Breath of Death VII: The Beginning: Reanimated review

Obviously influenced by Capcom’s legendary Breath of Fire series, Breath of Death VII: The Beginning: Reanimated is a sumptuous remaster of a beloved indie turn based RPG that is a refreshing modern take on a classic series and its well-worn tropes. Hell, it even has a logo that upon first glance actually looks just like Breath of Fire, and a spooky theme that is right in the 1990s Capcom wheelhouse, when they were churning out beauties left right and centre, including stuff like Demon’s Crest from the wider Daimakamura-verse.

Breath of Death VII: The Beginning: Reanimated harks back to a simpler time in gaming, where role players were not overwhelming in scale. You travel around the world map, gleaning information from NPCS, searching for booty, and entering into combat which feels familiar, yet has a few tasty modern twists that make it feel fresh and exciting.

You take on the role of a fearsome looking yet loveable skeleton named Dem, who is mute, yet his opinions, feelings, and motivations are displayed in the form of his thoughts that pop up in the dialogue box. There is much hilarity in the well-written story, with some serious mickey taking aimed at our bony hero as he attempts to band up with like-minded heroes and save the JRPG-style world from an army of the undead. It also serves as a bit of a knowing Mickey-take out of 8-bit JRPGs in general and never takes itself too seriously.

The characterisation of Dem is expertly implemented and you will grow a real connection with him over the course of the adventure, particularly when he himself deepens his relationships with his teammates. As time progresses you team up with a character named Sara who forms a powerful bond with Dem because she is able to telepathically read what is going on inside that skeletal bonce.

The key feature of the combat system that sets this apart from other titles of its ilk is the fact that as battle progresses, enemies become incrementally more powerful – so if you start messing around and don’t maximise your attacking potential to smoosh foes as quickly as you can, you stand a good chance of getting a mighty leathering as your opponents are buffed up to dangerous levels. It is important to make use of your own combo stacking system that also allows you to pump up the damage levels.

Back when Breath of Death VII was originally released it was aesthetically a crude yet charming 8-bit presentation reminiscent of a Famicom cartridge. The glow up that Shadow Layer Games have given it here basically transports it to the 16 bit era, and it would not look out of place on a Super Nintendo or Sega Mega Drive. It looks fantastic, and has a blinding reworked soundtrack courtesy of HyperDuck SoundWorks.

The original was never a particularly long game, and this is similarly short and sweet. As I alluded to in the opening, this one can be beaten is around three hours. There are some cool new modes to expand the longevity of this excellent skeleton-based romp though, including a brand new side quest for Dem and a punishing extra hard mode that is quite the doozy to get through.

Breath of Death VII: The Beginning: Reanimated is well worth a punt at the sensationally cheap price for anyone who ever played old school JRPGs, or indeed anyone who loves a well written and amusing poke at the expense of the genre.