Wild ARMs 5

"Wild Arms 5 is a Satisfying Experience"

The only Wild Arms game I played before this one was Wild Arms 3. I only played WA3 for several hours before stopping completely because of the frustration I had with the game. Now, I think I might give the 3rd installment of the series another try thanks to Wild Arms 5.

A quick review:

Story: 7/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Replayability: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

Now onto the good stuff.

Story:
The main story is not very overwhelming. The game has the stereotypical save-the-world story, and doesn't succeed in making it a very memorable one. You start off with Dean's conviction to become a Golem Hunter. While with his childhood friend Rebecca, a strange event occurs and the party meets Avril, a young woman suffering from amnesia.

The story starts off disappointingly slow. The main portion of the story doesn't really start until halfway into the game. Also, the story lacked depth and could have been much better. By the end of the game I felt like I only saw 3/4 of the actual story.

Despite the uninteresting storyline, the character development is excellent in the game. I found myself more interested in what changes the characters were going through and what would happen to them. During dungeons there are several skits of the characters interacting with each other, which gives a better feel on the characters themselves.

Overall, an uninteresting story, but excellent character development makes up for it.

Story gets a 7/10

Graphics:
The game is all in 3D and has an anime-esque style that works very well. The characters were made very well, and are pleasant to look at. The faces do a good job at displaying the character's mood and emotions. The various costumes for each character were also well-made. Most of the monsters are detailed and interesting to look at. Spell effects are also amazing, especially the cooperative Force Abilities. And also fun to watch! The dungeons in this game look very nice. A lot of detail and effort were put into them. Each dungeon has their own theme, so you'll see something different in each one most of the time.

The downside to the graphics is the backgrounds. Much of the overworld is plain. More details could have livened things up while running around from place to place. Some of the battle backgrounds also suffer from the same fate. Most are average; not particularly ugly, but not that pretty either.

Overall, an excellent looking game that is brought down by plain and dull backgrounds.

Graphics gets a 8/10

Sound:
The music definitely fits the western theme of the game. However, I can only name a few that were catchy and that I liked. Most of the music simply gets the job done; not annoying, but not that great either.

The voice acting was better than I initially expect. The voices are better than average, and most of the voices fit the characters. I especially liked Avril's voice; Michelle Ruff did an excellent job. However, there are one or two voices that bring down the overall quality. Fortunately, there is an option to turn off any of the main character's voices. I was disappointed with the amount of voiced scenes though. Several of the scenes could have been much better with the addition of voices.

Overall, average music and good voice acting.

Sound gets a 7/10

Gameplay:
Definitely the best part of Wild Arms 5. I loved the battle system and found it unique and enjoyable. Battles are set up in several hexes. Characters are allowed to move to adjacent hexes during their turn and can also attack after moving. There are also typically three elemental hexes on the field. Casting while on these hexes will cast the hex's respective elemental spell.

The game tries to focus more on strategy than just pure attacking, but doesn't succeed very well. I found that fighting regular monsters can usually be easily taken care of with little strategy involved. Usually bosses are the only battles that need strategy. Boss battles can take a while to finish and can be tedious at times if you're underleveled. There's also an option to accelerate the speed in battle, which results in a much faster battle time making for quicker leveling.

Dungeons are filled with interesting puzzles that get increasingly difficult as you progress. Expect to suffer some frustration wondering what the heck the hints are supposed to mean later on. Puzzles range from pushing boxes, slamming down on switches, and shooting objects. You can also turn off random encounters in dungeons by killing a certain monster in each dungeon. Convenient. Wild Arms 5 also has a search feature while traveling in the overworld, which I found to be useless if you're not playing for the 100% completion.

Overall, very enjoyable fast-paced battles and fun puzzle-solving.

Gameplay gets a 9/10

Replayability:
It took me about 35 hours to beat the game at my own pace. I skipped almost all the optional stuff (which is probably half the game) and just went along with the main story. If you plan to try and go for the 100%, expect to at least double my playtime. Also expect to have at least two playthroughs to get everything. There is also a New Game+, which is a nice addition.

Overall, plenty of replayability in this game.

Replayability gets a 8/10

Final Thoughts:
Overall, Wild Arms 5 is a great game. It was satisfying to play and I plan to do another playthrough soon. It's definitely a solid RPG, but several faults in the game prevented it from being a truly fantastic game.

This is a definite buy for any RPG fan. For other gamers, I would say definitely rent before you actually buy it to see if fits your taste.

Overall Score: 8/10

Thank you XSEED for a great game!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/04/07

Game Release: Wild ARMs 5 (10th Anniversary Edition) (US, 08/28/07)