Breath of Fire II (1994)

Started 3/30/20. I rented this one several time as a kid but never got very far because it’s hard and what ten year old is really into hardcore grinding? I did play with some other people’s saves and think I even beat the game on one.

I’m liking it so far minus a couple things. High encounter rate and having to spend hours grinding like three levels after any given event is a bummer.

Also, the translation is effing terrible. Back then it felt like so many less games were coming out, I don’t know why a company like Capcom couldn’t be bothered to translate this better. Like, bad enough that at one point no is actually yes and yes is no.

Anyways, I just recruited Jean and am doing some Township stuff before I go to SimaFort. Also spending however many days getting Jean to level 15...

Beat the game after finally finishing the first game, though I never played this as a kid. I did not use the fan translation and did use a walkthrough to make sure I got the optional secrets. Got the best ending. My end game team in normal formation:

Rand morphed into the armored animal thing: level 42 with Kaiser kunckle, guard shield, stone armor, bronze helmet, shiny bracelet and iron bracelet. He is at the front as the tank.

Hero: level 47 with empire sword, dragon shield and armor, king helm, wind bracelet, and hero bracelet.

Bow morphed into robot thing: level 50 with death bow, holy shield, mother robe, shiny helm, dream bracelet and shiny bracelet.

Bleu in the back: level 47 with immortal ring, holy shield, noe robe, sun mask, shiny bracelet and wise hoop

The other party members I did not like so much. Katt ended at level 40 and was used for much of the game for her high speed and offense. Her low defense gave me a lot of trouble. Nina ended at level 34 and was pretty much only brought to boss fights to heal; her offense is just too low for random battles. Sten ended at level 27 and I only used him when I had to. Spar was level 24 and Jean at level 18; I did not like either of them at all.

I barely remember much of the game since it was several years ago that I played it and I did not take notes. I do remember that it was an enjoyable experience about on par with the first game, with enough improvements for a sequel. The town building annoyed me a bit because there are clear bad choices that are not made so clear in the game, so you can screw yourself over. A great SNES classic. Also, the female sprites in this game are incredibly sexy, especially the dragon and bat girls.

Long session today... Finally picked up Bleu/Deis and was actually surprised to find she wasn't quite as overpowered as I thought she'd be. Not a bad thing necessarily, btu the game's definitely maintaining it's difficulty level, which of course isn't too difficult to begin with.

I remember really disliking the dungeons that took place inside people/trees/whales, but this time around I really didn't mind them. The entire quest revolving around (and within) the Queen of Melodia was all pretty funny and never too much of a pain. Well except for Highfort, that was quite an involved detour and while it improved my feelings towards Sten as a character, I'm still not a fan of having him in my party.

Speaking of characters I don't love using, Aspara's the star of the next leg of the quest. I don't really remember what's all involved with the Elder Tree, only that this is where I get Barose.

After learning about the gold bar trick with the Township cook my money troubles have been solved forever! I realize it's a bit cheaty but honestly I never found the gold grind to be an enjoyable experience in any RPG. What will ultimately matter is whether or not repeating this trick throughout the game will be required, or if the cash flow will naturally balance out.

With a fully equipped and properly leveled party I was able to complete the dungeon I'd started earlier, earning a new party member and some new dragon transformations as a result. Next step was to rescue a sexy bat-girl in order to clear ol' Bosche's name in Newhaven. From there the story progressed pretty much exactly as expected, while also acting as a clear transition into the next chapter, as it were.

I will say the occasional bouts of hitting a random encounter every four steps definitely isn't cute anymore. At the same time it's still not bothering me quite enough to care. Now that I have a healthy supply of items I don't need to worry about every single battle potentially cutting my dungeon adventure short.

I progressed further through Tapeta's story only to find myself needing to level up a bit more to finish it. I also took this time to recruit some town members and make some... clever use of game mechanics in order to solve my money issues. I didn't realize until after I'd finished playing for the night that there's a MUCH better version of this trick so I'll have to save that for later.

So, the game...

The high rate of random encounters is annoying and grinding is mandatory, and those are two major complaints I had about Phantasy Star IV as well as other RPG's. That said, I'm having trouble putting my finger on what it is about this game that makes me not really mind the grind. Visually the game is great, and the story's a lot of fun, too. Money's not an issue anymore but character progression is still slow, and I feel like I'm using a less than optimal (Sten...) party composition.

Whatever the reason, I know I'm having a great time, and frankly I'm finding this game to be considerably better than I remember.

Big night tonight what with unlocking the shaman system and the hilarious if not intensely stressful Witch's Tower. The fight against Nympho was crazy and I thought for sure I'd be restarting, but Ryu managed to pull off a solo victory after a clutch revive from Nina... 'course then I still had to get BACK to the campsite. Also, man, poor Nympho...

One think I don't miss from these old RPG's is the ability to miss things, both permanently and temporarily. I mean, I'm not really upset over it because exploration should be rewarded and whatnot, but it still stings when you save after missing out on what would have been a huge help for the part of the game you're on. I'm specifically talking about the dragon transformations behind the waterfall. I didn't think I'd be losing the prince so soon and for so long...

Nina! Finally!

Why is it that in RPG's I just never stock up on status curing items? It was a habit I had as a kid and it's certainly carried over into adulthood and I think I need to remember to work on that. Admittedly, money's still hard to come by in this game.

The re-translation is just great and adds a ton of depth (and maturity!) to the story. I'll say that the Harry Potter reference, while funny, did seem out of place, but for the most part it's only an improvement.

Nina was always my favorite character in the first game and I'm glad to finally have her in my party. Now if I can just find Bleu...

The game is definitely a lot less fun with only one party member...

I read that the GBA version of this game made some adjustments which included doubling XP gain and tripling zenny gains. I can completely understand this as, while the game certainly isn't overly difficult, experience and money come very slowly which means long grinding sessions and usually long waits between item upgrades.

I finally picked up Katt, er, Lin, though I forgot that I'd be losing Rand so soon after recruiting him. I also forgot I get my own little town in this game, so that was a welcome reminder!

My first RPG on the SNES list is one that I actually have some pretty fond memories of. A friend had loaned me the first Breath of Fire game back in grade school, and I enjoyed it a lot. Much later, I'd happen upon a video store in the middle of a liquidation sale, and they were selling SNES games for $10 a piece! My parents said I could get two, and while I shudder to think of what gems I'd passed up I know for sure I'd made good choices when I brought Breath of Fire II to the register. What was the other game I picked out for ten bucks? Oh, just some weird RPG about time travel with talking frogs and sentient robots...

I beat the game, and I remember liking it. What I didn't remember was how horrible the translation of the game was. I tried to play the game last year for the first time since I was a kid, and could barely get through the beginning. Knowing I'd be playing it for this project I decided to commission a reproduction cart with Ryusui's re-translation of the game.

After the first day I am NOT disappointed with that purchase.

The new translation alone is utterly fantastic, never mind the excellent touches like improved font and text handling, properly translated names for characters, towns and items, a dash button and that great introduction scene complete with vocals.

So it's still a ways away, but once I start on the SNES list one of the first games I'll be playing is Breath of Fire II. Now I love this franchise, and I've beaten this game, but after throwing my copy into the SNES I realized how HORRIBLE the translation is. Not like the funny Engrish kind of horrible, but the kind that actually impedes functionality.

What do you guys think? Should I play through the original version again or pick up the re-translated reproduction? The re-translation is so much cleaner...