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Breath of Fire IV
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	PlayStation Capcom Windows JP Sourcenext EU Capcom
Designer(s)	Makoto Ikehara
Artist(s)	Tatsuya Yoshikawa
Composer(s)	Yoshino Aoki
Platform(s)	PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	PlayStation JP April 27, 2000 NA November 28, 2000 PAL August 3, 2001 Windows (PC) JP May 30, 2003 EU September 10, 2003
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ELSPA: 11+ ESRB: T (Teen) OFLC: G8+
Media	1 × CD-ROM
System requirements	Windows (PC) 226 MHz Intel Pentium II CPU, 64 MB RAM, Direct 3D compatible graphics card with 8MB RAM, 4x CD-ROM drive, 300MB free hard drive space, Direct Sound compatible sound card, DirectX 7, Windows 98 operating system or above.
Input methods	Gamepad (PS) Keyboard, mouse (PC)

Breath of Fire IV: The Unfading Ones (ブレス オブ ファイアIV うつろわざるもの, buresu obu faia IV utsurowazarumono ^?) is a role-playing video game developed by Capcom, and is the fourth game in the Breath of Fire series. It was originally released for the Sony PlayStation home console in Japan and North America in 2000, and the PAL region in 2001. The game was later ported to Windows-based PCs in Europe and Japan in 2003.^[1]

Just as in previous games of the series, Breath of Fire IV follows the adventures of a young man named Ryu, who has the power to transform into powerful dragons. The Ryu in this game must team up with several other skilled warriors to combat an awakened immortal emperor from ascending to godhood and destroying the world of man. Like Breath of Fire III, the game utilizes a mix of two and three-dimensional computer graphics and turn-based battle sequences.^[2]

Gameplay

Breath of Fire IV is a traditional console role-playing game with an overhead, isometric viewpoint. The game's camera can be manually rotated by the player up to a full 360 degrees in some instances, though unlike Breath of Fire III it cannot be tilted up or down. The game environment is rendered in full 3D, while character are present as two-dimensional hand-drawn sprites. While moving about the world, players can interact with computer-controlled characters and objects, gain knowledge on the world around them, and gather clues on how to advance the story. Each playable character is given a special "field skill" that can be used to destroy obstacles or solve puzzles outside of battles, which occur randomly in hostile areas or dungeons.^[3]

The "Master System" from Breath of Fire III returns, allowing players to customize each character by having them apprentice under different masters found throughout the world. Under their guidance, these characters may gain new skills and special statistic increases by fulfilling certain tasks, such as participating in a certain number of battles, or finding specific items. The fishing mini-game common to the rest of the series also returns, along with the village-building Faerie Town feature from the previous title that allows players to construct a special village that opens new features.^[4]

Battle system

A battle sequence.

Battles take place with teams of three characters against any number of enemy opponents. During these combat sequences, the player can choose which characters will perform an action in any order, as well as switch in any available reserve characters from the back row. While positioned in the back row, a character may not participate in battle, but may regain lost health or magic every combat round, as well as become unaffected by any attacks. Battles are won when either all enemies are defeated or all characters in a player's front row are out of health. Each battle yields experience points that go toward earning levels for each character, which in turn grants increased statistics and new skills.^[4]

New to Breath of Fire IV is the Combo System, which allows certain spells or skills to be cast in a specific order to gain bonus damage or other affects.^[2] Casting two ice spells in sequence, for example, will produce a stronger ice attack, while a fire spell followed by a wind spells with instead create a new explosion-based attack. Combos may also automatically occur in single attacks that have more than one effect.^[5]

Plot

Setting

Like previous games in the series, Breath of Fire IV takes place in a fantasy world inspired by both classical European and Japanese folklore. A number of races resembling humans and anthropomorphic animals populate the land, which carries a predominate medieval and sword and sorcery theme. The world itself is divided into two distinct cultural halves: the Western Fou Empire, modeled after feudal China and East Asia, and the Eastern Kingdoms, with areas resembling both Medieval Europe and Arabia.^[6] While both cultures remain at an uneasy alliance following years of turbulent war, the actions of several military officials threaten to once again pull the world apart. Watching over humanity are the Endless, immortal godlike beings who take the form of dragons and control the elements that sustain the world.^[5] Much of the plot deals with the central characters' interaction with the people and Endless who inhabit the world. Throughout the game the player will play as Ryu and occasionally play as the game's antagonist Fou-Lu. Fou-Lu is the first Emperor of the Fou Empire and is referred to as a god Emperor. He seeks to rule the world as a god, however, he needs Ryu to accomplish his goal.

