S2E08: Breath of Fire I and II -or- The Wyrm Turns

Ryan (aka Warboss5) rejoins Mike and Jaymo as they dive deep into the classic RPGs Breath of Fire (SNES, 1993) and Breath of Fire II (SNES, 1994), continuing their epic quest to research and review every retro game in the Nintendo Switch Online catalog!

In this episode, we explore the origins of the Dragon Clan, debate the merits of archaic turn-based combat, and discover the hidden depths of these two epic tales. Ryan shares his love for old RPGs and how Breath of Fire II’s intriguing storyline and character development kept him hooked. We also discuss the quality-of-life improvements in the sequel, the peculiar translation quirks, and the unforgettable moments that make these games stand out. Along the way we also touch upon Japanese toilet ghosts, facehuggers, and, for some reason, the Gilligan’s Island castaways.

Thanks for listening, and a very special thanks to Kristal Fields of The Lazy Circles for our catchy new theme song! Subscribe to The Old Switch-a-roo to get more retro goodness delivered straight to your feed! You can also join the fun on ⁠⁠https://www.theoldswitcharoo.com⁠⁠, where you'll find access to our Discord, voicemail, and so much more!

Game on, everyone.

(0:00) Intro

(1:30) Welcoming Ryan

(6:00) Breath of Fire

(40:08) Mini-Game Minute: Rosetta Stone

(43:13) Breath of Fire Cont’d

(51:40) Breath of Fire II

(1:36:07) NintenDO or NintenDON’T

Ryan on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@warboss5

Breath of Fire manual: https://archive.org/details/breath-of-fire-usa

Breath of Fire II manual: https://archive.org/details/breath-of-fire-ii-us

Dragon Ball GTFS Commentary | Episodes 20-22 - FourStarBento (Discussion of Japan and spoilers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG9xcR5O7ow&t=7m34s

Japanese Breath of Fire II Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11ieCeUa-8o

Power Profiles: Keiji Inafune - Nintendo Power Issue 220 ( October 2007): https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-220-october-2007/page/80/mode/2up

Mike’s party gets wrecked by the witch Nimufu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esr_L3kwlMQ&t=15640s