Breath of Death VII

A cute little comedy homage to JRPGs, the humour is endearing, the gameplay simple but solid. I was a big fan of the tools present to streamline the aspects of grinding that are sometimes needed in this type of game. After you finish it for the first time, additional modes unlock extending the game time if you so wish. 6.5h to finish this game in one sitting. for the money a pretty good deal.

There are criticisms to be made here, sure. But there are enough interesting bits to keep you going for the short time it takes to beat. The crux comes down to: Can you get $3 worth of entertainment out of this game and the other one that comes bundled with it? Absolutely. Battle mechanics are interesting. The character build system is interesting. Some of the equipment choices are meaningful (For example, I kept the shotgun equipped the whole way up to just before the end boss). The humor is kind of hit or miss but there are enough hits to make it worth while. Plenty of references if that's your sort of thing.

This is a VERY short old-school styled RPG, taking around 5 hours to beat (or 6-7 if you want to tackle the optional boss and do the necessary level grinding). It's more so a parody and homage to the beginning games of Breath of Fire, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, so the writing and story is not really anything special or captivating.

That being said, it is still a very fun game, with some unique mechanics that I think serve the game very well. For Random battles, each area only has a certain amount of random battles before they atop appearing, however if you need to grind gold or experience, you can always choose the "FIGHT" option from the menu even after your allotted random battles are used up. In addition, after each turn the enemies will get 10% stronger so you do have a pseudo time limit to finish battles quickly, but to make up for this, your HP is fully restored after each fight. This mechanic of making enemies stronger after each turn means boss fights become challenging as you need to kill them before their attacks just starting wiping your party.

Each party member only has about 5 pieces of equipment they can get in the game, all straight upgrades from each other, so you don't need to worry too much about min-maxing equipment, just play and enjoy.

I would say it is worth the $3 bundle along with Cthulhu Saves the World. It will provide a nice palate cleanser from all the 100+ hour games I know you have been playing. Do note that there is a Remastered version called "Breath of Death VII: The Beginning - Reanimated" which actually has Steam Achievements and has received an upgraded art style from 8-bit to 16-bit. If you enjoyed this game, you should get that one too.

I beat the game, but can't beat the price!

Short, cheap, and doesn't take itself too seriously. A nice palate cleanser. The battle system also has a nice twist to it

Score: 2/10

• Music: The soundtrack is uninspired and repetitive.
  
• Dungeon design: Dungeons lack unique mechanics, and all rooms in the same dungeon feel identical, making exploration monotonous. Excessive backtracking worsens the experience.
  
• Gameplay: Battles are reduced to spamming normal attacks or group attacks, removing any sense of strategy or depth. The difficulty cannot be adjusted once chosen, limiting the gameplay customization.
  
• Art: The art design is passable but lacks detail and polish to make it stand out. The 2024 remake significantly improves this aspect.
  
• Fun characters and dialogue: Despite its flaws, the game shines with humorous and entertaining characters and dialogues, adding some charm to the journey.
  
• Weak story development: The beginning is poorly developed, leaving a weak first impression.
  
[*]Chests with uninteresting rewards: Chests only contain money or potions, making them feel unexciting due to the absence of unique or valuable items.

Old school classic.

old school

A fun retro RPG which gives old school Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy vibes that is worth checking out! Plenty of fun dialogue and 4th wall breaks to make even the most calloused of gamers smile. A short adventure you can complete in an evening in about 6 hours or less (I did a decent amount of grinding as I find joy in maxing character stats). The first RPG entry in the Zeboyd Games library is worth checking out as you will get many references here that will make more sense in the company's later games like Cthulhu Save the World or Cosmic Star Heroine. Please support small creators as they are fans just like you!

Breath of Death VII: The Beginning is a very charming and short old-school RPG adventure that will make you laugh and have an overall wonderful time. The combat is fun, and the music is honestly really good in my opinion. The ending, while not to my taste, was serviceable, and didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the game. I genuinely recommend it.

Another derivative RPG (they say parody but it means the same thing really), better off for a sketch in a comic on animation then a paid for product.

Or as an RPG maker game. Pick up any of the games this is trying to emulate (superficially). Nothing I saw with my playthrough felt like it was worth the time.

This is an homage to classic JRPGs like Phantasy Star and Dragon Quest, and it pulls it off fantastically.
If you don't like old RPG mechanics or sensibilities then this probably won't change your mind, but I grew up on those games and this is now one of my favorites!

Ok

A bizarre but short JRPG that has the feel of a standard RPG-Maker, but with some additional advantages. There is VERY little in terms of story here, which turned out to be fine. There is some comedy mixed in...nothing that will stick in your head as being hilarious, but nothing too cringy either.

For me, there were some shining features though. Foremost, I appreciated the "limit" on random encounters on any given map. If you're trying to explore but keep getting interrupted by random encounters, eventually they'll just stop. Even if you zone out and come back in, you'll still be safe from random encounters.

