A Tolen of my Gratitude: Let's Play Breath of Fire II

[Rappy]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Stuff happened that is irrelevant to the story I'm about to tell you.

Released on April 3, 1993, in Japan, the game Breath of Fire was the first tentative steps into the roleplaying game by the company Capcom. While never quite escaping the shadow of RPGs such as the Final Fantasy series, the Breath of Fire series has met some pretty good reception over the years, with a total of five games having been released so far. Which brings us to the main point of this LP...

Breath of Fire II is the only directly visible sequel in the series, with its events tied neatly into the first game. It was released in North America on the SNES in 1995, and was popular enough to warrant a Game Boy Advanced remake in 2001 (released in North America the next year) and a Wii Virtual Console release in 2007.

BoFII is best known for three things: its absurd Americanized box cover, its habit of getting crap past the radar, and - as alluded to in the title of this LP - some seriously atrocious translation errors.

But it's still a good game! And I'll be taking you along for a journey through this fantastic realm with Let's Play...


http://imageshack.us/m/854/8563/bofiile.png

[Cute_Riolu]

its habit of getting crap past the radar

You mean like characters that are naked from the waist down? :P

[Rappy]

Okay, a brief note before we start this. To preserve some sense of the fourth wall in spite of my slight use of character snark to abridge things here and there, character dialogue kept fully intact will be entirely in italics (as opposed to italics for emphasis in other sentences). With that out of the way, let's start this baby.

Prologue 1: Nothing but Gray Skies

http://imageshack.us/m/828/4158/img1rl.png

Quite the ominous start. Not much to see in this darkness, and there's the Creepy Vibe music playing as...

http://imageshack.us/m/151/6306/img2o.png

Gyah, a giant eyeball! One that talks, no less!

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/1613/eyecon.png "Eye need the strength of followers. You, help me with this!"

Was that eye pun really necessary for the summary of the next two text blocks?

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/1613/eyecon.png "Yes."

Okay, fair enough.

http://imageshack.us/m/545/4764/img3z.png

http://imageshack.us/m/202/9161/img4n.png

Ganer: "Hey, Ryu! Ryu, come here for a moment."

Well, that totally isn't a creepy sequence of events.

In seriousness, there's nothing actually creepy or evil about it. Ganer's daughter, Yua, has run off instead of facing the dreaded Bedtime. You know those rascally kids. It's the search for Yua that leads our young hero (and Garner's son, as a matter of fact) , Ryu Bateson, on his first quest.

http://imageshack.us/m/607/5536/img5w.png

Such a cozy little town. Sure, it's desaturated too, but it looks quite homey!

Surely someone around here will know about the missing Yua.

http://imageshack.us/m/684/9049/img6a.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Wow, that was easy! I thought this questing stuff would be a lot tougher."

http://imageshack.us/m/217/7773/img7o.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "And look at that! Everything's so bright and colorful outside the village. Wait...why is the village so gray?"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Oh well, I can't dwell on the way things are when I've got a sister to find! It can't be that hard, can it?"

And yet, several moments later...

http://imageshack.us/m/685/2462/img8z.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Owowowow!"

Luckily for our intrepid young adventurer, lightning comes forth from the sky to save his well-pecked butt from the deadly beaked fiend! And who could it be that saved him?

http://imageshack.us/m/818/2172/img9.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Of course it was dangerous! This adventuring stuff's hard... I'm gonna go back to the village and get an easy job, like hay shoveler or something."

Garner: "You can't do that! I haven't even continued the plot yet, so you're going to be the hero and like it, young man."

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Fine..."

Garner: "Ahem. Anyway... Yua, why are you in a dangerous place like this?!"

http://imageshack.us/m/215/4298/img10q.png

Yua: "If I take a nap here, Mom comes into my dreams!!"

http://imageshack.us/m/198/3616/img11b.png

Wow, Ganer, even I think that's ellipses abuse.

Ganer: "Our translation team had some issues, okay?! Just roll with it."

