Wild Arms 4

"A breath of fresh air in the dying world of Filgaia."

As anyone who knows me can confirm, I am a total and complete fanboy of the Wild ARMs series. I pretty much dropped everything else in my life to secure a copy of Alter Code F. I didn't quite go to that extent for the actual fourth game in the series, but that was possibly due to the fact that these characters, this plot, this setting, and this Filgaia were entirely new - I didn't want to spoil myself. (In case you're unaware, Alter Code F is a remake of the first game - thus, all the things mentioned above were the same as the first. On the other hand, everything about WA4 was new, and being as OCD about spoilers as I am, I didn't want to know anything about the game before I even got it.).

The planned changes made me worry, though. There were two huge, prominent changes to the series in the fourth installment - the first being the field system, and the second being the battle system. What was this I heard about the field system being revamped to be more along the lines of action-RPGs? And a battle system based around several hexes, on which you can move around the combatants? Sounded good in theory, I thought, but I'd have to see how it actually played out, and see just how much of my inner fanboy it made cry.

As it turns out, not too much.

When you turn on the game, you're treated to a quick little introductory scene that pans over the four main characters of Wild ARMs 4: Jude Maverick, Yulie Ahtreide, Arnaud G. Vasquez, and Raquel Applegate. Unless you hit Start. When you make your way to the file screen and choose to make a new game (or convert saved data from Alter Code F, which allows you to start off with things like level and item bonuses), you then watch the main character, Jude, taking a quick nap on a tree on a cliff just outside his home village of Ciel Shelter. Despite the resemblance to the opening scene of another RPG with a cult-like fanbase, and Jude's voice, you prepare yourself for another RPG experience and start playing the game.

And if you've played the other WA games, you'll notice tons of changes right off the bat.

First of all, gone are the character-switching and Tools from the previous games. In this game, the only character you ever control on the field is Jude, who is an incredibly acrobatic thirteen-year-old boy. He can run (though not through the use of a straight-line dash like the other games), he can jump (and double-jump to boot), he can slide (just like Megaman!), and he can even butt-stomp (just like Mario!). The various dungeons in the game are based around these abilities, and while they start off pretty simple, by the end of the game they'll have evolved suitably into platforming-game-like challenges, so that, while never exactly putting a strain on the puzzle-loving mind, you'll still feel satisfaction when you clear them. And the ability to actually do something in the field other than run around, talk to people, and plant bombs? That fact alone makes up for nearly everything else that has been changed. It definitely keeps things from being boring - though I could do with Jude not shouting "JuuuuMMMP!"

The changes hardly end there, however. One of the prominent field abilities Jude possesses is Accelerator. Due to the revamp of the combat system, Accelerator, a WA standby, has been turned into a field ability that can be activated by pressing R1 - the effect turns the screen blue and, funnily enough, slows down time, while Jude continues to move at normal speed. Aside from being an interesting way to explain how the user experiences Accelerator, this is also used as an ever-present tool to conquer obstacles - the bridge is falling too fast? Accelerate across it. Rotating flames are moving too quickly for you to pass? Accelerate and jump in between the now-visible gaps. Low on money? Accelerate in certain places and you'll find little gems that can be collected in chains to gain ever-growing increments of gella. I don't know how that works either.

Accelerator isn't the only tool Jude has at his disposal, though none of them are as permanent. Many items can be found in dungeons that can be used by picking them up and hitting Square. Unlike the other WA games, these Tools are only temporary, and are used to solve a puzzle that Jude's inborn acrobatics and Accelerator can't conquer - they're usually dropped right after you get past the room. It's certainly a unique way of using Tools, but it's still a little disappointing to not be able to cart around bombs, knives, staves, and little smartass mice at your own leisure. It's also a little contrived that the item you need to solve the puzzle just happens to be lying around the same room - or at least, more contrived than carrying those items you need around 24/7 ala Legend of Zelda.

Despite that convenience, and the removal of permanent Tools, these things all serve to make running around in the field a lot more fun and interesting than in the previous WAs. That's only half the game, though. The other half takes place on the battlefield, which looks a lot different than the previous games.

It might have something to do with those seven hexagons.

To put it simply, WA4's battle system revolves around those seven hexagons, dubbed the Hyper Evolve X-fire Sequence, or HEX for short. They never really explain why fights are like this, but it doesn't really matter: the HEX system provides an extra edge to battles that wasn't present before, and in fact serves to make battles that much more fun.

