Breath of Fire II

"If you liked the first one, you'll like this one better."

Breath of Fire II is one of the best games in Capcom’s RPG series. If you have played this game on the Super NES, and are looking to play the same game again, then this is the game for you. This game is identical to the Super NES version, except for brand-new character artwork. If you enjoyed playing Breath of Fire I, you will like this game even more. It has all the same features of the first, with a few extras. You can play as nine characters, (Eight story, one secret) over the previous game’s eight. There are more magic spells, which have cooler animations than the previous ones. The best new feature of this game is fusions. Take a character, put him/her together with one or two shamans, and presto! You have a super powerful fusion freak. Don’t ask how it works… It just does. Sure, this game is excellent compared to the first, but is it that good of a game? The answer is yes. This game will get your thumbs cramping, and eyes straining from hours of fun-filled playing on the Gameboy Advance.

Graphics: 7/10
I’m sure these graphics were superb when this game first hit the Super NES, but they show their age here. Magic animations are smooth and vary, but physical attacks all look the same. All and all, the graphics are decent, but fall behind the incredible graphic monster Golden Sun.

Sound: 7/10
Again nothing too great here. The music is catchy and goes well with the mood, but gets repetitive after awhile. The battle music will especially get repetitive seeing there are only 2 tracks: Boss, and every other fight in the game. The attacks sound nice, but critical hits are by far the best sounding. The enemies all making the same sound when they die, and the constant beeping whenever you move the cursor hurt the score.

Control: 9/10
There is really nothing big wrong with the control here. Easy menus let you access anything from anywhere, and Auto-Battle makes fighting a snap. The one and only thing that hurts the score is the hard managing of items. You constantly have to sort them, and it is very cluttered. More room in your inventory would have helped.

Replay Value: 5/10
This game may be great the first time around, but there really isn’t much reason to go back and beat it again, other than to get the one secret character, or three secret spells. There is one thing that might make you restart your game: Town-building. There are many townspeople that you can choose to live in your town, and three different schemes for your town. Many characters help you out in the game. Some are just for show, like a man who builds statues of whomever you want in your party. Another special feature of the game is multiple endings. Only three, but they aren’t really different, they just add on to the single ending if you do certain things. So in other words, if you get the best ending the first time, you can not see anything extra from beating the game a second time around.

Gameplay: 9/10
Any turn-based RPG gamer will feel right at home with this game. The battles might get dull, but that’s what Auto-Battle is for! Most of the battles are relatively easy, including the boss fights. Unless you beat your games at an extremely low level, this game will be a breeze. Overall, this is a very fun game, not to mention one of Capcom’s best RPGs.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/02, Updated 06/11/02