Wild Arms 3

"Guns and glory, baby!"

Ugh. Talk about bad timing. It just so happens that Wild Arms 3 and Suikoden 3 were both to come out within days of each other, and i only have the budget for one game. Oh well, it's just good a friend of mine opted to buy a copy of Suikoden 3 for me, so we decided to swap when we finish what we got. Anyway, Wild Arms 3 comes next in the line of mostly overshadowed games by Media Vision, boasting challenging puzzles and Western-themed worlds. The first one was kicked out of the spotlight by Final Fantasy VII while this game got a lot of pressure from Suikoden 3. Despite a lower fan base compared to other RPG's, this game can stand on its own two feet.

Graphics: 9/10

Looks like.... Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland. This game uses cel-shading graphics very much similar to the farm-sim game. Characters are anime-style, colorful and run at smooth 60fps. However, this game makes improvements on the technique while losing some in the process. Harvest Moon suffered from some anti-aliasing issues when up close, but here the black outlines are thinner and the jaggedness hardly visible. Still, Harvest moon had very high-resolution characters. Wild Arms 3's characters lack some degree of resolution. Up close they look a little pixelated (for a PS2 game), and their facial expressions could use a little work.

The field graphics this time are made in the same style as the second game. The field is still rotatable 360 degrees. Now it runs at 60fps with no slowdown with pretty good resolution. The battle graphics are done well. Field characters now look exactly like their battle counterparts and monsters are well animated as well.

Gameplay/Controls: 7/10

Oof. This game does uses the same field and gameplay system found in the previous game, with some additions. You still use the X button for a dash, and you still can't turn while dashing. Each character still gets 3 Tools which they use to manipulate the environment to solve puzzles, open paths etc. Battles still use the Force Points system where attacking or getting attacked increase your FP bar. Using abilities does not decrease your FP, only the Special ones. This wouldn't be so bad if the old problems didn't rear their ugly heads yet again. Running is a pure chore. Not being able to turn while dashing means you have to stop first, and since you skid before coming to a stop you may find yourselves slipping into the pits. Plus, since the use and dash buttons are the same, not aligning to an object properly means you run into it at close range instead of using it. I found myself falling into the abyss many times when I was standing by the ledge and ran into the object, knocking myself into the hole, instead of doing what I was supposed to. Plus, leveling up is rather hard without a lucky card. It'll take a plethora of random battles before you gain a level. It may take 2 or more boss battles before you gain a level. Treat your lucky cards with care, you'll need them.

This game now uses a unique battle avoidance system. In the upper left of the screen lies a bar with numbers on it. The numbers and the bar indicates the degrees of battles one can avoid. Different enemies decrease the bar in different amounts. Once you run out, you can't avoid battles until you replenish the bar, either by battles where you replenish it 1 point per fight, white crystals lying around dungeons, or replenish it completely by resting. A novel idea, but it can get frustrating. Since there is no way to escape battles, you may need to fight so many times just to get where your going when the bar runs out. Plus it gets really annoying when your lost and can't find a place to rest when the bar runs out...

There's a world map! Woohoo! I thought they'd remove these things when the PS2 came along. You have a planet to explore here, but.... the search system came along. If you've played the first game, you can continue with the frustration. There may be no better waste of time then running around pressing the square button trying to locate a town/dungeon/item that the characters should be able to see but we somehow can't. It is highly unrealistic, but adds a degree of explorative value. I've spent hours looking for the places around Filgaia alone.

Puzzles: 10+/10

I haven't mentioned puzzles in an RPG I've reviewed before, but this game needs it to be mentioned. Like Alundra, The Wild Arms series is known for it's challenging, mind-bending, nerve-straining puzzles. But unlike Alundra, who's puzzles rely on hand-eye coordination, this series relies on logical and spatial reasoning. In short, it relies on the person's ability to imagine and visualize figures and symbols, interpreting and analyzing clues, and ''reading between the lines.'' The puzzles will range from simple reasoning to the abhorrently challenging that will require a lot of thinking. Keeping an open mind to all possibilities and trying everything one can is the key to solving them. Many times you'll find that the solutions are right under your nose (or somewhere in that head of yours). Honestly these puzzles are some of the hardest I've ever had the pleasure of solving. Heck, one of them took me half an hour just to figure out!

Audio: 10/10

Being more ''Westerned'' than it's predecessors, expect the music to be heavily themed. You'll be hearing a lot of western-style music like whistling and a lot of guitars, but the signature style of the series is very much present. The music in this game is very well done and diverse, but the battle music can get repetitive. Also, unlike other RPG's nowadays, there isn't any voice acting. Of course it's an added plus, but after seeing some of the voice over works by Sony (Legend of Dragoon comes to mind), it's just as well they didn't put any.

I really can't tell you which of the two you want to buy. Both Suikoden 3 and Wild Arms 3 are great games. Like always, I suggest you rent this game first before you make your decision.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/02, Updated 11/02/02