UNKNOWN GAME OF AUGUST: Wild Arms

txtrpg · **Posted:** Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:06 pm

I got this about the same time I got Castlevania SOTN. I've put about 20 hours into so far and I am near the end. Great game (please no spoilers).

What does everyone else think of it? Sure the 3d action fights can be a bit brutal and primitive but I think when this game came out it was a big deal. I love the switching of characters and tools. It is a bit like Zelda and FF7.

Link · **Posted:** Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:14 pm

Wild ARMs: Alter Code F is a fitting remake to this series. There's 3 bonus characters for your party, and all other sorts of awesome shit, and yet it still retains the whole look/feel of the original. I LOVE THIS GAME FRANCHISE!!!

cameramanjoe · **Joined:** Thu May 29, 2008 1:01 am **Posts:** 435

ive always felt that wild arms was sort of a guilty franchise for me. I would always buy the new games and get really excited when a new one was coming out. NONE of my friends knew about the game at all.

Wild arms is an amazing game with an equal amazing soundtrack.

Link · **Posted:** Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:29 pm

cameramanjoe wrote:

ive always felt that wild arms was sort of a guilty franchise for me. I would always buy the new games and get really excited when a new one was coming out. NONE of my friends knew about the game at all.

Wild arms is an amazing game with an equal amazing soundtrack.

cameraman joe is the most knowledgeable RPG dude on the Game Heroes staff.

Vic_Niguel · **Posted:** Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:25 pm

I own all of the games except the one on the PSP.

1 was fun, but extremely short.
4... was okay, and I'll leave it at that.
While 5.... pretty good at first, but went downhill near the end.
Something annoyed me a lot is that little radar in 2, 3 and ACF you have to use to find towns, dungeons and stuff.

Overall, the series is pretty average.

Link · **Posted:** Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:45 am

Vic_Niguel wrote:

Overall, the series is pretty average.

Actually, it's not average, it's unique. It combines RPG elements with Zelda elements with a Wild West Theme. It's EXTREMELY different for a JRPG, like... it doesn't fill some default 'niche' market who likes feminine main heroes who have spiky hair.

txtrpg · **Posted:** Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:52 am

Link wrote:

Vic_Niguel wrote:

Overall, the series is pretty average.

Actually, it's not average, it's unique. It combines RPG elements with Zelda elements with a Wild West Theme. It's EXTREMELY different for a JRPG, like... it doesn't fill some default 'niche' market who likes feminine main heroes who have spiky hair.

Wow, you p'owned him.

Yeah the Wild West elements are awesome, as well as the tunes.

Is that you John Wayne?

Vic_Niguel · **Posted:** Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:19 pm

Quote:

Actually, it's not average

Well, I meant in terms of fun.
It was never extremely fun to me.
It never had me "hooked" or playing 10-20 hours straight.
It never had me thinking "Fuck, if I don't get back to playing it I'll have to tear down the wall".

In fact, 2, 3 and 4 I had to force myself to play through it.
It they all got really boring for me in the middle.
So to me, the fun, the characters-- they were all pretty "meh".
But at least, it wasn't like KHII where I actually fell asleep in the middle of a mission.
I'm just saying I've played better games than Wild Arms.
I don't hate it, otherwise why would I keep buying them?

So I can't lie and say it's my favorite under the radar RPG of all time.
I suppose if it makes you happy I CAN say that it's my favorite Wild West RPG's.
But...I guess you shouldn't include 4 and 5, since the theme is pretty much non-existent.

Of course, something I do praise is the soundtrack.
Particularly the first, third and fifth games.

..And then there's the anime...
Which is pretty faithful to the game...

Link · **Posted:** Sat Jul 26, 2008 2:37 pm

Wild ARMs is one of my favorite series, it's not the best, but it's not horrible, I can agree with that. I've always enjoyed the cast of characters though, I've always found them to be very quirky and enjoyable. Especially their 'goofy/humorous' villains like Zed and then that family of 5 with the cat in Wild ARMs 3, and then the whole group of villains in Wild ARMs 2 were pretty cool. I've yet to play 4 or 5 but I own both of them.

Low Budget Jeff · **Posted:** Sat Jul 26, 2008 2:54 pm

The only one I played was the first one. I don't remember too much about it, but I do remember I loved playing it. When I sold my collection the first time, it went with it. I'll have to track down a copy and give it another play through.

Link · **Posted:** Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:12 pm

Low Budget Jeff wrote:

The only one I played was the first one. I don't remember too much about it, but I do remember I loved playing it. When I sold my collection the first time, it went with it. I'll have to track down a copy and give it another play through.

You can always buy the PS2 remake. It's EXACT in terms of being a faithful remake. It's also available on the Playstation Network for PS3 owners. I saw a used version of the original for 20 bucks, that I'll be purchasing next paycheck if someone already hasn't.

txtrpg · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:22 am

Link wrote:

Low Budget Jeff wrote:

The only one I played was the first one. I don't remember too much about it, but I do remember I loved playing it. When I sold my collection the first time, it went with it. I'll have to track down a copy and give it another play through.

