Breath of Fire II: A tale of a corrupt religion and an ancient dragon clan

The second entry in Capcom's Breath of Fire series was originally released in 1994 in Japan, with an official North American localization following in 1995. Capcom is indisputably better known for franchises such as Resident Evil and Street Fighter. Personally, I'm a much bigger fan of some of their other offerings, like Ace Attorney, Mega Man, and of course, Breath of Fire. I've completed three of the five main series Breath of Fire titles, so I feel I have a decent grasp on the series as a whole. Of course, I've only just recently completed Breath of Fire II, some 10 years after its original release. I can't say it's changed my opinion on which Breath of Fire title is best (that honor still belongs to Breath of Fire IV), but I'm glad I've played it, and I'd love to finally finish Breath of Fire III and possibly even Dragon Quarter in 2015.

Although Breath of Fire II is generally considered a serviceable SNES RPG, the North American localization is nonetheless infamous for its poor quality, particularly where the game's dialogue is concerned. The script's many errors resulted in a plot that is confusing and difficult to follow. Fortunately, the fine folks at Watercrown Productions took it upon themselves to remedy this problem and craft an updated translation for the game's script, vastly improving on what was the original title's worst flaw. I've played the original North American release but never finished it--so when I heard a fan translation was available, I decided to give the game another shot. I feel safe in saying it's an infinitely superior version but it is not enough to completely salvage a game that is not without a number of flaws.

Like the first entry in the series, Breath of Fire II features a blue-haired swordsman protagonist by the name of Ryu, a winged humanoid woman named Nina, as well as a certain secret character only intrepid adventurers will discover. Despite sharing their names, these are not the same Ryu and Nina from the first game, as some 500 years have passed in the interim. The series continues this tradition of featuring characters named Ryu and Nina with character designs that are similar but different in important ways. Breath of Fire II's Nina, for instance, features striking black wings, in sharp contrast to the lily-white wings of her predecessor.

The game opens by placing the player of control of a young Ryu, who lives in the town of Gate with his father Ganer, a priest of the Lord Eva and sister, Yua. After visiting the slumbering dragon perched over the opening of a nearby cave, Ryu returns to Gate to find that his family is missing and none of the town's inhabitants have the slighest clue who he is. Ryu seeks help from the mysterious Father Habalk, who has evidently been the acting pastor for many years and it is there he meets Bosch, first of many anthropomorphic animal companions (this one a portly dog man) that Ryu will recruit in his journey. The mischievous Bosch convinces Ryu to escape town during the night so they could live in the big city, but in doing so, they encounter an ancient and powerful demon in the nearby cave. The demon calls Ryu the "destined child." Ten years later, Ryu and Bosch are close friends and are employed as rangers--individuals who are hired for various mundane tasks--in the town of Newhaven.

Ryu travels the world and recruits a variety of party members, including Nina, a burly armadillo/pangolin man by the name of Rand; Lin, a feline girl; Tapeta, a frog prince; Sten, an agile monkey fighter; and Spar, a genderless Grassman. A certain immortal half snake sorceress returning from Breath of Fire is also an optional recruit. What I think is refreshing about this cast of characters is that they are all relevant in some way to the plot of the game. Each will undergo trials at various points that serve to further flesh out their personalities and backstories. In many RPGs, party members are forgotten as the storyline progresses. This occurs to much less of an extent in Breath of Fire II as each character receives their fair share of screen time--when recruited and also generally at a later stage of the game.

Nina's black wings, her status as a descendant of the "original" Nina, and her relationship with her sister Mina are all important plot points. Lin is initially just an opponent in a gladiatorial bout early in the game, but her budding feelings for Ryu and meeting with a man from her tribe by the name of Tiga later in the game also result in forward momentum for the plot. Tapeta, although unforgivably useless in combat, is central to many scenes regarding Fort Nageur, the home of the frog race to which he belongs--including the emergence of an impostor to his position as prince. During the course of the game the hometowns of both Sten and Rand will be visited. Sten will find himself undergoing a solo mission and coming into conflict with his old friend Turvoe and the sinister force now taking control of his people. Rand puts his mother in a dangerous position and must live with the consequences.

Underpinning the events of the plot is the sinister Church of Eva, a religion for which Ryu's father Ganer was a priest. As the game progresses, the party will discover the true purpose of the religion and its true leader, at which point the game is beginning to draw to a close--in the sprawling Abyss Tower. I've played many RPGs in my day that feature corrupt religions and this one strikes me as not very different in that regard.

