Breather Level: Difference between revisions

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** ''[[Sonic CD]]'' has Stardust Speedway Zone, which is the penultimate level of the game, but tosses few enemies at you, the Acts are relatively short, and it is basically a level to let Sonic "roll around at the speed of sound". Then it caps it all off with the one of the most memorable sequences in ''Sonic'' history, {{spoiler|the race to Amy between Sonic and his metal doppelganger.}}

*** Quartz Quadrant, the fourth level, is mostly straightforward and short. It comes between the [[Underwater Ruins]] and the level where the floor bounces you high into the air while you try to jump on platforms.

** ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 4]]'' has the 2nd act of Casino Street Zone (console only). House of Cards is full of extra lives. It is not unusual to get 10 or more in a single run.

*** The Ipod version is also simple as it's just a pinball machine in which you need to get points to complete the level with no actual way to die.

** The main courses for Rooftop Run in ''[[Sonic Generations]]'' are explicitly noted to be "a quick breather" in the associated achievement. The Modern Sonic level in particular is much easier than [[Lethal Lava Land|the]] [[Eternal Engine|levels]] it's sandwiched between.

* ''[[Silent Hill 2]]'' finishes with the Lakeview Hotel as its final area. Though it ends with two moderately difficult boss encounters, the Hotel itself is bright and sparsely-populated with monsters. The areas immediately preceding it, the Prison and Catacombs, are full of monsters, difficult puzzles, violations of space-time, and are definitely the most frightening and depressing locations in the game.

* The final area of ''[[Metroid]] Zero Mission'' is the Space Pirate Frigate. You start off without your Power Suit and must avoid enemies, as you cannot kill them. It is the most intense, difficult part of the entire game, until, halfway through, you reacquire your Power Suit with its full upgrades, after which you are practically unstoppable. The second half of the Space Pirate Frigate is a breather level for the first half.

* The enemy-less chapter "Black Mesa East" in ''[[Half-Life]] 2'' comes right after you've fought your way through lengthy canals and down a river, with intense fighting the whole way.

** This is also the chapter where you get a gravity gun.

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** Valve games do this on purpose and this is discussed in the [[DVD Commentary|commentary]] tracks in the subsequent episodes. After the player has just made it through one of the game's larger action sequences, they will typically come up against a complex jumping or physics puzzle as a change of pace. This is to prevent the player becoming fatigued. Valve optimise their games endlessly through playtesting before release to find places where the player was getting tired and giving them a different challenge.

*** Quite literally endlessly, if Half-Life 2 Episode 3 is anything to go by.

* The second game in the ''[[Shenmue]]'' series has a breather DISC. After storming the enemy hideout and facing a boss with incredible HP and who is completely immune to throws (possibly your bread and butter move for eliminating tough enemies at this point), the game finishes on a disc that is primarily a happy walk through the countryside with a cute girl.

* In ''[[Advance Wars]] 2'', the penultimate campaign level Hot Pursuit is typically regarded as a breather level between Great Sea Battle (where [[The Dragon]] is confronted) and Final Front (the final showdown with the [[Big Bad]]). Other, similar levels exist throughout the series. In this case, it is revealed that the level is intentionally easier {{spoiler|as bait for the Big Bad's trap}}. In hard campaign however, Hot Pursuit is generally considered the hardest level in the game (along with Show Stopper, Sinking Feeling and Great Sea Battle).

** ''Days of Ruin'' has Crash Landing, a straight forward battle that is opened and closed by the [[Unusual Euphemism|Unusual Euphemisms]] and antics (such as being the only one to care about the [[Magic Countdown|altimeter]]) of an unamed IDS agent.

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* Pandora's Temple in the first ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' alternates between "maddeningly difficult" and "relaxingly easy"; the former describes most of the area's obstacle runs, the latter, most of the puzzles.

* ''[[Super Mario Bros 3]]'' has World 4, [[Macro Zone|Big Island]]. Coming between [[Under the Sea|World 3]] and [[Bubbly Clouds|World 5]], it has noticeably fewer levels than the worlds that bookend it, pits you against comically oversized versions of the standard Mario enemies (no harder to kill than the standard ones), and along the way gives you two P-Wings and a Jugem's Cloud. In addition, the World 4 airship is one of the easiest in the game (as well as the only one to feature ''two'' power-ups).

** The World's boss, Iggy Koopa, is also noticeably easier than the one before or after. Wendy O. Koopa of World 3 is [[That One Boss]], with deadly candy rings that continue to bounce around the screen instead of vanishing. Roy Koopa of World 5 is [[The Big Guy]] and can make the whole screen shake when he jumps (stunning Mario). Iggy's gimmick? He fires his wand twice. That's it.

