| Breath of Fire | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Role-playing |
| Developer | Capcom |
| Publisher | Capcom |
| Creators | Yoshinori Kawano Tokuro Fujiwara Makoto Ikehara |
| Platforms | SNES,PlayStation,Game Boy Advance,PlayStation 2,Microsoft Windows,PlayStation Portable,Android,iOS |
| First release | Breath of Fire April 3, 1993 |
| Latest release | Breath of Fire 6 February 24, 2016 |
Breath of Fire[a] is arole-playing video game series developed byCapcom. It originated on theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. The series has recurring characters and ambiguouscontinuity; though each game is its own self-contained story, the names of the two lead characters are usually Ryu and Nina.[1]
The story commonly involves an adventurer named Ryu (name usually changeable) who canshapeshift into different types ofdragons.[2] Over the course of his journey, he befriends Nina, a girl with wings. At its inception,Breath of Fire took place in amedieval fantasy stylefictional world. Following the mainstream success ofJapanese role-playing games in the 1990s,[3] the series began using the originalanime-style artwork for laterWestern releases of the games (rather than the Westernized art that was drawn specifically for the Western releases of the first two games),post-apocalyptic themes, and an increased emphasis on character development. Despite these changes, the core structure ofBreath of Fire remains largelylinear and plot-focused. As of 2016[update], sixBreath of Fire titles have been released, with three games beingported tohandheld game consoles as well asNintendo'sVirtual Console, and two ported to theNintendo Switch's Super NES games library. By 2022, the series had sold over 3.3 million copies.[4] Most recently a port of Breath of Fire 4 had been done by Good Old Games in 2025[5]
| Title | Original release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Japan | North America | PAL region | |
| Breath of Fire | April 3, 1993 | August 10, 1994 | December 14, 2001(Game Boy Advance) |
Notes:
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| Breath of Fire II | December 2, 1994 | December 10, 1995 | April 25, 1996 |
Notes:
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| Breath of Fire III | September 11, 1997 | April 30, 1998 | October 8, 1998 |
Notes:
| |||
| Breath of Fire IV | April 27, 2000 | November 28, 2000 | August 3, 2001 |
Notes:
| |||
| Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter | November 14, 2002 | February 16, 2003 | November 28, 2003 |
Notes:
| |||
| Breath of Fire 6: Hakuryū no Shugosha-tachi | February 24, 2016 | none | none |
| Notes: | |||
Beginning in November 2003, Capcom began releasingBreath of Fire titles specifically formobile phone devices in Japan.[6] Each game was developed for use onNTT DoCoMo,au, andSoftBank brand cellphones that use thei-mode, EZWEB, orBREW services. The first title,Breath of Daifugō (ブレス オブ 大富豪), is a replication of the Japanese card gamedaifugō featuring characters fromBreath of Fire IV, and would be followed by asports game calledBreath of Fire: Ryū no Tsurishi (ブレス オブ ファイア 竜の釣り師,lit. Breath of Fire: Dragon Fisherman) in October 2005, which contained an expanded version of the fishingminigame also from the game.[7] Twoaction role-playing spin-offs ofBreath of Fire IV titledBreath of Fire IV: Honō no Ken to Kaze no Mahō (ブレスオブファイアIV 炎の剣と風の魔法,lit. Breath of Fire IV: The Sword of Fire and the Magic of Wind) andBreath of Fire IV: Yōsei-tachi to Hikari no Kagi (ブレスオブファイアIV 妖精たちと光のカギ,lit. Breath of Fire IV: The Faeries and the Key of Light)' were released in November 2007[8] and November 2008 respectively.[9]
The music of eachBreath of Fire games has traditionally been produced by rotating members of Capcom's in-house sound team. While the themes from first game were composed by five members of the company's sound teamAlph Lyla, which includedYasuaki Fujita, Mari Yamaguchi, Minae Fuji,Yoko Shimomura andTatsuya Nishimura, the second game's score was produced entirely by fellow company composer Yuko Takehara.[10]Breath of Fire III's soundtrack took ajazz-inspired approach, and was written by the team ofYoshino Aoki andAkari Kaida, with the music ofBreath of Fire IV provided solely by Aoki herself. For the first time in the series, the music ofBreath of Fire: Dragon Quarter was created by an outside employee,Hitoshi Sakimoto, withYasunori Mitsuda serving as music producer on the project.[11]
