Suikoden II/The mercenary fort

Tenzan Pass
Your adventure begins at Tenzan Pass. You and your best friend Jowy are members of the Highland Kingdom's Unicorn Brigade. Jowy will ask you what you want to do. You can choose whether to go directly to sleep, or to leave the tent. In this way you can practice the controls and talk to the other members of the brigade, to better understand the situation. When you're done, go back to your tent and go to sleep. During the night you will be awakened by a surprise attack: it seems that the City State with which the kingdom of Highland is at war has just broken the peace treaty. Captain Rowd will tell you to flee east via the path. So go in that direction. After a while however, Jowy will tell you that the enemy may have ambushed you in the forest. You can answer with the option you prefer: in any case you will be forced to go back. Back at the camp, you will discover that your captain and the evil Highland prince Luca Blight have betrayed you: what happened was only a set-up to simulate a surprise attack of the City State and resume the war. At this point you can choose whether to talk to Captain Rowd, who will send a group of soldiers against you, or flee. Either way, you'll be forced to flee north. Along the way you will have to fight other soldiers. These battles are very easy to win, but to do it faster, it is advisable to use the Unite "Buddy Attack". This is a very useful move, which you will have to constantly use as long as you have Jowy with you. Eventually you will come to a waterfall and find that your only hope of salvation is to jump into the water. Answer the questions as you like: in the end Jowy will draw an X on the rock in any case and you will promise to find yourself there if your ways separate. Then you both jump into the water.

After the opening credits of the game, you will wake up on the banks of the river, where you will be found by Viktor and some soldiers. Viktor is a fighter of the City State. Answer as you like to his questions, in the end he will still take you prisoner in his fort with Flik.

Mercenary Fort
The next day, your friendly jailer Pohl will give you the first task, to move some crates against the back wall. To do this, it will be enough to walk against them. When you're done, grab the rope and exit to talk to Pohl again. If you have done everything as requested, he will give you dinner (answer any way you want to his question) and you can go to sleep.

The next day, Pohl will ask you to bring him 2 pairs of boots, 3 flints and 2 bags of flour. Go to the fort blacksmith upstairs and he will give you the flint. Then talk to Barbara, the cleaning woman on the left, but get 3 pairs of boots instead of 2. This way, you can keep one for yourself and equip it. Finally, talk to the shop assistant, who will tell you, however, that the flour is finished. Tell this to Pohl, who will instruct you to go and buy more flour from Ryube. Talk to Leona, (the woman in red) upstairs, who will instruct Gengen and Tuta to accompany you to Ryube. Then exit the fort.
 * Gengen recuited
 * Leona recruited
 * Barbara recruited

The flour mission
You will first find yourself on the world map, where you can run into random encounters with enemies. Ryube is however very close, northeast of the fort, you can reach it in seconds, without encountering any enemies. If you want though, you can walk around the map and take on some combat to start racking up some money and experience points. When you're ready, enter Ryube. Head to the item shop and talk to the clerk, he will give you the flour. You are then free to explore the village and talk to the villagers. If you have saved up some money you can upgrade your equipment at the armory or have your weapon sharpened at the blacksmith. You will notice a group of acrobats, Rina, Eilie and Bolgan and a girl named Millie. You'll deal with them later. Head back to the world map and to Victor's fort. Talk to Pohl to go to sleep.

Back to the fort
The next day Pohl will ask you to clean the floor of oil stains. Nothing easier. Enter all rooms of the fort to remove all stains. Once done, talk to Pohl to go to sleep. That evening Jowy will join you and you will try to escape together, but you will be caught by Viktor and Flik. Respond and act as you like: you won't be able to escape in any case. You will both be taken to prison. Later Jowy will come up with a plan to escape. Answer as you like to his questions. Eventually you will escape and decide to return to Kyaro, your home village.

Once on the world map, however, first return to Ryube village. Here you will meet the three acrobats again and the hero will be chosen by Eilie for the number of knife throwing. Never move. After the show, the three acrobats will offer you to travel together, since they also want to go to Kyaro. Accept (first or second option), because they will be very useful to you along the way. Upgrade your gear if you get the chance and head back to the world map. Your next destination is North Swallow Pass, north of Ryube.

North Swallow Pass
Rina will distract the guards and you will be able to enter. The path is quite linear. At the first fork, go left to find a chest containing a Fire Wall. You can also drink the water from the pond to restore your energy. Go back and this time go right. At the next fork, take the right first to reach a chest containing an Escape Talisman, and at the third fork, take the right first, to reach a chest with a Brass Armor, which you can equip. As you walk, you may run into random encounters with enemies. For the most part they are easy to defeat and won't give you any trouble, especially if you use the Buddy Attack. However, you may encounter enemies called Assassins, who can damage you heavily. In case of a fight, don't hesitate to use Rina's spells or an attack item. Eventually you will come to a save point. Heal yourself if you are injured, because the first boss of the game awaits you a little further north.

Boss Fight – Mist Shade
Use Rina, Eilie, and Bolgan's Unite Circus Attack whenever possible to deal massive damage to the boss. While Bolgan is unbalanced, use Rina's spells and normal physical attacks. The Buddy Attack is useless here because there is only one enemy, so the hero and Jowy can attack normally, hoping perhaps for a critical attack. Don't hesitate to use a healing item whenever a character's hit points are below half. After a few turns you should defeat the boss.

Once the boss is defeated, continue north and at the only fork go right, to find a Feathered Hat that you can equip. Go back and keep going straight, to get back to the world map. Kyaro Village is immediately to the north.