* In ''[[Super Mario RPG]]: Legend of the Seven Stars'', the fourth [[Plot Coupon|Star Piece]] is on Star Hill, a very short dungeon with weak enemies and no platforming or puzzles. This is sandwiched in between a very long and involved side plot in which Mario rescues the Princess from Booster, and the Sunken Ship, arguably the toughest dungeon in the game.

** Not to mention it's the only star you get without even fighting a boss for it. In fact, the most tense moment is when you get scolded by Mallow for eavesdropping on people's - that is to say, his - wishes (which are scattered around the dungeon in the form of little stars).

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* Chapter 6 of ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'', with its bright and colourful scenery, pretty music and reasonably easy enemies. (Well, with the exception of [[Demonic Spiders|Wyverns and Scalebeasts]], though you're explicitly warned to avoid the latter.) It comes after Chapter 5, which was a bit of a difficulty spike (not helped by being forced to lead with [[Squishy Wizard|Hope]]) and ended with a disgustingly hard [[That One Boss]], and before Palumpolum, which is longer than both chapters 5 and 6 ''combined'', has random enemies very capable of killing you if you aren't careful and ends with you fighting {{spoiler|a freaking airship.}}

** Likewise, Chapter 10 could be considered one, it's pretty short, and only {{spoiler|the fight with Cid Raimes midway through}} is likely to give you trouble. It comes between the [[Disk One Final Boss]] and [[Quicksand Box|Gran]] [[Beef Gate|Pulse]].

* ''[[Galaga]]'': The "[[Bonus Stage|Challenging Stages]]" of the arcade classic feature non-firing aliens. Also, the sixth and certain other regular stages are just like the first level, with the enemy swarms simply flying into formation at the beginning of the stage (without extras trying to crash into the ship) and not firing upon the player until after all the formations are set.

* ''[[Kirby Mass Attack]]'' has World 3, Dedede Island, whose levels are practically just minigames that literally give away fruit to hog.

* Block 5 of ''[[Super Castlevania IV]]'' certainly qualifies. It's only two parts, short, and there's not even a boss. It's quite welcome after Block 4 which involves facing a series of rotating-blocks that send Simon to his death if he doesn't quickly jump across them and confronting the [[Sub Boss]] [[Sdrawkcab Name|Puwexil]]. Followed by a rotating room with spikes and [[Goddamn Bats|Medusa heads]]. The third part of the stage involves outmaneuvering a falling floor. The last part consists of avoiding blocks that try to crush him against [[Descending Ceiling|more spikes]], and finally facing the [[Boss Battle|stage boss]] [[Meaningful Name|Koranot]].

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* Episode 12 of ''[[Elite Beat Agents]]'' (set to [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]]'s "You're the Inspiration") is as close to a breather level as they get in the game. It's much easier than the previous stages, but it's also {{spoiler|a HUGE [[Tear Jerker]].}}

* ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'', of all games, has one: [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon|The Castle of The Guy]] is, if not easy, at least fair (by IWTBTG standards). Then comes '''The Guy'''.

* ''[[Tetris the Grand Master]]'' has your drop speed decrease once you clear level 200, but from that point onwards, your speed will increase all the way to what ''Tetris'' fans call 20G--that is, blocks will fall 20 lines per 1/60th of a second--that is, they hit the bottom of the stack ''instantly''.

* ''[[Mother 3]]'': Following a decidingly irritating dungeon and boss in chapter 5, chapter 6 is just one long [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] for which all you need to do is hold left. Then comes chapter 7, the longest in the game.

* ''[[Parasite Eve]]'' has one. In day 2, you spend most of the day in Central Park, which is a huge "dungeon" with save points pretty spread apart. In the start of day 3, you're in Soho where you get to stock up on guns, armor, ammo, tools for tune ups, stat boosting items, curing items, and recovery items (although some of the really good stuff [[Pixel Hunt|are practically invisible]]). You then go the museum to advance the plot. Why such a generous break? The NYPD precint is under attack by Eve's minions after you come back to from the museum. The monsters have beefed up considerably (and you'll be dealing with monsters that can either lower your defense or cut your HP in half per hit) compared to the monsters you fought in day 2 at Central Park, due to being in a small building.

* In the second Subspace Bomb Factory stage in ''[[Super Smash Bros]]. Brawl'', you'll eventually find yourself in a small room that consists of nothing but three Heart Containers and a long drop of an exit. This says nothing about the fact that the area is sandwiched between an autoscrolling area filled with hazards and enemies, and a boss fight with a timer. Of course, when you first play through this level, the Heart Containers would be redundant, since the area will be immediately followed by a movie introducing the boss, and you will have to choose a new lineup of characters, and when that happens, your health completely refills anyway.