Characters

Tatsuya Yoshikawa's character designs for Breath of Fire IV.

The principal characters of Breath of Fire IV are Ryu and his companions, each with their own individual skills and personality traits carry the story forward. Ryu is amnesic young man with the mysterious ability to transform into powerful dragons, with his "other half" being Fou-Lu, the principal antagonist and founder of the Fou Empire centuries ago with similar abilities, yet a much more malevolent personality.^[4] While Ryu and Fou-Lu represent two different dichotomies, they were originally one being summoned years ago from the realm of the gods in a botched ceremony, torn apart in the process and scattered throughout time. Aiding Ryu on his quest to confront Fou-Lu are several other heroes including: Nina, who shares her name with the heroine of each previous Breath of Fire title, and the reigning princess of the Kingdom of Windia; Cray, a burly member of the cat-like Woren tribe who wields a large wooden post and holds romantic feelings for Nina's sister, Elina; Ershin, an enigmatic robot-like armor who speaks in third-person, it is later revealed that the armor itself has no name, and "Ershin" speaks in this manner because it is relaying messages from the soul of another Endless being, Deis (to whom the armor refers as "Ershin"), who is sealed inside the metal body; Scias, a lanky mercenary and swordsman from the dog-like Grassrunner clan who lives for money; and Ursula, prideful granddaughter of a military commander with kitsune-like features and skilled with guns.^[4]

Primary supporting characters include Yohm, a general from the modern Fou Imperial Army with the ability to summon monsters to his aid who see Fou-Lu as a threat to the world; Rasso, an elitist company commander dispatched to the Eastern Kingdoms to search for Ryu, Fou-Lu's key to obtaining his lost godhood; Yuna, a cruel geneticist and occultist who participates in horrific acts of genetic manipulation with dark magic; and Kahn, a muscle-bound chauvinist and comic-relief villain who constantly encounters Ryu's party. Each of the characters of Breath of Fire IV were designed by Tatsuya Yoshikawa, who drew inspiration from other Breath of Fire titles when designing each of the previously established races, as well as traditional fantasy and Asian folklore.^[6] The Ryu and Nina from this title would later make a cameo appearance in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expansion Edition.

Story

The story of Breath of Fire IV begins with a search team consisting of Nina, princess of the Kingdom of Wyndia, and Cray, leader from the plains-dwelling Woren clan. They were heading to the town Synesta for information on the whereabouts of Nina's older sister and Cray's love interest, Elina, who went missing several weeks earlier on a diplomatic mission.^[7] They were soon attacked by a berserk dragon and their sandflier crashed, forcing Nina to go to Sarai for spare parts while Cray guards their ride. Happening upon a crater left when a strange object landed from the sky, Nina confronts a large dragon who transforms before her eyes into a young man. Remembering nothing other than his name, Ryu, Nina surmises he must have amnesia and persuades him to help her search for her sister. Meanwhile, across the world in the western Fou Empire, the ancient Emperor Fou-Lu rises from his burial tomb, declaring that it is now his time to regain his throne, as he promised over six centuries ago. He commanded one of his Guardian dogs, Won-Qu, to guard the tomb before heading south. In his vulnerable, newly awakened state, he is attacked by Yohm, a general in the modern Fou army who is privy to Fou-Lu's long-prophesized resurrection, and aims to kill him before carrying out his plan.^[8] Fou-Lu was overpowered in the struggle, and struck down into a ravine.

