TITLE: Breath of Death VII: The Beginning
PLATFORM: XBox Live Indie Games
DEVELOPER: Rainbow Despair
PUBLISHER: Zeboyd Entertainment
ESRB: Unrated
RELEASED: April 2010

By Justin Polak
Co-Founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

I immediately knew that I was in for a treat when the title of the game made me laugh.  Breath of Death VII: The Beginning is a parody of, and a tribute to old fashioned RPGs developed by Rainbow Despair. These guys have done their homework when it comes to recreating the atmosphere of classics like Dragon Quest.

You could make a drinking game out of the first half hour of BoDVII and you’d end up wasted beyond all belief. BoDVII does more than reference RPGs and old school titles. You’ll find just about everything packed in this title. The first boss makes a classic Castlevania reference while a normal NPC (non player character) alludes to Mass Effect. It’s a game in itself to see if you can catch all the references.

I also enjoyed the intentionally hilarious character and RPG stereotypes. The dialogue that accompanies those elements had me laugh out loud quite a few times. There are points where BoDVII not only breaks the fourth wall, but has no qualms with outright mocking it. One of my favorite conversations is when one of the player characters pretty much tells you where to go next because that’s what the game itself wants you to do.

Image from Zeboyd.com.

But don’t think that this game is just homage to days gone by. The battle system created is simple, but very fun to tinker with. Enemies get stronger after each round, but the player can build up a combo multiplier at the same time. Use the right attack and you’ll end up devastating a foe in no time. There are also abilities that allow two or more characters to unite to form even more powerful attacks, if executed at the right moment. I found that the system eliminated the need to level grind, which is a problem that plagued games from the era BoDVII is trying to emulate.

BoDVII also looks the part, as the graphics are somewhere between a good looking NES title and average looking Genesis game. Characters even walk in place when they aren’t moving!  Seeing character portraits, Phantasy Star-like cut scenes, a black battle background, quirky locals, pallete swapped enemies, and many more key elements almost made me feel like a kid again while experiencing this game.

I would also love to shake the hand of the music composer. Despite the professional sounding nature of the soundtrack (i.e. it doesn’t sound like a Nintendo game), I still felt like I was listening to video game music created twenty years ago. I have the opening track stuck in my head as I write this!

The only real downside is that the adventure is only four to six hours long. You can stretch it out a little longer if you take your time and explore a couple of small optional areas. I realize that an independent game studio developed the game, and that they don’t have millions of dollars backing their projects, but I was still left with wanting more. However, the game will only cost you a dollar, so you definitely get your money’s worth.

Any old school RPG fan will appreciate this title. If you own an Xbox 360 and have a dollar to spare, I definitely recommend you check this out.

For more information, visit Zeboyd’s website here or buy it here.

RATING: 8/10