Breath of Fire III User Review

Although it's a port of a 1998 PlayStation game, Breath of Fire III is a cool thing to own for Sony's PSP.

PSP’s version of this game is a straight port with a few modifications and additions. A “Fishing Mode” allows players to play Breath of Fire III's fishing mini-game with specific challenges; one can even link up with another person's PSP via game sharing (meaning without another game disc) to play this mode in multiplayer fashion. Performing well in the fishing mode earns one high scores and illustrations viewable in a special gallery. Finally, the Manillo trade shop now offers goods in exchange for fishing points instead of specific types of fish.

The instant concern that arises with PSP games, especially in ports, is the load times. Breath of Fire III does not completely avoid this problem, but it thankfully does not suffer to the same extent that many other PSP titles do. Transitions into and out of towns take six to ten seconds (becoming a PSP RPG standard), while battle sequences have about three or four seconds tacked onto their beginnings and endings, with an occasional half-second before a special move is performed. Other than that, it's pretty much the same as it was on the PlayStation. These load times are tolerable and not frequent enough to really detract much from the game experience as a whole, with an exception being in areas that have high encounter rates.

Of course, the screen needed some adjusting to fit the PSP's widescreen dimensions, and Capcom did well, as the player can still see all of what one needs to. On that same subject, the game still looks as cute and sharp as it ever did. Regarding audio, the music and sound effects were preserved perfectly.

Breath of Fire III was good fun on the PlayStation, and is still such on the PSP. It maintains its original charm in this port, though it does suffer from noticeable lag when going into and out of battle. Still, the pros outweigh the cons, overall, and those who enjoyed the first version of the game and happen to own a PSP are more than justified in picking it up in portable form, though North Americans will have to do so via importing from Europe (English) or Japan.