Elsewhere, Ryu and Nina ran into trouble with a Fou Empire captain named Rasso and couldn't get the needed spare parts in the end. While escaping the Fou soldiers, they travel to a town blighted by an evil miasma known as "hex" to get back to Cray, where they meet Ershin, a mysterious robot-like armor who leads them through the poisoned side of town.^[9] Re-uniting with Cray, the team makes their way west to gather more information. Traveling across a large dam, they narrowly escape a flood and make their way to the town of Kyria, where an eccentric mayor has set up traps everywhere to rout out intruders. Transversing through a nearby wooded area where a monstrous boar lives and then onward through a cavernous tunnel, the group arrives in Synesta. Obtaining a lead to Elina's whereabouts after a game of hide 'n' seek, detaining a nearby thief and doing some harbour work, they travel on a trader's sand-flier to the north for the western border.

Ryu and Nina meet the Wind Dragon.

The story shifts back to Fou-Lu, who has awakened after his ordeal with Yohm and finds himself in the care of a man named Bunyan.^[10] After recovering enough, Fou-Lu departs down the mountain only to find Yohm and his soldiers blocking the path. After a struggle, Fou-Lu is forced to flee by transforming into a dragon and flying away, declaring that he must find his "other half", Ryu, and re-unite with him before the Empire finds him first. Yohm summoned another creature to chase and strike Fou-Lu down. It succeeded and Fou-Lu crashes into the forest below.

By this time, Ryu and his friends have arrived at the border town of Kyojin, where they meet Captain Rasso again who attempts to block them from entering the Causeway's gates. Quickly escaping past the guards in Fou Empire's contient, the team make their way north where the meet Yuna, an Imperial scientist who knows of Elina. He claimed that she was here but no longer was. The soldiers then captures and returns them to the Eastern Lands with accusations of breaking the pre-war peace treaty by trespassing in their lands. The group is detained in the town of Ludia and Cray is set to stand trial on their behalf. The group tries to help by "lessing the evidence" against Cray but to no effect with the judge. With no other choice Ryu, Nina and Ershin break him out of captivity with the help of Scias, a tall, dog-like mercenary who joins their cause. Determined to clear their names and find Elina, they travel past a swamp and through a volcano to arrive in Wyndia, where after an audience with Nina's father, the king, the group continues west. After seeking the Wind Dragon at the top of an ancient temple and brought to an ancient summoners' village, the group learns of Ryu's heritage, why the Empire is after Ryu, and the danger he would be in should he and Fou-Lu ever meet. They also learned that Ershin was carrying an Endless' spirit named Deis. While the group learns all this, Captain Rasso tracked Ryu to the summoners' village and killed most of the villagers. They then meet Ursula, granddaughter of a high-ranking Fou Empire official and was against Rasso's savage methods. After attacking the villagers, Captain Rasso pulls out his trump card against Ryu. Ryu goes berserk and incinerates all the soldiers and Rasso and almost kills Ursula too but Nina manages to calm Ryu down. Before leaving for Kyojin again along the western border, Ursula joins the group to keep an eye on them. Learning that the Causeway broke down after their initial visit, they find that they need a ship in order to proceed with their journey. After Ursula and Nina pass a test of manhood in order to qualify for passage across the ocean, their quest continues.

Meanwhile, Fou-Lu has awoken in a small farming village and is being cared for by a woman named Mami. Learning that a supposed "god" on the outskirts of town is threatening villagers, Fou-Lu goes to investigate, finding only a massive rock golem formed by prolonged exposure of rock and plant life to nearby dragon gods' presence. Defeating him, Fou-Lu returns to the village to find it under attack by Yohm's men. Allowing herself to be captured, Mami creates an opportunity for Fou-Lu to escape into the mountains. As he makes his way to the Imperial capital again, he is bombarded with a large amount of poisoned energy from an Imperial Hex Carronade, which uses human sacrifices as the catalyst to create unstable destructive power. The sacrifice used in this attempt to destroy Fou-Lu was Mami, as Fou-Lu finds a bell she had worn at the site of the hex impact.

