Back in February 2025, long-time Capcom and JRPG fans began expressing their wishes to see Breath of Fire 4 re-released on PC via GOG.com.
Fast-forward two months later and GOG has fulfilled that promise. That’s right. After 25 years since its original release on the PlayStation One in 2000, Breath of Fire 4 has finally been re-released on PC at GOG.com.
For those seeing this game for the first time, Breath of Fire 4 is the fourth major entry in Capcom‘s long-dormant turn-based JRPG franchise, Breath of Fire. It follows the tale of Ryu (no relation to Street Fighter’s Ryu), a blue-haired warrior with the mysterious ability to transform into a dragon.
Ryu is on a quest to discover the origin of his power while helping the princess of Wyndia, Nina, find her missing sister and protecting her from the foul machinations of the tyrannical Fou Empire.
The game also puts players in the shoes of Fou-Lu, the first emperor of the Fou Empire, who has mysteriously resurrected with the same ability to transform into a dragon like Ryu.
As with GOG’s other re-releases like Dino Crisis and the original Resident Evil trilogy, Breath of Fire 4 on PC has been polished with all kinds of quality-of-life improvements, graphical improvements, and other updates to make this classic JRPG play even better than before.
These improvements include:
- Full compatibility with Windows 10 and Windows 11
- Both 2 localizations of the game included (English and Japanese)
- Improved DirectX game renderer
- New rendering options (Windowed Mode, Vertical Synchronization Control, Gamma Correction, Integer Scaling, Anti-Aliasing, and more)
- Improved audio engine (restored missing environmental sounds and audio configuration)
- Improved keyboard and mouse support
- Improved Warehouse and Crane minigames
- Improved F9 exit screen
- Issue-free battle and combo system (all crashes have been fixed)
- Issue-free cutscene scripting
- Issue-free task switching
- Full support for modern controllers (Sony DualSense, Sony DualShock4, Microsoft Xbox Series, Microsoft Xbox One, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, Logitech F series, and many more) with optimal button binding, vibration, hotplugging, and wireless mode.
- And of course, the game will be completely DRM-free.
But that’s not all GOG has announced. In addition to Breath of Fire 4, GOG has announced it will be preserving several other classic titles for its GOG Preservation Program.
These games being added are:
- Ultima Underworld 1+2
- Ultima 9: Ascension
- Worlds of Ultima : The Savage Empire
- Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams
- Worms: Armageddon
- Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood
- Realms of the Haunting
- Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon
- Stonekeep
Breath of Fire 4 is considered by many fans (myself included) to be one of the greatest JRPGs Capcom has ever made. It’s got an epic story filled with laughs, twists, original concepts, and gut-wrenching tragedy.
It has gorgeous 2.5D graphics that mixed well-animated pixel-art sprites with 3D models, a massive world packed with secret weapons and dragon transformations to unlock, and one of the most addicting turn-based combat systems ever made in the genre.
Seeing Capcom finally re-release this timeless classic on PC after being locked behind the PS1 for so long warms my heart, as it’s one of my personal games of all time.
In fact, this re-release gives me hope that if Breath of Fire 4 sells well on GOG, perhaps it will convince Capcom to revive the series like it’s doing with Onimusha, Okami, and Dragon’s Dogma.
Out of all the dormant IP I want Capcom to bring back, Breath of Fire ranks at no.2 on that list, and I would kill to see a new, modern-day Breath of Fire title on Xbox Series X|S and PC.
For now, I’m perfectly happy to see Breath of Fire 4 again, and I can’t wait to relive my childhood memories once more now that this game is available on GOG.com. Plus if this is your first time playing Breath of Fire 4 and you’re a fan of turn-based JRPGs, then you will be in for an amazing treat.
