Breath of Fire

 Game Boy Advance
  • Publisher: Capcom
  • Release Date: Dec 13, 2001
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
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  1. netjak
    72
    Fun for a while, losing some steam when the boredom and insipidness of fetch questing kicks in. It's decent for an RPG, but nothing spectacular.
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Yahoo!
    70
    Unfortunately, the frequency of the random encounters means the relative simplicity of combat can make it tiresome and repetitive at times.
  3. Gaming Age
    67
    The title feels a bit dated and offers standard RPG fare that’s as basic as it gets.

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2001
10
#10 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2001
5
#5 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2001

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 30 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 30
  3. Negative: 6 out of 30
  1. Cloud73
    Aug 16, 2013
    6
    Summary: The game is massive, and the sprites are actually pretty to look at, but the gameplay itself can get extremely tedious. I enjoyed theSummary: The game is massive, and the sprites are actually pretty to look at, but the gameplay itself can get extremely tedious. I enjoyed the world, and tried imagining the character interactions because they were all well drawn out, but the dialogue itself is laughably bad. Use extreme discretion before deciding to play this game, because the nostalgia of it can be better than the experience.
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    I should say that I recently beat this game, but not on the GBA. I remembered playing it when I was a child of around 7 or 8, so I came back to the game on an emulator for the SNES. Let me tell you right now: do not play this game on the GBA.

    The game is far too slow, and far too bad at conveyance, for you to waste your hours trying to figure out what to do and to slog through the innumerable random encounters that the game tosses out in your way. I love the artwork, the feeling of empowerment in transforming characters into beasts and dragons, but this game takes some hard, pressing work to really beat. If you're going to try to get through this whole monstrosity, then I sincerely suggest using an emulator, because at least with an emulator you can fast forward on the gameplay.

    I should mention, though, that the music is some of my favorite in any game. Perhaps that's just nostalgia speaking again, though. Take from it what you want.

    I dock one point for the game being very poor at the conveyance of directions and objectives, and one more point for the bad dialogue. I dock a third point for the slog made from the random encounters, and the last point is for the rather contrived storyline. Use your discretion.    … Full Review »
  2. SuperSourSauce
    Nov 1, 2017
    4
    People you meet in towns offer zero dialogue to the adventure. "How's the weather?" There's just nothing interesting that ever happens.People you meet in towns offer zero dialogue to the adventure. "How's the weather?" There's just nothing interesting that ever happens. Writing in this game is seriously poor, and the pacing and balance is also whacked.

    A rocky start for my favorite RPG series.    … Full Review »
  3. Jonnyblond77
    Dec 16, 2019
    9
    I can only imagine the joy this brought to people who played this game back in the day. This is one of the older type of JRPGs that have theI can only imagine the joy this brought to people who played this game back in the day. This is one of the older type of JRPGs that have the random encounter enemies every 10 to 15 seconds of moving on the map or in a dungeon but it’s all good because they do that not to slow down progression. It’s to level your characters up to the point where they try attacking you and you dodge their attempts then you hit them with one hit and they are dust in the wind. I like that sort of style because it’s just cool to see how your character is getting more and more powerful to the point where your unstoppable. I never got a chance back in the day to play the breath of fire series because I don’t think my local movie and game rental shop had this in their selection even though they had other square soft games. Most times these games age very badly because all the old school ways of playing these games refined them and took the tedium out of them. So even if this was easy to download the rom and play it...I would have just said screw it. But when I bought my Nintendo switch and did their online service..I was just trying games out that I never played before. So I finally fired up breath of fire and wow..talk about missing out on such a fun game. Like I said..it’s old school but done so well. All in all, in the end you should give it a try if your just sitting around with nothing else going on. This isn’t the type of game where you only want to do it in short bursts or expect the story or gameplay to be fast and hook you immediately..I’m telling you..I have the attention span of a woman and this game captured me into its world...I loved it.… Full Review »
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