Sure, whatever helps your pixels sleep at night.

http://imageshack.us/m/829/7207/img12q.png

Ganer: "...I could not protect your mother. If this dragon had not come to help us, I would not have been able to protect the rest of you.."

Yua: "Why are you telling us this, Dad? We kind of know how Mom di-"

Ganer: "I'm sorry, Ryu. If only I had more strength things would..."

http://imageshack.us/m/708/8406/img13x.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Even though you rudely interrupted Yua, I'm still nice enough to be honest, Dad. The past is the past, and you couldn't have changed things even if you were stronger. Especially since you're just a Charlton Heston lookalike that runs a little village chapel."

Yua: "Hey, no fair! He's totally a Cleric. He knows a lightning spell, and everybody in town says he and the dragon are heroes. And Mom thinks so too! This dragon was conveniently able to tell me so."

http://imageshack.us/m/696/4232/img14mn.png

What a tweest!

Ganer: "So! Surely you're tired after all that business. Let's go home, Yua. We can conveniently leave Ryu to sleep right here where nothing can possibly go wrong! Nothing!"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Well, the whole 'being beaten up by a floating blue chicken head' thing did make me a bit tuckered out. Sure! What's the worst that could happen?!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Come next installment...

...The worst totally happens.

[Domochevsky]

...letting him sleep in front of a dragon head out in the wild, hm? Y-yay? >_>

[Rappy]

...letting him sleep in front of a dragon head out in the wild, hm? Y-yay? >_>

I was actually curious to see what would happen if you said no to the option of sleeping, since I had never done so before in my playthroughs of the game and hadn't thought of doing it for my practice file. Guess what?

...Nothing different happens. "But Thou Must" indeed.

Anyway, I figured I'd post the second half of the prologue now as well, because I'd honestly like to get to the main plot within the week proper. So here we go!

Prologue 2: Take my Plot, Please
http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Ahhh, nothing like a nice nap in the land of technicolor to feel good. I can't wait to see what Dad and Yua are up to at home!"

http://imageshack.us/m/717/8162/img15.png

http://imageshack.us/m/818/4900/img16.png

http://imageshack.us/m/801/858/img17.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Oh no. Oh no no no no! Got to get to the chapel! Dad and Yua will know what's wrong, right?!"

http://imageshack.us/m/62/6856/img18j.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Who are you, and what have you done with my dad?!"

Father Hulk: "Why, I'm Father Hulk, brother! Cleric of St. Eva, helper of orphans, and king of the ring! And you have no father, obviously! You're a silent protagonist so you can't say no to my hospitality!"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "But I'm talking to you right n-"

Father Hulk: "I'll give you room and board at the Chapelmania, brother! Just sleep for now, and all will be good!"

And so, Ryu slept. ...For a little while, at least.

http://imageshack.us/m/708/5097/img19s.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Hey! While you're having run-on sentences, some of us are trying to sleep here!"

???: "Well, excuse me for being an uneducated rogueish orphan!"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Look, puppy-breath, I've had a long day. A long, weird day with floating chicken heads, dragons, and everybody going crazy."

???: "..."

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "What?"

???: "...Nothing, moving on! Say, I've got an idea! I'm headed off to a bigger town with more loot than this old dump."

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/1060/img20.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Considering that Father Hulk creeps me out, my dad and little sister are missing, and you're the only person I've met that hasn't acted like I'm a freak? I'm going with you, dog!"

???: "We prefer the term 'humanoid canid'."

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "No, it was meant to be an anachronistic reference to...nevermind. What's your name, anyway?"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/9918/img21.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "*Snrk* Bow? As in 'bow-wow'?"

Bow: "It was a pet name from someone I knew, okay?!"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Hehe, 'pet' name..."

Bow: "Can we just get on with it?"

And lo, did the two unlikely companions of this fellowship head out into the wilderness.

http://imageshack.us/m/860/5479/img22m.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Oh, great, as if my day couldn't get any worse!"

http://imageshack.us/m/263/4897/img23.png

Bow: "Hey, don't look so down, there's a cave right over there! That'll surely be a safe place to avoid the storm."

http://imageshack.us/m/806/7226/img24.png

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4651/img25.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Are you sure, Bow? It seems like the smart thing to do would be to go in the opposite direction of the giant purple spiky tail thing."

