Ya ever hear of the neigh impossible to pronounce, let alone spell, Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring? If not, it's a 3D fighting game developed by Squaresoft around 1997. Its primary claim to fame is that it stars Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII as starting characters, with Yuffie and Vincent as unlockables. I'm no fighting expert, but the game is kinda mid. It's very fast, though, I'll give it that. You can also wield a unique weapon for everyone, and it being an early 3D game might make it worth checking in on for those who consider themselves the fighting game equivalent of myself.
But...
That's not all it has!
There's also an RPG dungeon crawler. I remember getting confused with this side game when I rented Ehegriz back in the late 90's. But the fact I remember it all from my one rental means something right? Considering I've confused it for another game... no.
Endless Dungeon is a barebones hack and slash dungeon crawler. There is a concept of a story and several shockingly thought out mechanics, though. Most of them are annoying, but that's for later.
The story involves an archaeologist, Kenji, and his student, Claire, discovering an old ruin in Germany that might hold the key to immortality. The two go to the pyramid and explore, but then suddenly pass out and wake up in another dimension. They're in a town's inn, saved by the owner. Why does a trapped village have an inn? But the owner tells us the ruins beneath the town are mysterious and magical. He also gives us the layout of the town and all its shops. There's a weapons and potions shop, diner, blacksmith, and magic shop. You buy gear, food, combine weapons, and magic stones for materia (magic). There's also a wine stock market for other reasons... The innkeeper gives us starting gear from the last idiot to wind up here, and the game begins.
We can play as either Kenji or Claire, and there are subtle differences between them, but I won't get into them here. You'll probably need to use both of them at some point, though. If one dies, you can revive them by finding their corpse with the other. Ultimately, it won't matter until floor 21.
Reaching that floor involves walking through the same looking rooms, finding similar enemies, and collecting gear, food, and recipe books for the only side quest, which just unlocks tips. All the weapons have different animations and combos, and you're gonna need to use all of them. You see, weapon and armor degradation is a thing here. What you use will break, and often quickly. It wouldn't be so bad, but inventory space is painfully limited.
Food is also a thing. It's almost an interesting mechanic, as what you eat will alter your stats at level up, but you also need to eat to survive. There's a hunger bar, and you lose HP when it runs out. And it drains quickly. With the weapon HP and hunger, you're constantly worrying about everything.
There are only three exits to the dungeon, so you also might be too afraid to go too far in. There are quick escapes, dragon wings, but they feel too rare. I just felt on edge too often. This isn't a game for people with anxiety.
But there's more! Greek gods and goddesses appear in the game to bless your weapons. I don't know what they do! You can offer an item to them at an altar, but it's a crap shoot if the offering will be accepted. There are thirteen, so good luck with this. Assuming it's even worth it.
The setting never changes op much. It's different colored rooms, though enemy variety is weirdly high for this. Music changes every few rooms, and the soundtrack is probably the best part about the game.
But, surely, there's plot down here! Nope. Twenty one floors of tedium with no story to break it up. The residents try to add something, but there's nothing to sink your teeth into. Until you reach the final boss, there's only dungeon crawling. There are four endings depending on who and what you do when you get there (twice), but it's not worth it.
But, believe it not, that's not the worst part. You have to pay to save. And those prices get high fast. I struggled to afford it and had to save state more often than not.
I'll be honest. I didn't finish Endless Dungeon. I'm bored! There's a basic framework of an interesting game here, but I don't know why Ehegis was made. A part of me misses random nonsense like this, so while I hate this game, I'm glad it exists. Still; don't play it.
22/50 - 44%.
Friday, June 27, 2025
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Son of Bate...Gainer...?
It didn't take me two months to finish Breath of Fire II!
I have a sketchy history with the Breath of Fire franchise. I tried to enjoy BoFIII twice but eventually learned to hate it. But I thought IV was a masterpiece. Meanwhile, game one felt like a slog. So, I had low hopes for II.
And consider them smashed!
Breath of Fire II came out late in the SNES cycle. The day before the PlayStation One, in fact. It's a quasi direct sequel, but it's 500 years after, so it's only kinda. The world looks pretty similar, but the water has conquered much of the land. Other than a handful of place names and an interesting cameo, it's not a big deal.
As before, and in the future, you play as a blue haired boy named Ryu. Unlike before, we can meet Ryu's parents. He lives in a small, isolated village named Gate with his father, Gainer, and little sister, Yui. Gainer is a priest at the local church of St. Eva. His mother is a tad more intriguing... Yui has run off, as she often does, because she hates naps. Gainer asks his son to look for her, and Ryu finds her near a cave entrance, but who cares because that's a dragon over her! There's also a floating blue shell guy, but Papa kills it with his lightning magic. Yui often sleeps here because this white dragon is her and Ryu's mother. Gainer tells a bit of their history and confesses he wasn't strong enough to save his wife, so she has to turn into a dragon to save the village. Yui suggests Ryu take a nap here, hoping Mom will talk to him there. Ryu does fall asleep, and something speaks to him...
Ryu wakes up and returns to the village, but something is different. None of the villagers know him, and neither Gainer nor Yui are around. The priest in charge of the church is new. Hulk thinks Ryu is a lost orphan and aids the poor boy.
