: Breath of Death VII

Breath of Death VII is game by Zeboyd Games, released in 2011. It's a parody of old-school JRPG type games, particularly from the NES and SNES-era. The name itself is a reference to the Breath of Fire series, while the game-play is more similar to Dragon Quest (a series of games i unfortunately haven't played much, as I have never been able to find proper English versions of the games).

Story

Game World

The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where there are no more living humans, and the undead have taken over and become civilized. Unlike what you'd expect from a world like that, the towns and such are actually real towns, and not just ruins from the "old world". It's a bit funny walking around a nice town, full of flowers and stuff, talking to ghost, ghouls and skeletons. I like it, though, it's different.

A nice little town, inhabited by the undead.

Main Quest

The thing about the main quest, is that you never really know what it is. You basically go through the game, just following the directions it gives you, and then the end comes and you're done. I mean, I got the feeling that I was getting to end, but there was no indications of it in the dialogue or anything. But to be quite honest, it doesn't matter. I will say, though, that the way it ended was rather unexpected.

Side Quests

There doesn't seem to be any real side-quests in this game, but there are several side-paths you can take, that will generally reward you with some sort of treasure. These side-paths can be easily overlooked, unless you're the type to explore every single nook and cranny of the game world. It's highly recommended to to that, as these treasures are usually very useful.

Presentation

Graphics

While I am generally a big fan of SNES-style graphics, this game looks very boring. There's way too little variation in the surroundings, which can be very disorienting at times when walking through long caves and such with multiple path choices. I know that this is an indie game, created by only two guys from what I can see... But it just looks very uninspired. Just a few variations here and there would've made a huge difference, but I guess that would've meant a lot more time spent designing sprites.

It just feels very bland and uninspired.

Sound

When it comes to sound, and particularly music, this game falls way short. The music, while initially very nice, at least for an indie title, quickly becomes very repetitive and boring. The fact that the same music is used over and over again for different areas doesn't make it any better. The sounds are very generic, but they're mostly there to have some audible hint of what's happening. I barely even notice them, though. But this is an indie game, so I guess you shouldn't expect too much.

Gameplay

Battle-screen, Dragon Quest vs Breath of Death VII.

There's not really much to say about the gameplay. The battle is what you'd expect from a JRPG, and if you've played Dragon Quest it'll seem very familiar. The battle is rather difficult, though. Not right away, the first few levels are rather easy, but then suddenly it turns rather difficult. By the time you get the third (of four) party member, each battle needs some real strategy. Either that or empty your mana pools completely. 

Or maybe I just needed to grind more, I don't know. =P 

The level-up system is rather interesting. All four characters have their specific roles, to a certain extent. But every time you gain a level, you get to choose between two "level-up packages". You get a default amount of HP and MP, then the game gives you a choice, which can be anything from choosing between two sets of extra stats, to choosing between different new spells, or even different variants of the same spell, or passive bonuses. It's a nice touch.

Two examples of level-up choices.

One other things to mention about the battles, is that you have a combo counter. Normal attacks and most offensive abilities will increase the combo counter based on the amount of hits they do. A select few abilities will get increased damage the higher the counter gets, but will also reset the counter when you used them. Other spells, like Heal, will reset the counter without gaining any benefit from it, which makes the battles even more strategic

Conclusion 

This game is... All right. It has some interesting mechanics in the combat that I like, that makes it interesting, but the battles get very repetitive very fast. Adding to that the fact that both the music and the graphics, while initially nice, also get very repetitive and boring very fast, I have to say that I'm not very impressed by this. I've enjoyed playing it, but it's not amazing in any way. The parody-humour isn't too much to talk about either.

I give this game a 4 out of 10. 

I wouldn't be either. =P