The Soul of Rebirth.
The Soul of Rebirth is a bonus quest and campaign introduced in the Dawn of Souls version of Final Fantasy II and included in all subsequent versions of the game except for the Pixel Remaster. Soul of Rebirth becomes available after defeating The Emperor and completing the game. The player can then select "Soul of Rebirth" from the menu.
Story[]
Minwu awakens in a new area following his sacrifice to unseal the door guarding the Ultima Tome. He overhears a battle and sees someone resembling Gordon fight off Imperial soldiers. Minwu assists him, and the man soon explains he is Scott, Gordon's brother. Minwu informs him of the pivotal role in the resistance that Firion, Maria and Guy have become, and the two surmise they are in the Jade Passage, the pathway to Hell, since they are both dead. They find Josef fighting Zombie Borghen, and assist him in dispatching the count. The three find a Roundworm and approach it when Ricard appears and helps them fight it, saying it followed him to Hell when he killed it before.
The four emerge from the cave in Machanon, a village in the mirror image of Poft where the citizens are dead victims of the Emperor's conquest, including Cid and Tobul. The people appeared in this mysterious monster-infested realm and have lost many, fleeing and building this makeshift town when they found a safe area. A mysterious teleporter at the north edge of town has appeared since the four arrived, and the village hopes they will fight off the monsters.
Another portal leads to a chamber resembling the Ultima chamber, where Minwu discovers another copy of the Ultima spell, but the Ultima Weapon must be killed to claim it. Cid tells the group that though the region is full of deadly monsters, he doesn't believe it to be Hell, as if it was, it is unlikely innocent children would have appeared here. Cid asks Minwu and the group to find out where they are and why they have been called here.
The four enter the teleporter at the north edge of town and enter what Minwu says is Pandaemonium, palace of Hell. They climb to the highest floor where they find the Emperor on the palace's throne. Ricard notes this Emperor is different from the one he faced. The Emperor explains that when Firion and his allies killed him, his soul was split. The Emperor's "dark half" fell to Hell and acquired more power, while his light halfāthe Emperor they now seeāascended to Heaven. The Emperor explains that though the two look alike, they now stand in Arubboth, palace of Heaven, and the cave they traveled through was Raqia, the place where fallen angels are cast down to become demons. The Emperor explains he called them here to ask for forgiveness on the behalf of his dark half, and offers them eternal life with him in Arubboth if they forgive his sins.
Though the four are tempted by the offer, apparitions of their loved ones show them a vision of Firion and his allies battling the Dark Emperor in Pandaemonium. Realizing the Light Emperor is just as evil as the original, the four reject his offer, and engage him. Defeated in battle, the Light Emperor declares their history of war and violence will continue, and dies just as Firion and his allies vanquish the Dark Emperor. As the rebels in the world of the living celebrate their victory, the specters of Minwu, Scott, Josef and Ricard watch them and wish them well. When their former allies leave, the four turn to each other and agree that their time is up, and they fade away into peaceful rest. Minwu comments that if anyone can change man's legacy of violence, it is Firion and his friends.
Gameplay[]
Soul of Rebirth gives the player a party consisting of three members they had in the past, with the addition of Scott. Except for Scott, the members join with whatever spells, equipment and stats they had when they left the party, so the player is advised to plan for this ahead of time during the main game if they plan to play Soul of Rebirth. The vast differences in stats between the party also means the player will likely have to do a lot of level grinding to build up their stats enough to complete the quest. The shops in Machanon sell higher level equipment than what the party likely has initially, and many monsters in Arubboth drop rare and powerful armor. In addition, an "ultimate" weapon can be found in chests for each of the four party members.
Item availability[]
Many spells and equipment are not available within Soul of Rebirth. If the player wishes to have access to certain magic or equipment, they must have the magic learned or gear equipped on Minwu, Josef and/or Ricard before they leave the party in the main game.
Magic availability[]
The player may consider teaching Ricard Ultima to use in Soul of Rebirth, as otherwise only Minwu gets access to the spell. However, Ricard's Ultima requires leveling all of his weapon skills and magic spells to power up, compared to Minwu's which only requires Spirit (easily maxed with the Staff of Light and/or Stardust Rod).
Osmose is a powerful spell to teach Ricard, as by removing enemy MP, they are forced to only use normal attacks and usually become easier to battle. Osmose is non-elemental, meaning no enemy, even bosses, are capable of resisting it.
Teleport at level 8 or higher can quickly end problematic enemy encounters, and is even effective against bosses that do not resist or absorb the Matter element. Minwu starts with this spell by default, but it is also accessible to Josef and Ricard.
