A simple way to sum it up is to say that Breath of Death VII is a proof-of-concept/demo of Cthulhu Saves the World; it's an extremely short and no-frills outing whose chief purpose seems to be to take the engine and mechanics of CSTW out for a test drive. And as someone who really liked CSTW's spin on traditional JRPG mechanics, Breath of Death plays pretty much the same, which is not a bad thing at all! It also has the same irreverent and scattergun approach to humor, some of it being clever (the MC being a silent protagonist because he doesn't have a tongue), some of it worth a chuckle or two (a French zombie who periodically yells "LE BRAINS!" mid-conversation), and some of it falling flat.
As to be expected, this game is slightly less refined in pretty much every way that counts - the exploration not as engaging, the game balance and difficulty curve slightly wonkier, the presentation not as slick, and the game too short in order to fully explore the mechanics and abilities to their full potential.
And that's all forgivable given this game's place in Zeboyd's resume as a first RPG outing, and it would be churlish of me to expect more from something I essentially got for a dollar. However, on further thought, I actually wish that this game switched places with Cthulhu Saves the World - CSTW's silly premise would have worked better as a test-drive, and Breath of Death would actually have made a better fully-fleshed-out game! It has a far more interesting setting, with vampires, zombies, and ghosts becoming the dominant species on Earth following cataclysmic nuclear war; a setting that is more or less wasted given the near-total absence of any kind of worldbuilding or anything, really, to differentiate this postapocalyptic undead society from any other medieval game. There is even a decent late-game twist that ties directly into the setting, that could have been played for drama and poignancy had the writing actually been more than an excuse-plot with one-note humor.
It's a very decent game for what it is and led to far bigger and better successes for its dev team... but if any of them are reading this, I think a remake would kick all kinds of ass! The setting deserves better.
As to be expected, this game is slightly less refined in pretty much every way that counts - the exploration not as engaging, the game balance and difficulty curve slightly wonkier, the presentation not as slick, and the game too short in order to fully explore the mechanics and abilities to their full potential.
And that's all forgivable given this game's place in Zeboyd's resume as a first RPG outing, and it would be churlish of me to expect more from something I essentially got for a dollar. However, on further thought, I actually wish that this game switched places with Cthulhu Saves the World - CSTW's silly premise would have worked better as a test-drive, and Breath of Death would actually have made a better fully-fleshed-out game! It has a far more interesting setting, with vampires, zombies, and ghosts becoming the dominant species on Earth following cataclysmic nuclear war; a setting that is more or less wasted given the near-total absence of any kind of worldbuilding or anything, really, to differentiate this postapocalyptic undead society from any other medieval game. There is even a decent late-game twist that ties directly into the setting, that could have been played for drama and poignancy had the writing actually been more than an excuse-plot with one-note humor.
It's a very decent game for what it is and led to far bigger and better successes for its dev team... but if any of them are reading this, I think a remake would kick all kinds of ass! The setting deserves better.