Bow: "What, are you chicken?"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "...Chicken head... *Shivers* Fine, we'll go, but don't whine to me if we're eaten!"

http://imageshack.us/m/14/1936/img26.png

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5151/img27.png

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7134/img28.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "I warned you about those caves, dog! I told you!"

Bow: "I said I'm not a d-"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Just shut up and let me fight for our lives!"

http://imageshack.us/m/813/3158/img29.png

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "Oh well...at least...I tried... Ouch."

Barubary the Monster: "Go ahead..Ryu! Let me see you open the gate..destined child. And..that is when you will know the strength of God!"

http://imageshack.us/m/12/7056/lryu.png "What gate? What god? How do you know my name? And why you only use two periods in your ellipses?!"

Barubary the Monster: "No answers for you! *Tail bludgeon to the face*

http://imageshack.us/m/534/1451/img30.png

How...erm...moving?

Long text crawl short, Ryu dreams of an evil demon-thing, darkety darkness, looming shadows, and other poetry slam material. And then, at least, the prologue is over, and we get the title screen that announces to us that, next time, we will be in the true game!

http://imageshack.us/m/193/6615/img31.png

Next time: The real meat of the game begins!

[Domochevsky]

So... Start To Titlecard (STT) is what? 2 hours?

[Rappy]

I don't believe quite that long, once you take into account me stopping to screenshot, write down notes, etc.

It seems to drag on longer than it actually does, mainly because in its expanse there are only two battles - both of which are scripted for you to lose - and no leveling up to speak of, buying and equipping items, etc. The next update will be where the game gets truly into its stride...and has more blue chicken heads.

[tyckspoon]

I don't believe quite that long, once you take into account me stopping to screenshot, write down notes, etc.


I think it runs about half an hour if you know how to go through it and don't bother spending time talking to all the villagers and rooting through houses with nothing in them.

[Rappy]

I think it runs about half an hour if you know how to go through it and don't bother spending time talking to all the villagers and rooting through houses with nothing in them.
That was my conservative estimate, but I wasn't going to put it down unless I was sure.

[GloatingSwine]

Breath of Fire II is the only directly visible sequel in the series, with its events tied neatly into the first game.[/CENTER]

Breath of Fire 3 is also a direct sequel to the first one. It's just set several thousand years later.

Breath of Fire 4 might be a prequel, but that was never really settled and there are probably still arguments about it in those tiny corners of the internet still inhabited by BoF fandom.

The only one that doesn't fit in the same 'verse is Dragon Quarter.

[T.G. Oskar]

Breath of Fire 3 is also a direct sequel to the first one. It's just set several thousand years later.

Breath of Fire 4 might be a prequel, but that was never really settled and there are probably still arguments about it in those tiny corners of the internet still inhabited by BoF fandom.

The only one that doesn't fit in the same 'verse is Dragon Quarter.

BoF4 is a side story. Dragons, unlike in the three original games, are abstract entities from another world which are basically god-like; in BoF's first three games, dragons are extremely strong but not god-like. There's little indication that the set of events relate one to the other aside from Ryu, Nina, Deis/Bleu and the Kaiser Dragon (some of the few constants as well as the token Woren clan character and the dog-based clan character, and IIRC BoF1 doesn't have a Woren), as well as the end-game cameos, but aside from that no actual story.

Compare that to the first three games, which are almost neatly sequential:
The first game has Myria engaging in her crusade against the Dragon clan, and how she divides the Dragons into the Light Dragons that seek peace and the Dark Dragons that follow her. Ryu becomes one of the few survivors of the massacre, and as potentially the most powerful Light Dragon at the moment he stops the Dark Dragon Emperor and finally Myria.

