"Breathing out memories"

It could be said Capcom is on a mission to resurrect alot of its older franchises and give them a new lease of life on the psp. Whereas this could be subjected to the criticism of lazily whoring out the same games yet again, the flip side to the coin is simply that games like Breath of Fire 3 are exactly what fans and new comers to the series are waiting for. Truly, 'tis the psp itself which receives the new lease of life, especially in these uncertain times when rpgs are still in short supply on the system. And when bright, bubbly graphics, likeable characters, beautifully restored music and a reasonably engaging storyline are the order of the day, there's no reason not to drool contentedly over BOF3...

Graphics - 7: Pleasing to the eye and certainly get the job done but we are talking about a PS1 game here in essence and nothing much has changed. Not necessarily a bad thing and any rpg fan worth his or her salt will be pleased as punch. Mmmmm .. salty punch. Bland environments but nice character models and enemy designs shape this more-than-adequate score, methinks.

Sound - 6: Well I got goosepimples all over when I heard the melody from Cedar Woods kick in for the first time in a decade before realising I was sitting in ice-cream (but we've all been there). No voice acting, of course, and though unrelated I wish the text speed would chug along a little faster on the fastest setting.. but even if it gets a little repetitive, I believe the music's well done. Good slicing FX too.

Gameplay - 9: Here. It's. At. Frequent random encounters and slight pauses for loading aside, an attractively fluid battle system which grows in options and possibilities as the characters do, is the solid core of this game - and that's the truth. Old school, turn based combat against birds, beasts and blobs is as fun now as it ever was, but ya really need to bear the age of the game in mind.

Lifespan - 8: A decently long quest with skills to skilfully find, side quests to be quested and fish to fished (a most fun mini-game) all tallies up to an experience that'll keep ya going to the end. A second play through is purely up to the individual but it could be worth a second go after a break (not for beer and beef jerky, I mean, more like 6 months or so).

Overall - with a balanced difficulty and addictive rpg'ing this comes recommended from a veteran who's been there and turned into dragons more times than he'd care to remember. Buy & enjoy!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/06