Save files are a feature in the Breath of Fire series to allow players to resume from a point in the game after the beginning when rebooting the game. The available methods of creating save files are different depending on the game. Generally, there are three save file slots available, which allows multiple players to play the game with the same storage medium without having to interfere with the progress of another player, and also allows a player to create a second save before taking on an event deemed risky.
Mechanics
In Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire II on both the Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom and Game Boy Advance systems, the game is saved to a chip installed on the Game Pak cartridge. The SNES versions of the games rely on RAM constantly powered by an internal battery to save the game. These batteries will eventually run dry, after which the existing save files are deleted and it becomes impossible to save the game until the batteries are replaced. The Game Boy Advance versions of the games save game progress on an EEPROM chip which does not require a battery to continue to store data. In both games, a maximum of three save files can be stored on the Game Pak. These saves can be copied to other slots or even deleted manually by a player.
In Breath of Fire III and Breath of Fire IV for the PlayStation, and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter for the PlayStation 2 console, save files are instead saved on to memory cards. Breath of Fire III and Breath of Fire IV on PlayStation require one block on a memory card in order to allow the player to save. In both games, the player can save to one of three slots on the save file, and can choose which memory card slot to save the game to. It is not possible to create multiple blocks worth of save files in either game.
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter saving the game requires 240 kilobytes of space on the inserted memory card.
Breath of Fire III on PlayStation Portable will save to the inserted Memory Stick Duo storage medium. Three save slots are available. 192 KB of free space on the Memory Stick is required to save the game.
Due to a bug in how the game calculates the remaining amount of free space on the Memory Stick, if the Memory Stick has more than 2 GB of free space, the game may incorrectly claim that the Memory Stick has insufficient space to save the game and prevent the game from being saved. More specifically, if the amount of free space on the Memory Stick modulo 4 GB is greater than 2 GB, the game will claim that it has insufficient space to save the game. For example, a Memory Stick with 46 or 47 GB of free space will trigger this bug, but a Memory Stick with 48 or 49 GB of free space will not trigger the bug. It is possible to work around this bug by deleting files on or copying files to the Memory Stick until the amount of free space on the Memory Stick modulo 4 GB is less than 2 GB, which will cause the bug to not be triggered.
Copying saves
It is possible to copy save files from one slot to another in Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire II. This is required to make a second save of the same playthrough, as the player is not prompted to select a slot to save to when saving the game normally.
Deleting saves
Save files can be deleted at any time by the player. On the main menu of Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire II there is an option to delete saves.
Saving the game
In Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire II, the game can be saved in a Dragon Shrine by talking to the dragon statue in the middle of the Shrine. This records all progress up to that point.
In Breath of Fire III, the game can be saved by inspecting journals in various locations such as Ryu's home, or by talking to an inn manager. This records all progress up to that point as in the previous games. Unlike prior games, the save slot is chosen by the player when saving the game, instead of the game only saving to the slot selected when continuing the game.
In Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, the game can be saved at the Telecorder using Save Tokens, which are in a limited supply. When a game is saved using a Save Token the save is not deleted, and the save can be reloaded when the game is started.