GBA Cartridge Problems

I have a problem with my Breath of Fire II cartridge. It won't save.

Or, rather, it will save, but those saves get wiped when my gameboy advance is turned off. Apparently, this will eventually happen to all GBA carts. I gather from a quick google search that these cartridges have some memory inside, which will eventually wear out, and do this (the problem has been fixed with later things like DS games).

Oh hey, this explains why my old Super Marios cart for the SNES stopped saving reliably.

Anyway. The game plays fine, so I have a few options.

1. Buy a new copy.
   It's like £17 on amazon, with shipping, so I'd rather not.
2. Open the case, remove the (soldered in) memory, and solder in a new one.
   Again, I'd really rather not. Bartelmy does not do so well with the hot burny things. Plus, you know, I'd need new memory, and a soldering iron, and to know how to solder....
3. Give it up as a lost cause, and skip to Breath of Fire III.
   I'd rather not. It feels like cheating if I skip it. Plus, I ordered the official guide for III, and it hasn't arrived yet. I want to play it through with the guide (I already did it without one, not that it matters. Bite me).
4. Play the entire game without once turning my GBA off.
   This one is doable. I generally keep my GBA next to my bed, but I can hide it under my bedside table or something at night. I keep it plugged into the charger, so that's not an issue. The game seems to save okay as long as I don't turn the machine off, so quicksaves for the ending also seem like an option. We very rarely get power cuts, and if we did, it wouldn't be an issue, so long as it wasn't off for ten or twelve hours straight.

...so, yeah, I'll be going for option 4. Fun times.

Breath of Fire II - Fishing

I had some trouble with fishing, initially. It's a useful thing to do, early on, as you can sell the fish for what is, relatively, quite a bit of money. Watching this video really helped.

...and so did this one, because hunting is a little weird, too.

Kali's Completion Project Update - Breath of Fire and other things

So, I've finally finished Breath of Fire. I can't tell you how many hours it took me, but I started it on the 28th of July and finished on the 24th of September. Bear in mind that I was studying over this period, and didn't play every day. I must also confess that I also dabbled in browser based games like Frontierville on facebook, Alter Ego, and Dreamworld and Epic Battle Fantasy III on Kongregate.

Frontierville is heavily addictive.  It uses pretty much every trick described here. It keeps giving you goals, and items to collect.  It uses an energy bar that refills over time, making you come back and over, so you're not wasting energy.  It doesn't charge, but it tries to encourage you to buy items rather than earn them, and advertise the game to your friends by making success dependent on having lots of other people you know playing (many people circumvent this by friending strangers who are already playing, who advertise on the official fanpage for the game).  Your frontier continually grows grass, trees, wild flowers and stones, which you need to keep clearing, basically running to stay in the same place.  These and other activities give you random drops of rare items.

That last bit is what makes the game easy to quit.  Ignore it for forty-eight hours, and your frontier is so overgrown that it's just not worth it any more.

Dreamworld uses very similar techniques.  It has an energy bar that refills over time, and it encourages you to return every day.  It's not really a bad game, not fully text-based, but not really not, either.  It's a bit meh, overall.  No plot to speak of, really, just a series of repetitive missions, and some goals.

Alter-Ego is a text-based life sim.  You start off as a baby, and your character goes through various experiences as he or she grows up.  Often the game will let you choose how your character feels, and how they react.  Well, I say it lets you.  Actually, the game describes how you feel, then asks you, and rebukes you for contradicting it.

I found the game to be very sexist, in many ways.  Mostly, regarding sex.  Girls can't initiate it, or be eager for it, or feel ready for it at a young age - they always feel bad, after being pressured into it (despite the player choosing options like feeling good about it, and agreeing to it).  Your character will always feel bad if she chooses not to have children.

It's not a bad game, just quite close-minded.  The creator's opinions seem to come through very strongly, and they're not someone I would really like to spend any time with, to be honest.

