GOG has announced a fresh wave of additions to its Preservation Program, including Capcom’s classic RPG Breath of Fire 4, which returns to PC after an absence of over 20 years.
Breath of Fire 4, if you’re currently drawing a blank, follows the adventures of a young man named Ryu (who usefully has the power to transform into dragons) as he attempts to stop an immortal emperor from destroying the world. The game is celebrating its quarter-century anniversary this year – having originally launched for PlayStation in Japan and the US back in 2000 – and GOG is marking the occasion by bringing it to PC for the first time since 2003.
GOG’s Preservation Program is intended to provide “the best [versions of classic games] you can buy on any PC platform”, and each features a range of enhancements intended to “guarantee convenience and compatibility with modern systems”. In Breath of Fire 4’s case, GOG is promising Windows 10 and 11 compatibility, “improved graphics powered by an upgraded DirectX renderer”, as well as new display options including anti-aliasing, V-sync, windowed mode, and “refined” gamma correction.
Missing environmental sounds are also said to have been restored and new configuration options have been added as part of an audio engine upgrade, and players can choose between either English or Japanese localisations. And if that sounds like something you might be interested in, Breath of Fire 4 is available to purchase on GOG right now for £8.99.
And it doesn’t stop there. GOG has released a further nine titles as part of its Preservation Program, including Gremlin Interactive’s stupendously weird 1996 haunted house mystery adventure Realms of the Haunting – a sort of first-person shooter/point-and-click/FMV adventure hybrid, which pretty much consumed me back in the day. It’s now gained the likes of cloud support, custom key mapping, and the ability to play either the US or UK version.
Breath of Fire 4 and Realms of the Haunting arrive alongside upgrades for Ultima Underworld 1+2, Ultima 9: Ascension, Worlds of Ultima : The Savage Empire, Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams, Worms: Armageddon, Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood, Stonekeep, and cult classic point-and-click FMV adventure Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon.
GOG announced its Preservation Program last November, when 100 games were part of the line-up. That list has continued to expand since then with a regular influx of new additions – including Monolith Production’s much-loved horror shooter FEAR, which was added to “honour [the studio’s] legacy” in February, following Monolith’s shock closure.