Breath of Fire IV

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Determine what, if any, of this content is left in the newly re-released PC version. Is the stuff cut for the English release still in if the language is set to Japanese?

Breath of Fire IV is the fourth and final entry to the standard Breath of Fire series. It features many of the same gameplay elements from the third game, but improves them all drastically. The tone of the game changed significantly as well, going from the bright, colorful, optimistic tone of its predecessor to a much darker, more "muted" setting.

Unused Items#

• Stout Mail - There are strangely two items by this name. The first is a normally-accessible piece of armor for Ershin with no special properties, while the other is much weaker (only 17 defense), can be used by Ryu/Cray/Scias/Ursula, and apparently has the same effect as the Midas Armor (turns damage received into Zenny). It's listed right after the aforementioned Midas Armor in the game's data, which may explain the description/effect, but it's unknown quite what this armor is.
• Pole - A generically-named two-hit weapon for Cray with 66 attack power, making it a fair bit stronger than the Flail. This would have been only his second two-hit weapon, and would have been quite useful. Shame it was left out.
• Draught + - Raises all stats until your next rest, presumably by a greater amount than Draught.
• Lottery Stub - A mysterious item that can't be used or sold. Its description states "Get the numbers in sequence to win!", this got unused in the US and European Versions of the Game. In the Japanese release it was possible to play Lottery in a special Shop called "Dengeki Store", if you use a prepatched savefile (See the Regional Differences Section for more Infos).

Unused Abilities#

Mjollnir#

This spell isn't strictly "unused", as the Dragonne boss in the final dungeon is capable of using it. However, it was supposed to be player-usable, as well... but due to some questionable design, it simply can't be done.

By casting spells of differing elements in a sequence, it's possible to create "combo" magic, and including the powerful "dragon magic" usable by Ryu and Fou-Lu's various dragon forms in these combos ultimately leads to some of the game's strongest magic. The problem is, Mjollnir's combo is Wind Magic + Water Magic + dragon magic Pa Bing'ah...and the only one who can use Pa Bing'ah is Fou-Lu, who never joins the main team and never gets any allies. As a result, it's impossible to call upon the game's strongest Wind/Water spell without hacking.

Unused Areas#

Noritake's Town#

Noritake's Town is an unused area in the game. It is not clear what the purpose of this area is. The AREA file for this area is AREAM019.EMI.

The text in this area was left untranslated from Japanese. Most NPCs say 「かいわ」 (Japanese for "conversation") when interacting with them. Two NPCs say 「のりたけさんのまち」 (Japanese for "Noritake's Town"), which is presumably the name of the area (the only Noritake in the credits is Yukiko Noritake as "special thanks", who was credited for "Map Texture Design" in the previous game). An NPC has the same line as Gyosil, but interacting with the options he prompts you doesn't do anything.

Two Rhoppes can be found next to a house. One sells items, including the King's Sword. Another doesn't do anything. Manillo trading can be done with one of the Manillo NPCs.

Unused Text#

Cliffs#

Nina: Are you afraid of heights? I'm a Wyndian--we love high places.

Kyoin#

The message from the E3 demo remains in the final game.

This demo has been prepared
especially for E3.      
The object of the game is
explore the Imperial    
Causeway and defeat the
officer on the top floor.  
We hope you enjoy this
glimpse into the world of
BREATH OF FIRE .

Unused Graphics#

A lot of development-related graphics were left behind in the textures of the final game.

Regional Differences#

Translation#

The English localization of Breath of Fire IV made several changes, such as textual references to one of the party members being a lush, the removal of some suggestive themes, and even edits to some cutscenes. Additionally, another change has many of the spell names being inspired by traditional Korean language.

Identify#

Japan	International (Hacked)

In the Japanese version, Scias can learn the spell Identify, (returning from Breath of Fire III') which displays an enemy's HP, weaknesses and a short info blurb. Even though the spell was partially translated, it was ultimately cut from the international versions. Hacking the spell back into the international versions causes some of the English text to glitch, possibly due to the fact that the enemy attributes use more characters in English, as opposed to a single kanji in Japanese.

Censored Cutscenes#

There are four cutscenes that were censored in the international versions. The first two scenes are still present, but the cutscene scripting was altered to remove character animations and emote bubble, and the translation was altered to remove any sexual themes.

• Ryu comically gropes Ursula's breast by accident during a conversation. The international versions keep the hand motion, but the character reactions are removed, resulting in it looking like a normal hand raising gesture.
• Ursula drops her pants to prove her womanhood to some skeptical sailors. The animation is removed in the international versions.
• Next, a major cutscene in the royal palace, where Emperor Soniel attempts (and fails) to attack Fou-Lu. The dialogue at the end of the scene implies that Fou-Lu will kill him right there and then. The international versions cut the scene short at the point, fading to black. The rest of the scene in the Japanese version depicts a decapitation (obscured in a silhouette), and then Fou-Lu resting on the throne in front of Soniel's corpse, all of which is witnessed by Yuna.
• Finally, a scene involving Nina and Ursula at Saldine Island where they bathe in a creek while Ryu stands guard nearby and tries to take a peek was removed entirely. Portraits for this scene of Nina and Ursula where they are naked from the neckline down remain in the international versions' files.

Dengeki PlayStation ?-Location#

In the Japanese version, there is a unique ?-Location that can be visited under specific conditions, which is found west from Mt. Glom via the southern path. It is a Special Store that has a lottery, a Rusted Sword that is free to take, and a small shop. It was a collaboration with Dengeki PlayStation magazine, and can be unlocked by patching a save file using the disc that was distributed with volume 147 of the magazine.

This goes unused in the international version, though the items are translated, and the files needed to access the map are intact. However, the graphics and associated text are not translated, and attempting to hack it back into the international versions causes the lines to display with a garbled English text.