 I played Epic Battle Fantasy III after someone complained about it here.  She's not wrong - the game does have all these things.  But, for some reason, it offends me much less than Alter-Ego.  I think maybe because Epic Battle Fantasy III knows it's silly and immature and sexist.  It's a very tongue-in-cheek, fourth-wall-breaking style.  I'm not saying that this makes it okay to be sexist, just that I feel it's better to know that you're immature and sexist, rather than having an overbearing opinion that this is the way people are, by some divine right.  At least that way, there's hope?  Maybe?

I may be biased though, I read Cracked for fun.

I may add the Epic Battle Fantasy series into my competition project.  I've got quite a while to consider it.  There's also a few other games I found in a friend's collection that I want to add, old psx games like Crash Bandicoot 2, and Spiderman, and so on.  We'll see.

Regarding Breath of Fire; I did manage to achieve my goals.  I finished the game, having found all of the Rod5 items, all of Puka's doors and Mogu's dig spots, and all of Karn and Ryu's transformations.  I also had everyone's best weapons, and possibly armour (I'm not sure, and don't really care).  Nina and Deis both had all of their spells learnt, unless they actually did have one left in that final slot (I really suspect they both have an odd number of spells).  I made posts listing where to find all those collectible and character-enhancing elements above, and I also wrote a post detailing the entire storyline.  It doesn't read terribly well.  I was trying not to embellish it too much.  I wanted to see how elements of the storyline show up in later games, and if I took too much artistic license, it wouldn't be an accurate representation.  That said, I wanted it to flow well.

At tricky points I referred to this guide  (to make absolutely sure I didn't miss anything), and to this one (when I got stuck in Obelisk, although it looks pretty thorough in other areas too).

I kind of feel the need to defend myself, here.  Firstly, I have defeated the game before, secondly, I used them to double-check.  Besides which, I don't think there's anything wrong with using guides.  There is a huge amount of satisfaction that comes from finishing a game yourself, but it's up to the player whether they want to use a guide on the first playthrough or not.  I generally try to get through a game once by myself, then use guides to complete it 100%.  If the level of frustration I feel at a certain part is ruining my enjoyment of a game, I will use guides to help me get through it.  Anyway.

I've also uploaded the maps I drew of the trickier areas (I wanted to be absolutely certain I didn't miss any treasure there), for future reference.  Once I'm done transcribing those into paint, I'll be ready to move on to Breath of Fire II.  For that, my goals are similar - best weapons, all dragon forms, and all unlockables/collectibles/enhancements/whatever.  I'm going to write out boss lists, but not a plot description.  I'll probably get started on that tonight or tomorrow, once I'm done with the maths coursework I need to finish.

Breath of Fire: Endings (Spoiler-free)

The difference between the good and bad endings, in Breath of Fire, is very simple.

To get the bad ending; ignore Sara's advice, and don't use Agni.

To get the good ending; transform into Agni. Bear in mind that, in order to use Agni, you must first have it, and, secondly, your party members must not be fused together in another form.

Breath of Fire: Endings (With Spoilers)

Warning: The following contains major spoilers.

There are two endings for Breath of Fire. To see both in one playthrough, I believe the easiest way is to quicksave the game after Tyr says "I haven't done anything. Don't hurt me."

You can then load from your permanent save, and head through the last dungeon again. Make sure you have Agni.

Speak to Tyr again. Agree to be her friend, and Sara will appear. Sara tells you, "Ryu, use the magic of Agni! She'll reveal her true self!".

Tyr replies "I am not! I've done nothing!".

Sara says "She'll fool you with her innocent looks. She's evil, but she'll hide it. Don't be fooled!"

Bad Ending

To get the bad ending, completely ignore Tyr's advice. Use Rudra and Puka to whittle away at her (approximately 21,000) hit points.

After the battle, Nina will say "it's finally over." Karn will agree, "it's about time!", and Deis will comment that "it was actually easier than I thought."

Ox says "We were much stronger, right Ryu? ...Ryu?"