That night, Ryu meets a fellow orphan named Bow, a dog boy. He's actually a thief in town to steal stuff, but there's nothing worth in Gate. Bow convinces Ryu to run off together. A storm hits, so they take shelter in a cave, but there's something else in there. They follow a snake's tail to a massive demon at the back of the cave. The demon calls Ryu the "fated child" and promptly beats him...
Ten years later, Ryu and Bow are working for the rangers, a group of mercenaries, in "HomeTown," and their first job is to find a lost pig. Bow thinks it's beneath him, but he swiftly changes his mind when he learns the poster is from a beautiful woman with wings named Mina.
This kicks off a long story, where they learn the truth about Ryu, his mother, the dark history of Windia, and save the world from a former foe. He makes new friends; a cat girl who hates pants, a cursed Nina, a Renaissance frog man, a monkey, a giant armadillo, and a snake goddess. They also get eaten by a whale, fuse with pretty magic women, and create a new village of outcasts!
And I loved all of this. Half of the main cast felt like fodder, but I, for the most part, liked all of them. Katt is plucky, and Jean's aloofness is fun. Sten was the only one I didn't like because he's introduced to the party from out of left field, and he's a pervert. I had trouble remembering who some of them were, though. What was the plant's name? Spar? Spar and Sten also don't bring much to combat. Bow is probably the de jure white mage (with a crossbow), while Rand is a D&D tank cleric. Nina is a black mage, which is an odd twist but fits her narrative. Not the best cast, but it works.
Meanwhile, the villains are neat! The bloated snake demon has a big hand throughout the game, but he isn't this evil for the sake of it. He has a strange bit of honor about him. Patty, the initial primary antagonist, is vital to the story. The final boss is kinda shoehorned. Ultimately, like the playable cast, they're not the worst group I've experienced.
Put all of that together, and it makes for an interesting story. It can start to drag for a while after Bow takes a bow and becomes a rad fetch questy, though. Especially after I spend a night wondering why we're saving this frog man. It made sense in the end, but I felt like I was playing Dragon Quest VI during Act Two. But there are a lot of shocking twists and character reveals in Act Three/Four. I was hooked and actually looked forward to playing the game. 7/10
The gameplay is very much like Breath of Fire I. Each character has a unique field skill, but I feel the in battle techs are just different enough. There are a lot of heal spells in the party, but there's more variance between character stats and roles. Katt is obviously the quick powerhouse, while Rand is the Ox of this game with more MP. Each character has their tech, but I found most of them to be bad. Why would the fragile Katt want to be hit? The lack of descriptions didn't help. What did Jean's jab do?
The real new mechanic is the shaman system. You meet several NPCs through the game that can fuse with your cast. This usually results in a massive stat boost. But, occasionally, this fusion can result in an appearance change. Spar can turn into a cute mushroom girl, Bow is a Fallout power armor, and Nina looks like a goddess. The my did my boy Rand dirty, though. A pink bug? It's a lot of fun to mess around with them and rewarding to seek them out. There are only two mandatory ones, but seven in total. It's so much better than the master system to come. 8/10
The sound fits. It's a lot better than the previous game. There are more songs, more varied tempos, and slightly fewer iterations. You still hear the cave dungeon music too much, but that's the only blight. The world map theme even changes, and I (good) struggled to find my favorite song from the OST. 9/10
The visuals are, technically, better. NPC sprites are more abundant, but there are still plenty of repeat mobs. There's also a contrast issue early on where I couldn't find a mountain pass for an hour. I'm probably making a big deal out of it, but it nearly killed the game from the start. 6/10
So Breath of Fire II has a town building mechanic! It's surprisingly deep, with an assortment of potential visuals and people to populate it with. Some are better than others, though. Regardless, it's cooler and less confusing than the fairy town in future releases. I love stuff like this, and this helps to tick all the charm boxes. There are also other reasons, but I've said enough. 9/10
Sadly, the writing is still wonky. -2.
Add everything together, and Breath of Fire II is a great 37/50 game, but it feels like it should be higher.
So are the even numbered BoFs game amazing while the ids numbered kinda suck. BoFII feels like it should be higher than 74%. I looked forward to playing the game every night, and I'm sad to be done with it. I have a hunch this one might be the standard for my missed SNES game series. I don't know what's next, but it's gonna be hard to top Breath of Fire II!
I have a sketchy history with the Breath of Fire franchise. I tried to enjoy BoFIII twice but eventually learned to hate it. But I thought IV was a masterpiece. Meanwhile, game one felt like a slog. So, I had low hopes for II.
And consider them smashed!
Breath of Fire II came out late in the SNES cycle. The day before the PlayStation One, in fact. It's a quasi direct sequel, but it's 500 years after, so it's only kinda. The world looks pretty similar, but the water has conquered much of the land. Other than a handful of place names and an interesting cameo, it's not a big deal.
