Review: Breath of Death VII (PC)
Verdict: B+
Taking a step back into the 8-bit era Breath of Death VII brings old school RPG fun to the PC. Breath of Death VII originally was an indie game for the Xbox 360 and has been faithfully brought over to PC. However, on Steam Breath of Death VII comes with Cthulhu Saves the World, the other old school stylized RPG by Zeboyd Games.
The story follows Dem, a skeleton who joins up with a ghost, a vampire, and a zombie to explore the ruined world. The story is very simple, but the comedic dialogue is what keeps the game interesting. Not only is the basic dialogue of the game amusing, but there is the ability for the characters to discuss the situation from the game menu. There is even some new and modified dialogue in order to make reference to the new release. The humor is what will keep you coming back to this game even with the short play time.
The game plays like any other RPG, with exploration and turn based battles. You travel around the world exploring dungeons and fighting random monster encounters until you come across the boss of the dungeon. In the process you will gain levels and gather new items and equipment. One of the differences that is added in Breath of Death VII is that each area has a limited amount of random encounters and upon defeating all the monsters of the area you can travel unimpeded. To speed this process up you can choose to fight monsters from the game menu rather than waiting for them to attack. The game also includes a bonus dungeon which is very difficult and score attack mode, wherein the play is rewarded for beating bosses while under leveled.
The graphics are done in a throwback 8-bit style. The game resembles the classic Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest) games for the NES. The stylization makes navigating around the world easy and keeps things simple. The music on the other hand is far better than old 8-bit audio, but features the simple loops that video game music had back then. Overall, the design gives the game a nice retro look without the midi music and endless palette swapping.
If you are looking for an old school stylized RPG with some very funny moments then you cannot go wrong with Breath of Death VII. The game is great (even with a 6-8 hour story) and includes an extra play mode and variable difficulty to keep things interesting. Breath of Death VII is highly recommended for PC and Xbox.
Good:
-Old School style
-Full of humor
Bad:
-Wish it was longer