Ryu is paying attention to Sara, who is fading away. She says "You've succeeded. The world is in your debt. Go! Warriors, Go!"

Karn asks "Go where?"

Nina tells him, "We've got to help people rebuild their villages and towns."

Karn says, "Oh, that's right!"

The party says "let's go!".

The screen fades to black, and you get to watch the credits.  Afterwards, you'll see Tyr again, who repeats "I haven't done anything.  Don't hurt me."    She then transforms into her creepy form.

Good Ending

Load your quicksave file. This time, when you battle Tyr, follow Sara's advice, and use Agni. After attacking her in that form, Tyr will stop the battle.

She says "You can't challenge me to a fight! You're only humans. I'll destroy you all."

She then transforms into her creepy form and says "I...don't believe this!"

After defeating Tyr as a six-headed snake goddess (with around 30,000hp), she'll say "You can't win humans. This is only temporary. I shall return," before disappearing in flames.

The sky behind her will transform into steel, which will begin to fall away. Ryu falls with it. Bird warriors from Winlan catch the party.

Outside Winlan, Sara's ghost says "I'm proud of you, Ryu. You turned the tables on the Goddess of Destruction. You and your companions completed the mission of the legendary warriors. This is the beginning of a new legend. I have watched you succeed. So, I have no regrets in leaving you."

Finally, Ryu speaks. "Wait!"

Sara turns back and says "Goodbye, Ryu. You made me proud. You are a true warrior."

Then she disappears. In her place, the Dragon Lord appears, who says "You have done well. I'll remember that you saved the world. This is the beginning of a new legend!"

Nina says "it's finally over." Karn agrees, "it's about time!"

The Dragon Lord told them "There is still much work for you. You must help those who lost much during the war."

Karn asked "Can't we take a break?"

Bo tells him, "A real hero doesn't quit until the job is done."

Nina adds "we're making history! We'll all be legends, someday."

Gobi says "that's right. Oh, don't forget, you still owe me money."

Karn moans "Again with the money! Is he worthy of hero status?"

The entire party says "let's go!"

A soldier says to the Princess, "Nina, we should return to the Castle. The king is waiting."

Nina tells him, "There's still a lot of work left to be done. Tell the King that I'll return when I'm ready."

As a giant bird, Nina flew all over the world. Mogu showed off his digging skills in Gramor. The party got lost in the desert, and Deis went back to bed. Ox celebrated the birth of his new child. Gobi set up shop. Karn returned to Bleak. Nina, Ryu and Bo mourned the stone robot at the volcano, before leaving Bo in Tuntar.

Ryu and Nina headed back to Winlan. Finally, Ryu returned to Drogen, where the light dragons were rebuilding. He didn't stay. Instead, he walked off into the sunset, thinking of his sister.

After this, you'll get a much better credit sequence, and you'll be thanked for playing.  Then you'll see a picture of Ryu and Nina, before seeing the words "to be continued" over a picture of Ryu from Breath of Fire II.

Breath of Fire: Weapons

Below is a quick list of the best weapons available in Breath of Fire, and how to find them.

Ryu - The tri-rang is easily his strongest weapon. It can be found behind one of the towers of the pagoda, as soon as Nina is able to fly. From Agua, head north until you see an island with two towers on it, and check behind the leftmost one.

Nina - PowerRP. Can be bought as part of Gobi's sidequest.

Deis - GlowCN. Can be bought as part of Gobi's sidequest.

Bo - HeroBW. Can be found in Mogu's digspot, to the southeast of Carmen.

Karn - The Icy Dagger can be found in Agua, as soon as Karn is available to unlock the doors. Check behind the pillars.

Gobi - The Sleeper can be bought as part of Gobi's sidequest.

Mogu - MystCW.  Can be retrieved from one of his dig-spots.

Ox - The Mallet can be bought as part of Gobi's sidequest.

