Breath of Fire 3 PSP

I've followed along with the Breath of Fire series up to number 4, and I always thought they were a great set of games. They encompass some terrific qualities and are stand outs amongst Japanese RPGs. Breath of Fire III for the PSP is a direct port of the original version which came out on Playstation, and if you have nostalgia for it (or even if you are new to the series) you can't go wrong here.IMPORTANT NOTEThis product is actually a European release of the game as there was never a US one. However, the PSP is not region specific, and the dialogue is in English. Returning players will be happy to know that there have been no changes in dialogue either. It's the same game you played on the Playstation. Whew!SOUND & GRAPHICSIts important to bear in mind that this is a port of a Playstation game, and so the graphics are not quite up to what you would expect from a cutting edge PSP game, but that said they are pretty darn close, and they certainly aren't the worst of even the newer RPG titles out there for for the system. This game has beautiful, brightly colored anime style sprites, and it looked great when it first came out. It holds up remarkably well.The music in the game is very distinct and completely intact... Actually its so distinct I'm not sure I could describe it other than... 90's sounding chill out jazz. Its definitely a departure from the spazzy J-pop or Techno you usually get, that's for sure. You might say its a "BREATH OF FRESH... ow ow stop throwing things..." There are certain times when the music seems a little dull to me. Sometimes I feel like I'm lost in a Mall atrium, or trapped in some sort of elevator dimension but that's small potatoes.PLOT & CHARACTERSThis game stands out from the series as one with a very well crafted plot. When you first regain consciousness you are a wee little dragon being unearthed by a mole man named Mogu from a previous game, and his wolf man buddy. Apparently after being so useless as a warrior in the first game Mogu decided to take up dragon mining. Unfortunately for him the minute your scaly little snout is free you flip out and go on a murderous rampage charring everything with two legs and a pick axe. Bye Mogu! I was sold already.Eventually you are subdued, and through a series of bizarre mishaps you end up shacking up with some local n'er do wells in their tree fort. The first part of the game is spent as a young boy, who has not fully gained control of his powers, being relentlessly ( and I do mean relentlessly) hounded by a couple of mean spirited anthropomorphic pony men! They chase you down, beat you up, you escape, they find you and beat you up, you get away barely, they find you again... etc. It's a pretty tense situation, and you really get the feeling of dread that comes from being a child pursued by giant muscular horse people with very hard fists... It was like reliving my childhood all over again... what? Anyway It's very well done overall, and would have actually made a great short anime series. Eventually you mature into adulthood, and have the paltry task of finding god laid out before you. You have to go chat him up to find out why he's been making these horrible griffin men kill your dragon pals.The characters in the game are as unique, interesting, and well modeled as they come. You are a blue haired mute with the ability to turn into a dragon in this game. (and in all of them actually.) Over the course of the adventure you meet up with a stoic ware-tiger, a winged princess, an absent minded bunny eared scholar, a hulking ...thing, and a killer mutant vegetable... There is nothing typical about this dynamic and each one of the characters has a well fleshed out personality. The dialog is well crafted too which is a plus. So a dragon a bird woman and a monster vegetable walk into a bar... wait have you already heard this one?GAMEPLAYBreath of Fire III is a traditional turn based RPG, but it does feature some interesting twists. There is a dynamic skill system in the game which allows you to learn hidden abilities from watching enemies in combat. Once learned these abilities can be distributed amongst your party as you see fit. Some are definitely more useful than others, but its kind of neat to assign them according to your mad whims.There is of course the fishing mini game which is a mainstay of the series. Its better than ever in this game, and you can expect to whittle away the odd hour here and there catching martian squids and rainbow whales, and power sharks or what have you. They've also added a peripheral fishing game as an extra to the port, but I didn't really feel like it was all that great. See in the game you have a reason to fish. You can use a coin to coax a husky Fish merchant out of the water and trade him fish for valuable weapons and armor... suuu-kerrrr!There is a system in the game that allows you to apprentice yourself under certain "Masters" which you meet throughout the game. Its fun trying to find them all, and garner there assistance. Each master gives your character certain stat adjustments when he or she levels up and this makes for some great customization. Hey even my pretend girl friend snake lady makes a cameo as one of the wise and venerable masters. She has many things to teach you... and she can raise your stats and give you skills too... I've said too much already.In this game, transforming into a dragon is a matter of finding and then correctly mixing "Genes" these genes all have a different effect and trying out different combinations can lead to some interesting new forms.Apart from that you get to take over a small magical fairy village and become de facto sprite overlord which is fun and lucrative depending on your actions. It helps to have some experience as a slum lord or an inherent desire to force small creatures to do your bidding... Check! Chyyyeck!THE GOOD THE BAD AND...To sum it all up, this game has charm, it looks good, and its fun to play. Its a great traditional RPG experience with plenty of neat customization elements to keep it from getting dull. The story moves right along... for the most part. There is one little lull in the plot a bit past the halfway mark where you spend a soul crushingly lengthy amount of time running around and doing stupid frustrating mini games. I feel this is the one weak spot in the game. Its sort of like a big rotted out hole in a beautiful oak tree... or dragon tree... or mutant vegetable... you get the point. Hey some people love mini games. These I feel could have been done a little better given the fact that they Capcomed in about 3 freaking hours of them back to back practically. The controls are frustrating and often times its unclear what you are supposed to do or if you are doing it right or what you are doing wrong despite any explanation given. Usually, however you can muddle your way through after a few bouts of moderate to heavy teeth gritting, and some light profanity...All in all the complaint is far outweighed by all the rich RPG goodness in this title. If you can find a copy I strongly recommend grabbing it as, there has been no US release to date.

