hope the series can get a reboot remake one day. Remake the very first game and make a new series possibly.

[@H3llf1re60]

its such a crime that this series and this game are barely talked about these days. Its such a well designed game for 1997 standards and still holds up pretty well in many areas. Sadly capcom barely thinks about this game/series except some very wierd Crossovers (fun fact Rei is cannonically a west coast Avenger in Marvel vs Capcom) also my brother got stuck as a kid in Momos tower and he was so dedicated to finish it, he literally leveled his party to lvl 70 or something. He never bothered to read the books in the library and worst of all, he lost his save game before he could even go through the tower and had to start all over.

[@bizznick444joe7]

Didn't even know it was a hidden gem it really was a great game for me as a child.

[@TBoneTony]

The 2D Sprite work holds up really REALLY well. I was more of a Breath of Fire 2 player back on the Wii Virtual Console years ago but knowing how the PlayStation games were with the series, Breath of Fire 3 looks really beautiful and holds up really good these days.

[@caxcryp6231]

My fav RPG ever. I loved it so much! Even to listen to the music makes me almost cry 🥺

[@adampindell]

I play this game about once a year. I've beaten it close to a dozen times (But never could beat it as a kid). It's easily my favorite JRPG, bar none.

[@maxima2k489]

Lowkey, BoF III, and IV are the best in the series. III's characters have more character development in my opinion, and it was super dope seeing these characters grow and become strong enough to willingly challenge a god. Loved the dragon gene system too!

[@andr0zzsenpai]

I really don't remember being stuck in the desert part when I was a teen, I even remember liking it lol Maybe I should replay one day to see what's the big deal. I remember this game with great fondness so I hope it doesn't ruin it.

[@liepins444]

Mini games were one of my favorite parts. IT was always mixing things up and adding a new puzzle for me to solve. I really appreciate the creativity the devs brought here. They could have done a better job introducing those mechanics but I enjoy figuring them out.

[@bloopbloopbloops]

"doesn't that just beat all?" -Rei

[@WinVisten]

I LOVED THIS GAME AS A KID AAAHHHHHHHHH SO NOSTALGIC! So is Final Fantasy 8, so thanks by having it in the intro too!

[@orbitaljunkie]

Man congrats on putting up with this on a PSP. I replayed it recently on an emulator with speed boost (and reading guides to get past the desert and a few annoying bits). It's one of my faves for many of the reasons you mentioned. The OST is honestly worth a playthrough for any JRPG fan.

[@GamingBroductions]

A guide is definitely the way to play the game these days, I can't even imagine trying to get past some of those parts without one. If this game ever got an official remaster an option for speed boost like in the FF remasters would be incredible, the slowness at which the game moves is one of my biggest gripes with it. And yeah that soundtrack... one of the best out of all the Playstation JRPGs for sure

[@cd5sircoupe]

This is probably one of my top 3 RPGs. While BoF4 had a lot of technical improvements, it definitely took a few steps back in other areas. And yes, this game has it's shortcomings, but it has that charm to it. I think I've played through this like 5 or 6 times, last time being on an eboot I made for my psp from my original disc. Speaking of, if you were playing on the official port, the loading times were probably due to it being the port, as I know quite a few ps1 ports suffered that problem. I never had much of an issue back on original hardware or my backup on psp. I don't have the psp version. The fishing mini game was my jam, though 4 made it slightly better I believe? Fairy village was pretty decent, nothing too crazy involving but you could get sick items/weapons from it and other goods. I do have to agree that the one-off mini games like drawing horseradish from the well or training Beyd and whatever else sucked and there were far too many of them sprinkled in through the game. Desert of Death sucked to do without a guide, ugh. Overall though still one of my favorite games. Gotta know, did you get a Goo King Sword? I'm guessing not. There was an inside joke back in the old forum days that it didn't exist since it was so rare. I finally got a legitimate drop back when I was playing my eboot save in... 2010 or so. Meanwhile I had multiples of the other rare items in that area with the same drop % chance on every file I made.

[@dandeflavis7004]

I was addicted to this game when it came out.

[@uzairdurrani755]

BoF3 has the best story, characters and dragon system. One thing that BoF4 nailed was the battle system. Just imagine how awesome BoF3 would've been with BoF4's battle system.

[@johnsantos530]

I for one loved the fishing mini game. The thrill you get when catching that big whale is simply amazing. It also helps that you can get some of the most powerful items, weapons, skills etc. Through that mechanic, sometimes pretty early in the game than you should.