The following is a set of spoilers from BoF2:
The second involves Myria's most powerful servant, Death-Evan, assuming his master's modus operandi by creating a new faith that rivals the old dragon faith of Ladon, the Dragon God. This sequel has a much, much, MUCH deeper relation to the first than BoF3 because of the immediate repercussions (BoF1 Nina marrying Ryu and tainting the Wyndian bloodline into slowly losing their ability to fly despite their wings, BoF2 Nina being the descendant of the BoF1 Nina, the remnants of the Light Dragon clan living in the same place where Death-Evan was sealed, the town of music still existing in both worlds, the downfall of the Dragon Clan), but also introduced new things (such as the Golden Dragon which would eventually become the Kaiser Dragon, Ryu being a sort of destined child that emerges every time the Dragon clan's enemies gain strength) to the lore.

BoF3 has a closer continuity with BoF1 than BoF2, but there's still a few examples of it: the Dragon Clan is officially given the name of "the Brood", the big mural showing Ryu, Nina, Bo, Karn, Ox and Mogu fighting Myria's ultimate form, the continuing decline of the Dragon and Wyndia clans, the existing clans including the dog clan, the Woren, the Manillo, the Ox and Mole clans, Deis established as the sister of Myria and someone that disdains her sister's desire to protect the world through its absolute control (something that isn't really explained in the first two games, where Bleu basically appears just because).

If anything, BoF2 happens about 20-40 years after BoF1, while BoF3 happens over 100 years after BoF1 and over 60 years after BoF2.

Of course, the only game that really doesn't fit (at all) is Dragon Quarter. It's pretty much like the difference between 3.5 and 4e; the gameplay may be unique and the story pretty deep, but it's not BoF in spirit, if only in name and maybe a few other things. Making the game a different RPG without the BoF name behind it might have made the game slightly more unique, considering they made the same degree of experimentation with Mega Man Legends, which had considerably better success. BoF4 isn't a true sequel, but at least remains within the boundaries of canon, and offered a pretty unique combat system which takes the best from BoF3 and drives it a bit further. Compared to that, BoF:DQ was something akin to MM Legends or Resident Evil, best compared to a non-survival horror version of Parasite Eve at best.

Still resent that Capcom is merely milking the remakes without making a new entry in the story, even if the first three games in the trilogy have a sorta definite ending. There are a few things that could be used for a next installment:
It's pretty interesting to notice that, in the last moment, when Myria is about to die on the falling elevator in company of Deis, she mutters whether God exists or not, when she considered herself God. Little is mentioned of Myria's rise into power, or her clan (which seems to be related to the serpent, just to hammer in the Chinese Zodiac references) and where it remains, and whether the Dragon Clan will cease to exist, if the Wyndia clan will be forever turned human, and what else happens in the world.
Capcom at least should tackle that.

[Rappy]

Breath of Fire 3 is also a direct sequel to the first one. It's just set several thousand years later.

Breath of Fire 4 might be a prequel, but that was never really settled and there are probably still arguments about it in those tiny corners of the internet still inhabited by BoF fandom.

The only one that doesn't fit in the same 'verse is Dragon Quarter.
Consider me correct, good (and gloating) swine.

And since we're no longer in the prologue, it is time for the first genuine part. I had some trouble with Imageshack, so I'm using a different image uploader this time; in addition, I'm just leaving dialogue with names rather than any images, because attempts to resize said images have kind of failed. So! Let's get this going.

Part 1: You're a Man Now, Dog
It is now 10 years later. What our heroes were doing for those 10 years is rather up to question, but we'll just assume they were doing Generic D&D Adventure Things™. And speaking of speaking of such things...

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/05/56/7579488_508x444.png

Bow: "We're full fledged workers now!"

Elder: "Yeah, yeah, now go fetch this lost pet."

Bow: "Umm, isn't that a bit below full-fledged worker status?"

Elder: "Did I mention it's the pet of that angel girl, Mina? The one you have the hots for?"

Bow: "..."

Ryu: "..."

Elder: "..."

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/05/57/7579489_509x447.png

Mina: "Please find Suzy, my pet of unspecified species!"

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/01/7579491_507x446.png

Bow: "We would be happy to help such a pretty girl find her pet!!"

Ryu: "But weren't you just saying this was beneath our sta-"

Bow: "Enough, we go now! Now!"