Basically, at the beginning of a fight, your characters and enemies are strewn about the seven hexagons randomly, and speed stat permitting, your characters are able to take their turns. You'll select a command for them through a seven-hexagon interface, but mainly you'll want to attack the enemy, which usually involves moving to a space that's adjacent to the one your enemies are in and using the attack command ASAP. The twist with the HEX system is that you don't attack individual enemies, as in every other RPG - you attack the entire selected hex. So if your enemies are grouped together in one hex, one attack or spell will hit all of them, and the same goes for your party members as well. This also goes for healing and support spells and special attacks, and even status effects too - many classic RPG status effects, such as poison, now affects the entire hex, injuring anyone who takes their turn inside that hex but also providing an easy cure - just move out of that space. You can use your skills and abilities to affect the battlefield in various ways, or bust out awe-inspiring techniques with your Force Abilities (extra abilities each character can use by expending a certain amount of FP from a global pool that rises as various actions in battle are taken.).

You'll get used to the system after a few battles, and soon moving around those seven hexes will become second nature - you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. It provides a tactical edge to battles and prevents them from just being X-button-mash-fests. And it's not likely you'll get tired of it – the encounter rate is significantly lower than most RPGs. Thanks to these factors, I can honestly say this is the only RPG in recent days where, every time the screen broke up, I'd say "WOOHOO! BATTLE TIME!" rather than "GOD DAMMIT, I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THESE FIGHTS!" They're just that fun. Especially considering some of the skills and abilities you have at your disposal.

Speaking of which, these are obtained in a much different manner than the previous games: through leveling up. Rather than finding skills or abilities on the field, you gain them as the characters level up - each one has their own set of skills and abilities that aren't shared among the others. You can't have your mages learn the Critical Hit skill, for instance, because it's just not on either of their skill tables. However, there's a trick to this system. Each level up gives you a certain number of points, called GC points, in addition to any ability you'd gain at that level. Accumulating these GC points raises your HP and MP totals, but you can sacrifice said GC points (and thus HP and MP totals) to gain abilities earlier than you're supposed to. It makes for some tricky tactical decisions - should I really sacrifice that 800 HP? Is this ability absolutely necessary for the next boss fight?

…Okay, I'm making this sound more interesting than it really is. The GC Graph (as the above system is called) is unique, but usually the new abilities you'll get will make up for the lack of HP and MP, and the battles usually just boil down to letting Raquel have a turn. Raquel is absolutely broken, in that she is able to slay most bosses in two or three normal strikes. And that's not even taking into account her Force Ability, Intrude, which allows her to act twice.

Still, it's a good concept, and the options are there. Plus, there are ways around Raquel's brokenness (buy her the less-powerful and speedier swords, for instance, instead of the ungodly-powerful-but-slow swords), and we still have to take into account how fun it is to romp around the field now. Gameplay gets a 9/10 for breaking away from the mold and throwing in enough unorthodox yet traditional things to grab anyone's interest. The HEX system really is fun. If Raquel wasn't so broken…

And now, for other matters. Such as how the game looks. The graphics aren't exactly mind-blowing, in all honesty. We've seen better on the PS2. This isn't to say they're bad, however - they're perfectly passable, and certainly above average. Some of the character designs are a little wonky (I cannot get past Jude showing off his prepubescent legs), and occasionally a piece of the environment will just seem flat…but there are so many other pieces of the environment that will grab your interest instead. The previous games had desert-like towns that you walked around in, occasionally taking note of something interesting, like the sign hanging above the inn door, the kitty crawling into the alleyway, or the well that hides a monster ready to destroy the world. You don't just occasionally take note of something in WA4 - you do so constantly. Just about every area in the game is jam-packed with little details, like sunlight and lens flares and miscellaneous objects strewn around that make you feel as though you're actually visiting a place populated by people. The special effects in battle are merely a fraction of what you'll jawdrop at.

The characters, while their designs (as noted) are sometimes a little strange, are still a pleasure to behold - and believe me, you'll be doing a lot of that beholding. Another way WA4 breaks from the mold is in the way it presents many of its story scenes: by using a sort-of-manga style. Yes, manga. There's no real other way to describe it. Many conversations are held by having the screen blurring up and the characters' profiles, drawn in anime-style, moving around the screen separated by thick black lines, their poses changing to match the conversation. It's a little awkward, and in the end comes off as a tad gimmicky, but there are worst things they could have done. They're not animated or anything, but the different poses work well enough – it's better than…reaching for an example here…sticking two characters' profiles side-by-side, making them immobile and lifeless, as Capcom did in Mega Man X Command Mission.

