Part 21: Chapter Seventeen: Frog Bog

Music: 02 – My Home Sweet Home



Last time a crazy and possibly senile old woman browbeat us into giving her lodgings and demanded we find a carpenter to help expand the place a little. This means a trip back to Capitan.

Before that, though, there is the small issue of Ryu’s new abilities.



Ryu now has three new battle abilities – Flame Whelp, Frost Whelp and Electric Whelp. Let’s try them out on some hapless enemies.



A pair of leeches makes a good victim for this demonstration. From the Special menu we select the ‘Flame Whelp’ option.



Just like with Guts, Ryu powers up. Then…





A cartoony dragon bounces in from off-screen, spits a small fireball at the enemy, then vanishes. All three Whelp forms deal 256 points of elemental damage, unless the enemy is resistant or weak to that particular element, in which case the damage is halved or doubled respectively.



I’d love to show off the other dragons, but there’s one problem. Can you see what it is? That’s right – all of Ryu’s AP is gone.

So, remember back in the first Breath of Fire where the Dragon Transformations were absurdly broken and turned the protagonist into a death machine for the entire battle? How they trivialized most of the rest of the game once you got the good ones? Well between that game and this one Capcom realized how overpowered that mechanic was and took steps to prevent people from abusing it. The previously overpowered ability has since been nerfed down to a mere fraction of its former glory.

Dragon Transformations no longer last for the entire battle. They are one-shot attacks that deal fixed damage and eat up Ryu’s entire stock of AP once activated. Ryu doesn’t have to be at full AP in order to use these attacks - if his AP count is 20/25 then you can still use a Transformation, but it won’t be as powerful, and the attack power scales with how much AP you currently have.

Nevertheless, these attacks are certainly not useless seeing as how they do deal a significant amount of damage. Expect to see me use at least one in nearly every Boss battle from this point onwards.

Anyway, let’s skip back to Capitan.





Alright. Here we are. Three carpenters live in Capitan. One lives in a normal house to the east. The second dwells in one of the stilted houses, and a third lives in the left hand house with the minarets. We have to choose one to help build an extension to Grandma and Sanamo’s residence. This is the first step of the Township sidequest. To sum the quest up whilst spoiling as little as possible, thanks to the carpenter’s efforts the Hideout will eventually develop into a small town. Whilst empty at first, it will eventually become possible to invite certain NPC’s to live there. This is an enormously important sidequest and depending how we do it can result in us getting rare and unique items and can even affect the ending of the game itself.

With that said, our first decision is which of the carpenters to employ. Since Ryu succeeded in saving all six villagers we have a choice of all three. Had we not succeeded then our selection would have been more limited, and if we had only saved the minimum number then we would have been locked into using only one.



This guy is the regular carpenter. He will always be available even if you screw up the dry well quest. Choosing him will mean the houses in Township will have a regular style similar to those found in Newhaven. In addition, the new town will also have a special kitchen where new items can be made via what is essentially item fusion. These include stat-up items.



This guy is the tree carpenter. Choosing him will mean that all the houses in Township will be made out of wood and be on stilts. There will also be a cable car system similar to the one in Tagzi Woods. In addition, it will become possible to play a game similar to Othello where the player can win consumables and other items.



This guy is the stone carpenter. Choosing him will result in Township’s houses being built in a similar style to his own, with minarets and a generally Arabic styling to them. His special feature is a lively pub filled with NPC’s who tell you interesting facts about your playthrough, like your total zenny collected, the number of enemies you’ve killed, game time, etc.

Honestly, the best carpenter is the normal one. The items won from the tree carpenter’s game can be powerful but better can generally be found in dungeons and shops. The stone carpenter’s pub is interesting but ultimately only a curiosity. Item fusion is actually useful, so we’ll be going with the normal carpenter for this playthrough.





: Actually, there is one thing. We need a house built, and seeing as you’re a carpenter and owe us a favour we thought we’d come to you.



: Well, it’s a long story, but here’s the short version…







: Okay, the place you want is just west of Mt. Futabi. Just go there and do whatever that old hag tells you.







: Sure, good luck I guess. Now we can FINALLY get back to chasing that damn thief. She’s probably on the other side of the world by now.



: I don’t suppose that bat-winged girl decided to come back with it or anything…

: Funny you should mention that! We got word of her all right!



: Fort Nageur?

: It’s a fortress in the middle of a lake on the western continent. The Creeping Clan make their home there. It’s a pretty impressive place, master. Very well defended. Our mystery thief will have her work cut out if she wants to steal something from there.

: You seem to know an awful lot about the place, Sten.

: Aw stop it, you’re making me blush. Seriously though, I’m kind of a…military…sort of guy. I uh, find fortresses and stuff interesting.

: All right. It looks like we have our next destination. Fingers crossed that we won’t be delayed again.





: The boat’s just up ahead. Time to say goodbye to this continent I guess.







: The journey was somewhat short.

: Yeah, it’s not very far. If you ask me they should just build a bridge and be done with it.



Music: 06 – We’re Rangers



: So…where to now?

: Through Sharon Woods, master. We can think about how to cross the lake whilst we walk.

Music: 04 – Dungeon



Sharon Woods is a small area with no random encounters.





: Huh. That’s a lot of frogs.

: Hmm. Slimy little fellas are everywhere.





: Did…did someone call out to us?

: Oh, I hope it’s not a ghost or something!

: Uh…hello? Is anyone there?





*Rumble Rumble*





: Look out, guys, it’s a giant frog monster!

: Alright, let’s take him out.







: Cursed, you say? Hmm, now that you mention it, there is some magical residue around here…

: The ol’ frog curse, huh? Isn’t that a little cliché?





: Such abuses of magic cannot be allowed. Of course we’ll help! Isn’t that right, Ryu?

: Well…I guess we could spare a little time…

: Trust me, boss – Fort Nageur’s security is extremely tight. Why, I’ll bet our little thief girl has already been captured. Plus, getting turned into a frog has gotta suck big time. Let’s help the guy out, eh?

: Sure. Okay, let’s get this done quickly.



: Oh, no need to worry about that. The less time we waste, the quicker we can prove Bosch’s innocence.

Next time we investigate the witch’s tower. Sadly we can’t examine the Shaman system just yet, but after the next plot point a handful of sidequests open up that we can have fun completing.