Breath of Fire II
Breath of Fire II is a turn-based JRPG developed and published by Capcom, released in Japan on Super Famicom on December 2, 1994, in North America for SNES on December 10, 1995, and in Europe on April 25, 1996. It later saw Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console re-releases. Set 500 years after the original Breath of Fire, the story follows an orphaned Ryu clearing his friend Bow's false theft conviction, which escalates into a wider investigation of demonic outbreaks tied to the Church of St. Eva and a gate-sealing plot.
Availability: Nintendo Switch Online — Super Nintendo Entertainment System app (Nintendo Classics)
This guide documents the game's main progression and structure; some specific details are still being verified and are noted where relevant.
Controls / Starting Systems
The game retains the series' menu-driven, agility/turn-based battle system with a four-member active party drawn from a roster of nine recruitable characters, each of whom joins at fixed story points. Party members cannot be freely swapped everywhere — swapping is restricted to designated areas/towns. Each character has a unique field "Personal Action" used for puzzle-solving and navigation, consistent with the first game's design.
Progression Architecture (Dragon, Shaman & Town-Building Systems)
Ryu, as a member of the Dragon Clan, can transform into a series of increasingly powerful dragon forms during battle, with the ultimate form, Anfini, unlocked late in the game and pivotal to the final battle. Six elemental Shamans (fire, water, wind, earth, and others per source naming) can be fused with party members — either one or two Shamans fused to a single character — granting new forms and boosted battle stats. Any combination of Shamans can be applied to most party members, with the notable exception that Ryu and the character Bleu cannot participate in Shaman fusion. A distinctive town-building feature lets the player construct and grow their own village (Township) by recruiting wandering NPCs found throughout the world and donating money to carpenters, who build in different architectural styles. Because Shaman fusion materially boosts party member stats/forms and the Township mechanic is built from NPCs found "throughout the world," both systems function as parallel side-progression tracks that reward exploration alongside the main story dungeons, rather than being required to finish the game.
Required Objectives
The main required objective thread is clearing Bow's false theft conviction, which draws the party into investigating demon outbreaks connected to the Church of St. Eva, escalating toward the gate-sealing/Deathevan plot. Recruiting the nine playable characters happens at set story beats as the plot advances.
Major Bosses
Barubary is the first major villain encountered and reappears as the penultimate boss, fought three times across the game. The first encounter, when Ryu is a child, is a forced/scripted defeat. Barubary is widely regarded as the hardest fight in the game due to high HP, strong stats, and full-party area attacks. Deathevan is the final boss, fought in two phases. The first phase is largely cinematic, with Ryu alone against a Deathevan who only casts "Explode" until Ryu casts Anfini, which resurrects the rest of the party and triggers the true final battle. Deathevan is faster than Barubary and can pressure the party quickly despite being considered less individually difficult by many players.
Completion Path
The completion path runs: clear Bow's frame-up → investigate the Church of St. Eva / demon outbreaks while recruiting the party's nine members → confront Barubary across his three encounters → reach and defeat Deathevan in the two-phase final battle (requiring Ryu to trigger Anfini to resurrect the party) → ending sequence in which Ryu's father and allies seal the cave to stop Deathevan from re-emerging, resolving whether Ryu himself turns into a dragon. Because Anfini is explicitly required mid-fight to revive the party during the true final battle, unlocking Ryu's ultimate dragon form functions as a hard progression gate for finishing the game, not an optional power spike.
Still confirming
- The precise order in which all nine party members are recruited, and the exact list/order of required story dungeons between the game's opening and the Barubary/Deathevan endgame, could not be fully confirmed from the sources accessed this pass.
- Full Shaman-fusion combination effects (which specific fusion pairs unlock which named forms) were only partially confirmed and are not detailed here to avoid guessing beyond source confirmation.
- Any missable NPCs required for Township growth, and whether Township completion is required (vs. optional) for the main ending, was not verified.