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/07/7579496_511x446.png

Elder: "And a pervert, at that. Can you dog-people even properly mate with...nevermind, that is giving me bad mental images. Just go before I need another brain scrub."

Bow: "Ya hoo! I'm really excited now! Let's go, Ryu! Let's leave this village and ask around!"

Ryu: "Eager, much? Fine, let's head out..."

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/13/7579500_507x443.png

Ryu: "I dunno, I think I'm a Fighter, not a Ranger. Sure, Bow is an archer and all, but..."

Bow: "He meant our guild affiliation."

Ryu: "Oh."

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http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/17/7579505_511x443.png

Ryu: "Umm...er...oh my. Psst, Bow, did you whisk any money off the old man?"

Bow: "I only found this dusty old copper with denture marks in it!"

Ryu: "...We'll be back later, Mr. Fish-Man. Run!"

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/21/7579507_508x441.png

Ryu: "Wait, what?"

Bow: "It talks?"

Statue: "Lately everybody prays to St. Eva."

Ryu: "That's really a shame but we need to get goi-"

Statue: "Nobody pays any attention to the Dragon God."

Ryu: "I'm sorry to hear about your loss but we really nee-"

Statue: "It was so nice before..."

Ryu: "Shut up!"

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/25/7579508_510x441.png

Ryu: "We can see that."

Bow: "It's a talking statue..."

Statue: "Are you going to tell me the story of your journey?"

Bow: "Talking. Statue."

Ryu: "We haven't even started our journey!"

Statue: "Sorry, standard procedure. Think of me as a 'save file button'."

Bow: "Statue talking. Talking statue."

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/30/7579515_512x444.png

Ryu: "Finally, we're off. I thought he'd never shut up! So, where do we go now, Bow? ...Bow?"

Bow: "...Statue..."

Ryu: "Oh come on, it isn't that implausible. I mean, the Dragon God totally lived in my home town of Desaturatedville, way back when."

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/33/7579526_509x437.png

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/06/33/7579527_512x445.png

Bow: "It's two E. Sludges!"

Ryu: "Well, that certainly took your mind off the statue...and what does the 'E' stand for?"

Bow: "I don't know, just kill them already!"

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http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/07/10/7579562_510x446.png

Bow: "Great work!"

Ryu: "Psh, that was easy! Those slimes are all bark and no bite. Is that the best these woods have got?"

Bow: "Are you sure you should be saying that?"

Ryu: "Come on, Bow, what's the worst that could happen?"

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/07/15/7579563_510x446.png

Ryu: "Gah, chicken head!"

Bow: "Great, just great. See what you did, Ryu? They got a Gonghead for backup! That thick outer shell of his isn't just for show."

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/24/07/18/7579565_512x447.png

Ryu: "Woah, you're right! He barely flinched..."

Bow: "Just keep wailing on him while I deal with the sludges!"

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Ryu: "Woo, bullseye!"

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Bow: "Great work, Ryu! And hey, it looks like you even learned a spell! That one means we can now change the time from day to night or the other way around if we have to. Gee, buddy, I didn't know you had it in you."

Ryu: "Me neither..."

Bow: "What was that?"

Ryu: "Nothing, nothing! Let's just head up that mountain over there. Maybe Suzy ran there to escape the monsters down here on the plains."

Bow: "That's brilliant! You know, Ryu, maybe you aren't a total jinx. That mountain is probably the safest place around here..."

Coming up next update: Things totally aren't safe, as our heroes encounter thrills, chills, and spills up in them thar hills.

[Moonshadow]

I love this game. I also feel sorry for you playing the SNES version compared to the GBA version though. The exp rates in the SNES version are horrible ;-;

Though, way back when I was a little tike and I bought this game with no instruction manual, I got stuck at the;

Continent where Windia is after getting Sten because I had no idea that you could use the shoulder buttons to do things, thus I didn't know you could use Sten to cross the gap >.<

[GloatingSwine]

BoF4 is a side story. Dragons, unlike in the three original games, are abstract entities from another world which are basically god-like; in BoF's first three games, dragons are extremely strong but not god-like.

