Wild Arms 3

"A wild, wild, good time"

I can see it now:

''C'mon Billy Bob, saddle up! We're taking these good games over to the game museum!''

''Okay, George. hey wait! We dropped something! I think it's called Wild Arms 3!''

I think those two dudes just struck gold.

Wild Arms 3 is going to be overlooked. With Suikoden III, Kingdom Hearts, Legaia 2, and even FFX: 2 coming out around the same time, it's obvious Wild Arms 3 isn't going to get the lovin' it rightfully deserves. Sparing you the boring, cheesy facts, skipping the biased fan-boy opinions, I'll deliver straight to you, the reader, truth. Unbiased, unfiltered truth. And that truth is, Wild Arms 3 needs to be looked over. Let's begin, shall we?

Graphics: 7/20

All you graphics nuts may find yourselves out of luck. Casual go-ers will dig the cool cel-shading, because it fits right in. RPGers will mainly overlook the decent graphics for the rest of the game. Only critical fanboys, oblivious customers, and ''I just-don't-seem-to-like-it-for-some-reason''ers will see these graphics as hurting the game. Personally, I could take cel-shading any day. Oh yeah-glitches are few and far between, too. That's always a plus. In battle graphics are pretty good too. They are flashy but not time-consuming.

Sound: 8/10

Don't expect Mozart, expect something like Mozart's student. The sound in WA3 is just fine for me: the theme song of the game is very good, if overused, and it fits the Wild West theme too. The rest of the sound is good, if not great. I like a few of the battle songs (that's right: multiple battle themes). Not FF7-caliber sound, but you can't have the golden egg with every chicken.

Gameplay: 6/10

Here's the meat and potatoes of Wild Arms 3, and ultimately why it landed this rating. The battle system is unique: Arcana, which is Wild Arms magic, costs NO FP (force/magic points) to cast. So, what's the catch? Well, the catch is that Arcana is weak. So only use it if you feel it would work well. Also note that although you pay no FP, you have to have the amount of FP required.

Ex.: If a spell cost 50 FP, I would need 50 or more FP. I cast the spell, and my FP stays the same. So basically, with a certain amount of FP, you can cast into oblivion. Which works surprisingly well. But after a while, this battle system seems to wear tired.

Which brings me to the ''Migrant Seal'' system. it allows you to avoid battles WAY too often (cancels out the last point, sorta) and you don't even need to fight random battles. Bosses should give you all the EXP you need.

But back to before, the ''Guardian'' system works well, and gives some summoning flair to the game, and the ''Personal Skill'' system is nice too, though there are not enough opportunities to make full use of it.

As for non-battle gameplay, I'd have to say that the world map system dropped this score a good 2 points. The world map, to be nice, is bad. Totally.

The ''Search'' system takes some getting used too, although once you get used to it, it's decent. But add that to the fact that some of the vehicles (save for maybe one) can be a pain.

As for movement, I have to just comment that the running system is like the characters were running on ice.

One last thing: You can battle in two of the vehicles, and without spoiling anything, one vehicle is underused, and the other can dominate ANYTHING just by buying a cheap weapon for it. Still, it's a cool diversion, but it could be so much more.

Story/Characters: 8/10

This is one of Wild Arms' really good points. The story, though it tends to border on cliche, is actually very good. Without spoilers, it goes like this: There are these dudes who want to do something to the world (not take over, per se...), there's groups of rival explorers, and there's a bunch of plot twists where power dramatically shifts. It's actually pretty cool.

The character design is priceless, though. The main characters that you use are all introduced at the very beginning of the story, and this doesn't give away much anyway. And the manual tells stuff too. So, here goes:

Virginia Maxwell: A girl who longs to be a ''Drifter'', a wanderer, per se. Wields dual revolvers, and is pretty cool in doing so.

Jet Enduro: One of those ''lone wolf'' types that seems to be a dime a dozen in RPGs these days. His memories (which is a recurring theme in Wild Arms 3) are non-existent. He uses a high-powered machine gun, the Airghet-lamb. He's pretty cool, not the coolest, but cool.

Gallows Carradine: A member of the Baskar tribe, a group with strong Native American flair to the game. He wields a two-barrel called the Coyote, is great with magic, is easy-going, and basically is your run-of-the-mill ''dude''. Plus, he's got a geezer of a granny.

Clive Winslet: A green haired-guy, he's the level-headed and smar one. He is very calm-headed (most of the time), and has a huge rifle he uses to reach out and smoke people.

And the other chars are pretty darn cool too, but I won't spoil that...

Secrets: 10/10

THIS is where Wild Arms 3 shines. I can't really say much without spoiling anything, but there are truckloads of secret bosses, loads of optional puzzles, a cool optional battle-quest, a secret fighting arena, and one really super-huge dungeon. There are a LOT of secrets here, and a lot of cool touches, including a special treat after the ending for those who are diligent secret-hunters.

Overall: 7/10

It's a great game, and shouldn't be overlooked. The gameplay lacks a bit, unfortunately, but if you make sure to duke it out with the numerous bosses as much as possible, indulge in the nice musical score and pretty graphics, you'll have a darn good time. Oh yes, don't forget the secrets too-they are great!

Wild Arms 3 is LONG too! if you take the time to get all the optional stuff, you'll have hit a LONG time on the clock. Well, I did.

I hope this helped you in assessing whether or not to buy/tell about Wild Arms 3!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/02, Updated 11/11/02