I've never played any of the Breath of Fire games before, but the game's art cover did catch my interest and I am curious to what kind of RPG it was.
How good are they games? How much am I missing out?
All the games are good, though I'll admit a have a bit of a gripe when it comes to Dragon Quarter (BoF V in Jap). One of the main appeals about the games was that your main character could transform into different kinds (and species in III and IV) of dragons. (more so in I, III and IV than the others). The characters in the series are also charming and likeable.
The games also have interesting storylines. Such as the Religion Conspiracy in BoF II, and BoF III's Will of the Goddess plot, and the fact the first half of the game takes place in the protagonists childhood. Then the fact this game has different races, yes most of them are mostly antropamorphics or tiger men, wierd bunny eared girl, fox characteristic humans and the angel like Wyndians who make up the bird clan of the games. And of course the Dragon guys who look human, and there are humans too, though the only party member who is the only actual human in the series is found only in BoF 1, and BoFDQ to a degree.
Now here are a few things about each game:
[spoiler=Breath of Fire I and II]The there are the interesting mechanics that were introduced through out the series. First game main gimmick was the dragon transformation, which had you in dragon form, with your it's own 'unique' attacks, until you waisted all of your ap (this games mp). Though two kinda downgraded the dragon transformations to a sort of summon, however, the real gimmick was the Shaman fusions you find later in the game. Basically there are this shaman vixens and a fatty (which can be a bit of a pain to get) you have to find that go inside your characters and become one with them (for as long as you like of course). The fusions either just boost your characters stats, the the same thing but change their color palette, and finally, completely change the appearance of the character and give them other special abilities.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Breath of Fire III]III had the dragon gene gimmick, which had you collecting some gems and combine a total of 3 to become diferent types of dragons (around 26 if I'm correct). Thankfully it goes back to BoF 1's mechanic of having you stay as a dragon until you ap runs out. this was also the only game which used the very field you were exploring as the battle ground for the random encounters. It was also the first to introduced the Faerie colonies, which is a small village you have to take care of and lead. This is of course done by assigning the faeries different jobs and responsibilities. This is also the place to unlock new songs, get rare weapons, etc. etc.
Also forgot to mention the fishing minigame which has been a staple of the series since the first game (except DQ...WHHHRRRYYYYYYY-), course it wasn't much of a minigame till II made it somewhat fun. III also introduce the master system, which was a way for the characters to learn new moves other than the ones they get through level ups. Depending on the master, the stats would be effected as well.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Breath of Fire IV]Now there's IV, who has my second most favorite cast but top favorite story progression in the series. Dragon system in here is a mix of I and II's. New things of this game are some more fun minigames and the spell fusions. Which much like it sounds is the fusion of two attack spells (and maybe heal spells but I can't quite remember), if cast in a certain order and was not interrupted that is. Also you played as another character in between chapters, which will remain unmentioned cause that would be a spoiler for the game.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=The Black Sheep, Breath of Fire (V in Jap): Dragon Quarter, Now with more ranting...or reviewing?]
Dragon Quarter decided to take the games in a different direction. Instead of seeing the world and visiting unique and interesting locals, you were stuck in a futuristic basement, working as pest control. Also that basement is 100 stories down to the earth, mostly because of something about the world being destroyed by drageens. Anyhoo the had only 3 characters this time, the usual protagonist Ryu, the new Nina who is a science experiment loli in this game. And some catgirl with a gun. Plot of the game is that you must save little Nina from a nasty terminal cold caused by the nauseas gasses being passed down by the dirty citizens who have been living down in the fancy, yet sorta post apocalyptic-ish in some sections, basement for hundreds of years. This being of course because she is a prototype, or the only human airfilter. But the natural gasses and dirt in the environment proved too much for the lass so she's dying. Also there are no more resources to make more.Though I will admit, like most of the other games, I did like this games story, despite writing the oposite.
There's also the fact that a, count 1, not multiple, dragon is about to be released to the underground world via the protagonist aching back pains. And while this would be a good thing in previous titles, this is considered a very bad thing in this particular game. Which brings one of my main gripes of the game, the dreaded Dragon Counter. As the transformations in the past games let you morph willingly and until you waisted your energy when in any of the available dragon forms, in here you transfrom into a gargoyle-esque half-dragon thing (Kinda like the one in BoF IV, but on fire) with a few abilities, though very overpowered abilities at that. Sad thing about this? Each time you transform and use a dragon technique, it would raise the dragon counter. The lazor attack of death would make this counter get raised faster than you can utter the phrase of an old, overused and dead meme. If the counter reached a 100%, it meant a game over.
Now the thing is, the bosses in the game can be a bit of a pain in the ass in the first walkthrough, and considering your level during this phase, using the Dragon Transformation regularly (which you will do on your first few playthroughs, trust me) you would get a game over before reaching more than half-way through the game, thanks to the damn counter...which I forgot to mention is raised by the passage of time. Luckily, and this is one of the interesting bits of the game, if you do get a game over, you have the option to start from the beginning of them game, with your current stats and weapons. Restarting the game also unlocked special doors, as well as some hidden scenes through out the story.
Now for this game, the developers decided to try out a different battle system than the traditional turn-based motif. The battles took place on the field, it was still turn based but had a...how do I explain it. Here's a video that might help me explain the battle system
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unK5M4HnouM&playnext=1&list=PL7873391C4F5F54C1[/youtube]
And I'm to tired to explain the rest. I'll continue tomorrow.[/spoiler]
As to how good are the games, well most of us who have played the games loved them, but I suggest you try them out for yourself. I recommend BoF II to get you started.