Ryu's team make it to the islands north of the Fou Empire, but get stranded on one of them due to the high tides. While they are stuck on the island until the tides change again, a deranged Fou-Lu arrives at the capital, Chedo, and onward to the Emperor's palace. Inside, he orders his other Guardian dog, A-Tur to destroy the capital for the Empire's follies. Yohm is shocked by Fou-Lu's survival against the hex and desperately tries to kill him, but Fou-Lu had fully regained all his powers. Yohm realizes he had failed his mission and commits suicide. Yuna is unsucceesful in defeating Fou-Lu and flees. All alone, the current 13th Emperor, Soniel, attempts to kill Fou-Lu with Yuna's Dragonslayer sword, declaring that he doesn't want to surrender his empire. Fou-Lu quickly kills him after Soniel's short altercation, assuming his position as head of his former empire (the scene was censored out in the North America version, also dubbing out Yuna reclaiming his sword).

Making their way to Chedo, the group finds several refugees under attack from one of Fou-Lu's guardian dogs, A-Tur and other monsters. Making their way then to Astana to where the Carronade was, the team navigates through several floors of thick hex and gigantic structures resembling human organs until reaching the top area where they find Elina. With Elina and Cray alone, Yuna explains himself and what the facilities were for, to create Endless. Cray was horrified to discover that the entire grotesque structure he'd just climbed was attached to her lower body, the combined appendages and dark magic now giving her god-like powers at the expense of her humanity. Yuna escapes before Cray could kill him for forcefully transforming Elina for his insane goals. By Elina's last request, Cray kills her with the DragonSlayer that was left behind, freeing her from eternal torment as an immortal sacrifice.

Ryu and his team travel to the Emperor's pagoda to stop him, and find Ursula's adopted grandfather, General Rhuh, holding off several monsters and A-Tur charging the palace area. Dying in the struggle, Ursula's grandfather tells his daughter to stop Fou-Lu with her new friends, and restore the empire to its former glory. She agrees, and the group makes their way to the palace's inner sanctum, where Ryu personally confronts Fou-Lu and questions his motivation to destroy humanity after they have done so much for him in the past, recalling and comparing their memories.^[11] After an intense battle, Fou-Lu finally understands Ryu's defense and merges with Ryu to become the complete Yorae Dragon God. With the remaining dragon gods of the world deciding to now leave life in humanity's hands, they remove their presence from the planet. With Ryu's godhood now gone, he rejoins the group as a mortal and they leave the palace together to return home.

Development

Breath of Fire IV was developed by Capcom's Production Studio 3 shortly after their work on Breath of Fire III.^[12] Series scenario writer Makoto Ikehara once again developed the game's script, deciding to take the series in a new direction after the previous three-game story arc.^[6] Though the game takes place in an alternate world, several references are made to past games in the series, including cameo appearances by the characters Momo, Rei, and Teepo from Breath of Fire III, and recurring enemy monsters from earlier titles.^[13] Because of a hectic programming schedule, some planned features of Breath of Fire IV were not included in the final version of the game, including an extended ending sequence involving the death of Yuna.^[6][14]

The English language version was marked by a very rushed localization process. Due to Capcom USA's financial difficulties at the start of the new year, Breath of Fire IV was produced for North America in a period of only seven months, and released just in time for the 2000 holiday season. The result left a few portions of the game untranslated, including the title graphic and ending credits sequence, with only the former being corrected for the PAL region release the following year. One of Scias' skills, Analyze, which would giving the player detailed statistics on enemy monsters during battle, was omitted completely to avoid translating the accompanying dialog.^[14] Some spell and dragon names were rendered in Korean rather than English to give them a more exotic feel,^[6] a procedure that was not used in the original Japanese version.^[15]

Censorship

A scene deleted from the English language version wherein Fou-Lu beheads Emperor Soniel.

