Written by Rastafoo69, edited by Otaku Apologist
Breath of Fire and Iron, a hentai RPG developed by Scale Garden. Released October 30, 2009. Download on DLSite.com for $20.00. For PC Windows. No voice acting. Censored genitals. Free demo available. Download the English fan translation patch here.
Kate is a young swordswoman who travels the land developing her talents. But when she’s paired up with a horny mercenary, her path to corruption begins! Now she must keep him sexually pleased and defeat the monsters attacking the town!
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STORY
The story is super bare-bones. Kate meets a giant ant that can talk. She learns that the ants plan to conquer the world! She then hunts a boar, gathers mushrooms, finds some crab shells, and wastes a lot of time before eventually fighting the ant leader.
There are no choices or unique endings to be found. The game is super linear and doesn’t even have side-quests. Most sex scenes are mandatory and the corruption is very predictable. But this game is over a decade old, so it’s forgivable. This was back when hentai gaming was just beginning.
Plenty of moments in this story will frustrate you, like when Kate agrees to become a sex slave when her friend is kidnapped. It was stupid, and it’s heavily implied that the goblins would not release her friend anyway.
The few choices available have no effect on anything. For example, Kate can unbutton her shirt and show off her cleavage. None of the NPCs comment on her slutty appearance, which was a big missed opportunity.
There is no New Game Plus or a dramatic ending. I felt like the writer got tired and just ended the game abruptly.
GAMEPLAY
Breath of Fire and Iron was created in RPG Maker 2003. Use the arrow keys to move. Press Q to skip dialogue. Press W to hide the text box.
The game cycle is simple. Defeat enemies in preparation for a boss, then return to town to buy equipment and other items.
The battle system in this game is completely unique for relying on AP and VIT. Action points are used when you attack and recover every turn. Vitality is used when you heal and it recovers by sleeping and eating. Once a day you can use your “breath” skill to increase your weapon level and deal more damage. Altogether, you can take multiple actions in a single turn, allowing you to strategize.
While this unique battle system was super exciting, it doesn’t make up for the game’s many flaws. There is no quest log to remind you of your mission. The game expects you to grind a bunch of levels before starting your adventure. Some dungeons cannot be left once you enter, and you never get a warning beforehand.
Weapon levels are a unique idea that was implemented poorly. From bronze to steel, you’re expected to buy stronger equipment to defeat stronger enemies. For example, an ant has a thick exoskeleton that requires a sword stronger than bronze to defeat. This sounds awesome, except that you deal zero damage if you don’t have the sword. And if you already used the breath skill that day, you’ll be unable to damage certain types of enemies. Doing zero damage in an RPG is idotic.
GRAPHICS
The art is a realistic variation on the Japanese anime style. From fingernails to collarbones, this game retains a simple and cartoonish style while also being realistic in displaying the bodies of the characters.
There are 29 base images, not including variations. Kate has a tendency to look right at you during the scenes, even if it doesn’t make sense. This is pretty silly, but I loved to see her face during these incredibly erotic scenes.
The world design is very shallow. There are a lot of locations, but only a handful of NPCs to be found in the entire game. Even in the city, there are barely any NPCs walking the streets. This is likely a restriction of the engine. RPG Maker 2003 could not handle tons of moving sprites on screen, not to mention this game was made over a decade ago.
As you progress through the game and Kate becomes corrupted, she becomes more willing to undress. At first she’ll only unbutton her shirt to show off her cleavage, but eventually you can walk around completely nude! The customizable wardrobe was truly ahead of its time, with its only flaw being a lack of NPCs to comment on your nudity.
The game uses a mixture of icon encounters and random encounters. While giant worms and poisonous snakes are completely random, large enemies like sharks and giant ants appear on screen and can be avoided if you’re careful. Watching a shark jet itself towards me, swimming like crazy to catch me, was one of the scariest feelings I’ve had in a hentai game.
VOICE ACTING AND SOUND EFFECTS (SFX)
Breath of Fire and Iron has no voice acting.
The sound effects in this game are a mixed bag. While combat has perfect sword slashes and blunt attacks, the sex scenes are downright terrible. In the video above you can hear for yourself the weirdly loud sound of ejaculation. It sounds like eggshells or something. I often muted the game right before the cumshot just to avoid that horrible sound.
MUSIC
There are six basic tracks that play throughout the game. A downside of RPG Maker 2003 is the restriction on music that you can use in-game. These tracks sound compressed and tend to loop after only a minute. While horns and drums are used throughout, everything is digitally created so it feels more like a 90s RPG than a modern adventure title.
All of these tracks are either stock assets or unique to this developer. Even the stock assets felt unique because so few games are willing to use these compressed tracks. Not to mention the quality of rhythm is pretty basic. Any newbie with a soundboard could put this together, so there’s really no reason to praise these tracks.
HENTAI
Breath of Fire and Iron has 23 scenes, illustrated with 29 event CGs. Many scenes include groping or a blowjob before sex.
From missionary to cowgirl, this game has a variety of positions to watch Kate enjoy a stranger’s cock. From pirates to bandits and everyone in between, Kate gives them all a chance to fuck her tight pussy!
Sex stats are tracked in recollection room, listing out orgasms and number of sexual encounters. This was nice, but I wish we could access sex stats from the pause menu instead. And because the recollection room can only be accessed when you beat the game, players can’t actively influence them.
While Kate begins the game as an innocent virgin adventurer, she ends it as a prostitute and the town’s own cumslut. The game is super linear without any choices. Whether you like it or not, men will always seduce your character and convince her to do embarrassing sex acts. While some acts are forced, most of the time Kate is just playing hard to get, and secretly wanted to be fucked all along. Her internal thoughts are always a joy a read.
Playing a submissive slut is nice, but I wish Kate got more assertive. It would have been awesome for Kate to be the one asking for sex all the time. Instead, she just tempts men until they ask for it first.
CONCLUDING WORDS
Breath of Fire and Iron is one of the older hentai games on the market today. While the game engine limits the number of NPCs and the quality of music, the gameplay was still enjoyable, with a good pace for level-ups and clothing options.
I recommend this game to hentai fans who love the classics. Download Breath of Fire and Iron. If you loved this game but want something more fresh and exciting, check out our review of Revenge of Swordsman Milia.
Overall
- Graphics
- Gameplay
- Story
- Music
- SFX
- Hentai
1 comment
Stellar game, this circle used to be really good.