Wild Arms 3

"The third trip to the land of Filgaia"

The third trip to the land of Filgaia

Yes, it's the third trip for most of you. For me though, it's my very first time setting foot in the Wild West. Wild ARMs 3 is my first Wild ARMs game, and I have to say I couldn't have chosen a better game than this one to introduce me into the series. It was really a different experience; I have to give kudos to whoever thought of making a western themed RPG. Solid would be a good word for this, it's fun; but it does have some major flaws. Seeing that it was released in 2002, I'm quite surprised it still tops some of the more recent RPGs. I guess you just can't lasso this cow (I'm sorry, I really am).

Plot/Characters - 8/10
Overall plot - 8/10
Characters - 8.5/10
Character Development - 7/10

The game starts off with a young girl riding a train during a storm. This girl is named Virginia Maxwell, and she is the beginning of something much greater. Soon after Virginia is introduced, three more characters are thrown into the fray. Coincidence? Some of them believe so, yet some of them believe the four were fated to meet. After more events, your rival is introduced a la Janus Cascade, and pretty soon the four will be thrown into the vast world of Filgaia.

The story then continues to move along at a decent pace, not too fast and not too slow. I guess that is one of the main reasons why I liked the story, by how it was distributed. A little more is revealed every time you clear an area, but just enough so that you'll be guessing what will happen next. Not everything is thrown at you at once, at least not at the beginning of the game. Later on in the game though, as the story gets more complex, some people might feel a little lost. Considering the amount of plot twists in this game, I'll be surprised if you don't get lost the first time you play the game. The plot is just bursting with surprising elements.

The game is divided into 4 chapters (not including the Prologue), and this is the first time I've seen chapters be used as such a turning point in the story. Well, I have seen it before, but not every single chapter. Every chapter makes you feel like you're playing an individual part of the game, not a whole like some other RPGs. I guess what makes it seem like that is the fact that they make you think the story is over and nothing else could possibly happen once you're nearing the end of each chapter, but then the next chapter quickly follows up with a plot twist that you would never have seen coming. What makes it so great is that it feels like the chapters are intertwined with each other story-wise and like they're their own individual story at the same time.

What helps the story feel so rich is the interesting cast of characters. I say 4 main protagonists is a good number for any RPG. It's hard to evenly develop characters if there are too many of them (say 8 or so), but some do manage to do it. The 4 main characters work real well together (except one of them >_>), and they all have their own individual quirks that make them unique. Of course, they might also seem pretty cliché at first if you look at them now (especially Jet), but as the story progresses they do a good job and make the characters look real unique, making. They make you totally forget about the clichés at the start of the game.

The main characters of course are not the only ones who have rich characteristics. The villains, who of course play a major role in the game, are really some of the best villains I've seen in a while. They do come with their own set of clichés, but that is almost impossible to avoid. What I like is the fact that there are a decent amount of villains in the game, and they all contribute to the story perfectly. Usually you're supposed to dislike the villains for the terrible deeds they do, but I found myself more attracted to the villains than the heroes. Of course, my favorite is Janus Cascade. He's your lowlife drifter, and he gets cooler and cooler as the game progresses. He's one of the best examples, but not the only example.

Gameplay - 6.5/10
Battle System - 5/10
Dungeons/Towns - 7.5/10
Difficulty - 6.5/10
Innovation - 4.5/10
Sub-Systems - 7/10

The gameplay for Wild ARMs 3 is the weak point, which really doesn't hurt an RPG as much as other genres. Battles in this game are turn-based, as were previous Wild ARMs. The one problem I find in the battle system is that it's too plain. There isn't anything innovative about it; it was pretty much like they re-used a battle system from a much older game. Despite that, battles don't really get tedious, but I did get annoyed at the difficulty of the battles. Attacking your way through each fight seems to work quite well for most of the game, it seems to be the only thing that will actually do damage to your enemy. Magic I found to be pretty pointless; I went through my first playthough and barely opened up the magic menu. That, in turn made the "Mediums" pointless as well (I will explain later on in this section), since the only use I found for them was to wipe out large hordes of enemies.

Battles are frequent, almost a little too frequent. It's very annoying especially in a massive dungeon, in which there are a lot of in this game. Thankfully, the game allows you to avoid some battles by pressing "O" at the right time. There is a limit to it however, as you can’t avoid anymore battles if your "Encounter Meter" runs out.

Now, it isn't like that for all battles, especially boss battles. For one battle, it could be extremely easy. Yet the next battle, you suddenly find out your party doesn't stand a chance. The amount of times the difficulty changes from simple to difficult and back is really annoying and really unbalanced. You'll spend most of your time leveling up for that one boss who is seemingly impossible to defeat only to cruise right through the rest of the game after him due to the simplicity of it.

