The first two games in the Wild Arms series garnered attention and acclaim as they brought classic console role-playing to the original PlayStation. Though crafted in the same story-telling spirit, Wild Arms 3 (titled Wild Arms Advanced 3rd in Japan) boasts major technological improvements and a number of new gameplay elements. Featuring "stroke-shaded" animation-style graphics, a "Wild West" setting, and a completely 3D game engine (not just for battles, as in the previous games), Wild Arms 3 is designed to make good use of the power of the PlayStation 2. Wild Arms 3 features four main characters and takes the time to let players become acquainted with each of them. The "drifters" Virginia, Gallows, Jet, and Clive are four very different adventurers whose paths intertwine toward a shared destiny. Though each has his or her own personal motivations, all four seek an explanation for why the once-verdant lands of Filgaia have become dry and barren. Differences must be overcome and the characters must act in harmony if they are to truly understand the ancient mystical forces at work. As the drifters move through the desolate land of Filgaia, they are challenged with a number of mysteries to solve and barriers to overcome. The different special abilities of each character must be used to solve different parts of the game's complex puzzles. A technique dubbed "expressive communication" is designed to allow players to quickly gauge the moods and emotions of the onscreen characters. Monsters, villains, and other horrible creatures stand between the drifters and their destinations as well. The Wild Arms 3 turn-based battle system is designed to offer players an intricate level of control, allowing tactics that make wise use of the various powers and weaponry of the drifters while presenting combat with cinematic flair. Wild Arms 3 delivers everything RPG gamers expect: an in-depth storyline, puzzling dungeons & a unique battling system. Journey along with Virginia, Jet, Clive and Gallows and discover the mystery behind the Prophets to revive the memories of Filgaia. Explore dungeons to unlock secret pathways and find mythical treasures. Gun Blazing shoot-outs deliver intense cinematic battles. Wild Arms 3 embodies tried-and-true elements of a role-playing classic.
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It mostly suffers from trying to be a bit too big for its own framework. The attempt to be big scale, yet "episodic", is laudable, but there's just not enough... stuff... mechanics... bits... in the game to make a 40 hour runtime, with multiple interlocking plotlines, not drag on a mechanical level. Even though the dungeons provide some pretty fun small puzzles.
Like, honestly, if this was split into three separate games it would have felt a lot better to play through.
P.S: The search system in the overworld is awful. I hate it. It's a small bit of the game but also, like, why.
P.P.S: I wish these games went a bit harder with the Western theming writing-wise. Like, the aesthetics are there, but often the theming feels more like a gimmicky set-dressing over very rpg-y games and stories, rather than an earnest attempt at capturing the Western genre. Which is fine, I don't even care much about Western movies other than The Trilogia Del Dollaro. But i think this would have been a way funnier game if Virginia was a Clint Eastwood-like antihero.
P.P.P.S: I'm claiming Virginia on behalf of the trans community. She is trans now. No taksie backsies.
Cómo he comentado la trama me ha gustado, sigue la temática de la saga con algún cambio, pero me ha gustado lo que han cambiado.
El gameplay se me ha hecho bola por varios motivos que comentaré más adelante, pero aún así es un gran juego.
La trama del juego sigue conservando las características icónicas de la saga, pero innovando la manera de llevarlo.
Lo cual me ha gustado porque hace que cada juego sea distinto, pero conservando una idea original que te hace sentir un vínculo a la saga.
En Wild Arms 3 tenemos 4 protagonistas, me ha gustado para cambiar la estructura de los anteriores.
Pero no han sabido llevar el balance de WA1 y WA2, en los anteriores los 3 protagonistas eran igual de importantes, creo que aquí le han dado más importancia a Jet y Virginia...
No me han gustado del todo los antagonistas, ya que me han resultado un poco pesados y muy planos, aunque tienen algunas conversaciones bastante top.
Eso sí, ha habido un personaje secundario, que me ha encantado, Maya, ha tenido más desarrollo que alguno principal y todo.
Lo que no me ha gustado del juego principalmente es el gameplay, un juego de PS2 pero exploración y gameplay de PSX, y que se me ha hecho bola e imposible de jugar sin guía.
En las conversaciones indican el siguiente punto, pero son indicaciones muy vagas para un mapa enorme...
El combate ha cambiado y hay variedad, pero los combates son un tanto largos y al final se resume en hacer ataques base, porque muchas veces la magia no sirve de mucho o no se puede hacer en area y demás.
Muchos bosses se repiten, muchos RE, no puedes huir sin magia, etc.
Cuando digo muchos bosses se repiten, es que a lo mejor haces el mismo combate durante la trama 6 veces sin cambio de mecánicas, ni ataques, ni nada, eso me ha aburrido un poco.
En la misma mazmorra final, está el mismo combate 8 veces xD,
Eso sí el boss final obra maestra.
La música si que no tengo ninguna queja, me parece muy buena la verdad, y el tema principal con Lyrics BOFFFFF
https://twitter.com/KuraudoStraifu/status/1746555583463915893
Algo que no he tocado mucho, pero sí me he estado viendo en guías, son las sidequests. Están bastante guays y ojalá fueran un poco más fáciles de poder hacer sin guía, las pocas que he hecho me han gustado.
Ojalá el gameplay hubiera sido más de PS2 porque con lo que me mola la trama y los personajes podría haber superado a Wild Arms 2 en mi top, pero es que ha habido momentos que me he planteado dejar de jugar un tiempo solo por lo que me cansaba el gameplay...
(8/10)
Este año cae el 4 y 5.
Wild Arms 3 is a game that doesn't do anything even remotely in a mediocre manner, everything in here is done in a superlative way. From its opening (which is as good as those of the previous games), its protagonist who defies some unpleasant genre tropes, its unique and solid party, to its setting... And of course, the level design of its dungeons, its puzzles, and its incredibly rich, vast, and dense world map. Few times in my life have I had the pleasure of solving puzzles in a game or exploring its world map as in Wild Arms 3. Its gameplay system is also absurdly well-crafted, a game where you just don't buy healing items, that are fruits because the world is in decay and nothing else grows in this desert (except in one place), perfectly aligning with the setting of the game (a thematic consistency that I always admire, and of course, adding a survivalist aspect to the game that I also love).
And of course, the way the game itself is structured. Its plot twist in the final arc, when a game is so full of content that it has another entire arc ahead when you least expect it. And it's even better because it doesn't give any sense that it shouldn't be there. On the contrary, it's more of the excellence that the game has been providing for the last 50 hours. And in those moments, I almost forget to mention the soundtrack, which, as usual for the series, is of the highest possible level. "Fate Breaker" would be the highlight of any soundtrack in another game; in Wild Arms, it's just another excellent track for a dungeon, among many. Wild Arms 3 is such a high point that after it, the series changed completely, never reaching the same level as the initial trilogy.
And despite all this, it has never been a series widely discussed, never appears in rankings of the best games in the JRPG genre or never had good performances, sometimes not even remembered as a hidden gem or something like that, fated to limbo with inferior series even though it excels in many aspects compared to the greats of the JRPG genre. Wild Arms: the pride and sorrow of JRPGs, never receiving its due recognition. But it will always be my favorite series.