You can always buy the PS2 remake. It's EXACT in terms of being a faithful remake. It's also available on the Playstation Network for PS3 owners. I saw a used version of the original for 20 bucks, that I'll be purchasing next paycheck if someone already hasn't.

The one on PS Network is for PSOne I believe.

Link · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:59 am

Yeah, that's what I ment. Sorry for not being specific. It was an awkward segway.

jtrov · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:01 pm

Damn, I loved the Wild Arms series. I think I'm definitely going to pick it up on PSN.

EDIT: I had no idea there was a remake to the first (really haven't followed the series since the PSone days); Would it be better to just buy the remake or just stick to original on PSN?

Mongo · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:53 pm

I'm a pretty big Wild Arms fan. I agree with Link that it is pretty unique for a JRPG series in terms of theme and style. It's just quirky and I like it. My fav games in this series are the original on PSX, gotta love those sprites, and 3.

Link · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 4:32 pm

So far they haven't done anything to RUIN the original with the remake. It may be easier, but I'm not sure since it's been YEARS since I touched the original. In general, the remake costs 20 bucks used, I snagged my copy off eBay. They've added some scenes, improved the dialogue a bit, added features for combat (like Skills), bonus party members (Emma the Scientist, Calamity Jane Maxwell the Outlaw, and Zed the Joke Villain Demon) but none of it has made me go "GRRR! THEY RUINED A CLASSIC!" If anything, it's one of the few good remakes of an RPG out there. The only real 'gripes' you can have are the following:

- You don't get to pick what character's plot you start the game with, it goes in the order of Rudy, Jack, & then Cecilia. Also, you just end up in Adlehyde as Rudy after you finish the original, unlike in the PSX where you could control each character individually in the town before you all joined up as a group, which I thought was neat. Doesn't hurt anything though or ruin the integrity of the plot.

- They have the 'dome' detector thing from Wild ARMs 2 & 3, where the big green sphere locates towns and items for you. Sort of eliminates world map exploring, but it's also not a big deal.

- It's in 3D and not 2D Sprites.

Flame · **Posted:** Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:13 pm

Wild Arms... I have mixed feelings. First of all I deeply DEEPLY regret not buying the first one when it came out. I have it now but it's on my long long list of RPGs I need to finish. The only one that I did get an play through a decent amount of is Wild Arms 3.

I find WA3 frustrating because of one reason, I LOVE the battle system, but DESPISE exploration. The battle system is fast paced and required some strategy. I honestly can't rave about it enough, it meant that random battles weren't such a bother and boss fights were a lot of fun. I enjoyed the gameplay outside of battle, the platform elements were refreshing and the tool puzzles really help to break up the game and variation is very much needed in RPGs. What I hated was the way that "Random Encounters" were dealt with. On paper it's a great idea but what would have worked better is a system like in Atelier Iris 2 (Where you basically have a choice of turning on and off random battles) or Chrono/Xenosaga where you can see the enemies. Not only was it frustrating that you would be half-way through a puzzle or something but you also couldn't run away. There were too many random encounters and it made dungeon exploration a real chore.

What turned me away from the game was a world map exploration. I spent hours looking for a dungeon, going around the world map with the green sphere. I followed the directions I'd been told and even resorted to a few FAQs and still couldn't find the place. Then I went back into a town (after countless random battles <.<) talked to some random person who hardly gave any information and lo and behold the new dungeon could now be found. It just turned me off the game.

I look forward to playing through Wild Arms, it's a lot more simplistic (being an older RPG of course) but I love certain elements of the series.

On a last note, PAL were screwed over with no sign of Wild Arms IV, V or Alter code F. Apparently IV and V were released but after a lot of searching I never found either.

Link · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:45 am

Alter Code F is apparently the LAST time you see the 'green sphere', even then they give you a map and TELL you with a beacon/dot where you need to hit your green sphere. However, until you KNOW where that dot is, you can't uncover anything. So the green sphere becomes WAY less annoying. Also, they have implemented this thing to allow you to skip battles, and you can skip so many battles until you're forced into combat, and your 'skip' bar slowly replenishes after each battle you participate in. Also, if you hit a certain level on your 'skip' bar, you can entirely skip battles without losing one of your skip turns, it's pretty cool.

Also and 4 & 5 introduce some sort of 'hex' battle system, that I don't know much about.

Daigo · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:12 pm

I am a big fan of the Wild Arms series (although I haven't played 4 or 5 or the SRPG PSP one)... I need to find Alter Code F... Dammit... Too many choices this check... I miss Wild Arms... I need to go beat that again...

Spoiler

xXOtakuDickXx · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:36 pm

wild arms is very much a 7/10 series.

UNKNOWN GAME OF AUGUST: Wild Arms

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