Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
PlayStation 1 game Breath of Fire 4 was released in 2000 and ported to Windows PCs in 2003. The GOG Preservation Program’s team have recently added the game to its online store, where it has been made compatible for Windows 10 and 11.
23,038 retro gamers voted for this game’s place on the GOG Preservation Program.
What is Breath of Fire 4?
The CAPCOM title is a role-playing game, with a synopsis that neatly sets the scene:
In a far-away world, two continents float, separated by a vast swamp-land. For eons, no contact existed between the two continents because ships couldn’t sail across the expanse. At last, when the historic first contact was made between the two powers, war erupted!
After long and costly fighting between the Fou Empire in the west and an alliance of countries in the east, both sides exhausted all their strength and resources. With no other alternative, the two powers agreed to an armistice.
One year later, Princess Elina vanished. She had been traveling in the east from town to town, exploring battlegrounds and visiting war veterans. Her trail vanished in a small town near the front line. Nobody knew her whereabouts!
The Eastern Alliance wanted to avoid sending a large army to the front. Such a move would be a political blunder, breaking the armistice and stirring up hostilities. It became impossible to carry out a large-scale search for Elina. Time passed… with no sign of the princess.
Elina’s sister, Princess Nina, finally makes up her mind. She leaves on a journey in search of her sister – by herself.
While it can be played with a controller, keyboard and mouse support is also included with Breath of Fire 4.
Now it is compatible with your PC and Steam Deck
Breath of Fire IV was considered lost due to a lack of compatibility with modern operating systems. Many titles from the Windows XP era have been left unplayable due to DRM and DirectX issues. These latter problems may be down to graphics or sound, whereas DRM might be related to the lack of an optical drive. If you have an old PC, you should be able to play the original titles from the discs, but most of us don’t have a huge collection of games.
The GOG Preservation revives forgotten and lost classics — I think it is pretty awesome, and I’m not alone.
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Both English and Japanese localizations are included in this updated version, along with controller support (Sony DualSense, Sony DualShock4, Microsoft Xbox Series, Microsoft Xbox One, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, Logitech F series, DualSense Edge, Amazon Luna, Google Stadia, and NVIDIA Shield.
As well as running on current Windows PCs, Breath of FIre IV also runs on Steam Deck via the Heroic Games Launcher.
Don’t forget, you can submit suggestions or add your support to games in the GOG Preservation Program.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
