I've finally finished the fourth game from last month's SNES Online update, and it's also the first game I've beaten this year (and this decade). I had to save this one for last because it was an RPG, but I finally got it done after many days of intermittent progress. BACKGROUND:
As stated before, I had no idea what Breath of Fire was until I saw it in the SNES Online library. I had an enjoyable time with the first game, so I was pretty excited to learn that its sequel would become available to play on the service. SUMMARY: Breath of Fire II is a turn-based RPG like its predecessor. Much of the core gameplay is unchanged, so I won't take time reiterating mechanics and focus on the new stuff. The story is set centuries after the first game, so while some places and faces look familiar, much of the world and the characters are completely different. The connection also isn't evident until the game throws small connective threads later on in the game, and it even manages to surprise with some awesome Easter eggs. Playing the first game is absolutely not required to enjoy the second, but if you go the extra mile, you'll likely appreciate the small, but meaningful nods. What's also different about the story is its entire structure. Whereas the first game sets your goal right off the bat by putting the protagonist through a tragedy at the beginning, the second game gets you going by setting up an intriguing mystery in the prologue. From there, you go on seemingly unrelated story arcs that eventually clue you in on who/what the big bad is. It's more of a slow burn type of tale, and while not having an endgame for most of the game is disorienting, I appreciated the different approach they took in terms of telling a story. Those smaller story arcs feature the adventures of Ryu (the protagonist's default name) as he realizes that he has a bigger destiny ahead of him, and that the strange events from his childhood are part of a more insidious conspiracy. Along the way, he meets folks who eventually join him on his quest, and most of them get ample time in the spotlight through quest lines that focus on their story. There are also multiple endings to the game. One can be achieved Dragon Quest I-style with a simple dialogue choice, while the other two depend on what you accomplish/don't accomplish at the end of the game. Getting the best ending is a little tough, because the elements needed to set it in motion are either hard to find or aren't immediately obvious. For the most part, the game does an adequate job nudging you in the right direction in order to progress the story. There are certain things that you can miss if you're just rushing through, but the game has more than enough informative NPCs for you to talk to whenever you're in a bind. In any case, having a walkthrough handy won't hurt. In terms of gameplay, each party member has the usual stuff (unique spell learnset, unique weapon classes, three pieces of armor, fairly varied play styles). What's new about them is that each character now has a unique combat skill they can use at their leisure. For example, Ryu can use his Guts ability instead of attacking/casting spells/using items, and this allows him to recover some HP. The types of skills that exist vary greatly — there's one that has a small chance to insta-kill an enemy, another that can put enemies to sleep, and one that redirects attacks to the user. In addition, field abilities make a return from the first game, and nearly everyone has their own. I likened them to HMs from the Pokémon games, and much like said HMs, some are more useful than others. I only highlight this because two field abilities in particular (fishing and hunting) have been greatly expanded, with the former becoming a more engaging minigame, and the latter feeling more like a self-contained adventure as opposed to "see animal in overworld, kill animal." Perhaps my favorite thing about the party is the ability to "unite." Throughout the game, you encounter these elemental Shamans, who can fuse with your characters to make them stronger, and even change their appearance. In the first game, only one character has this gimmick, and the fact that it can now be done with every character adds a lot of variety to combat. While the first game was a solid 20-hour experience, there is much more to do in Breath of Fire II. There are plenty of optional side quests, many of which are worth doing because they grant you exclusive spells, unlock more Shamans, get you powerful equipment, and more. The best example of such a side quest is the entire concept of TownShip. At the beginning of the game, you discover these ruins at some corner of the overworld. As you progress, however, you will encounter people that'll turn those ruins into a living space, and if you put in the time, it'll eventually become its own town, complete with merchants and everything. Though becoming stronger in battle is the usual indicator of progress in most RPGs, going on detours to expand TownShip into a proper community was equally satisfying because it felt like, rather literally, putting yourself on the map of this world. The game looks pretty solid, with the main highlight once again being the battle screen with the impressive (and sometimes expressive) sprites and animations. They even went the extra mile in special encounters by creating brief set pieces before the battle starts. A good example of this is early in the game: you're attacked by flying enemies, but instead of the game just loading in the battle screen with everyone on it, an animation plays showing the enemies slowly flying in from the top of the cliff. These special animations didn't happen often (I wish they did), but when they do, they make for a memorable moment. Although only a few designs stand out as iconic or unique, the enemies feel like a step up from the first game with their relatively more memorable appearances. A cool touch I liked about their presentation is that you don't see a particular monster's health bar the first time you encounter it. But, when you encounter that same species of monster again, their health bars will be visible, allowing you to see how much damage your attacks do moving forward. It added this unique sense of progression when you kill an enemy for the first time; it's like your characters learned from the first encounter and are now applying what they know on subsequent battles. The UI is quite the improvement from the last game. Most notably, item descriptions can be seen immediately (you had to manually check items in the first game to see what they did), and the game tells you what spells do before you cast them. The greatest improvement is the ability to auto-sort items. Thank goodness for that. My only real gripe with the game is the somewhat common issues with the localization. The text boxes for dialogue are already not the best with how it presents sentences (e.g. lack of punctuation, weird spacing, etc.), and the inconsistency with grammar and spelling certainly doesn't help. In most instances, it really isn't that bad, but it poses a serious problem when those issues find their way into menus. Certain dialog prompts don't make sense (there's one prompt where "yes" and "no" do the opposite of what they're supposed to), and in a game where reading is kind of important, it's quite a hindrance. VERDICT: Breath of Fire II is a more than worthy sequel to an already good RPG. It has a different story (in more ways than one), great characters, a bigger world with more things to do, and new additions that help expand otherwise standard-issue RPG gameplay. I thought it was 30+ hours well spent, and if you're into turn-based RPGs, you might feel the same way. That's it for the recent SNES Online updates! These will be back once Nintendo feels like adding more games. Until then, I'll be playing other games, as well as wondering why Capcom hasn't made a new Breath of Fire yet. - end -
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Derryck
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