Breath of Fire 6

Capcom is finally giving a little nod to its classic RPG series Breath of Fire by announcing a new game in the franchise and bringing another to the Wii U Virtual Console. It's been eleven years since fans have played a new game in the Breath of Fire line, and you'd think they would be shrieking with joy. Well, not exactly.

Breath of Fire 6 is breaking away from the classic formula that firmly established the earlier games as a major player on the JRPG scene and will instead be a social RPG. Capcom announced that the game will be coming to PCs, tablets, and mobile devices. Early artwork shows a game far removed from the classic style, looking more like a Maple Story rip-off.

It joins a long list of other games coming through Capcom's new social gaming focused divsion including Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, and another long awaited entry in the Onimusha series. It seems the fate of Capcom's beloved and forgotten franchises has been left for the social gaming hounds to tear apart for a quick freemium cash grab.

Capcom also could not confirm a North American or European release for the games either. I'd like to say that this is better than nothing, but I can't bring myself to do so. I guess Capcom didn't learn after the Rockman Xover fiasco, and instead decided to turn its new direction up to eleven and alienate even more fans.

The sting was slightly alleviated with Capcom announcing Breath of Fire II for the Wii U Virtual Console. Capcom Unity confirmed the game would be released in the coming months. Fans often put the game at the top of the pile in the series, and I'll agree that it is an excellent entry. I prefer the rebalanced Game Boy Advance version, though.