Wild ARMs 5

"Wild ARMs 5 is worth your time"

Here's a quick and simple review for Wild ARMs 5, in the future I intend to make a more detailed one though. Well, here goes.

Graphics - 7/10
They are very functional in Wild ARMs 5. Polygonal characters and monsters are fairly detailed and animated, each one with unique features; all cities have pleasant looking design; some dungeons are unspiring, however, they all look practically the same with a different palette color (especially the "paths"); the world map is huge and gorgeous, you can walk wherever you wish with as much liberty as a bird has flying over the skies.

Sound - 8/10
Some tracks really captures the 'Wild Arms feeling': western themes. A great thing here is that the different cities and dungeons have different tracks, so you'll never get bored. Battle theme and Boss theme rule. Voice acting is fairly good in WA5, each character has good voices to hear, except for a little girl called Carol, aw gosh, that voice is very forced, even being a child's voice. For those times there's a mute button on your remote controller.

Gameplay - 9/10
Superb. HEX System is outstanding, battles flow rapidly. When strifing, there are 7 hexagonal spaces for your character to move and that's where battles occur. Movement is much like a tactics game, you can move once and attack enemies. If you played Final Fantasy Tactics or Vandal Hearts you'll then already be very used to it. Some hexagons have unique characteristics, such as "red color", for instance, representing the element Fire. So, if you cast an ice magic on an enemy on that hex, the damage inflicted will raise about 150%, and so goes on. Hexes can be normal (neutral color), red/blue - fire/ice, yellow/green - earth/wind, which are opposite and increments tactics on battles. Abnormal status aren't inflicted on characters too, but on the hexes and whoever steps a poison-inflicted-hex, for instance, is going to turn on in poison status. There are also the equipable mediums, which guarantees the characters extended abilities, skills and status. Characters can use groupal attacks, much like Chrono Trigger. Moreover, only 3 characters can battle at a time, you can buy weapons and armor at shops, chat with people in towns, explore and resolve puzzles in dungeons, Wild Arms style.

Story - 6/10
Not that memorable, although characters are very carismatic. Dean, the protagonist, is a lovely boy who enjoys Golems; Rebecca, his childhood friend, loves circus spectacles and intends to be a circus star in the future. One day, these two, while exploring a sacred place called Celestial Peak, run through a golem arm that fell from the sky, holding a misterious white-hair-colored girl called Avril, who doesn't recall her past, but only her name and the words "Johnny Appleseed". Dean and Rebecca become her friends and embark on a journey not only to try to discover the meaning of "Johnny Appleseed", but also to adventure in a new world they never met before, as they lived all their childhood in a farm-like town.

Wild ARMs 5 is very pleasant to play, you should pick a copy asap. Deserves a 9 out of 10 mark for its battle system and good characters, even if they are very childish at times. There is not a game in the Wild Arms series you can call bad, they all are very entartaining to play through. Not being real bluckbusters, they shouldn't be taken too seriously. You can just sit, relax and get a time worth playing them. Recommended!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/06/07

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