Personally though, I like overleveling...which is why I appreciated the ability to open the ability to just start a fight. Even if you chew through your random encounters, you can still grind in an area...all without running around waiting for a fight to start! I really appreciated this feature.

Speaking of grinding...you get some say so on how the different characters level up. Do you want someone to learn a spell that attacks all enemies, or would you rather that spell only effect one enemy, but be stronger? Do you want to boost your strength, or your defense? You have to make choices with each level, and can develop your characters as you see fit (although they do all fit certain archetypes). This actually adds some replayability to the game, if you desired.

All in all, I feel the $3 was worth it and I would recommend for anyone looking for a "tune out my thoughts and do something mind numbing" type game.

Cute JRPG, it says I have no playtime but I'm not sure why, I beat this game long ago on my laptop.
Worth a play through for only a few bucks.

Breath of Death VII is one of the best retro RPGs I’ve played in a while. The game perfectly captures the charm of old-school RPGs with a modern twist. The humor, turn-based combat, and pixel art all come together to create a memorable experience. I spent 20 hours thoroughly enjoying the adventure, with each battle and joke adding to its nostalgic appeal. For anyone who loves classic RPGs with a fun, lighthearted story, this game is absolutely worth the time.

Time Investment: 20 hours
Value Rating: 9/10

Stay focused. Keep grinding.

A fun, tongue-in-cheek throwback to old RPGs of yesteryear. Having a limited amount of random encounters per area and no animations in battle makes for very quick exploration. Expect alot of meta humor about the genre as you go through. Plus, it's dirt cheap too!

Straightforward & laughable excuse of a story. Check.
One dimensional characters. Check
Painful grinding & random encounters. Check
Sudden difficulty curve in the middle. Check
Easy final boss. Check

Overall, a great filler RPG to fill up the DGI, & FFI void.

I've had it in my library for years and eventually thought i'd give it a go. Even though I have not played a lot of JRPGs I really enjoyed this.

The stand out for me is the great humor. It really is very funny and there are many laugh at loud moments be it from the story, the chat between party members or the ridiculous enemies you come up against.

If you just want to try and experience the game and don't want to dedicate a lot of time to it i'd recommend playing it on easy and blasting through the random battles as quickly as possible.

Theres not a huge amount of choice in the game as far as your party setup goes but if you setup DEM for strength and tanking/damage, SARA for magic and healing, LITA for magic and damage and ERIK for strength and tanking/damage you really can't go wrong.

It's a parody RPG that also happens to be fun and deep enough to keep you interested.

Combat is reminiscent of Dragon Quest 1 (the original) and doesn't have any animation, but there's a great combo system and your party gains health back after every fight. Speed is a factor because enemies gain 10% more strength each round, making battles very fast. All these combined make the lack of battle/spell animation not much of a big deal. The story is very funny also, with references to other RPGs.

It's a great price already but if you see it on sale, this is a great buy.

I got this game on sale and haven't played it until now. This game is a reference to other popular video games that are being developed at this time. From Resident Evil 4, Mass Effect, and other games I probably missed while playing this game. The game takes place in the future where you a Skeleton named Dem explore the world you are in until you reach the end of the game. You get 3 other party members with you in the game—Sara a woman who uses magic, Lila a vampire techie, and Erik a zombie prince. In this game when you first play you're gonna have a hard time since for me I wasn't used to the game mechanics. Every turn the enemy has their attack increased by 10 percent. If the battle goes on longer without you killing them their gonna kill you If you don't do it fast enough. There's a combo system every time you hit an enemy making you be able to do more damage until you break the combo bringing it down to zero. Every time you beat a battle you get money and EXP that you use to level up and every time you level up you get a new passive skill or magic you can use for your party members or on enemies depending on the party members. Every time you die you restart at the last save point you are at. If you defeat a certain amount of monsters in an area you don't have to keep seeing random encounters every time you walk in the world of Breath of Death 7. For mid-bosses and bosses, I just backtrack until I get to a point where I'm strong enough to beat them. There are potions that I found from the chest so use them wisely. If you're gonna get this game get it while it's on sale. Here in Germany, this game along with another game is worth under 1 euro so it's worth it.

The concept of playing as undead warriors: A skeleton, Ghost... etc, is a unique take on a party in an rpg!
The soundtrack is bopping.
As the battles progress, the enemies get stronger, but so does the player, as the characters build up a combo gauge. Certain moves power increases the higher combo count you have, and other moves break the combo.
When characters level up, you get the option to choose which stats to increase, or which moves to learn which makes the characters quite customizable.
The battles go by super fast, so grinding doesn't feel like a chore. Speaking of grinding, the game provides players with healing spots. So, you can continuously heal. You can also choose to engage in battles whenever you want from the menu, so you can fight all the enemies in an area while right next to a healing spot. It's super convenient.
It's a cute short little rpg that I really like.