Although the fan translation gave me an excuse to revisit Breath of Fire II, what really made me want to give the game another try was the game's combat system. I had fond memories of the shaman fusion system and really wanted to get more in depth with that. However, the combat is a bit of a mixed bag. For the most part, it's very standard turn-based fare. Your party members all have different strengths and weaknesses and are not interchangeable in any way. I really enjoy when RPGs field a cast of characters that feature unique strengths and weaknesses so that each character is useful in one way or another--without eclipsing the usefuless of another. Breath of Fire II succeeds in this in some ways, but not so much in others. In my experience, Tapeta has been close to useless, with his only real redeeming quality being his ability to cast the vaunted Warp spell, an ability that allows the party to teleport to previously visited towns. This is the only reason I ever dragged Tapeta along, unless I needed him for certain plot events. Even still, Spar learns this spell as well, while learning a few utility and healing spells in addition to that.

In most cases, though, each party member has something helpful he or she can bring to the team. Ryu is a strong all around figher and has the most powerful spells in the game--although they take all of his AP to cast. Lin is probably the strongest offensively and is blisteringly fast--but of course she's about as durable as a paper bag and doesn't have enough AP to cast any of her spells for the majority of the game. Conversely, Rand can take a lot of hits and learns some very useful healing magic, but will very rarely cast his spells before the enemy has a chance to strike. Sten is about as fast as Lin and is only decent offensively, but he has the ability to cast more spells than Lin. Bosch is the party's best healer and is reasonably strong offensively. Spar is likely the party's weakest healer, but unlocks a shaman fusion relatively early in the game that dramatically increases AP pool. Tapeta is slow, weak offensively, and casts few useful spells. I could never figure out a reason to actually use him if not forced.

Of course, the shaman fusion system was what I found to be most interesting about Breath of Fire II's combat. Throughout the game Ryu will meet with shamans associated with different elements such as fire, water, light, and darkness. Each party member will be compatible with two out of six different shaman and feature anywhere from 1 to 3 fusions when linked with these shamans. If the correct combinations are discovered, party members can be transformed in really interesting ways. Sten can become a floating djinni, for instance, and Bosch can become a bulky combat mech. These fusions augment stats and increase abilities in different ways. The system adds a satisfying element to the game's combat--more on this later.

Outside of combat, characters also have additional utility. Some special abilities can be performed on the world map or even in dungeons. Lin can break through certain obstacles with her staff. Tapeta and Rand can assume alternate forms that make travel faster and easier. Sten can make use of his agility to cross certain gaps. These further reinforce the importance of each individual party member. No one is ever irrelevant.

While adventuring all over the world, the player is also tasked with maintaining a small town and recruiting tenants for its vacant buildings. This is not only a pleasant diversion and barometer of progress throughout the game, but an excellent way to acquire various difficult to acquire items. One of three architects can be recruited to build the town, which influences the type of tenants that will reside in the town. It is up to the player to decide which six other tenants will take up residence there. Other diversions include fishing and hunting, which are both good sources of income early in the game. Fishing in particular is the only way to acquire some of Ryu's strongest items.

Breath of Fire II features a fair share of dungeon crawling, most of which is unremarakble. Occasionally a party member's power will be required to advance, but seldom are these puzzles too challenging to complete. Frustratingly, the random encounter rate is frequently a tad too high. Additionally, the handful of solo missions certain members of your party must undertake can be quite difficult, since you're given no warning about them beforehand. If these party members are underleveled, random encounters in these sections of the game are particularly challenging.

For the most part, these complaints are minor. However, Capcom decided to up the ante in the game's final dungeon, the Abyss Tower. Featuring dozens of floors and circuitous passageways, Abyss Tower also has an absolutely ludicrous random encounter rate. I have seldom dealt with a dungeon more tedious. Compounding my frustration is the fact that once you've made your way down the interminable length of that dungeon, you'll find there's no reprieve. It's not possible to warp out and renew your party's shaman forms and then return. If you've lost your shaman forms by that point, you'll have to do without them. Only a couple of hours of gameplay have elapsed since acquiring the final shaman fusions and now you can't even use them. This seems like a pretty terrible oversight on Capcom's part. I've spent 30 hours developing these characters and I want to use my shiny new shaman transformations on the game's final boss!

Of course, the game's soundtrack also does it no favors. It features a series of mostly dull and plodding tunes, but no track is as repetitive and miserable as the ubiquitous dungeon theme. The battle theme is not bad, but is nonetheless forgettable. On a console that is overflowing with classic RPGs with great soundtracks, Breath of Fire II definitely does not stand out.

Breath of Fire II is a game with many flaws, but I did enjoy it overall and feel it was an improvement on its predecessor. I haven't finished Breath of Fire III so I can't make a firm judgment on whether or not it improves on this game's problems--but I can say with all confidence that Breath of Fire IV is superior and ultimately my first recommendation for this series. Still, Breath of Fire II is memorable because of its unique mechanics that were not later repeated in the series. I'd love to play another RPG that has a mechanic like the shaman fusion system. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head that's similar to it is Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga's demon transformations, but it still doesn't really scratch the same itch.

Overall Score: 6/10