Set 500 years after the original game,[4] the story centers on an orphan named Ryu Bateson, whose family vanished mysteriously long ago.

[6] Players are required to venture into dangerous areas throughout the game world as dictated by the story, and randomly encounter enemies every few steps which must be defeated to advance.

Each character has a unique Personal Action that may be performed outside of combat that allows the player to access certain areas, destroy objects, avoid traps, or move about the game more easily.

[7] Breath of Fire II includes a new town-building feature that allows the player to populate their own village with special characters found throughout the game.

[8] Each character has their own distinct job, and may be invited to live in houses that the player adds by donating currency to one of three carpenters, each with their own building style.

Six special inhabitants known as Shamans may also join the town, each with their own elemental alignment, and up to two at a time may be fused with party members to grant them new forms and abilities.

[10] The characters of Breath of Fire II were designed by Capcom artist Tatsuya Yoshikawa, who also provided artwork for the cast of the previous game.

Breath of Fire II features nine playable characters who join the player's party at set points throughout the story, each with their own selection of attacks, magic spells, and personal actions which can be used to pass certain obstacles and solve puzzles.

[7] He is joined by his friend and fellow Ranger, Bow ("Boche Doggy" in the Japanese version),[11] a thief and member of the Grassrunner clan of dog-people who uses a crossbow and healing spells.

Throughout the game, players recruit additional characters at different points in the story, including Katt ("Rinpu Chuan" in the Japanese version),[11] a member of the Woren clan of cat-people who fights at a coliseum; Rand Marks, muscular pangolin-person who fights with his bare hands; Nina Windia, descendant of the original Nina from Breath of Fire and princess of a clan of winged humans who was exiled due to her black wings, a bad omen in her country; Sten Legacy, a former soldier from a kingdom of monkey-people who makes his way as a trickster and performer; Ekkal Hoppa de Pe Jean, or simply Jean ("Tapeta" in the Japanese version),[11] a love-struck prince of a race of frog-people who struggles to regain his kingdom after his throne is usurped; and Spar ("Aspara Gus" in the Japanese version),[11] an emotionless plant girl who can commune with nature and is held captive by a traveling sideshow.

[7] An optional character in the form of the immortal sorceress Bleu ("Deis" in the Japanese version) from the original Breath of Fire may also be recruited.

[4] The story opens on Ryu, age 6, living in the village of Gate with his sister Yua and father Ganer, a priest for the Church of St. Eva.

Years earlier, Ryu's mother disappeared when demons erupted from a hole in a mountain on the outskirts of town, which was eventually blocked by a large dragon.

[13] Ten years later, Ryu and Bow live together in HomeTown as members of a Rangers guild, and are tasked with finding the lost pet of Mina, princess of the Kingdom of Windia.

Both escape the town the following night, and Bow remains in hiding while Ryu leaves to find the real thief and clear his friend's name.

Suspecting the demon outbreak to be part of a larger problem, the party searches the world for Spar, a Grassman able to communicate with plants.

Upon rescuing Spar from the clutches of a traveling sideshow, the party consults with the Great Wise Tree Gandaroof and discover that he is losing his memory.

They find themselves trapped within the city, but manage to escape with the help of Claris, a young woman allied with a group of rebels seeking to destroy St. Eva.

Together, the rebels and the party discover that St. Eva is a front for a demon who uses the prayers of worshippers to empower itself, and Tiga formulates a plan to infiltrate the Grand Church.

In the catacombs of the church, the party finds Ryu's father Ganer attached to an energy-draining machine, having been kidnapped by Aruhameru ten years ago.

Once Barubary is defeated, the party confronts his master, Deathevn, St. Eva's God and a remnant of Myria, the main antagonist of the previous game.

[16] A third ending also exists: If the player chooses not to enter the cave and confront Deathevn when prompted by Valerie, a non-standard game over will be triggered in which the demons ultimately break through the weakened seal and conquer the world.

Breath of Fire II was developed by many of the same Capcom employees who worked on the previous game, including producer Tokuro Fujiwara and lead designer Yoshinori Kawano.

[17] Like the re-release of its predecessor, the handheld version features re-drawn character portraits in menu screens, new still images used in cutscenes throughout the game, and a re-designed battle interface similar to Breath of Fire IV.

[20] In January 2002, Capcom USA announced that an English version of Breath of Fire II would be heading to North America the following April.

[22] In January 1995, the Breath of Fire II: Shimei no Ko Original Soundtrack was released in Japan by Sony Records, and featured 28 selected themes from the game on a single disc.

While some parts are very clever (you are able to build your home town, populating it with stray homeless folks you run across), it suffers from too little direction, a purely mechanical storyline, and the clunkiest dialogue since Night Trap.