Which is the state the Dragons are reborn into at the end of the game ;), with lord Yuna, scheming little git that he is, completely free to create new "gods" to grant all his wishes (which was what Myria was trying to do in both the first and third games).

[Mirrinus]

Hahaha, I remember playing this game. Will we get to vote on who to give those elemental shamans to?

[Rappy]

Hahaha, I remember playing this game. Will we get to vote on who to give those elemental shamans to?
Indeed, when the time comes. Speaking of time, it seems about time for a new update.

Part 2: Good Old-Fashioned Dungeon Crawling
And so, on their way to the great mountains to the south, our heroes fought into the night...

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/04/47/7581971_509x447.png

Learned magic...

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/04/47/7581972_510x447.png

Hunted wild boar to avoid paying for health potions at the fish-man's shop...

Bow: "Don't tell them that!"

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/04/51/7581976_511x441.png

Leveled up...

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/04/57/7581978_509x443.png

And eventually...

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/05/00/7581979_509x444.png

Ryu: "Hey, it's pretty scenic up here!"

Bow: "Yeah, this is definitely the best morning I've had in a while."

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http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/05/03/7581985_511x441.png

Ryu: "Nope. Maybe you're hearing things."

Bow: "That could be because I'm not the one with tiny little ape ears. Let's just get into that cave over there before something inevitably goes wrong."

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/05/07/7581987_509x446.png

Bow: "And something goes wrong anyway. I swear, Ryu, you're like a walking 'bad things' magnet."

Ryu: "Woah, those are some big leeches..."

Bow: "Their bite's pretty nasty, but they're weak. Just tear into that slippery hide and it's over!"

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/05/11/7581988_511x447.png

Ryu: "I see your point."

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2011/05/25/05/13/7581989_508x445.png

Bow: "And I see that I just learned how to cure poison. Looks like I'm on the fast track to having plenty of spells, eh, Ryu?"

Ryu: "*Mutter*"

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Ryu: "Even more crawly things?!"

Bow: "Lots of crawly things in dark, wet spots. Don't you remember anything from our 10 years of ranger training, Ryu?"

Ryu: "...Not really, no."

Bow: "*Sigh* They're just Widows, this isn't hard. They look all tough and ugly, but unless they get that venom of theirs into you, they're all talk."

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Bow: "See?"

Ryu: "Wow, that was so fast I couldn't even catch it!"

Bow: "Oh, Ryu..."

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Ryu: "You were right, Bow! This is easy!"

Bow: "Speak for yourself, buddy. I'm the one they've all been beating on..."

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Ryu: "Aww, little green rabbits! Is one of these Suzy?"

Bow: "Was I the only one paying attention in class?! Those are S. Goblins, man! They're deceptively cute and have big, sharp..."

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Bow: "...Teeth. This is going to be a long day, I can feel it."

Next time: the day gets longer as Ryu and Bow head farther up the mountain and prepare to face down the first real boss battle of the game.

[Coidzor]

Fun fun. I approve. I look forward to seeing what happens after getting the Whale as that's where I got stuck myself.

[lord_khaine]

Ahh, this was one of my favorite games back when i was a kid, when they were still made decent adventure games.

[Rappy]

Part 3: Who's the Boss Now?!
As the heroes edged closer to their goal, they encounter a creature far less appealing than goblins...

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Ryu: "Oh Dragon God, it reeks!"

Bow: "How do you think I feel with my keen sniffer? You need to be careful around these corpses, Ryu. They throw a lot of punches that miss their mark, but when they manage to strike..."

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Ryu: "Yowch!"

Bow: "Exactly! Let's just take care of these two and get out of this horrible cave."

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Bow: "There it is again!"

Ryu: "What? Where is what, Bow?"

Bow: "...You seriously can't hear it, can you?"

Ryu: "Not a thing."

Bow: "*Sigh* Curse my canine senses..."

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Bow: "Something's fishy about that big boulder precariously perched right where someone would walk. Maybe this is a bad idea, Ryu."

Ryu: "Nonsense! What could possibly go wrong?!"

