Breath of Death VII Review

Welcome to Motherbound.

I can't be the only one here taking advantage of the goodies stashed in the Xbox Live Indie collection, right? Sure, a large amount of the games are rubbish, including vibrating controllers, Tetris rip-offs and Avatar tossing, but once in a while I'll stumble upon a real gem. As much as I like Achievements, DLC, Avatars and other modern Xbox goodies, there's something humbling and special about playing a genuinely good game that could have been produced in the Super Nintendo era.

Breath of Death VII is a retro-themed RPG that pokes fun at the entire genre over the course of the four to six hour game. This game looks and plays similarly to the old-school Nintendo Final Fantasy series, while constantly making fun with many of the conventional standards of role playing games. Fans of RPGs should get a few serious belly laughs from the puns and pointed references to classic and modern RPG titles. (I certainly did!)

Players take control of four supernatural heroes on a lighthearted adventure that takes Dem the skeleton, Lita the vampire, Sara the ghost and Erik the zombie all over a world where being dead is the norm. Some awful catastrophe has befallen Earth and the vast majority of its people naturally appear as if they celebrate Halloween every day of the year. The entire world, its citizens and the baddies have all been transformed into ghoulies, making for a truly captivating 8bit world to explore. Breath of Death VII is built upon humor as much as it is quality, as the visuals are crisp, the strategic combat system keeps your mind in the "action," and the frequent level ups allow the story to progress at a steady pace.

At one dollar, Breath of Death VII is well worth its entertainment value. The story is amusing, the characters have excellent dialogue, the game's design and humor will keep your mind fluttering back to some of your favorite RPG's and it is longer than some full-priced disc based campaigns. It generally sticks to normal RPG standards of combat, leveling up and equipping items, but since the entire presentation is a parody of RPGs, it works.

I know it's been an especially slow year for gaming and BoDVII isn't intentionally "Game of the Year," but for the low entry fee of a buck, you'll be able to enjoy the Weird Al of RPG's and one of the best titles on the Xbox Live Indie service. Don't take my word for it! Just ask Dem, as the game's heroic lead character would say: "..." (Just as any lead RPG character would!)

-Arnold B. Carreiro

B Ranking

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