[@cRub3r]

Man, found your channel the other day and have fallen in love. All my favourite games. Keep up the great work.

[@enthalpy]

This was my first PlayStation game. Loved it

[@HopeEternal316]

Great retrospective! I totally agree that this game is incredible and totally worth playing even if it didn't age too excellently. I definitely had... okay have a huge crush on Rei Chiba and rank BoF3 as my second favorite BoF. On the PlayStation I find that the battle loading screens can still be a bit of a drag at times and if at all possible I think it's optimal to play this game with a fast-forward button to get through some of the boring random battles. I'm curious if you'd ever do a retrospective on BoF4? Despite several decades of playing hundreds of other games, Breath of Fire 4 has managed to remain in my top five favourite games of all time. I know it's personal opinion but I think it's soundtrack is one of the best ever video game soundtracks and ranks up there with Chrono Trigger and Cross in my book. To me Breath of Fire 4 is an upgrade of Breath of Fire 3 and almost every way, the battle system was more engaging, the graphics more pleasing, translations improved and the story stronger and darker. I can't wait to see more content from you!

[@GamingBroductions]

Thank you! A fast forward option would be amazing if they ever ported this to a modern console, sorta how the ports of FF 7-9 did. And funny you mention that but yes we actually plan on covering BoF4 in a retrospective later this year! Probably as a year anniversary to this video. I could go on a lot more with how I feel about it but I'll wait until that one to talk in detail :) In the meantime we did just include it in our most recent video about 8 great JRPGs that have aged really well

[@acidwizard6528]

I had a really tough time figuring out that desert at the end of the game. The internet existed in 1997, but wasn't the comprehensive repository of facts, misinformation, and vitriol that we have come to love today. I spent hours trying different directions, and eventually got through it. I would have been pissed if I couldn't figure out how to progress past a specific puzzle after playing for 30 hours. Still a good game, and the best iteration of dragon transformations in the whole series.

[@MrAnkylosaurus]

Fantastic game. The desert of death kept me from completing it for over ten years. Still was worth it to go back and complete it.

[@Konarcoffee]

I played this growing up and think you nailed the good and bad points of this game really well

[@lostnumber08]

I think the fishing minigame in BoF 3 is probably among the best iteration of that minigmae.

[@rameybutler-hm7nx]

Breath of fire 2 was my fav snes rpg

[@high_fly_alex7967]

A great retrospective of one of my favorite games growing up. I wish it was one of the ps1 classics available on the PlayStation store so I could play it again.

[@vitor900000]

1:24 The sprite work was pretty good but the sprite work of BoF4 still the best looking 2D JRPG to this day.

[@geoffnolan1053]

My heart is broken about your mini games perspective! BoF3 finishing is probably my favorite fishing mini game in any game released.

[@jedirayden]

When I was a teenager, and all through my twenties, I ALWAYS bought the official strategy guide to accompany the game itself, whatever RPG that may have been. The very idea of just blundering through a game blind is anathema to me. But I'm also the type of person who will read spoilers on a movie I'm about to go watch for the first time. This tendency to always want a strategy guide is a product of the SNES era of JRPGs. Chrono Trigger, FF4 and FF6, Breath of Fire 1 and 2... All of these games I played without strategy guides, and although I beat all of them and loved all of them, I was always frustrated when I'd find out that I missed something, or did something in the less than optimal way. As opposed to Secret of Mana, which was my favorite game of that era, partially because it's just a really good game, but also because my friend let me borrow his strategy guide for that game, so I didn't miss anything the game had to offer. And, something that is unique to that game and that game alone as far as I know, the strategy guide was written in a way that it's like reading the story of your adventure in that world. As opposed to "Now you want to go to Town A and use your new magic spell on the fountain in the town square" it would say something like "So after learning new magic from the fire elemental Salamando, the boy and his friends decided to return to Pandora and try using some of their new magic on the cursed fountain to save the city"

[@bizznick444joe7]

I'm actually glad I played this game blind and finished it blind. It was only after I completed it a couple of times before I checked the internet to maximize exploration. That was during the internet's infancy. I feel like internet ruined many games by taking away that mysticism of figuring games out.

[@Sr.DudeGuy]

The desert was nothing.... not knowing that you had to sit and do nothing to pray in the dream to advance.... that sucked, sat there just grinding for like 30 hours because I didn’t know I just had to sit in front of the statue and do nothing....