When the plot calls for it, though, the game breaks from its path to present an especially dramatic scene in FMV fashion. Thing is, the difference between the in-game graphics and the FMV graphics is barely noticeable - the only way you'll know you're watching an FMV is when the characters look slightly better, they're actually speaking (with voice actors!), and their words will appear in subtitle fashion at the bottom of the screen (assuming you haven't turned them off). It's certainly the best choice for the scenes in question, because many of those scenes just wouldn't work in the aforementioned manga-like style.

Still, there's just not enough of a difference to warrant FMVs that take up more disc space. They might as well have just used the in-game graphics and have done with it. Graphics get an 8/10 for being above average, especially where detail and special effects are concerned, but not exactly stellar everywhere else. I never thought I'd use the word "gimmicky" in relation to RPG conversation.

With sight comes sound, of course. The audio - specifically, the music - of the Wild ARMs games have always been considered to be one of the best things about the series. Michiko Naruke, the composer, has always given WA fans an outstanding soundtrack with memorable tunes and heart-pounding compositions.

But, according to hearsay, she had fallen sick during production of this game.

With a reasonable amount of the music, it's fairly obvious to tell that Naruke had a hand in it. In everything else, however, the soundtrack - for the first time in WA history - stumbles and almost falls. It's not bad, let me stress this, not in the slightest. It's still an amazing soundtrack, and it's still better than most games on the market. The substitute composers just don't quite match the memorability of Naruke's works, and that's really a bit of a disappointment.

On top of that, there's J-pop. The staple anime intro is accompanied by a true, unforgiving J-pop song. Someone shoot me now.

That's another thing that one might be more concerned about: voices. In video games, especially RPGs, the subject of voice acting always tends to be hit-or-miss. Sometimes, especially with a really professional cast along the lines of Tales of Symphonia, the acting is spot-on (mostly) and the general populace is satisfied. The other 70% of the time, people clap their hands over their ears and moan in pain.

Wild ARMs 4 falls somewhere in the middle. Truthfully, all the voices suit their character very well. Jude actually sounds like a hotheaded just-beginning-adolescence brat, while Yulie sounds meek and timid, fitting her personality precisely. The actual acting, however, tends to fluctuate. Even on the same character, it's not uncommon to whistle in awe as a voice actor delivers one line perfectly and then wince in pain as he or she says the next one in a totally monotone, out-of-character low note. It's odd. Thankfully, these incidents aren't common enough to grind your nerves to the point of wanting to turn the voices off entirely, and in the case that they do, go right ahead and turn them off - they've given you the option in the System menu.

Sound effects themselves fly right past you - the wind blowing harshly, the patter of Jude's footsteps, and the various combat noises that occasionally sound a bit strange. Thanks to these sound effects, we're never entirely sure if Jude's ARM is a laser gun or shoots actual bullets. Monsters in general sound a little strange, occasionally busting out an ear-splitting shriek or shouting a taunt that just sounds odd. Considering that these are monsters, however, this isn't entirely unexpected. Overall, the sound effects do their job. Audio gets an 8/10 for a decent soundtrack, fluctuating voice actors, and suitable sound effects. Not much else to say, move along, move along.

Then there's the story, the crux of any console RPG. The WA games haven't ever really been known for mind-blowing storylines; it was usually about the characters and the setting (usually that of a dying Filgaia), and the game relied on those factors to make anything plot-related interesting. If Rudy is involved in a terrible accident, you scream out in pain along with him. If Ashley gains the ability to transform into an ungodly-powerful-and-demonic warrior, you both celebrate in discovery of this newfound power but feel sympathy for Ashley for having to deal with the demon inside. The plotlines were pretty standard - everything relied on the characters.

Not much has changed on this front.

An hour or two into the game, everything Jude knows is thrust out the window as he is forced to escape from his village and finds himself in, once again, the dying lands of Filgaia, carrying nothing but the clothes on his back and an ARM (basically, a mystical gun), with no one at his side except Yulie, a girl with a strange secret whom he's sworn to protect, and Arnaud, a Drifter who complains constantly about being dragged into things but wants to help his newfound friends anyway. They set off on a journey to find answers to Jude's questions and to protect Yulie from the mean adults that are chasing her, wanting to use her for some nefarious purpose.

Not much we haven't seen before, right? This WA game, however, once again succeeds in making you care about the characters as they travel and fight their hardships, however clichéd they might be. This isn't to say there aren't any flaws with the storyline - oh no, there are flaws.

