I know I just sold a ton of Wild Arms stuff off but is anyone else tempted to buy this right off the bat now due to the additional goodies added to the inital launch units?

http://www.xseedgames.com/news.php?id=25

I want that 80-page color booklet full of WA art <drool>

I preordered it this week.
Apparently in LameSlop's computers, they didn't have a specific listing for the LE box... but I'm assuming it's just a "first print" thing, and there's only going to be one release, with a different second printing, or something.

I guess we'll see pretty soon.

I'm hardly interested in the game (though I hear it's much-improved over WA4's system, which wasn't too bad to begin with), but I might have to look into snagging the artbook second-hand or something. I've always liked the character designs from the series.

I just wanted to post something about this.  I hated, hated WA 4!  I liked the battle system but within three hours of the game I no longer wanted to play the game.  However, WA 3, along with Valkyrie Profile and Xenogears, are the only three RPG styled games that I had really enjoyed in the last four or so years.  I absolutly am a sucker for Westerns and I just really liked the game overall.  So... despite WA 4's bothering me, I'm really keen on picking up WA 5 - and this art book may be the added motivation.  If only they could package in a best of soundtrack CD or something and I'd definetly decide on it!

But will it be closer to WA 3 or 4, I wonder?

PS  I love the Japanese subtitles for the game, this one especially - "The Vth Vanguard"!  I wish they would keep one of these for a local release.

I think WA4's battle system was a step in the right direction...I like strategy elements like they were trying to add, even if they were far from perfect. My problem was I kept nodding out during the town/conversation sections, which were so predictable they hurt. I barely made it through the first part of the game. I don't think I'm going past 5 hours on that game. I've heard 5 is similar to this one.

I loved WA3 until about 20 hours in, then the next 30 were a grind, as the battles got repetitive and character development all but stopped...I stopped playing somewhere in the 4th Chapter (I just remember the campfire scene being my last real event). Just WAY too long.

WA2 is still my favorite in the series. Even replaying the early sections, I see a lot of care was taken in the early sections of the game that doesn't seem to apply to a lot of recent RPG's. I'll be first in line to buy a remake of this one.

WA4 didn't bowl me over either, it wasn't the gameplay as much as it was Jude's overall character... too juvenile to be interesting. Arnaud and Racquel seemed a lot more interesting in comparasion.

Wild Arms 3 was the first PSX2 RPG I played; I was bored to tears for the duration. I will admit I think it does have the strongest western feel of all the games.

If it wasn't for the art book I'd be waiting for it to drop to $20. I love the artwork for the first two games - they really knew how to suck me back in - but ACF's art direction was a slap in the face conpared to the original's art work.

4

Yeah, I wish they kept those as well...

I agree, I hope WA5 brings the ideas founded in 4 to full fruition. WA3's combat system was as basic as it got in 2002 and it was dead as a doornail at that point.

I feel you pain... I especially like when they start talking about who the 11th member of Brionac was. Hmmm, gee, could they have made that ANY MORE FREAKIN OBVIOUS!?

Felt the same way. Whole game felt like rinse, lather repeat. Granted, you could even say that about the first two but at the time such gameplay was more acceptable. The bar for gameplay was higher by the time WA3 came out but the game refused to evolve.

It's tough for me to say if I like WA1 or 2 more... I think two edges out the original by a little bit in my book (uh, I think the fact my username and avatar are from said game is proof of that, lol) Still, I'd buy a WA2 remake if it stuck closer to the source material than ACF did - I want my armor, weapons and certain dungeons (Tripillar and Maze of Death where art thou?) not to be nuked out of exsistence in an effort to water down the gameplay even futher beyond the original.

Sry for all the quotes, and all the above is IMHO.

Yeah, the main character of WA4 was definitely irritating. Disappointing, since I liked Ashley and Virginia as main characters (Rudy was a silent protagonist), then they went with an annoying brat I'm hard-pressed to care about. Still, I liked 2 for the strong side characters as well...Brad, Lilka and Kanon (Tim was annoying...I avoided using him until I was forced to level him up for the final battle) were a lot better than the WA4 cast. Some stereotypical elements about them, but they were written in really well.

I remember seeing the cover artwork for WA1 (back before I knew what 'anime' was) and it's still some of my favorite game art. I agree on Code F...They made everyone look too...artsy and dramatic...or something. It's like looking at FF6 Setzer, then *shudder* Kingdom Hearts Setzer.