Breath of Fire: Puka's Doors

At certain points in Breath of Fire, you'll come across strange doors set into the side of mountains. These can be opened by Karn's Puka form - simply place him at the front of the party and press A to breathe on them. The doors are located as follows;

North of Auria - you'll find a DarkBR here.
Southwest of Gust - you'll find a LoveBR here.
Southeast of Carmen - You'll find a WindBR here.

Random Repetition

What I really hate - and I suspect most people do - is the random repetitive element of certain tasks in RPGs.

Like fighting hundreds of a creature for a rare drop. Or, getting into hundreds of battles to find a rare creature. Or, opening a shop hundreds of times, waiting for someone to offer you the best weapons in the game. Or dodging hundreds of lightening bolts.

Speaking of which, I feel that Final Fantasy X is one of the worst for that. At many points, the game felt more like work than fun. Final Fantasy X-2 came as a welcome relief, after that.

Breath of Fire: Mogu's Dig Spots

In Breath of Fire, there are certain places on the world map where Mogu can dig down to find treasures.

Northeast of Camlon

You can obtain Karn's Doof form here.

East of the Stone Golem/Northeast of Tuntar

Here, you'll find an A.Ptn, an L.Ptn, a V.Ptn and a clog.

Island north of Winlan

Here, you'll find a V.Ptn, an S.Ptn and a Sash. Nina must be able to fly to reach it.

Spyre

The entrance.


South of Spring/Northeast of Carmen

You can find the HeroBW here (Bo's best weapon, if I recall correctly).

Southeast of Scande

You'll be able to reach this point after Nina learns how to fly. You'll find an S.Ptn, an A.Ptn, an L.Ptn, a MystCW (possibly Mogu's best weapon), a StarSH, an AgileHT, a LoveHT, and a Life2 here.

Breath of Fire: Karn's Forms

Karn is descended from a long line of shapeshifters, who will teach him their abilities if you seek them out.

These abilities will result in Karn merging with other party members in more powerful forms. As well as being quite powerful, and having useful map abilities, I like that these forms allow you to include most of the party in the battle party. It's sweet.

Karn must be leading the party to use the special abilities on the world map. Karn must also be the one to talk to his family members, and must not be merged in a special form in order to learn new ones.

Shin

You can gain Shin in Gant. Push a cabinet sideways, and head through the hole in the wall.

This form will merge Karn with Bo, and allow you to shoot arrows further on the world map.

Debo

This is a combination of Karn and Gobi. You'll learn it from an old man in Gust. Move an empty crate in the flute players house and head through the trapdoor. You can only use this form underwater.

Doof

This is a combination of Karn and Ox, and can move things that are too heavy for Ox. You can get it by having Mogu dig on a dragon mark to the northeast of Camlon.

Puka

Puka is a combination of Karn, Bo, Ox and Gobi, and is incredibly powerful. It has the map ability of being able to move those weird blocks set into mountains when it breathes on them.

You'll gain Puka in Bleak, by using Doof to push aside a cabinet in the fortune teller's house.

Breath of Fire: Mare Tower

In Mare Tower, there is a floor where certain panels will make the entire thing rotate by either 90 or 180 degrees. This makes it very easy to become disorientated. So, here's a map.  Grey squares are the spinning ones, red is the entrance and green is the exit.

You'll still need to manually figure out which way to head, by the way. Pro-tip - sometimes, it spins slow enough that you can just keep an eye on the branch that you want.

Breath of Fire - North Tower

North Tower is a strange little dungeon. It appears in Mogu's nightmare, and there are buttons on the floor. The grey ones make the walls invisible, while the red ones make them visible again.  I ended up sketching maps onto squared paper, and now I've transferred them to paint, so they're a bit clearer.  Blue is the invisible buttons, red are the visible ones, black is the stairway, and green is Moth.  You will initially need to speak to Moth, leave the tower, find courage, and then return and make your way to the top of the tower.

First Floor (entrance to the south).

I thought there might be treasure.  There wasn't.