This game is great, still playing it on my PS1. When I saw that it was available for the PSP I just had to buy it. I have a PSP-3000, it plays like a dream there is a short loading time, due to it being on a portable, but nothing to ruin your enjoyment or fun. If your a fan or just love the Breath of Fire games this is a must buy.Now just a small heads up for some, so you don't have a mini-freak out, once you put the game in and it starts to run it will say that your memory card doesn't have the space available to save, even if you do. Simply click "yes" that you wish to continue, from there start a new game and when you get the chance to save, in the form of a journal, save. This will solve the problem, if you want to take it a step further to be 100% sure for yourselves. Return back to the main menu(of the PSP) and start the game up again you will notice that it will run normal and send you to the game menu and load game and have fun.

If you love rpgs and have played ether breath of fires for the super nintendo or game boy advance aka breath of fire 1 Breath of Fire 4 &2 you will love this game! this game is better than both breath of fire 1&2 put together I have played role playing games for over 15 years and have had almost every system since and can honestly say this is a graet game you will not want to get rid of If you buy this game and enjoy it I reccomend buying breath of fire 4 also ether on the playstation network or for psx you will like that as well however I reccomend you stay away from breath of fire dragon quarter it is terrible and puts this series to shame!

one of the best rpgs ever to come out. beautiful 2d sprites. great story line the breath of fire series is known for. only thing holding it back is it can be known to some to be short.20 to 30 hours of gameplay. at least for me. its a must buy for anyone looking for a worthy jrpg. bosses are challenging and the battle system still is one best even to this day.

I love the Breath of fire series can't get enough of it its was cool that i could play one of the best RPG while on the go . Only thing i didn't like was the constant lagging when changing screens but once you get over that its worth it. would love to see Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire II get upgraded someday .

Breath of fire was always one of my favorite RPG series, and the transfer to the PsP platform was just what I was waiting for. I sat down and started played it every chance I got until I beat it.The Gene system for Ryu's Dragon forms is interesting and innovative mechanic that provides a range of play styles and a fun way to explore the game. The system of masters allows for significant customization while still making each charachter distinct.

I played the daylights out of Breath of Fire III for PS1. So much in fact, that my disc doesn't work anymore. Good thing I got a PSP. Boo to Capcom for not giving it a North American release but what can ya do aside from import it from the UK? :-p

He played this almost everyday after I bought this for him and now he plays it on and off. So it is good for something to play if you a re a gamer. It arrived in good condition and in original packaging.