Breath of Fire II Part #88 - Chapter Sixty Four: Infinite Dungeons

Part 88: Chapter Sixty Four: Infinite Dungeons

:…!! Damn!

: Ryu? What’s the matter?

:…Nothing…I’m okay. I just imagined what might happen if we let the Dark God fester in the depths of the earth.

: So…what’s it gonna be? Are we gonna kick that thing’s ass or what?

: Of course we are! Things are looking up for us! We beat that swine Habalk, and I just found out my sister is still alive. Let’s keep on going while we’re on a roll!

: I’m sure. Choosing to leave the Dark God alone would surely result in destruction. We’ll go in, kick his ass, and be back in time for tea. Sound good, you guys?

: Sure does, boss! Hmm…The legendary Bosch, slayer of demons! Sounds pretty good if I do say so myself.

: Great! It’s time to put the ‘Mystery of the Dark God’ to rest! By kicking his ass!

: For all the sacrifices we have made and have been made on our behalf thus far…we must continue.

Music: 25 – The Flower

: Do I know you? You seem…familiar…somehow.

: Ryu…Fated Child…The path you have chosen is fraught with danger, but I see only wisdom in it. I believe you have made the right choice…

: Ryu…I believe in you…

: I know you…! You’re my-

: H-hold on…

: No! Stop! Don’t do it!

Music: You Must Live

:…Let’s go. We’re wasting time here. Once we get back, I’ll find Pat-uh, Yua again, and we can all go back to Township together. But for now, we have to move on.

Music: 23 – Nightmare (Probably my favourite final dungeon theme ever)

This is it. The first part of the final dungeon stretches before us. The retranslation calls this place ‘Abyss Tower’, but that’s a shitty generic name so I’ll be calling it what the original script called it – Infinity. It’s much more fitting, as you’ll shortly see. I’ve also swapped out Nina for Deis for the time being. Unlike Pagoda or Obelisk from the first game, Infinity is no joke. The encounter rate is high and the enemies are relentless. Stock up on high level healing items before even attempting it, and make sure you bring a hefty supply of AP healing items.

What enemies does the penultimate part of the game have to throw at us? Let’s have a look.

Wraith Guards have high defence – even Ryu’s attacks will only do about 80 damage. They can also drain your health and heal themselves, making them irritating damage sponges. They very rarely drop Tyr’s Gloves, the best shield in the game.

Bighands hit very hard, dealing 70+ damage per attack. Combo attack effectively doubles this, so it’s useful to have Bosch or another healer along to get everyone patched up after fighting one. They also have a titanic amount of HP that takes multiple turns to deplete. If you run into two at once the best strategy is to just nuke them with Kaiser.

Hypnos have Dream Breath, and are just as annoying as such enemies always are. Luckily they’re glass canons who go down in only two or three hits. They also drop Dream Jewels, allowing you to become immune to their gimmick.

Calvariders are the last enemy with the ‘every hit is a critical hit’ gimmick. They do around 100 damage with physical attacks, and they can also cast a Death spell with a frighteningly high chance of killing your characters instantly. Fun times.

Most of the enemies here are weak to fire, so having Deis constantly spam Inferno was my strategy of choice. One good thing about this place is that all the encounters give comparable experience to those on Giant Island, which is now a hassle to get to due to Mina no longer being available.

Okay, let’s get going. You can go either left or right – both lead to the same destination.

There’s a grab point for Sten nearby, but it only acts as a shortcut.

The treasure chest contains a Light Brace, an Accessory that blocks all status ailments.

: This place isn’t right. Everything’s at funny angles…and looking into the distance is making my head hurt…

: Don’t concentrate on it, sweetheart. This distortion is caused by the Dark God’s presence. The deeper we go, the worse it will become.

The grab point here leads to a chest that I can’t reach without Sten.

Whilst wandering around down here I run into this fellow. Ifrit is a rare enemy who can cast Inferno and use Fire Breath. He has around 900 HP and can be a pain in the neck if he gets any of his more powerful attacks off.

I also run into another rare enemy, the Evil Dragon. They have Combo Attack that allows them to deal 140+ damage per turn, as well as Fire Breath and Curse Attack. Their HP is pretty high too. Be careful if you run into one.

Not being able to get the chest offends me so I scoot back to Gate and swap out Lin for Sten. The Buster Bow is a great weapon for Bosch, though since he’s busy healing he’s not going to get a lot of use out of it.

I grab the Shining Helm in the chest and then ignore the staircase. There’s more stuff to do here.

Back outside again we can find this treasure by going all the way left and then up. The Bendanti is a whip for Aspara.

Going down those stairs first puts us closer to a treasure we would otherwise have had to trek around to get.

A Stamina-Up is always useful.

Power Foods are also always useful.

Unlike the original Breath of Fire it is entirely possible to die to a random encounter in the last dungeon. If you go in too deep and run out of healing supplies or didn’t bring someone with the Exit spell you can get massively screwed over very quickly – and this is only the first half of the dungeon.

The chests on this floor contain a set of Tyrant Armour, a Mother Robe and a Scimitar.

The next six floors of Infinity are exactly the same as this one. It’s a trick to make you think you’re caught in an infinite loop.

Eventually you’ll reach this area.

Going directly south leads to a Soul Shield. Going north again from there leads to a Sun Mask. Both are good armours that we can no longer buy due to Mina’s predicament.

This floor is a maze of steps and stairways, but there is a lot of treasure to be had if you’re willing to risk looking for it. The chest to the top left contains an Undying Ring, the most powerful Ring weapon in the game.