"Long ago, Lake Bresha and the surrounding land were crystallized. After the fall of Cocoon, the entire area was destroyed. Now, these ruins are a restricted area, filled with remnants of life from a previous life. Today, excited researchers and cautious guards swarm the site in hopes of new discoveries."
—Online Description
Bresha Ruins(ビルジ・廃墟,Biruji Haikyo?, lit. "Bilge Ruins") is a location in Final Fantasy XIII-2, and a returning location from Final Fantasy XIII. Various changes have been made to the layout. Several aspects that are different include there being no crystallization on the landscape, the lake is no longer there to traverse, and so the ruins are just chunks of the Hanging Edge buildings.
During the catastrophe that befell Cocoon, the Bresha Ruins were the site of terrible casualties. The reason for this can be found in the Purge.
The Purge was the name given to the mass deportation of Bodhum's residents. The fal'Cie manipulated the actions of the Sanctum and the elite army known as PSICOM, sowing chaos and inciting conflict among Cocoon's populace.
Many civilians fled to Lake Bresha and its ruins to escape the Purge, but a great majority were crushed by ancient structures that collapsed when Cocoon's momentum was suddenly halted.
Area Information The Bresha Ruins are the remains of an ancient city that once stood on the shores of Lake Bresha, one of the eeriest sights on Cocoon. During the events of the Purge that immediately preceded the fall of Cocoon, a Pulse fal'Cie turned the waters of the lake into crystal.
From the Editor's Desk: Even burning flames became crystallized, creating spectacularly evocative and unusual landscapes. However, because the waters of the lake are now frozen solid, the famous fish restaurants that once dotted the shore are sadly no more.
Serah Farron, Mog, and Noel Kreiss arrive in the Bresha Ruins at 5 AF after departing from New Bodhum at 3 AF. Serah introduces Noel to Cocoon before a giant arm emerges from a nearby rift and attacks. Noel protects Serah from the towering opponent, and they take it down together. After the battle, military airships arrive and slay the beast for good.
However, the travelers are taken into custody by troops because they are civilians who are in an off-limits area. A few moments later, a girl calling herself "Alyssa Zaidelle", an Academy trainee, appears and tells the soldier who guards the prisoners that they are special guests of the Academy, acting as observers.
Serah, Mog, and Noel are then tasked by Alyssa, with defeating Atlas, who appeared in the ruins. Along the way, the party defeats a Cait Sith and Zwerg Scandroid, which they recruit into their party, and Mog speaks for the very first time, telling them about Serah's ability to tame monsters.
Later, Alyssa informs the party that a device which appeared alongside Atlas has been detected, which they decide to use. Near the device, Atlas takes them into a Temporal Rift, within which they resolve an anomaly to escape. The party uses the mysterious device to weaken Atlas and slay it by destroying the crystal atop its head. Then, the Bresha Ruins return to their former glory.
Noel and Serah learn about Alyssa's experience in the Purge.
Noel approaches a large gravestone and reads the epitaph dedicated to those "cast out", which Serah explains must be a gravestone dedicated to the victims of the Purge. When Alyssa arrives at the Lamentable Rest, she desperately searches the gravestone for her name, but is relieved by not finding it. She reveals to them that a friend of hers died in the Purge while she survived it, and that ever since then she's had a dream in which she dies, her soul raises from her dead body, and sees the aforementioned gravestone with her name on it. Noel dispels Alyssa's thoughts by saying that she seems real to him, to which she replies "Real enough, I guess". After hearing Alyssa's story, Serah is wracked with guilt, believing the Purge was her fault for being made a l'Cie five years ago.
Fifteen years later, at 20 AF, someone from an unknown anti-Academy terrorist organization tampers with the device responsible for controlling Atlas and causes a great amount of monsters to appear in the Ruins. Soon, the Academy abandons the site and offers money for dealing with the monster-infestation problem, causing a large amount of mercenaries to appear and occupy the area. The gil offer drives Mog and says that he has lots of space in his pockets for them, but when questioned by Noel what he would use money for, he replies that he first needs money to decide what he will use them for.
