ReCollection: Breath of Fire II

 

I felt that, seeing as how I'm currently making my way through Breath of Fire II again a new ReCollection entry might be due. Playing older games like this, especially ones that stand out vividly in my memories for one reason or another, always causes those data banks to reopen for a bit, giving me the occasional wash of nostalgia as I make my way through.

BoF2 is probably my second favorite game in the series, right behind Breath of Fire 3. Yeah, it suffers from all the hallmarks of an early RPG, like copious grinding, slow walking speed, and high random encounter rate, but these things as a kid just felt normal. It's not until years later, and the genre develops and grows, that these quirks are seen as knocks against a game. Some outgrow them and can't return to these classics without some sort of modernization or hack that alters certain aspects.

And then there are people like me who see and play the games for what they are rather than wishing they were something more.

I have a lot of fond memories of Breath of Fire 2 that span over a number of years, but the only thing I can't recollect is my first experience with the game. I know I rented it based on the images on the back of the box from a local rental store called Movie Max, having found myself really into the RPG genre at that point in time thanks to Secret of Mana and some figurines from a little-known anime called Dragon Ball. I wanted.

Breath of Fire 2 is one of those games that I'd rent fairly often in 96-97 and even once or twice in 98 despite my having a Playstation and access to an increasingly growing collection of quality 32-bit RPGs. Seldom did I ever get very far, thanks to its difficulty and my inability to make my way between plot points(And that was only assuming I figured out the gimmick to the first boss battle!).

One of the most vivid memories I have of the game is probably from 1996. It was a Friday, the day my father typically got paid, and the family would go out for our weekly groceries. I was never really one to beg for toys when browsing K-Mart or Wal-Mart, choosing to bide my time until checkout, where I would ask to rent a game. Considerably cheaper than most toys, and I'd get to play something new for five days(or a week, depending on where it came from). 
So, we opted for Movie Max since it was along the same strip mall as Taco Bell, which we would be getting for dinner. Back when soft-shell tacos were a buck each, and they offered the family meal. I browsed the rental place for a bit, scanning over the PlayStation and Sega Saturn games, thinking the possibility of playing such titles to be a distant dream. I settled into the SNES games, eventually going with Breath of Fire II yet again, as it was something I'd enjoyed before. 

We stopped at Taco Bell on the way home and got our dinner, which I not only enjoyed that night but also the following morning while playing more Breath of Fire 2. I vividly remember this for a few reasons, the main one being that I actually have some offscreen gameplay of said day on some old home movies! I remember sitting on my bed that morning, running blindly around the world map, exploring and fighting increasingly difficult enemies, all the while eating cold tacos from the night before.

Another memorable rental actually happened in 1998, ironically enough, after the release of Breath of Fire 3. SNES games were rapidly disappearing from rental shelves, and even as expansive as the new Hollywood Video that opened up earlier that year was, they couldn't house old 16-bit stuff for long. But what they did keep stocked were games that were released late in the console's life like Harvest Moon and Lufia 2. Breath of Fire 2 somehow managed to hold on despite its age (and its dramatically superior sequel). 
I rented it, and we, yet again, had Taco Bell that night. These two occurrences were what led me to always link Breath of Fire 2 and Taco Bell in my head. Like I cannot have tacos and not think of Breath of Fire, or vice versa. 

Two other things make this particular rental stand out: Beanie Baby mania was at its peak, and I was taking every opportunity I could to hit up local shops or flea markets with my family to grab the coveted little things. Even have a photo of myself sitting with my small collection at the time. I'd been given a VHS that had recounted the history of TY and the line of toys up until that point, which I spent the day trying to correct the reel on in order to get it to play.
The other part was coming across Cat's Don't Dance on the Disney Channel, which in itself kicked off a new branch of memories and little events that ended up being engrained in my memory.

The farthest I ever made it on my own in Breath of Fire 2 on the SNES was to the Colosseum and the fight against Katt. It wouldn't be until years later when I obtained the Gameboy Advance port, that I would actually finish the game.