The Unfading Ones

Long dungeon!

There are five floors to this place, and they're all massive. And we're going down. We'll enter the castle and meet with the giant wolf we just killed. A-tur also recognizes Ryu as the other Fou and takes us to the otherside of the invisible water floor before us. We'll come to where Fou jumped on the elevator to face the emperor, but the lift isn't here now. We need to take the long way. There's a key on the top shelf of the restroom that Ershin can bash down, and the gateway down is on the otherside of the room.

From here, I aimlessly walked around the expanse of the castle. There are more dead ends than any other dungeon, and they seem rather corporate. There are plenty of good treasures to be found here, so it's usually worth exploring everywhere. Keep a watch out for colored talismans draped across doors. Later on, you'll find three charms that unlock. Most of the time, it'll contain Ryu'a (almost) best armor. Ultimately, I didn't enjoy this place. It's way too long and winding, and there are no gimmicks besides the locks. The enemies aren't worth the exp, and equipment farming in BoF IV sucks. Most of our characters' best gear are item drops down here, and it's very little fun trying to farm them. I'd suggest finding a guide to get through it all. I got lost on the second set of basements because of a stupid dead end, so I had to break all this into two nights.

The slightly less-than-halfway point is against a boss named Dragoone. It heals every turn, but I think a few fire spells stop that. From there, spam Kaisarbreath. He'll drop the Blue Charm, and it'll be floating where he stood. There's a rest and save point to the north of the guy and an elevator to the east. This is your new base of operations to find the three charms.

After the Red Charm is the final save point. The team will descend a few final staircases and long hallways until they reach the courtyard Yuna tried to imprison Fou. Speaking of who...

Fou is dressed in regal attire. He beckons Ryu to walk up to him and knocks out our mortal teammates. And also Ershin. Ryu walks up to the throne, and Fou asks if they wanna reform. Ryu swings his sword, and it goes right through. It was an illusion. Fou's voice tells us to continue on and bemoans that Ryu has spent too much time with mortals. Nina and the others get up and are just fine. It was just an effective scare tactic. We go behind the curtain behind the throne, take one more path, and ascend one more elevator to reach a fancy cliff.

Fou is waiting for us. There's a quick battle between the two dragon boys that ends in about six turns. After, Fou once again demands Ryu fuses back into him, and he asks Ryu about his journey. Fou speaks about the core of humanity and their terrible actions. We re-see Cray's trial, Rasso's slaughter, and Elina's reveal. Between every scene, Ryu speaks and can say one of two things. Either slightly agree, or say, "I don't know." I'm unsure if it means anything here, but Fou knows everything Ryu's seen. And I assume that road goes both ways. We see Mami's sacrifice and when she saved Fou from the butterfly (in that order). Ryu has another choice here, and it's actually important. It turns out Breath of Fire IV has two endings. After Nina tells our final boss that she likes this world, especially the one with Ryu in it, Ryu makes his choice.

If Ryu agrees with Fou, our MC will be absorbed. Our friends think they can save Ryu from this amalgamation, but the dragon, Ifini, says otherwise. After we, in the position of the villain, kill our old friends, we walk off, knowing "the path I take is correct."

But if Ryu disagrees, Fou summons/transforms into the dragon, Tyrant. This guy isn't hard, but this takes forever. He's weak to fire and Kaisarbreath, but the real tough part is having enough items for the true final boss on the otherside of him.

Astral, Fou's final attempt to absorb Ryu, is the final boss. He's got 75000 HP, the ability Soul Rend, and can one shot my tank with a Lucky Blow. Astral opens with Soul Rend, which brings everyone's HP to 1. So whatever dragon you want to transform into should be done on turn two. I'll be honest: I'm over BoF IV. I had fun, but it's time to end this story. Could I have won without cheating? Probably. Would it have been fun? No. I gave everyone max HP and just went to town. I'm at level forty but lacking wisdom fruits and vitamins. This last section takes forever.

Fou-lu accepts Ryu's actions. Despite humans killing themselves and polluting the planet, he recognizes their right to life. Afterall... Fou's spirit turns into a black ghost and goes into Ryu. His hair turns blonde, and he can speak. Nina asks what happened, and the new figure says they are both Ryu and Fou-lu. At the same time, they are neither of them. And then Fou-Ryu's plan goes into action.

This is the world of the humans. Gods are no longer needed. Fou-Ryu shoots a green aura into the air, and it explodes out into the world. We see the Wind Dragon flying through the air as it slowly disappears. The Mud Dragon accepts the same fate. Blue haired Ryu returns to the party. All the gods who guide this realm are gone. All but Deis, who has decided to stick around and watch. Ryu will join his friends in dealing with the ravages of aging and death, and we'll begin to see the final scenes.

Yuna is still alive and is planning to make new gods with a hooded figure beside him.
Ursula seems to take charge of the recovery of the Empire. She states it's gone, but there's other stuff to do. Besides, she needs to find General Rhum again... Cray offers her a handshake as allies and not enemies. Ursula is confused.
The woman who played the shamisen is seen.
Everyone else is walking a path on the way home. They're preparing to have fun and enjoy peace.

The untranslated credits role, and we can save our progress. We can reload before the final fight in case you stole Ryu's best gear from the boss rush.

This is unrewarding, but it's also...

The End.