Outside of battle, the problems continue. The main issue is the horrible World Map. It's nearly impossible to go through the whole game without using a guide at least once, due to the annoying "search system" on the world map. You get clues to your next dungeon or town from people in previous towns and dungeons, and then you'll have to use their sometimes terrible directions to fins the area it is located in. Though, what is so hard about it is the area won't be there to serve as your landmark, you'll have to uncover it first with the radar. So you'll have to search around and repeatedly press the square button until the hidden area is within your radius and appears. It doesn't really help that the world map is really confusing, and the dungeons and towns are located in really difficult to find spots without good directions later in the game.

Speaking of towns, I say they're decent. Towns in this game are relatively small, as you'll find out that most towns will have three to four houses, usually being the Inn and another important place. In towns you'll also find the ARM shop, in where you can customize your characters ARMs and mold them in what you believe is best for that character. Really, I'd rather purchase new equipment instead of upgrading a weapon you can't remove, but that doesn't mean it isn't an interesting concept. ARMs aren't the only things you can customize, as you will be introduced to the Mediums (Summon Spirits of Wild ARMs 3) early in the game. Mediums are the big bad creatures that will aid you in your quest. How you ask? By giving your characters Personal Skills and Magic you can upgrade if you equip them. Sadly, Personal Skill customization isn't that deep, as you'll have enough points at the end of the game to max out every Personal Skill. The only difficult part is deciding which Personal Skills should go to which characters, which is only difficult due to the amount of Mediums you'll obtain.

Dungeons were really fun at times, though nothing truly special. Almost every dungeon looks similar to the others, which will make it feel repetitive soon enough. Lack of unique designs are made up though, through the puzzles in the game. Puzzles are in every single dungeon, and they range from very simple to extremely difficult. Most puzzles require you to use a special tool that each character obtains, such as bombs or a boomerang. Some of the puzzles however, don't make it so obvious as to which item to use or what to do next. I actually found myself using a guide for some of the puzzles, as I couldn't figure them out. I should also mention that is pretty easy to get lost in the more massive dungeons later on, as some of the rooms look pretty similar. Directions can also get confusing, as you can freely move the camera around.

Audio and Visual - 7/10
Graphics - 7.5/10
Musical Tracks - 7/10
Sound Effects - 6.5/10
Voices - There are none

The graphics were superb for me. I'm usually not that interested in Cel-shaded graphics, but I have to say it made this game look real good. The characters look spectacular, and there is a good amount of detail in the designs. Besides the characters, it's decent. The towns look nice enough; there is a decent amount of detail from what I can see. Dungeons though, are really boring to be in, and they aren't very detailed as well. The World Map really isn't much to sneeze at; it's just one big desert wasteland so it can't go that far. Battle effects are iffy for me; sometimes it looks really good, yet sometimes it looks really clunky.

The music should always fit the mood of the game, and it does it quite well in this game. The problem with that is, they focused on making the themes fit the mood of the game mood itself and less of the environment the theme is playing in. Very few of these tracks had an effect on me, I liked the theme "Black as Sin, Red as Blood" for example, but some of the themes also sound incredibly similar. I'm not saying that the themes are bad; it's just that they could have added a little more variety to it while keeping the western mood.

Replay Value - 8/10
Bonus Dungeon(s) - 7.5/10
Sidequests - 8.5/10
Optional Bosses - 7.5/10
Unlockables - 7.5/10

There is much much more to Wild ARMs 3 than the main storyline. The game is just chock full of extra contents and goodies to add at least another 20-30 or so hours to you game time. Of course, the main focus is obtaining all the EX Files, which in turn will unlock viewable things such as videos or the "New Game +". Getting all of the EX Files isn't easy though, as they range from having to defeat optional bosses to completing a sidequest that spans through the entire game.

There are a TON of optional bosses in this game, over ten from what I know. They all range from medium to insane difficulty. Also, some of them are pretty simple to find, but others require more complex or difficult tasks to be completed before fighting. Some of the bosses hold EX Files as well, and it's usually the one with the more difficult task to complete and are also insanely strong. So not only are you going to have to level up quite a bit, but you'll have to spend a few hours actually getting to the boss. Though, the one major flaw is the optional bosses become insanely easy once you have the right setup for your characters.

Bosses don't make up the whole optional portion either. There is a large 100-floor dungeon for you to explore, and two sidequests than span through the entire game to name a few. My favorite sidequest has to be the Millennium Puzzle sidequest, in which you go through a ton of complex puzzle rooms involving blocks. Of course, sidequests would be pretty pointless if there was nothing waiting for you in the end. Every sidequest in this game gives a reward, it's up to you to decide whether that prize is worth it or not. For me, I say it's worth doing every sidequest, since I do all of them anyways.

Pros/Cons
+ Plot and characters
+ Dungeons were lengthy and difficult
+ Tons of extra stuff to keep you busy for a while
+ Cel-shaded graphics
- Battle system
- Difficulty
- Lack of voices
- Music wasn't the greatest

Final Judgment - 7/10
Wild ARMs 3 is a good game that is worth picking up, but the amount of flaws that lies within its battle system and difficulty factor prevent it from getting a higher score.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/07