Breath of Fire II (GBA) (Breath of Fire II (GBA))

Member Name: thole09

Product:	Breath of Fire II (GBA)
Date:	28/04/09 (4 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gameplay, Audio

Disadvantages: Some graphics

"Breath of Fire II" is a video game released for the Gameboy Advance in 2002 by Ubisoft. It is based on a previous release to the Super Nintendo console of the same name and is the second in the series. In the United States, the game received a rating of "E" by the ESRB panel which deemed it suitable for all ages.

Following the secure freedom of his tribespeople in the original Breath of Fire, the player's character Ryu will embark on a second quest to restore social norm to the area who have seemed to devolve socially into idol worship. Ryu wishes to restore their native dragon God and will battle forces in the wilderness to prove its worth. The gameplay has not changed from the original title. It is presented from a top down perspective which sees Ryu navigating throughout a world map through urban areas, into the wilderness and underground lairs. Throughout the game Ryu will meet with other characters who can join his party and quest which can prove useful to the player. Ryu's native ability is to fish for food which restores health to the party but in this title has the ability to change into a dragon during battle; battles which occur at random and are turn based to select attack, spell, item or run. The player will also be required to complete tasks for local people which tend to include simple object retrieval either from local in-game shops or foraged in the wilderness.

The graphics are good and, as previously mentioned, as presented from a top down perspective. The detailing to the features of the map are good and it is able to see clearly between the patches of grass and dirt. There are also various environmental features and dragons play a central theme to the game's visual design. A possible area of fault is its lack of finer shading; it is difficult to distinguish between areas of dirt and rocks of a mountain due to its similar colours. The audio has improved over the first title in that there are more frequent musical scores accompanying the player throughout and a further host of sound effects accompanying the battle scenes.

Overall, I would recommend Breath of Fire II to prospective buyers. If I did not know otherwise I would not have thought this was a game built on a previously Super Nintendo game as it handles very similarly to what is seen in our more modern games technology for handheld systems.

Summary: Thumbs up