[@Billtog]

I love the minigames and all the little gimmicks in this game (except the minigame where you have to haul in trash from the ocean, fuck that game)! This must be the reason I'm the only person I know of who prefers 3 to 4. Training Beyd is so much fun, and the Faerie Village was my favorite part of the game when I was a kid. Ryu's attack animations and voice clips change before the timeskip! His original attack animation is to turn away and just sort of wave his sword in the direction of the enemy, but he changes to a more standard slash with a yell as he attacks. I remember the first time I played this game and it changed I thought it was so cool, like the character was really evolving. You are not exaggerating about the battles being slow. I tried to replay this last year and just could not get through it despite this being one of my favorite games. Between that, the timeskip, and the sheer amount of stuff to do in this game it's pretty understandable to get fatigued before finishing. Some of the dungeons are just too damn long (Momo's tower immediately comes to mind) and it's not uncommon for me to just put the game down for a couple of days when in one of them. The Dragon Gene system is so fucking cool in this game, and there's not really anything else like it out there to my knowledge. It's a shame this series has died out, it could easily stand in the second tier of RPGs with series like Trails of Cold Steel, Ys, and the Tales series.

[@adriangonzalez3600]

My dude! I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed fishing and the faerie village, and man I spent way too much time training Beyd... but he definitely didn't need my help, haha.

[@TheAlexdrg12709]

I loved this game, and got stuck 6 months on the mission where I had to be stationary about 20-30 seconds. Irony, i just needed to do nothing.... just this beat all xD

[@jellyboudoirjr.1235]

Breath of Fire 2 is my favorite. So much nostalgia for the gameboy advance version I played when I was a kid.

[@bizznick444joe7]

I really liked BoF3's way of story telling. They don't just give you this big bad villain from the start. They just start you out with what you saw in front of you. You're found lying in a ditch being sniffed out by two wolves ready to eat you then picked up by a resident thief. You're then recruited into a small bad of orphans turned thieves. There's no big bad nothing. Every now and then you fight the resident bad guy of the place, right now they started you out small, let's rob from people. You mess with the wrong guy he sends you to fight the Nue, a monster that was terrorizing the town, then you find out your mistake after killing it then you go deal with Mayor Mcneil. It's just I like this way of story telling. There is no big bad you just go around handling problems while heading to a certain destination. Then once you get there you're given another one. It's hard to explain, it just felt like you were living their life and they are going about dealing with problems.

[@Neutronized]

the fishing minigame is one of the best ever imo

[@marklee1194]

I just beat BOF3 for the first time. The story and especially the gameplay were great and an improvement over the first two games. Unlike the first two games, I didn't feel the need to grind that much save for the final dungeon. Though I was not a big fan of the overworld design being too linear, I did enjoy the skippable random battles. Even though I am OK with RPGs with high encounter rates, I think this design choice is a good idea especially for those new to the genre. It seems like Capcom took some inspiration from FF6 which was released 3 years prior. For instance, the Master system in BOF3 was somewhat similar to the Espers in FF6; while you can simply switch between FF6 espers, you have to backtrack to the location of the BOF3 masters to gain stat bonuses upon leveling up. As for the minigames, I actually enjoyed playing them a lot especially the fishing game where you can catch Manillos to purchase exquisite weapons and items. Yes, I think the fact that certain dungeons that require you to have specific companions in your party is a big let down. Perhaps having some dialogue clues would be helpful or make these sections optional for backtracking and exploration. Another flaw that really annoyed me is when you have Garr in your party, he often gets stuck between people and in tight corners so many times because he is just so big. This makes me constantly switch party leaders just to get him back on screen. The music in this game just rocks. It is definitely something I can listen to all day and not get bored. My only complaint is that the 1st overworld theme in BOF1 (Starting the Journey: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXrVpINsgNBkqtU) and the 2nd overworld theme in BOF2 (Breath of Fire: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmXGaJmVaayoetE), which are basically the same song, is not present in this game. Some might say that it may not be fitting or relevant for the story, but it could have been an opportunity for Capcom to introduce a very catching and recognizable tune similar to Mario's World 1-1 and Zelda's Overworld Theme. Overall, I thought Breath of Fire 3 is an amazing game and definitely one that I will be replaying many times in the future.

[@TheBigMWoz]

I loved the IDEA of the master system. I hate that they never explained it or how it worked, causing me to get halfway through the game without understanding it, missing out on tons of moves, etc.

