I beat BOF 4 since week for the first time. Its one of those games that for whatever reason I've never really gotten around to playing. But I had a bit of free time last month and really got into it. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I found myself endeared by the story and the characters. The gameplay loop was simple, the story was thematic but easy to follow, awesome visually to see. I mean overall it was such a pleasure to play. It didn't reinvent the wheel in terms of storytelling or anything. But idk man, it did everything in the right amount. A solid 8/10 experience for me. What are your thoughts on the game? Do you think it was the best one?

Both JRPG series got discontinued by their respective publishers but Suikoden was blessed with more games than Breath of Fire and was given more chances by Konami than Capcom did for BoF.

Breath of Fire I (SNES): Released in 1993 and while the sales numbers aren't specified, it's said to be a considerable success in Japan and a moderate success in North America.

Breath of Fire II (SNES): Released in 1994 and sold 350,000 copies in Japan.

Breath of Fire III (PS1): Released in 1997 and sold 425,000 copies in Japan and 230,000 copies in North America in their respective first year.

Breath of Fire IV (PS1): Released in 2000 and sold 334,000 copies in Japan and got qualied for Sony's "PlayStation the Best" label, allowing it to be re-released in September 2002 at a reduced price.

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (PS2): Released in 2002 and sold 140,073 copies in Japan and according to IGN, sold less than 135,000 copies in North America.

Breath of Fire VI (PC and Mobile): Released in 2015 and "Although initially popular, the game met with overwhelmingly negative player feedback and its player base quickly shrunk. As of June 2017, the game holds a 1.7 out of 5 rating on Japan's Google Play Store.

There's a large gap between Dragon Quarter and VI and I wondered why Capcom gave up the franchise too easily.

They could easily just use Dragon Quarter's gameplay and return to the aesthetics of Breath of Fire I-IV for a quick buck.

Contrast that to the Suikoden series which has 5 main games (1-2 on the PS1 and 3-5 on the PS2) and 3 mainline spinoffs (Suikogaiden visual novel duo series on the PS1 and Suikodem Tactics on the PS2) and two gaiden spinoffs on the DS and PSP. The series lasted from 1998 to 2006 for the mainline games and the last spinoff was in 2012.

Even now, Suikoden is blessed with a remaster of 1-2, an anime adaptation of 2 and a new spinoff currently in development. I'm jealous of fans of the Suikoden series as a result.

Just curious if anyone has tried out the Vast & Violent randomizer by Abyssonym. He told me himself that it wasn't extensively tested to the point his other randomizers have been, but I'm curious if anyone here has had any issues using it. I haven't played BoF3 in years and I'm interested in the randomizer, but not if there will be softlocks or glitches hours down the line.

I want to know what meme (unoptimal) build to make the run feels different but not too difficult/grindy. I have a few in mind like 3 mages (Nina, Ryu, Momo), Physical Nina, Hypercarry Garr, Support Rei. Any suggestions?

Note: no stat-increasing items grind, except for stealing def increasing item from that lava boulder, i tend to grind there for the item and level.