special characters found throughout the game. 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. While joined with a shaman, characters become stronger and may gain access to additional abilities while in battle. Combat in Breath of Fire II is presented using a turn-based approach, where the player inputs commands for each character at the start of each round with the actions taking place by order of each character's and enemy's "agility" rating. A new Formation feature allows the player to organize their party into different positions, allowing certain members an increase in speed, defense, or attack power. Players win battles by defeating every enemy present, dealing damage by using normal attacks along with magic spells and items. When all enemies are defeated, they yield experience points that go toward leveling up characters, making them stronger and giving them access to new spells. Each character's health is represented by numerical hit points that indicate their remaining vitality, and are knocked out if the value reaches zero, with the battle ending if each member of a player's party is knocked out. Progress is recorded using the game cartridge's internal battery back-up memory, which can be accessed at dragon statues throughout gameplay. Plot Characters 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. The main protagonist is a 16-year-old boy named Ryu Bateson, who shares his name with the main character from the original Breath of Fire, who mysteriously finds himself alone in the world one day after his father and sister disappear and all townspeople in his village forget who he is. As a member of the elusive Dragon Clan, Ryu possess the ability to transform into powerful draconic beings with destructive