Although I have never managed to get the chance yet to play the Breath of Fire series of games, I have heard many good things about the series. So it is with no surprise that I managed to find a fan made game based on the Breath of Fire series. While this particular game does base itself more on the Final Fantasy series of games, based on the fact that it is running under RPG Maker 2000. It still manages to do an excellent job in showing you the Breath of Fire series.  From the interesting story line that gets you started, to the different abilities you can learn in the game and the different characters that will join you on your quest, this RPG really hits the mark in many areas.

The general idea of the story is that your father has apparently turned evil. How and why is still unknown but now as his son Ryu, you must go forward gathering the powers of different dragons, to finally face your father and see who will emerge victorious. Ryu also has the added advantage of being able to transform into different dragons that he can earn by visiting them in the world and learning their powers.

If you have ever played any of the games made with RPG Maker 2000, you will recognize a lot of the different environments and graphics the game offers. It is reminiscent of the Snes style RPG games in terms of the graphics, which I still enjoy viewing to this very day. Game play is also similar; battles are turn based as you view the action from the first person perspective of your party. Once you do enter battle, choose your attack pick which enemy you wish to attack and the game does the rest, you will have to battle quite a bit to raise your levels and learn new abilities in the process.

Graphically there are some inconsistencies with the different character portraits that are shown in the game, but that is not a huge deal in the grand scheme of the game. The story while retaining some cliché elements still manages to be interesting as the different events play back in the game. From different events that occur via cut scenes or even the ones that happen in game as the plot unfolds you will learn increasingly about what is happening. The game draws you in and really pushes you to advance further and further. The dragon transformation idea was interesting to see but there are other abilities the other characters, which join your party, will bring to the table. Most are of the magic variety but you will see for yourself as you advance in the game.

One of the issues that was annoying in the game was the frequency random battles occur. Now in most RPGs it is to be expected but having to fight let us say five battles when taking less than 10 steps I thought was a bit much. It can be especially annoying when you are trying to travel back to town to heal your party and enemies keep attacking you. Personally, I thought it was a bit too much compared to other RPGs. As well, the difficulty can be a bit daunting at times, especially with the bosses you face in the game, which are pretty challenging. Just remember battle as much as you can to raise the levels of your characters and you will not have a problem with the high frequency of battles.

Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable RPG to play and highly recommend that you check it out if you are a fan of this type of game. So give Breath of Fire 2m2k a try and see it for yourself in action.