Swap, while not particularly useful for ending fights, is a great option to rapidly level HP and MP. Given the lower starting stats of Minwu and Josef, it can reduce grind time by a substantial amount. However, for Josef, Mysidia must be reached earlier in the game than intended for him to learn it, and the journey is very dangerous for the party at the time.
- Black Magic
| Name | Acquisition |
|---|---|
| Fire | Buy: Machanon Drop: Dark Magician |
| Blizzard | Buy: Machanon Drop: Miss Vamp, Dark Soul |
| Thunder | Buy: Machanon Drop: Dark Magician |
| Scourge | Drop: Dark Magician |
| Flare | Buy: Unknown Cave B3 Drop: Li'l Murderer, Yamatano Orochi[note 1] |
| Sleep | Drop: Dark Soul |
| Stun | Drop: Death Knight, Dark Magician |
| Confuse | Drop: Li'l Murderer, Twin Heads |
| Blind | Drop: Dark Soul |
| Curse | Drop: Puroboros, Mini Satana |
| Toad | Drop: Puroboros, Mini Satana |
| Warp | Drop: Death Knight, Dark Soul |
| Berserk | Buy: Unknown Cave B3 Drop: Dark Magician |
| Haste | Buy: Unknown Cave B3 |
| Aura | Find: 1 in Unknown Cave B4 |
| Drain | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Osmose | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Stop | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Break | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Death | NOT AVAILABLE |
- White Magic
| Name | Acquisition |
|---|---|
| Cure | Buy: Machanon |
| Blink | Buy: Machanon Drop: Dark Soul |
| Protect | Buy: Machanon |
| Shell | Buy: Machanon |
| Basuna | Buy: Machanon |
| Esuna | Buy: Machanon |
| Life | Buy: Machanon Drop: Yamatano Orochi[note 1] |
| Sap | Buy: Machanon |
| Mini | Buy: Machanon |
| Holy | Buy: Unknown Cave B3 Drop: Yamatano Orochi[note 1] |
| Ultima | Find: 1 in Chamber of the Seal[note 2] |
| Barrier | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Wall | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Dispel | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Silence | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Fog | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Slow | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Swap | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Fear | NOT AVAILABLE |
| Teleport | NOT AVAILABLE |
Equipment availability[]
While there is a large amount of equipment inaccessible, most of the strongest weapons and armours of each category are available as farmable drops from monsters in both the Unknown Cave and Unknown Palace. The only notable missing gear is the strongest generic staff Diamond Mace, which cannot be acquired in the main game before Minwu, Josef and Ricard leave the party.
The Blood Sword is available to Ricard in the main game, and is a powerful option to consider bringing into Soul of Rebirth, but will prevent Firion's party from using it.
The Ripper knife is worth considering to bring on Ricard if anyone is planned on training in knives, as its added effect bypasses enemy defense, and can be a way to work around the high defense monsters and bosses without needing to use Berserk.
For 20th Anniversary Edition, the Arcane Labyrinth ultimate weapons for Minwu, Josef and Ricard can be obtained before each leaves the party. It is recommended to acquire and equip them so that the Soul of Rebirth party starts with higher stats.
The following table lists the best generic weapon of each category within Soul of Rebirth:
| Weapon | Type | Acquisition |
|---|---|---|
| Cat Claws | Knife | Drop: Chimera Brain |
| Wizard's Staff | Staff | Drop: Li'l Murderer |
| Holy Lance | Spear | Drop: Black Dragon |
| Sun Blade | Sword | Drop: Catoblepas, Black Knight[note 1] |
| Excalibur | Sword | Drop: Steel Giant[note 2] |
| Rune Axe | Axe | Drop: Chaos Rider |
| Yoichi's Bow | Bow | Drop: Catoblepas, Malboro Menace, Dark Behemoth |
The best armor is a more subjective term as each armor has tradeoffs between bonus stats, resistances, Defense, Evasion, Magic Defense and Intelligence / Spirit penalty. However, the best available armors for each of those stats can be found and farmed in Soul of Rebirth.
Behind the scenes[]
Despite Soul of Rebirth not being included in the Pixel Remaster version of Final Fantasy II, a full set of remastered field and combat sprites for Scott and field sprites for Zombie Borghen can still be found in the game data.
Etymology[]
The soul, in many religious, philosophical, psychological, and mythological traditions, is the incorporeal and, in many conceptions, immortal essence of a person, living thing, or object.
Rebirth refers to reincarnation, the philosophical or religious concept that an aspect of a living being starts a new life in a different physical body or form after each biological death.