The third in the Sony supported RPG series comes cel-shaded and shooting onto the PS2. If you've played the first 2, you'll be able to jump into this as it plays almost identically to the first two with the minor difference of it being in a SLIGHTLY more 3D environment than its predecessors, or it looks better anyway. Wild Arms has always had a soft spot with RPG fans, the first title was caught in the undertow of the FF7 behemoth, the second did slightly better thanks to Sony's fairly strong ad campaign, but still paled in the face of Square and Enix. Whether or not this is the last roundup for WA is uncertain, "SHOULD it" be the last roundup is the question...
With the cel shading and recognizable name within the RPG community, those in the know or those whose eyes simply attach to cartoony looking games saw fit to give this a chance. Those that did were greeted by a Wild West-ish theme that is stronger than ever in this series, a mission to save the planet (a staple for RPG heroes) and a group of playable characters ALL of which brandishing firearms (an odd thing in RPGs). Brimming with puzzles, random battles and enough nods to thoroughly ensure you that this is indeed a Wild Arms title, but is that really the direction this franchise should take?
Why it sucks: Despite the fact that you ride horses on the world map at some point, this is simply Wild Arms 2 dressed up and given a new and comparatively bold look. This Wild West theme was cute in the first game, but since then that should have at least lightened up a little. Instead we now have a less than subtle "Injun'" slacker added to the mix. And what a fruity blend this is! It consists of a determined, yet dumber than a bag of hammers, main character/group leader girl whose so unremarkable in her cheesy, cliche' lines that I can't help but gag or begin gnawing at my wrists each time she begin speaking. We've also got a mysterious, well read, rifle toting family man who is a pleasant, yet also "hammer-bag" intelligent individual. Then there's the angsting loner twit who goes out of his way to rub in that he's forgotten his past and can't get enough of getting the heroine all riled up. And if THAT weren't bad enough, we've got some extremely uber-lame enemies that you go up against which are under the command of some bizarre, if not wholly absurd cloaked characters and being that this is almost literally a different looking clone of WA2, there's tons of random battles ahead of you EVERYWHERE! Ugh... I can't imagine who out there is really all that eager for more random battles... Especially, if you actually played the first two games! ARGH!
Speaking of battles, I may as well touch on the battle system! The battles look like the most pathetic stab at the marvelous invention that is Grandia 2's battle engine, but looks are most deceiving, particularly with this turd burglar. Once the you get a brief look at your opposition and reminded you're in a tomb, cave or whatever by the surroundings, you input your instructions to the characters and then... everyone scrambles! Everyone running every which way, keeps doing so until their turn comes up. Despite the fact that they're running around it is still the same as if they were standing still in a Final Fantasy or prior Wild Arms game. And typically the enemies get first crack at ya. That's probably the most annoying thing about this game is that you basically input and pray that the choices you made don't cost you dearly anytime in the battle. Boss battles usually involve the characters running around a boss and as a general rule, ALL bosses are immune to some of your more helpful spells. The strangest and sadly the more interesting battles are against the heronine's snot nosed rival and this trio of mercenaries hired by the cloaked freaks, these fights are actually somewhat interesting and would almost justify the game if it weren't so bloody awful getting from point A to point B in order to fight them. And the summons? Well... They'd be dandy if this were 4-5 years ago... as it stands the summon creatures look goofy and were cut from exactly the same malformed, guacamole riddled cloth that WA2 was. Because the bulk of the summon creatures simply don't fit in among these comparatively great looking characters and monsters and do pretty much the same things they did in the last game, except now they've got some slight customizablity to them so that they're a little more like the Guardian Forces from FF8.
My biggest gripe is probably the lack of depth, if it weren't for random battles, only mildly amusing puzzles and that STUPID radar system that serves no purpose except to play peek-a-boo with towns or dungeons you're looking to find in this visually unappealing wasteland of a world map, you'd be done with this clunker in under 20-25 hours, if even that. As it stands this is a 45-50 hour game with all that garbage thrown in there.
Why it rules: It looks phenomenal, the environments are spotty at best, the world map in an eyesore and the effects could be better, but the cel shading used for the characters and monsters is awesome! It's not Nintendo's Wind Waker, by far. But the eye-popping look of the characters is refreshing and the direction of the in-game movies is a lot better than I'd have ever expected from a Wild Arms game. The coolest thing by far is the opening cinema you're treated to each time you load your file and notice the new things added depending on what point of the game you're at. That's something new and the more new things this franchise has to offer, the better.
Overall: It ain't Evergrace bad, but it's a sub par PS2 title at best. It's WA2 given a bold new look, but given little else. If it weren't for the aesthetics this game is packing, I'd have sold this the day I got it if it hadn't been for the great visuals and opening trick. It's WA2 with a few new tricks, and I might've been able to cope with that fact had it not been for that problem of them keeping the friggin' radar system in place and otherwise doing nothing in terms of improvement or innovation on this tired series. Wild Arms has always been a few notches below everyone else, even the more obscure games like Thousand Arms (ironically MADE by the creators of Wild Arms), Kartia and Persona put this stinker and its prequels where they belong, in the discount bin. And god forbid you compare this thing to ANY of the Final Fantasy games since anything from 1-10 put the entire Wild Arms franchise to shame! If you're one of the EXTREMELY few Wild Arms fans out there, then I suppose you might as well snatch it up. However, if you want something more substantial or at the very LEAST something worthwhile, try looking for some titles for the PSone/PS2 like ANY of the Final Fantasy games, Chrono Cross, Shadow Hearts, Suikoden, Lunar or any from among the plethora of RPG titles out there for both systems. Wild Arms is a dead bird that they keep reanimating to dance for us and I for one hope it finally rests in peace this time.