Breath of
Fire IV is one the first Jrpgs I ever played – my brother got his hands on the PC
version back in 2006. As such I have fond memories of this game: the opening
cinematic was mind-blowing at the time, the music was marvelous, the dragon
transformations simply amazing, the world was lively and captivating, and the
idea of sections where you play as the antagonist is ingenious and needs to be
used more.
I played
BoF IV a second time somewhere around 2010/2011 and enjoyed it as much as the
first time. Last year the nostalgia got me again and I started a third
playthrough, although it got quickly shafted by the long-awaited release of
Trails in the Sky Second Chapter. Now, while strolling through the last dungeon
of TitS, I took a short break to immerse myself again in BoF IV which I’ll
resume when I’m done with TitS (which deserves a thorough review, by the way).
For the time being I’ve just made it out of the dam level which got me thinking
about dungeon design in Jrpgs.
This
article summarizes my thoughts and observations about how the dam level is
designed. How fun it is? Are there design mistakes? Is there any way this level
could have been improved?
What the dam level is made of
So what have we got here? Let’s see:- There are NPCs you can to talk, meaning you get a few bits of worldbuilding;
- You need to activate a lever or two in order to proceed further;
- There are some optional corridors and corners with chests, and thankfully they don't result in long backtracking;
- A mini-game is included near the end of the level to keep things fresh and interactive.
This is all
pretty good, especially for an early-game level. I felt a bit anxious when I
was told to return a key to a guy I never saw but I managed to find my way
without too much trouble. Figuring out your destination is part of the fun as
long as you don’t have to deal with a billion pathways. The dam level comes
full circle at the end which makes the backtracking understandable.
Why can't we have indie Jrpgs with this level of graphics today?
A few nitpicks about the level design
There is nothing
disastrous or infuriating in the dam – BoF IV has solid dungeon design overall.
But I felt that a few elements were clumsy or just plain wrong:
- For a good chunk of the level you don't really know where you should go, so you have to keep searching randomly while monsters wear you out.
- There is a small place where there is nothing, you go there hoping to find something, only to get trapped with random encounters.
- When an attempt to escape a battle fails, it feels like the game is punishing you for trying to get around the less-than-stellar level design. The high encounter rate constantly prevents you from finding your way out and that’s no fun. Merely running forward is actually much more fun – it provides a sense of progression – than fighting a couple of monsters every five steps. I can forgive this since this is a late 90s game, but in a current-era Jrpg, this would be unforgivable.
On the bright side: optimal length and a neat reward
Thank God
this is not one of those massive, tedious mazes designed to give you headaches
and nightmares. A little patience will get you out of the dam before it becomes
insufferable. The level doesn't overstay its welcome and ends before reaching
the boredom point. Contrast with other games like Persona 4 where in
each dungeon you just have to go through ten floors, each of which its tedious
share of branching paths and monsters.
I also like
how you are rewarded not with a boss battle, but neat cutscenes. The mud
tsunami shot was impressive and the encounter with the dragon is a memorable
moment, providing information about how dragons are perceived in this world.
For some reason though, Cray is being mean to an old lady who wants to talk.
His line was meant to make the transition into “let’s get out of here” but it
came off as awkward and unnecessarily dickish. Oh well. This cutscene is still
enough of a reward for completing the dam level. Subverting expectations of the
standard formula (boss battle) and remaining a bit unpredictable is nice.
This is probably the ugliest game screenshot you've ever seen. I had to use my phone since PSN games on PSP don't allow the screenshot feature...
How I would adjust the level design
The developers did a good job with this level but I think it could’ve been a bit more refined. Here’s a couple of things that could make the dam level more optimal and enjoyable:
- Lower the encounter rate (I’d even say this goes for the whole game, and other games too). This would be especially beneficial since at this stage of the game the party is still weak – only Nina has offense/healing spells and she can quickly run out of AP. I wouldn't waste Ryu's dragon transformation on regular enemies, especially if I'm on my first play through and I don't know if there is a strong boss at the end of the level for whom I'd better save my AP.
- Place a treasure chest in the empty corridor mentioned earlier. That way it doesn't feel like the level designer is a dick who enjoys luring me into a place only to trigger random encounters. A mere herb would be a great find since the resident white goos inflict a lot of damage with their multi-target attack. A NPC with a funny story and/or an item he gives away would be a nice choice too.
- Make the mini-game more challenging: like it’d require more timing when it comes to pressing the circle button. The way it's designed, it's effortless on analog stick, might as well be part of the cutscene.
Closing thoughts
On the whole this case of dungeon design is not as bad as it might seem; I've seen way, waaaay worse than that. For instance I couldn't finish Persona 2 despite it having a great cast and a crazy plot. Xenogears might have the most ambitious and profound story in the realm of Jrpgs, but its dungeons nearly drove me mad and I had to follow a YouTube walkthrough to get out of some of them (hello Kislev sewers and Shevat emergency shaft).
I’m really
into dungeon design these days. What makes a great dungeon? What are the uncreative
choices which lead to a level that is anything but fun? I’ve got more
observations brewing, so I’ll try to write new articles in hopefully not too
long.