The main group of villains throughout the game is an elite military force by the name of Brionac, which constantly sends its lieutenants after you, each one boasting the strength of an entire battalion, in an attempt to kill the three extremities (shortly into your expedition throughout Filgaia, the beauty-seeking Drifter swordswoman named Raquel joins up as well) and capture Yulie. Many of these lieutenants put up a strong fight, made all the more fun due to their own quirks and the HEX system, but that's all the time they get to shine. We never see much more of them besides their battle prowess, because nearly all of them just fight you once and then keel over. I'd be more interested in these villains if they weren't, to use a clichéd anime line, "just lining up to die!"

Throughout the middle portion of the game, the four travelers are on a mission: to run away from the mean adults trying to capture Yulie so they can live in peace. That's another buggy thing about the story: the "children vs. adults" mentality. The script frequently uses the terms "child" and "adult" to describe the party and their foes respectively, and it always seems pretty odd when the villain says something like, "You children need to grow up and become an adult like me!" to which Jude responds, "An adult who makes war?! I'd rather stay a child!" The tendency for the script to paint a picture of "childrens = innocence and goodness; adults = EVIL BAD BAD MEAN GUYS!" is likely to grind some nerves.

This isn't all bad, however. The game presents some interesting moral issues based around that mentality, about how maturity is not really related to age, and how "doing the right thing" can have several meanings depending on which angle one looks at the situation. To put it simply, WA4 has shades of gray - while the bad guys are bad guys, you'll understand why they're bad guys and why they're striving to do what they're doing…which makes you wonder about the morality of your actions - and that's always good in an RPG.

This would score the story several points if it wasn't for the way these issues and plot points were explored: by the simplest form of exposition. There's a High Council behind the scenes controlling Brionac, and at several points throughout the game you'll see them conversing with each other. These conversations are where you'll find out the bulk of the villains' plot and the majority of the story - and that's the biggest problem of all. While the characters are on the run, the scene will occasionally change to these old men in their meeting room. They will then proceed to deliver Bond-villain like speeches that spell out their ideals and plots that any passerby would hear. It almost gets painful to watch them boast about their twisted ideals, not because they're so twisted, but because it's the classic example of telling-and-not-showing. Seriously, this is the only thing the High Council is used for – telling the player what's going on, instead of demonstrating it to us through their actions and words. Even then, this wouldn't be so bad if the characters weren't entirely ignorant of these plots until near the end of the game - you almost feel as if you're controlling some extras on the sidelines, dealing with their own little issues of morality and junk, while the main world-changing plot unfolds elsewhere. The main characters are not the stars of the stage, except for the various attempts to capture Yulie, until the end of the game. Up until then, they are merely extras in the background, interacting only with each other.

I mean, I have nothing against extras – but that doesn't mean they should be left out of the loop until the end. It is good to see the characters interacting with each other, but it almost comes to “Oh, crap, while we were discussing morality and all that fun stuff, the world was being destroyed! We should probably take care of that!” At the very least, the characters develop. And while that's a good thing, sacrificing the major conflict for that didn't seem right.

Story gets a 7/10 for the "children vs. adults" mentality, the interesting characters, and the shades-of-gray-based plotline, but gets hit hard for using the High Council as nothing but endless exposition and leaving the main characters out of everything until they're necessary. At least we get to know the characters, though.

It is of interest to note, though, that this is the first WA game, of five games, to actually use the term "Wild ARMs." I'll let you discover what the context is.

You wouldn't want to play through the story, though, if the game itself didn't entertain you. How fun is it? It's very fun. Even if there's more they could have done with the system, there's enough to keep you from falling asleep from boredom. The platforming sequences can be trickily tedious sometimes, but they're never horrible enough to have you stuck for hours because of poorly-implemented RPG platforming (read: Xenogears, Babel Tower. GAH.), and when the screen explodes into combat, it's never often enough to grind your nerves, and the actual combat is so much fun that you won't mind the random exploding screen anyway.

And even though it has its flaws, the story really makes you think. There aren't many games out there that can boast that quality anymore. The fun factor gets a 9/10 for unintrusive action-oriented field gameplay, amazingly fun combat, and a workable story.

It's not a high-budget game staffed by the best programmers in the world or the best creative minds in the video game industry. It's not trying to take down behemoths like Zelda or Final Fantasy. Wild ARMs 4 is just a short little tale about the trials of a boy named Jude and his friends.

And you know what? It works. Wild Arms 4 gets an 8/10 overall. If you're a fan of RPGs, or are just looking for something unconventional on the shelves of the local video game store, this game is a good way to spend your money.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/07