The English language version of Breath of Fire IV was censored in several ways during its translation from the original Japanese version.^[14] Some instances of harsh language were toned down for North American and European audiences, as well as a few frames of suggestive animation during dialog or story sequences. The three deleted scenes are: 1) A scene involving Fou-Lu decapitating Emperor Soniel is cut from the end of the first royal palace sequence, with the English version having him instead killed off screen.^[6] 2) A scene with Nina and Ursula bathing was also deleted. In this scene Nina asks Ryu to stand guard as they bathe. Ryu hears the girls talking but can't see them. Nina expresses her surprise upon seeing Ursula's body. Ursula is reluctant to discuss the matter (implied large breasts.) At this point Ryu feels tempted to sneak a peek but the girls notice him and Ursula fires her gun at his direction and Nina calls him a pervert. 3) A scene after Nina and Ursula were asked to spend a night in the ship to prove their bravery was removed. In this scene the sailors, trying to convince the women to give up their plans of boarding the ship, tell them that on the sea misbehaving will lead to spanking. The captain tells the girls they need to show their behinds to prove their determination. Nina is upset and embarrassed but Ursula is willing to show her behind and drops her pants. At this point the surprised sailors give up and tell Ursula put her clothes back on.

^[6] References to Scias' alcoholism are also absent,^[16] with some of his slurred speech patterns being replaced with a stutter. All instances of editing were brought to the attention of Makoto Ikehara, who detailed them in an interview in the Japanese art book, The Graphics of Breath of Fire IV in August 2000.^[14]

Versions, derivative works, and merchandise

In May 2003, Breath of Fire IV was ported to Windows-based PCs in Japan by SourceNext.^[17] This version, though identical to the PlayStation release, contains a filter for sprite smoothing on 2D visuals, as well as shorter load times. The PC version was released in English for European audiences the following September. On November 1, 2004, a java-based mobile phone mini-game, Breath of Fire: Fishing Teacher (ブレス オブ ファイア 竜の釣り師), was released for DoCoMo Foma brand cellphones in Japan by Capcom's mobile division Tomcat.^[18]

Three officially licensed manga were produced for Japan by Enterbrain Company, including two four-panel parody comics and an anthology comic, both released in 2000. An official novelization of the game's story, Breath of Fire IV: The Unfading Ones - The Arukai Dragon - was written by Yayoi Joumon and released in 2000.

Most recently, an official manga adaptation (written by Hitoshi Ichimura) under the title Utsurowazarumono: Breath Of Fire IV (うつろわざるもの―ブレス オブ ファイアⅣ) has been serialised since November 2007 in [Comic Blade Avarus]^[19], with a compilation of the first five chapters (from November 2007 to March 2008) published by [Mag Garden] in May 2008 in book format.^[20]. The Comic Blade Avarus manga adaptation (which is a pure "graphic novelisation" of the game) is still being published in serial format as of the September 2008 issue^[21] and is officially being produced under supervision from Capcom.^[22]

Audio

The original soundtrack to Breath of Fire IV.

Like Breath of Fire III, all voice work of Breath of Fire IV was left in its original Japanese. Kappei Yamaguchi and Kyoko Hikami reprise their roles as Ryu and Nina respectively, with additional voice work by veteran anime and video game actors such as Kumiko Watanabe as Ursula, Unshou Ishizuka as Scias, Inuko Inuyama as Ershin, and Isshin Chiba as both Cray and Fou-Lu.^[23] Each character's voices appear only in combat and in the opening animated sequence, which was also left in Japanese for the English language release.

Soundtrack

The music of Breath of Fire IV was composed by solely by Yoshino Aoki, who had previously worked with Akari Kaida on the music to Breath of Fire III. While the previous game was primarily a jazz-influenced project, Breath of Fire IV's soundtrack would be mostly classical, with songs resembling traditional Japanese and Chinese folk music. Often declared as a marked improvement over the previous game's score, the Breath of Fire IV Original Soundtrack was released in Japan on May 24, 2000 to some critical acclaim.^[24] It is also the first Breath of Fire series soundtrack to contain all the music from a game, instead of selected tracks. The game features a song composed by Japanese New Age artist Tarō Iwashiro for the opening sequence, as well as a public domain piano piece originally composed by Maurice Ravel titled "Pavane for a Dead Princess" ("Pavane pour une infante défunte").^[24] Breath of Fire IVs ending theme, "Yume no Sukoshi Ato" (A Little After the Dream), was performed by Aoki herself, along with pianist Ryoji.^[25] Along with all other Breath of Fire series background audio, the music of Breath of Fire IV was later re-issued as part of the eleven-disc Breath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Box in March 2006.^[26]