As before, and in the future, you play as a blue haired boy named Ryu. Unlike before, we can meet Ryu's parents. He lives in a small, isolated village named Gate with his father, Gainer, and little sister, Yui. Gainer is a priest at the local church of St. Eva. His mother is a tad more intriguing... Yui has run off, as she often does, because she hates naps. Gainer asks his son to look for her, and Ryu finds her near a cave entrance, but who cares because that's a dragon over her! There's also a floating blue shell guy, but Papa kills it with his lightning magic. Yui often sleeps here because this white dragon is her and Ryu's mother. Gainer tells a bit of their history and confesses he wasn't strong enough to save his wife, so she has to turn into a dragon to save the village. Yui suggests Ryu take a nap here, hoping Mom will talk to him there. Ryu does fall asleep, and something speaks to him...
Ryu wakes up and returns to the village, but something is different. None of the villagers know him, and neither Gainer nor Yui are around. The priest in charge of the church is new. Hulk thinks Ryu is a lost orphan and aids the poor boy.
That night, Ryu meets a fellow orphan named Bow, a dog boy. He's actually a thief in town to steal stuff, but there's nothing worth in Gate. Bow convinces Ryu to run off together. A storm hits, so they take shelter in a cave, but there's something else in there. They follow a snake's tail to a massive demon at the back of the cave. The demon calls Ryu the "fated child" and promptly beats him...
Ten years later, Ryu and Bow are working for the rangers, a group of mercenaries, in "HomeTown," and their first job is to find a lost pig. Bow thinks it's beneath him, but he swiftly changes his mind when he learns the poster is from a beautiful woman with wings named Mina.
This kicks off a long story, where they learn the truth about Ryu, his mother, the dark history of Windia, and save the world from a former foe. He makes new friends; a cat girl who hates pants, a cursed Nina, a Renaissance frog man, a monkey, a giant armadillo, and a snake goddess. They also get eaten by a whale, fuse with pretty magic women, and create a new village of outcasts!
And I loved all of this. Half of the main cast felt like fodder, but I, for the most part, liked all of them. Katt is plucky, and Jean's aloofness is fun. Sten was the only one I didn't like because he's introduced to the party from out of left field, and he's a pervert. I had trouble remembering who some of them were, though. What was the plant's name? Spar? Spar and Sten also don't bring much to combat. Bow is probably the de jure white mage (with a crossbow), while Rand is a D&D tank cleric. Nina is a black mage, which is an odd twist but fits her narrative. Not the best cast, but it works.
Meanwhile, the villains are neat! The bloated snake demon has a big hand throughout the game, but he isn't this evil for the sake of it. He has a strange bit of honor about him. Patty, the initial primary antagonist, is vital to the story. The final boss is kinda shoehorned. Ultimately, like the playable cast, they're not the worst group I've experienced.
Put all of that together, and it makes for an interesting story. It can start to drag for a while after Bow takes a bow and becomes a rad fetch questy, though. Especially after I spend a night wondering why we're saving this frog man. It made sense in the end, but I felt like I was playing Dragon Quest VI during Act Two. But there are a lot of shocking twists and character reveals in Act Three/Four. I was hooked and actually looked forward to playing the game. 7/10
The gameplay is very much like Breath of Fire I. Each character has a unique field skill, but I feel the in battle techs are just different enough. There are a lot of heal spells in the party, but there's more variance between character stats and roles. Katt is obviously the quick powerhouse, while Rand is the Ox of this game with more MP. Each character has their tech, but I found most of them to be bad. Why would the fragile Katt want to be hit? The lack of descriptions didn't help. What did Jean's jab do?
The real new mechanic is the shaman system. You meet several NPCs through the game that can fuse with your cast. This usually results in a massive stat boost. But, occasionally, this fusion can result in an appearance change. Spar can turn into a cute mushroom girl, Bow is a Fallout power armor, and Nina looks like a goddess. The my did my boy Rand dirty, though. A pink bug? It's a lot of fun to mess around with them and rewarding to seek them out. There are only two mandatory ones, but seven in total. It's so much better than the master system to come. 8/10
The sound fits. It's a lot better than the previous game. There are more songs, more varied tempos, and slightly fewer iterations. You still hear the cave dungeon music too much, but that's the only blight. The world map theme even changes, and I (good) struggled to find my favorite song from the OST. 9/10
The visuals are, technically, better. NPC sprites are more abundant, but there are still plenty of repeat mobs. There's also a contrast issue early on where I couldn't find a mountain pass for an hour. I'm probably making a big deal out of it, but it nearly killed the game from the start. 6/10
So Breath of Fire II has a town building mechanic! It's surprisingly deep, with an assortment of potential visuals and people to populate it with. Some are better than others, though. Regardless, it's cooler and less confusing than the fairy town in future releases. I love stuff like this, and this helps to tick all the charm boxes. There are also other reasons, but I've said enough. 9/10
Sadly, the writing is still wonky. -2.
Add everything together, and Breath of Fire II is a great 37/50 game, but it feels like it should be higher.
So are the even numbered BoFs game amazing while the ids numbered kinda suck. BoFII feels like it should be higher than 74%. I looked forward to playing the game every night, and I'm sad to be done with it. I have a hunch this one might be the standard for my missed SNES game series. I don't know what's next, but it's gonna be hard to top Breath of Fire II!
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