Second Floor

You'll start this floor on the easternmost stairs, and you'll need to make your way west. If you head south, you'll end up falling outside of the tower.

Third Floor

As you can see, the third floor is much smaller. You'll start from the stairs in the centre, and need to get to the stairs to the east.

I didn't map the fourth floor. It's a tiny area, with many alternating buttons, making the walls blink on and off as you run through it. Again, there's no treasure. None. Anywhere.

Breath of Fire: Dragon Forms

In each Breath of Fire game, Ryu is able to transform into a dragon, or a variety of Dragons. His forms from the first game are obtained as follows;

Temple South of Tuntar

You will be able to reach this temple after the Stone Robot sacrifices himself. Ryu will be forced to go into the Dragon Temple and fight alone. It shouldn't be too tough. After the battle, Ryu will gain the forms of Snow, Thunder and Flame Dragon.

Temple South of Hidden Fort

You'll be able to reach this temple any time after making your way through the hidden fort. However, you won't be able to actually enter until you've found the Rod5, in Tunlan, and fished up the Dragon Sword from the well to the West of Agua.

From the northern side of the Hidden Fort, go west and follow the mountains around.  Once inside, you'll find a healing spring and a marble2, before battling Bain.  The Flame Dragon will do 115hp of damage a turn, the Snow Dragon will do 100 points, and the Thunder Dragon will do 130hp.  Use the Thunder Dragon.

Bain has a lot of hit points, but not many attacks.  After this battle, Ryu will gain the Fire Dragon, Bolt Dragon, and Gold Dragon forms.

Temple North of Gust

To reach this temple, you need to be able to fly.  From Gust, fly a little north until you come to the strange looking castle thing on an island in a lake.  You need the Dragon Armour (which you can fish up in the duckpond in Spring, once the water thaws) in order to enter.

Avian is a little tricky to defeat.  The Fire Dragon seems to hurt him most, with 300 or damage a turn.  Afterwards, you'll gain Rudra.

Cleansing Waters

The final temple is in the cave south of Romero, where you found the Cleansing Waters.  Head right down to the bottom, and, once you have the gills, you'll be able to walk right into the water.

If you have Rudra and the Dragon Helmet (which can be found by fishing in the well to the south of Arad), Agni will be unlocked.  Agni is necessary to achieve the good ending of the game.  There is no battle here.

Breath of Fire: Rod5

Ryu can gain special equipment and items by using the Rod5 to fish in certain places.  These are in the order that I was able to get them.

Well to the Northwest of Tuntar

Head west from Tuntar, then follow the coast around to the north, and you should find it.  Fishing in this well (using the Rod5 and worms as bait) will give you the slab.  The slab has, written on it in ancient writing, the words "Where mystic water lies, the ultimate power sleeps".

Well to the Southwest of Arad

From Arad, head west then south.  Here, you'll find the Dragon Helmet.

Well to the West of Agua

From Romero, head west until you hit the coast.  From there, go south down the coastal side of the mountains and then west to the well.  You'll get the Dragon Sword here.

Duckpond in Spring

After using the Skykey on the machine in Spyre, the waters will thaw in Spring.  Wade through, and fish off the dock to the northwest into the duckpond.  You'll get the Dragon Armour.

Well to the East of Gust

This well is surrounded by mountains, and you need to be able to fly to reach it.   You'll get the Dragon Shield here.

Breath of Fire Overview

Breath of Fire is the first game of the Breath of Fire series, and was developed by Capcom way back in 1993.  It was translated and released by Squaresoft (who, for some silly reason decided to call Deis 'Bleu').

Breath of Fire wasn't actually the first Breath of Fire game I played - that was Breath of Fire IV. I picked Breath of Fire up in 2006 or so, for the sake of completion. It's a very good early RPG.  Well, my review is a few posts down, just read that.

My goals for this playthrough are as follows; to complete every subquest, gain every item, and end with everyone carrying their best weapons, armour and etc.  I probably won't take the time to level everyone up to 100.  Maybe 50.  We'll see. I've completed this game before, with everyone's ultimate weapons and spells learned.