[@tedpilledtonysoprano5512]

To be expected from a PlayStation game. Some of the deepest (or perhaps just obtuse) sidequests of any console.

[@hylianbatman3153]

The music that plays when u meet adult REI is top tier

[@Sr.DudeGuy]

3 is my favorite all time rpg!

[@chrisbg99]

One of those games from back in the day that I really wanted to get more into but had a lot of attempts but never got past the child section. I bought it used with the idea to get through it but there was something faulty with my disc (it'd get stuck on in battle animation loads on my PS2 or at one point fade to black on my PS3 and never load in the next map) so I had to eventually buy another copy that worked properly. After that I was able to play just fine and after a few large gaps between plays finally got farther than I ever have and am on a good pace to eventually beat the game. As such I really enjoy it but the game could definitely use a remake or something with some modern QoL features as well to cut down on the sluggish loading that really brings down the pace. Being able to switch at characters as needed rather than having to find a place to camp would also be appreciated. The flaws of the game though don't stop it from being satisfying and I feel as an adult I have better patience for it then I did as a kid in the late 90s and when I finally beat BoF3 I hope to use the momentum to finally really get into 4.

[@statesminds]

Oh nice you did vid on this too. I just got physical copy for psp gonna play thru and watch this after. Saving

[@NeoNinjaX87]

This games the shit. Such a fun time with the splicing mechanic. Ah the memories…

[@kharyrobertson3579]

Suikoden 2 into Breathe of fire 3 is really rough on the random encounter tolerance.

[@SaikyoDinosaur]

I love this game. The first half of this game in particular can be summarized by "The whole world is very mean to children all the time"

[@mrkarate8134]

CAPCOM needs to bring back all Breath of Fire games as a bundle except for Dragon Quarter.

[@sirsir9665]

The whole Dragon power hero was pretty original and creative. Seemed like the Dragonborn from Skyrim has similarities to the Brood race.

[@quatreiquorizawa1284]

My brother asked me why my save file hours say 99 hours.... i just told him... fishing. I got addicted to it for some reason XD

[@paladine6]

Absolutely loved this game. My only real gripe was how they don't allow you to play all 6 characters at the same time.

[@AaronJLong]

I loved the fishing in BoF3 and probably spent half my time doing that

[@deazee2288]

>Australian dolphin mentioned 10/10 video

[@gustavomenezes12]

The soundtrack of this game is simply amazing. One of my favorites, along with chrono trigger and xenogears.

[@EmeraldaKasim]

haha same taste here

[@CardfightCasual]

Great video man, I love breath of fire 3, even among the series. I'm still holding out for a revival of the series one day.

[@GamingBroductions]

We can only hope Capcom comes to their senses... Cheers

[@MaxBraver555]

the pacing of the beginning of the game, have the characters benefit from it, it allows you to spend enough time with them by having 2 chapters with them and feel that loss once Ryu sets out on a journey alone, I played this game 4 times from beginning to end, still don't see it as a problem

[@suiken3149]

"Mini games sucks" Are you kidding me? BOF3's fishing game is considered to be one of the best in the whole genre and it greatly rewards you will some really good items

[@GamingBroductions]

The fishing game is actually pretty good for what it is even if I didn’t delve into it too much, you’re right about that. I was more talking about the abundance of random mini games that were forced into the main story, like the shisu segment as a whole and the desert of death for example

[@bizznick444joe7]

@@GamingBroductions I knew it. It was the part of pulling the well that frustrated you. I had that problem too. I did eventually get it even as a kid.

[@ph34rbucket91]

I'm playing 3 right now and loving it. Played 4 first and loved it as well. Played 2 as well and enjoyed it as well. If I had to pick only one, I would go with 3.

[@SunnyTacos]

I love Breath of Fire 3 with all my heart, I grew up with it and it will always be dear to me but the minigames are indeed horrible, I was stuck in that desert for a month waiting for magazine to release a guide...it also doesnt help that the guy at camp gives the exact opposite directions....bruh. Love the game to bits tho.

[@chowsing6000]

The 3rd has amazing soundtracks

[@GamingBroductions]

It really does, my favorite out of the whole series

[@ZethisVA]

Everytime I want to replay this I get reminded of the desert and I just don't. The problem I had was a minstranslation of the directions in the german version. They told me to follow the star in the west which obviously is the wrong direction and you can basically walk for hours without ever coming close to where you need to be...

