There’s no shortage of RPGs on GBA, so it’s important to weed out the sub-par titles from the great ones. Capcom’s Breath of Fire II falls in the great category. The RPG has all the subtle quirks that make a traditional RPG story fun to play and does it all with nice animation and sound.
BOFII starts out with a short play segment to flesh out the story, which takes place 500 years after the first. The title character, Ryu, heads out to look for his sister and comes across a non-living dragon that seems to be talking him telepathically. Soon after, Ryu heads back to town to find out that his sister and father no longer exist, and townspeople have no recollection of then. Ryu grows up with childhood pal Bow (a talking, walking dog) and work odd jobs to earn money. The plot thickens when Bow is accused of stealing and Ryu must sneak him out of town in a trash can – seriously, it’s what happens. The minor tongue-in-cheek events that move the story make the characters much more human than they would be if they just set out to face evil head on. The remaining six characters round out a cast of characters that are all different and interesting in their own right.
When you venture out of the first town, you get your ass kicked when you’ve wondered too far. BOFII requires a bit of leveling before heading out which becomes a bit of a bore. After the character is sufficiently pumped you’ll be able to take on baddies and bosses without a major problem. The combat is standard fare. Players have attack and magic to rid of enemies, and a special attack specific to each character. Up to four characters can fight in a party and formations can be switched at each turn with the hit of the L trigger. Characters can choose to defend enemy attacks with the R trigger. To mix up traditional RPG standards, players will be able to improve character abilities through Fusion. Six Shaman are located throughout the BOF world, and each character will be compatible or incompatible based on their inherit attributes – fire, water, wind, earth, magic, and holy. The fusion will be rated by a fail, success, or major success.
BOFII comes with great visuals that would be considered the higher tier of SNES graphics. The color palette is high and locals are very detailed. The overhead walking areas lean on the plain side, but each town and major location look good. The only complaint would be that graphics can be a bit dark at times. The color palette that’s used is bright, but for some reason the title is more difficult to see than other titles, even with a light source. The music is BOFII is great and complete with catchy town tunes and dramatic cues. Each musical piece matches the situation well and players will have no problem listening to them.
There are a few gripes about BOFII. Battles occur about every 3-5 seconds when you run on the overhead map and can get annoying quick. The actual map that pinpoints important locations has pixel sized points that glow – basically it’s hard to tell if the point is important or if you dropped a spec of water on your GBA.
BOFII on GBA is a quality RPG that’s worth every penny. It has quirky situations, good visuals, and 20+ hours of play time. Pick it up if you have the time to spare.
