Part 1: Chapter One: Dragon’s Dogma

Our hero walks to the top of the screen…



Raises his sword skywards…



And lightning strikes!

Music: 02 - Breath of Fire Main Title



And then the title screen appears, accompanied by a rousing theme. Let’s get started!



No fancy names this time, I’m afraid. This is going to be a Serious Playthrough.

Music: 03 – Dragon Family











:…hmm? Oh, Esma…Wait, smoke? Dragon’s blood, the house is on fire!

: The village is engulfed in flames! Everything is burning! We must go!

: The village? In flames? What’s going –

: No time! Follow me, now!

: I’m coming! But first…



: No way am I leaving this to burn.

This item permanently increases the defense stat by one. One of the recurring themes of the Breath of Fire series is the ability to take items from dressers. Most contain powerful battle items or stat-increasing potions.

: Hurry!





: I can’t get through! It’s too hot!

: I’ll stop this fire!





: My magic was once strong, but at this age I can barely douse this fire.

: It’s very impressive from where I’m standing!

: The rest of the villagers are gathered downstairs. Sara should be there too. I’ll see you down there.





Music: 40 – Uncertain

: Esma! Is it really safe to have everyone here in one building?

: This building is safe from the flames for the time being.

: Sara's magic is holding back the fire, but her strength is fading quickly.



: Elder! What’s going on?

: We don’t know what caused the fire. Luckily, the people here are safe!

: What about Sara? Where’s my sister?



Oh, the humanity! This is horrible!

Music: 35 – Emperor Zog’s Theme



: Sara!



: We’re surrounded!

: Are you alright, sister?

: I’m fine, Ryu. You don’t need to worry about me.

: The Dark Dragon Family is scheming against the other dragon families!

: I heard that Zog, the Dark Dragon King, vowed to conquer the world. And his first target is the Light Dragons!

: Zog is an evil fool! Why are they trying to destroy us?



: I won’t sit by while they attack us! I say we act now! If we can’t escape, there’s only one thing to do! Fight!

: Isn’t there any other way?



: Wait!



: We can’t give up! Let’s show them the spirit of the Dragon! C’mon Sara, let’s go!

:…No. I must do my part on my own.



: What have you done?

: I’ve turned him to stone so that the fire will not affect him. Remember our mission as members of the Light Dragon Family.







: We’ve suffered enough. I’ll take care of the Dark Dragons.



:…





: I’ll try to distract the Dark Dragons.

: My powers should be strong enough for at least that much.



:…



: Take her to the commander!







: She has a point!



: I always follow orders.

: All terribly tragic, really, but when Lord Zog commands “Exterminate the Light Dragons!”, one cannot simply stop halfway, if you understand my meaning.

: You monster!





Music: 04 – Boss Theme

: Whoa!



: Now that wasn’t very civilized. I thought the Light Dragons would have better manners.

: Our village has been destroyed!





: Come on!

: Strong…but are you strong enough? Let’s see!



: All the power in the world won’t matter one whit if you can’t hit your opponent with it.

: I can’t let you interfere with Zog’s plans. Nothing personal.







: It is somewhat difficult to lose a battle when one has the power of a deity on one’s side.

: The goddess keys!?

: You fool! The forces you are meddling with are beyond your understanding! You’ll doom us all!

: Oh no, quite the reverse, my dear. Besides that…



: Too bad you’re on the wrong side.

: Don’t come any closer!







: It’s all over.





: My dear…you have made a grave miscalculation.

: You didn’t even flinch!



: Ha! Ha! Ha!



The camera pans up, and we get a text scroll explaining the backstory.

Music: 05 – Story













Music: 06 – Sara

: What’s going on? What happened to Sara?

: Sara saved us!



: We renounced the Dragons. Their battles aren’t ours!



: We must think of survival. Soon this place will be in ruins.

: No!

*Rumble*

: See! Even now, this building collapses!

: Oh no!





: We must escape now!



: What is it, Ryu? You’ve been very quiet so far.

:…Elder. Let me go after Sara. She’s the only family I have – there’s nothing for me here.

: I know I should try to stop you, Ryu, but I can’t.



Music: 10 – Breath of Fire (Overworld)

: Take this! It’s not much, but you can use it for equipment.

: Elder…thank you so much.



: I hope at least some equipment survived the flames…



: *Sigh* Man…this place is a mess. Ah well, I’d better see if the shop is still standing.





This is the shop screen. The blacksmith sells weapons and armor, whereas the other lady sells healing and support items. Ryu is already equipped with the Dirk, and the Saber is currently out of his price range, so he settles for the ArmPad to raise his defense.



Exiting the shop screen and pressing select brings up the status screen. From here we can see and use spells, change equipment, switch party members, etc. For now, let’s equip the ArmPad.



Equipping this armor raises Ryu’s defense by a fair amount, but lowers his “Active” stat. The Active stat determines a character’s speed in combat and when they can take their turns. A high Active stat means that character has a good chance of getting the first hit in.



: I’d better visit the Shrine before setting off and pray for good fortune.



: Dragon Lord, please grant me your blessings as I embark on my journey.



: I protect those who take on the mission of the hero. I’m here to record your journey.

Dragon statues fulfill the role of Save Points in Breath of Fire. Breath of Fire also has a quicksave feature, which is especially useful if you own the GBA cartridge version.



: I guess this is it. This place was my home for so long…it’s hard to believe that I’m leaving it. I don’t know about any of this ‘mystic warrior’ thing, but I do know that I won’t rest until I’ve found Sara.

And that’s the end of the first update! Next time we’ll be taking a look at random battles, items and much more.