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Bow: "That's what could possibly go wrong!"

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Ryu: "What."

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Bow: "They''re fighting over you, Ryu! This is our chance! I'll heal, and you hit them repeatedly with your sword. Sound like a plan?"

Ryu: "I'm not sure I feel comfortable being treated as a harpy dinner plate..."

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Bow: "Good enough answer for me!"

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Bow: "This is bad, Ryu... They didn't stay bickering nearly long enough for us to set up another good strategy."

Ryu: "When did you have a good strategy?!"

Bow: "Hey, hitting things until they die is perfectly valid as a strategy! It's not my fault you aspire for more than the simple things in life."

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Ryu: "Got her...Bow...but...claws and...ouc-"

Bow: "Ryu, no! Okay, maybe that wasn't a good strategy after all. Gotta think, gotta think, gotta..."

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Bow: "..."

Brutally wounded by the harpy sisters Peach, Palo, and Puti, Bow and Ryu barely made it back down the mountain in one piece, swearing vengeance.

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Vengeance after some much-needed training, that is.

After days and nights of hard physical and mental training, the pair once more ascended the mountain to combat the triad of ferocious feathered fiends.

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Bow: "So, I've learned a defense-increasing spell and you've learned...to hit stuff harder, I guess. And it looks like all that hard work paid off, Ryu!"

Ryu: "Right! Let's kick their tail feathers right off that mountain!"

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Ryu: "Don't be so negative, Bow! I haven't said 'what's the worst that could happen to Suzy', have I? ...Wait..."

Bow: "Oh great! Let's get moving before we end up finding that she's been struck by lightning during a hailstorm while a goblin was chewing at her feet."

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Ryu: "But...won't that hit the big rock below and make something crazy happen?"

Bow: "You apparently didn't pay attention in physics class either, Ryu. Watch and learn!"

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Ryu: "I sure learned, alright. So did that poor fish-man!"

Bow: "...But...that's not possible..."

Next time: the hunt for Suzy comes to a close.

[T.G. Oskar]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Silly me.

What are you using to play the game? The reason I ask goes as follows: I'm not sure if it's one thing or the other, but after a while you'll notice that the game may freeze over. You might want to shift into the GBA version which has basically the same things in case that happens. Just saying, in case it happens what happened to me.

Now I gotta get the save I had on my computer of the BoFII GBA game and shift it into my smartphone...

[Coidzor]

Hope everything's proceeding apace to see the next installment soon. :smallsmile:

[Rappy]

Hope everything's proceeding apace to see the next installment soon. :smallsmile:
I was planning on updating it before work today, actually...but seeing as I appear to have food poisoning, that schedule may be pushed back some.

Murphy's Law hasn't figured out that I'm not interested in him, and can't take the hint to go find someone else.

[Rappy]

Okay, I'm no longer feeling horrid, but my picture uploading site was acting up, so only have a half-update for this thread today.

Part 4 (1 of 2): Heading Down to the Old Brick House
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Bow: "Hey, treasure! Surely it's something good if the harpies hid it all the way up here in this cave."

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Bow: "...A salad bowl? Really?"

Ryu: "Woo, helmet!"

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Bow: "...How does that even work?!"

Ryu: "Well, you see, it's l-"

Bow: "No, nevermind, forget I asked. Let's just get off this mountain."

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Ryu: "Awesome, I've got healing magic too! Today is definitely going to go our way!"

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Azusa: "I was hunting an animal and ended up here."

Ryu: "What kind of animal were you hunting that got you stuck in a cave?"

Azusa: "I don't remember. I hit my head rather hard on the way down. Say, do I know you? Don't tell me you know my secret!"

Bow: "*Sigh* Let's go, Ryu. There's nothing here but a crazy old guy, and we still haven't found Suzy."

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Ryu: "Ah, fresh air! No stinky corpses, no freaky spider things, just grass, trees, and...ooh, an old house. Maybe Suzy's in there?"

Bow: "Well, seeing as that's as far west as we can go at the moment, I'd bet money on it. To the ruined house!"