In March 2006, Capcom released the 11-discBreath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Boxboxset on their in-house record labelSuleputer, which contained all music from the first five games in the series.[10] The set includes the first-ever soundtrack release of the originalBreath of Fire, as well as the first complete soundtrack releases forBreath of Fire II andBreath of Fire III, which had previously only received single-disc selections during their original printings, with a total of 307 tracks from all five titles.[12] Capcom produced a limited run of only 2000 copies of the boxset, which was distributed on their online store e-Capcom, as well as special retailers, and included a 28-page booklet featuring art from the series.[12]
| Game | First-year sales (Japan only) | Famitsu | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breath of Fire | — | — | 70%[13] | 79%(GBA Re-release)[14] |
| Breath of Fire II | 350,000[15] | — | 76%[16] | 81%(GBA Re-release)[17] |
| Breath of Fire III | 425,000[18] | 28 / 40[19] | 74%[20] | — |
| Breath of Fire IV | 334,000[21] | 31 / 40[22] | 82%[23] | 83%[24] |
| Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter | 140,073[25] | 32 / 40[26] | 78%[27] | 78%[28] |
As of the fifth game in the series, theBreath of Fire franchise has sold a total of 3.2 million units worldwide, with Capcom calling it their "best known and most successful role-playing game."[29] Sales of each successive title continued on an upward slope which peaked at the PlayStation entries in the series, with the fifth game,Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter on the PlayStation 2, representing a significant dip.[30] Each title received mostly positive reviews from aggregate review websitesGameRankings andMetacritic, with critics such asGamasutra finding each game to be good, but largely formulaic, calling the franchise "always solid, if not particularly ambitious".[3] The series has routinely been compared toSquare Enix's popularFinal Fantasy games, withGameSpot stating that "Though the Breath of Fire games have never been as well received as bigger RPG names like Final Fantasy, the series indicates that Capcom is definitely learning something about the fine art of RPG development."[31]
In May 2009, nearly seven years after the release of the latest game,Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, readers of JapaneseFamitsu magazine voted the series 6th in the publication's survey of the Top 50 Most Wanted Game Sequels.[32]IGN would later nameBreath of Fire the 4th greatest Capcom franchise of all time in June 2010, stating that "Though the Breath of Fire games evolved across the SNES to the PlayStation 2, the core held steadfast to Japanese RPG formulas – something that many gamers still celebrate."[33]
In a December 2008 interview with gaming website1UP.com, Capcom's Head of Research and DevelopmentKeiji Inafune stated theBreath of Fire series would be put on hiatus due to the company's lack of staff and an increasingly competitive role-playing game market: "There are currently no plans on making a new Breath of Fire game. Apart from that, regarding RPG titles, they are very popular in Japan, but only certain RPG titles sell so Capcom doesn't really need to even consider making these titles as an option."[34] Capcom USA Vice President of Strategic Planning Chris Svensson stated on the company's official message boards in June 2009 that the series remains a "resting IP".[35] Other companies such asCamelot Software Planning have expressed interest in developing a title for the series if Capcom remained unwilling to do so.[36]
Breath of Fire would later be featured inArchie Comics'Worlds Unite crossover event as one of severalCapcom andSega guest franchises appearing in the company'sSonic the Hedgehog andMega Man titles.[37]
Between August 26 - September 2, 2020, an online survey was held forTeppen players, one of the questions featured asked whichCapcom characters or series the community would like to see, Breath of Fire was one of the options players could select, and it was also possible to type in specific names within the question.[38][39] On July 1, 2021, Breath of Fire was added toTeppen via its Dragons of Warexpansion. Nina was added as a skin for the playable characterJill Valentine, she is voiced byAbby Trott (English) andKyoko Hikami (Japanese).[40] Her theme song is a remix of the soundtrack titled "Battle for Tomorrow" fromBreath of Fire III. In addition, the card pack features multiple characters, enemies and concepts from Breath of Fire.