[@7sanctuz]

Don't that just beat all... Indeed. Agree with all of this!

[@draganblood]

im 36 years old and im here to say, jinko jeans are really cool

[@williamzeo2493]

Hey KZbin what an fantastic recomendation! Sadly many RPGs was overshadowed by FF7 at the time, by the simple fact that game magazines never cared to talk about them (the only media that we had back at the time). If not for a friend of mine I never would have played BoF3, Arc the Lad and Suikoden.

[@bizznick444joe7]

Don't forget the death penalty. If you die and didn't get resurrected then you will suffer a temporary max HP lost until you find a bed or inn to sleep in. I think it was a unique new way to handle penalty of death. In other earlier RPGs deaths had brutal punishments. BoF3 was trying something different. There's also abilities that make you lose max HP to trade for massive damage.

[@sirsir9665]

Sprites and 2Dish rpg graphics really did look good. Way better than the blocky 3d "realistic " graphics back then.

[@bizznick444joe7]

If I'm going to reach back into my memories I think the minigame you didn't like was the one where you were pulling the well for the vinegar? Yeah I mean that was hard for me to figure out and I thought I barely got it. Pretty sure if you looked back at it you would figure it out better as an adult.

[@grawlix311]

The mini games in Breath of Fire 3 are phenomenal. I wish there were more of them…. As good as the fishing game. I liked BoF3 fishing mini game more than almost any other fishing mini game, but that’s where it stops lol

[@sethh1943]

But the fishing was such a great part of BoF. Not to mention this entry had one of best dragon transformation systems!

[@YTC1234]

Capcom had quality jazzy music during that time. Street Fighter Third Strike did too.

[@AndrewEvenstar]

I love this game and series. My favorite used to be 2 but I re played through the first 3 years ago and #3 was my fav. I still need to play 4. I know it's good but it never caught on for me.

[@GlassJoe-fgc]

Rei was my favourite from the cast.

[@mermidion7552]

The Minigames in Breath of Fire 3? Phenomal! wish there was more of them. couldnt get enough! There now you have Read it somewhere :P also honestly ,i didnt really mind them and had my fun with fishing and stuff

[@samclaudemirlee9870]

The mini games are what I loved about the breath of fire series.

[@ivanivanovich4778]

I do like most of the minigames in the game, they add a lot of flavor.

[@ReyGArk]

...The minigames were bad? WTF? The fishing minigame in BOF3 has been one of my most favorite fishing games in any RPG that features a fishing minigame. The fishing minigame was just so well crafted because it was more than just your standard "press one button to throw your line in then spam press another button to reel in fish". I actually liked making the fairy village too, but I do like civilization builder games, so having small one you have to micromanage was nice imo. I liked making the "shisu" for that one story quest and kinda wished it was expounded on more like a full blown sushi restaurant minigame or something. I felt there could have been something more there, but I guess it was just my love for sushi talking. And training Beyd up for his duel...god I pity Zig for what happened to him. I'll admit the desert was a pain to get through for me when I was younger, but when I picked the game up again as an adult to relive some nostalgia, funny enough the instructions were really easy enough for me to do it in one go. That one boat one though where you gotta rush to get to a certain place, I was still hating that one. Breath of Fire 3 will always be on my top 10 PS1 JRPG list. I just like how different it was, where you weren't exactly trying to save the world from immanent destruction, and how the cast was truly a hodge podge of various races (literally no one was merely a human, Ryu being the only one looking like a typical human). Whether it was the Dragon Gene system where mixing and matching gave you interesting results, the master system that admittedly took me a 2nd playthrough to actually get, or simply using observe to steal a skill from certain enemies (Influence being one of the most important ones you want to get early on, you'll thank me later). BOF4 just didn't do as much as BOF3 did for me, but I do believe I need to play that game again as an adult since I haven't tried to yet.

[@RFMongoose]

there's two kinds of jrpg players, those who like minigames, and those who don't. I actually really enjoyed them.

[@adamstokoe1]

Imagine this game in the same format as the ff7 remake, more dragon combos and additional story? Take my money capcom, take it now!!!

[@shaifs5072]

I really miss BoF, it was my favorite series growing up.

[@michaelp4122]

This is one of those games where I tried it, but never really got hooked. One day...I really enjoyed BoF 1, very "slice of life" type JRPG. Thanks for the video.