"Ha ha, Ryu Means Dragon!"
by Drew Chrisman

If you read my article on the state of today's RPGs, you'd know how disappointed I am with them as a whole, and so for my first review, I'm going old school. Breath of Fire 3, arguably the best installment in the Breath of Fire series, has you playing as a young boy named Ryu. You don't have to name him Ryu, but with the few spaces they give you for a name, your options are rather limited (I went with Tits on my third playthrough). The game starts you off as a whelp (a baby dragon) running around in a cave where some miners find you. As thanks for waking you up from your long slumber, you murder them with dragonfire, then start wrecking their, and everyone else's, shit. F*ck yes.

The game holds true to traditional RPG guidelines, but also throws in some cool new features without mucking up the game as a whole. As you continue playing, you pick up allies, learn awesome skills, and get tangled up in other people's problems. The characters are, of course, a ragtag group who just so happen to meet, consisting of the fast one, the big guy, the magic user, the chick with the cannon who CAN'T HIT FOR SHIT, and the...onion...thing. Hell yeah, Peco. Each of the characters fills a specific role in combat:

• Ryu fills the role of group leader and overall balanced character (until you begin transforming into a dragon, but I'll touch on that in a bit)
• Garr is your physical powerhouse, though he does learn a(n unnecessary) bit of magic
• Momo is the typical oddity, hitting like a truck if she actually hits and covering the status magic
• Rei is the thief type character, starting with the highest agility and the ability to steal
• Nina is your mage, learning the hard hitting elemental spells
• Peco is...well, Peco. A tiny sentient onion with feet and arms (used to punch you down) who auto-regenerates each round. Hell yeah, Peco.

You'll notice none of the characters is a designated healer. This forces Ryu to learn most of the healing spells and a number of Momo's stat-boosting spells. This is a rather big detriment – why sit there healing when you could be using those turns in a dragon form, causing serious damage? You inevitably end up relying mostly on items to heal, but with no shortage of money or monsters to beat up for said money, it isn't too much of a problem.
Scattered around the world are assorted masters under which you can train that will change the way a character grows. Some will increase the amount of health and attack power you gain when you level, while some will boost magic and AP, the game's version of mana. Every few levels, they will also have new skills for you to learn, so check back with them regularly.

Battles are random, and the battle system is pretty straightforward, but has some pretty cool features. You have your options of attacking, using skills (separated into categories like attack, healing, etc.), defending, using items, fleeing, bum rushing (which sets everyone to auto-attack) and examine. The examine option allows you to learn skills from watching enemies. If successful, the skill will be added to the character's list of available abilities for immediate use and can later be traded freely with other characters via the use of Skill Ink. However, once one character has learned a skill, it has been learned for your entire party. Two people cannot use it simultaneously. Some of the better skills in the game can only be learned from enemies.

So, yes. Ryu. Goddamn Ryu. At a certain point in the story, Ryu gains the Ascension ability, which allows him to transform into a dragon in combat. Various dragon genes found throughout the game can be spliced (three at a time max) to create various types of dragons. Use of the miracle gene turns you into a hulking behemoth, replacing your entire party. Throw in the flame gene and you got yourself a fire-based behemoth. The eldritch gene adds healing spells to your dragon, the force gene creates a warrior type dragon, and the reverse gene will...well, do exactly that: reverse any sort of elemental property your dragon may have. The infinity gene will turn you into a kaiser dragon, but be careful. Unless spliced with the proper genes to balance it out, the kaiser will go berserk, attacking anything and everything on the field.

My review of Breath of Fire 3 wouldn't be complete without touching on the Fairy Village. I can see you laughing, Tiny. Read that sentence again – I didn't say “touch the fairy.” In the Fairy Village, you can order around tiny pixie people, who are rebuilding their home after it was attacked by a shark. Awesome, eh? You can give them various tasks like hunting, building, or researching new ideas. When they get built-up enough, you can even build a shop and an inn, which makes resting easier.

All in all, a fantastic game, even if the story is a bit predictable. If you're looking for a good old-fashioned RPG, try to find a copy, or wait until its re-release coming for the PSP at some point. With dragons, shark attack fairies, an onion for a party member, and the ability to fish for whales, why have you not played this game yet?

Overall Rating: 9 out of 10