Kali's Completion Project Update

In the past year or so, I've sometimes gone months at a time without gaming. Sometimes, I'd pick one up and play it for a bit, but I didn't really push myself. Whenever I got to the boring bits, I'd just switch to another one.

Now, I find myself really looking forward to playing my games. I'm making plans, like selecting my Final Fantasy I team with dice, for the challenge, or completeing the Shadow Hearts series by going Koudelka -> Shadow Hearts (Bad Ending) -> Shadow Hearts 2 (Death Ending) -> Shadow Hearts (Good Ending) -> Shadow Hearts 3. I'm looking forward to it so much that I'm almost tempted to just give up on the whole thing, and skip ahead.

That would be defeating the point, of course.  It's fun because I'm slogging through, and completing them all properly, and taking the time to appreciate each one.  It's the sense of satisfaction, more than anything.

So I'll be getting on with Breath of Fire, then.

Nostalgia

Don't judge me, but I really like Tigger's Honey Hunt.  It's a cute little game, aimed at children under six.  I used to play it when I was about thirteen.  It's very short, very simple, but also somewhat adorable.  I'm tempted to get a new copy, it's going for 88p on Amazon.

Lookit the cute little fuzzy-wuzzy

I also kind-of want Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.  It's going for under £3.  We'll see.

Breath of Fire I & IV

Some people believe that Breath of Fire IV is a prequel to the first Breath of Fire game.

Near the beginning of IV, Nina gives Ryu the King's Sword. Soon afterwards, it ends up breaking, and is known as 'Broken Sword' for the rest of the game.

Well, playing the first Breath of Fire, I just found a Broken Sword in Winlan Castle's treasury, with no in-game reference as to what it's doing there.

Interesting.

Peripherals and Accessories

For my completion project, I'm going to need certain items(in some cases, for instance, the games themselves). So I've decided to make an organised list.

Breath of Fire III - this game was stolen a while back, but I just bought a new copy off eBay. I could also get the official guide, since I collect them, but that's not a necessity. Those are £40 on amazon and £17 on eBay, not including P&P.

Final Fantasy Tactics - I'm going to need an NTSC Playstation or PS2 for this.

Final Fantasy XIII - I'd like to have the official guide, in order to complete the set, but, again, not a necessity.

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life * - I'm going to need a replacement for this one. Copies for the Gamecube, in good condition, are going for around £8. It'd also be nice to have the GBA edition as well, to link them. Friends of Mineral Town is going for £15.

Kingdom Hearts - again, I'd like the guide, but not a necessity. It would really help though, since this game makes me seriously motion-sick.

Kingdom Hearts II - see above.

Prince of Persia * - this needs replacing.

The Sims: Busting Out * - this needs replacing. It's going for a penny.

Breath of Fire: Bleak

Bleak has an item shop, a weapon shop, a storage facility, and an Inn which offers free lodging. Do not take them up on this offer unless you have the pouch in your inventory - the owner of the Inn will attempt to steal your money in the middle of the night. Should you have the pouch, the party receives 5000g in return for their silence.

Another offer you should not take up is that of the fortune teller just north of the Dragon Temple. She's a con artist, who will take your cash, then leave you alone in a building with a parrot telling you to keep your eyes closed while she makes her escape. However, in the house behind her, you can find a Life2 hidden beneath a barrel, in the south-western room.

In the north-western house behind the shops, you'll find two chests containing Herbs on the second floor. Downstairs is a magician, who will offer to show you a trick for 100g. This is also a scam, but if you answer "yes", twice, then "no" twice, and finally "yes", you'll see a cameo of Chun Li from Street Fighter. You'll find another two chests containing herbs in the house next door.

In the northernmost house, you will be able to trade a G.Bar for an Icicle needed to travel through the desert. You will also find two chests upstairs containing a Life and a W.Ant.