By traveling across the timeline, Serah, Mog, and Noel, find the two passwords for the device as for year 100 AF, and release a monster that crossed through time, which they ultimately slay and free the Bresha Ruins from the monster-influx. By resolving the paradox, the party is given a toilet paper coupon, much to Mog's disdain.
In Final Fantasy XIII-2, the frozen waters of Lake Bresha are unvisitable, although it is unknown if they could still be walked. The Excavation Site is part of the Forgotten Commons from the first installment where the south-eastern way is "locked" by a wall which was not present what soever five years prior to the visit of Serah, Mog, and Noel. Whereas in the sequel a deep gorge appears with Atlas's hand, the prequel has there ruins of a fountain, and there is a tunnel in the north-eastern corner of the Excavation Site.
Echoes of the Past is in actuality an area previously known as A City No Longer with several entrances to the tunnels; it's interesting to note that in Final Fantasy XIII, A City No Longer had no indications of any side entrances and tunnels whatsoever, although it is possible that the Academy made them in order to study the Ruins' depths. The Lamentable Rest area is the smallest area in the Ruins and is covered in tombstones and a memorial dedicated to those who died in the Purge; in the prequel it was actually the southern part of Echoes of the Past. There is also no way whatsoever to the northern parts of the old Echoes of the Past as massive ruins blocks the passage.
There were several different concepts of how the Bresha Ruins would appear in the game. In one of the concept artworks, Eden, the floating capital city of Cocoon, can be seen having collapsed into Lake Bresha that lies at the bottom of the crystallized Cocoon. The ruins of Bresha from 500 and 900 AF are also included within the artworks of Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega. By the time's passing, the area wouldn't change that much, but in 900 AF, the ruins would have been completely submerged by the lake.[1]
At 5 AF, the Bresha Ruins has two main themes: "Unseen Intruder" and its remix, "Unseen Intruder -Aggressive Mix-", the latter of which is played when monsters appear on the field. They are composed by Naoshi Mizuta, and in the Japanese version of the game, the songs are accompanied with vocals from singer Aimee Blackschleger. "Invisible Invader" was the first song Mizuta wrote for Final Fantasy XIII-2, and that it is a vocal song with rap makes it a piece that reflects director Motomu Toriyama's desire to have a sound that's unlike the typical Final Fantasy title.[2]
The North American and European versions have removed the vocal work entirely, making it a purely instrumental song and added some extra instrument during the main choruses of the original song. In the localized version of the song's Aggressive Mix, one lyric is included: "Time Traveler". After Atlas is defeated, "Missing Link" becomes the new background theme. At 300 AF, the Bresha Ruins' theme is "Full Speed Ahead".
In early materials, a Flandragora and Myrmidon are seen to be enemies in the ruins. However, Myrmidon got ultimately scrapped and Flandragora have been renamed to Flanbanero and moved to the Sunleth Waterscape. The reasons for these changes are unknown.
This is the only area where non-significant people communicate with the player directly in non-event cutscenes. In this case, it is when the talkative guard runs up to the player and Serah responds to his question.
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Artwork from Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega.
Artwork from Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega.
Artwork from Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega.
Soldiers take aim at Noel and Serah (5 AF).
Excavation Site (5 AF).
Atlas's hand (5 AF).
Echoes of the Past (5 AF).
Cemetery (5 AF).
Underground Tunnels (5 AF).
Bresha Ruins 5 AF.
Bresha Ruins 5 AF.
Bresha Ruins 5 AF.
Atlas in Bresha Ruins 5 AF.
Bresha Ruins 5 AF Map.
Bresha Ruins 100 AF.
Bresha Ruins 100 AF Map.
Bresha Ruins (300 AF).
Bresha Ruins 300 AF.
Bresha Ruins 300 AF.
Bresha Ruins 300 AF.
Bresha Ruins 300 AF Map.
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