Reception

PlayStation version

Breath of Fire IV was well-received during its original release in Japan, earning a 31 out of 40 from Weekly Famitsu magazine.^[30] The game would go on to sell an estimated 334,000 copies in the region in 2000,^[35] which would qualify it for Sony's "PlayStation the Best" label, allowing it to be re-released in September 2002 at a reduced price.^[36]

The game's English release in North America and Europe met with a similarly good response, with GamePro Magazine awarding it a 5 out of 5 and an Editor's Choice award, claiming "If you believe Final Fantasy IX is the last word in RPGs this year, think again," citing the game's "well-illustrated" graphics and "beautiful score" as its high points.^[32] Eurogamer conversely stated that "It may not have the looks and sheen of Final Fantasy, and it certainly doesn't equal it in tale, but Breath of Fire IV remains an extremely compelling and often rewarding RPG" calling attention to the game's "predictable" script.^[29] GameSpot called the title "as solid of a game as any of its predecessors" but found it to be lacking in innovation, claiming that "though it doesn't improve upon the standard RPG formula, it's hard to fault in any specific way."^[2] IGN found the game's graphics to be "colorful and cute, but something [I]'d like to see improved upon if and when a fifth game comes out", and faulted the game for its "irritating" camera system.^[12] The game placed 6th in PSM's "Best Games of 2000" awards feature, with the editors claiming that "[We]'ve always been fans of the Breath of Fire series, and part IV might be the best one yet."^[37]

While some critics praised the game's two dimensional graphics as "visually breathtaking", and "the most arresting of any game in the series",^[32] others such as IGN found them too stale and grainy, yet still a marked improvement over Breath of Fire III.^[12] The return of series mainstays such as the fishing minigame and dragon transformations was seen as a welcome recurrence, and though the title brought many new changes to the series, it did nothing to change the standard role-playing game formula.^[2] The game's camera, while able to be rotated at any time, was often seen as cumbersome given the tight spaces most environments were rendered in.^[12][15]

PC version

The PC version saw only a limited English release in certain regions of Europe, while the Japanese version sold enough copies to qualify for the "Quality1980" label, and was subsequently re-released on July 8, 2005.^[38]

References

External links

• Official Japanese website (PlayStation) (Japanese)
• Official Japanese website (PC) (Japanese)

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Breath of Fire IV
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	PlayStation Capcom Windows Sourcenext Capcom
Release date(s)	PlayStation  April 27, 2000  November 28, 2000  August 3, 2001 Windows  May 30, 2003  September 10, 2003
Genre(s)	RPG
System(s)	PlayStation, Windows
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ELSPA: Ages 11+ ESRB: Teen OFLC: General
Preceded by	Breath of Fire III
Followed by	Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Series	Breath of Fire

Breath of Fire IV, released in Japan as Breath of Fire IV Utsurowazaru Mono (ブレス オブ ファイアIV うつろわざるもの, Breath of Fire IV: The Unfading Ones ^?) is a role-playing game developed by Capcom, and is the fourth game in the Breath of Fire series. It was originally released for the Sony PlayStation home console in Japan and North America in 2000, and the PAL region in 2001. The game was later ported to Windows-based PCs in Europe and Japan in 2003.

Just as in previous games of the series, Breath of Fire IV follows the adventures of a young man named Ryu, heir to a lost civilization's ability to transform into powerful dragons, who must team up with several other skilled warriors to combat an awakened immortal emperor from ascending to godhood and destroying the world of man. Like Breath of Fire III, the game utilizes a mix of two and three-dimensional computer graphics and turn-based battle sequences.

Table of Contents

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Breath of Fire IV
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Release date
Genre	RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Age rating(s)
Platform(s)	PlayStation, PC
Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough

Breath of Fire IV is the fourth game in the Breath of Fire series.

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