* In the second Subspace Bomb Factory stage in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]. Brawl'', you'll eventually find yourself in a small room that consists of nothing but three Heart Containers and a long drop of an exit. This says nothing about the fact that the area is sandwiched between an autoscrolling area filled with hazards and enemies, and a boss fight with a timer. Of course, when you first play through this level, the Heart Containers would be redundant, since the area will be immediately followed by a movie introducing the boss, and you will have to choose a new lineup of characters, and when that happens, your health completely refills anyway.

** In the second portion of The Swamp, after [[That One Boss|beating Giant Diddy Kong]] is somewhat of a breather. Even [[Crowning Music of Awesome|the music from Yoshi's Island]] that is played in that level seems to suggest it.

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' has two "chapters", Tanker and Plant. They can be played separately, but when playing the game straight through the first few objectives of the Plant chapter function as a breather level--they're essentially tutorials on controller functions which the player has already been using throughout the Tanker chapter.

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*** Cue [[Crowning Music of Awesome]] and [[That One Boss]].

* The first [[Prince of Persia]] game has two, Levels 9 and 11. The even-numbered levels are far harder.

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' - First game has Dantooine, second game has Citadel Station. In the first case, you spent a lot of the timeat the Enclave first. When leave the Enclave, you've leveled up enough to take on most of the local wildlife without much trouble. In the second game, Citadel has VERY minimal combat until you cross the Exchange.

** Furthermore, Dantooine is a beautiful environment; all grasslands and rivers, set to a permanent sunset. Compare with Taris, which was all dilapidated Durasteel from the Upper City down, and generally a festering pit of corruption and hatred. Bastilla even invokes this trope, calling Dantooine a place of "physical and spiritual healing".

* In ''[[Serious Sam]] - The First Encounter'', Sewers is one of the examples. It's fairly short level with relatively few enemies.

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* Lampshaded in ''[[Hydorah]]''. The level description for the third level is "Upgrade your weapons."

* ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]]'' has a [[Disc One Final Dungeon|climactic battle]] in which both Maier and Julia are fought for the final time and {{spoiler|Sanger}} is also fought, and like most such levels, the following cutscene has a major [[The Reveal|reveal]]. Then the following level is...a rush of enemies that most of your units can probably one-shot.

* In just about every ''[[Pokémon]]'' game, the seventh gym leader is a bit of a cake walk compared the main story [[Big Bad]], the eighth gym leader, and then the Elite 4. The only notable exception is [[Dual Boss|Tate and Liza]] in ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire|Emerald]]'', who are probably the single most difficult battle in the game on an unsuspecting player, especially if they played ''Ruby'' or ''Sapphire'' and [[Took a Level In Badass|thought they'd be an easy battle]].

** ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'' may also buck the trend; while Candice herself is a [[Breather Boss]], you have to go through her Gym to get to her, and needless to say it's [[That One Puzzle]]...

** Subverted in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'', where the fifth, sixth and seventh gym leaders can be battled in any order.

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* ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'': In the final required story mode, Shade Impulse, chapter three is, for a normally-leveled character equipped with the best available (which isn't much, beating Shade Impulse unlocks the courses where you can get trade goods for the passable-to-good stuff), absolutely ''brutal''. Then once the player scrapes through that, the short final chapter four is a breeze, with straightforward board/level designs and very easy-to-dispatch enemies. ...Of course, the [[Final Boss]] at the end of chapter four is a textbook [[SNK Boss]], but you can't win them all.

* The Mountain realm in ''[[Gauntlet (1985 video game)]]: Dark Legacy'', but there's a reason for it: Dark Legacy is more or less an [[Updated Rerelease|expanded re-release]] of ''Gauntlet Legends'', with more characters and extra worlds added on to the beginning and end of the game. The Mountain realm was the first world in ''Legends'' and got bumped up to world 2 to make way for the new Town realm, but little else about it was unchanged; hence why it has some of the shortest and breeziest levels, and the easiest boss, in the game.

* In the last level of ''[[Supreme Commander]]: Forged Alliance'', after getting a defence that can overcome the Tech 2 raids, you can basically build tons of experimental units from all 3 playable factions (plus the Serraphim themselves if you capture an engineer or factory) and buildings before finishing the first objective. Once you've got enough, you can wipe everything off the map each time it expands with them, most notably with the T3 aeon rapid-fire artillery and the experimental UED artillery (which can both bombard anything on the entire map).

* ''[[Starcraft II]]'' has a few breather levels:

** The mission "The Devil's Playground" is a joke even on Brutal difficulty; you can collect the required 8000 minerals and simply build troops to defend your base from light Zerg offenses, or you can go and trump the enemy's buildings, only to find adversity within the last base, which contains a Brood Lord and an Infestor as well as standard defenses. In fact, at that point you can collect the minerals and keep your units near the last base so you can fend off the attacks easily.