Nina, the princess of Wyndia, and Cray, the leader of the cat-like Woren tribe, are looking for Cray’s relatives who vanished during a diplomatic mission under mysterious circumstances. A dragon in the shape of a worm attacks Nina and Cray as they are flying through the air on their sandflier. When their car breaks down, Nina heads back to the city to look for replacement parts. Along the way, she runs into naked Ryu, a young boy who is unsure of his location. Nina is once more attacked by a dragon at the exact same moment. Nina, who is perplexed by the bizarre events occurring, decides to assist the young boy. In the meantime, the long-gone Emperor Fou Lu wakes up in his tomb. He intends to conquer the human world once more and rule it with an iron fist.
A fairly traditional Japanese-style RPG, this fourth entry in the Breath of Fire series features turn-based combat, party management, linear story progression, and other defining features of the genre. Similar to the previous game, characters advance in strength and pick up new abilities by working for “masters” in various towns. The ability to transform into a dragon while in battle is a gameplay feature that Ryu, the series’ main protagonist, has kept. There are many different types of mini-games in Breath of Fire IV, including the well-liked fishing mini-game that was also in earlier iterations.