Actually thats one of the really bad things I do remember from WA 4 - the main protagnist.  Granted, he is a 11 year old kid (or something), so maybe its authentic, but I didn't like it regardless.

I don't remember Alter Code F's art, and looking online I don't see whats wrong with it, but the OTHER thing I really disliked about 4 is the artwork.  Not only were we forced to watch the non-skippable and overall awkward manga-styled screens (really, I don't get what they were going for here...), but the characters looked terrible!  I mean, I'm not great at drawing, but it looks like something I could've drawn... lets hope the artbook doesn't keep much from WA 4 (though the print materials for WA 4 are MUCH better looking then the in game stuff.)

"then *shudder* Kingdom Hearts Setzer"

Theres such a thing?

On WA 3, I do realise the game got drawn out near the end (I remember it feeling like 'it should've finished here,' etc., but then again it has been years since my only play.)  However maybe the reason it didn't affect me is because I really went out of my way to make full use of that awesome skip battle mechanism (what was the name of it?)  See, what happened was I would pretty much skip everything I came across, until I came to an unskippable battle (usually a boss) and because I'm so weak, the battles would be INCREDIBLY tough!  I remember a few of them (near the beginning/middle of the game, before I picked up some stupid charm that I didn't realise boosted my least favourite character's experience) lasting like forty minutes and winning by a hair!  They really felt epic

Seriously, its enough to make me low level run every RPG I play from now on (incidentially I ended up playing VP and Xenogears similarily)

I know others that share the same opinion with Rudy being the main character in WA1 - the "silent protagonist" argument does hold water - but I myself refuse to label any of the three characters in the game as the main character considering how well fleshed out their stories are. It's somewhat like FFVI when you try and say Terra is the main character but then others swear up and down she's not and there is no main character.

I like to think the same about WA2 since all three characters share an equal spotlight on the cover (unlike WA3 where Virginia is the main focus with the others three characters in the background in low opacity.) The press releases for WA4 & 5 pretty much tell you who the main draw is suppost to be.

I'll be honest about the manga-styled screens, I think they were a cost cutting measure and nothing else. I don't think it was an artistic decision. Less live action = less animation = less cost.

Just put in my preorder even though I was trying to pry myself away from buying it.

I'm going to pass; those tiny artbooks are really hard to scan; that is, if they're the same tiny size as NISA's/Atlus's artbooks. How often do they I'm actually going to want to sit down with one of those things, and flip through the pages? I want to be able to scan that into my computer, and use them as desktop images, or otherwise print them out and make f---ing posters out of them.

Anyone pick this up? I picked mine up earlier today, what are some of your impressions?

The VA isn't bad but I really think it's going to get on my nerves by the end of the game, especially some of those battle quotes.

After hearing so much about the opening theme "Justice to Believe" - which suprisingly contains it's original lyrics - I have to say I'm not really feeling it.

Anyone get a kick out of the second boss? That was a great cameo

Edit: The art book is pretty nice as well, good luck trying to scan it though.

And Goldfish, I guess I was wrong, the artbook indicates that Rudy and Ashley ARE undenably the main characters of their respective games. Still, I really hate to label them as that as the other characters (at least those who share the space those game's cover) recieve a good amount of attention and development.

"The VA isn't bad but I really think it's going to get on my nerves by the end of the game, especially some of those battle quotes."

They haven't learned yet to keep the original VA, at least as an option?  Bah.

I'm still thinking about the game, but I really feel I might instead direct my money towards Odin Sphere...

Please keep us informed as you play more of the game, though!  I'm really interested in reading about it.

I'd pick up Odin Sphere first, it strikes me as the kind of game that will be hard to come buy in the future as time passes. Additionally, I may end up selling WA5 after playing through it (depending on what my final thoughts are); I'm not promising anything but if so I plan on posting it up for grabs here first.

I'll write something a little bigger up when I get a little further, I will say I am pleased with most of the small improvements/tweaks in the battle system compared to WA4.

Damn. I think I might have missed out on this game altogether. I hear it only ran a limited press, 1) probably on account of the artbook, 2) because WA4 didn't do so well. I mean, c'mon, it went down to $20 without becoming a GH.

Uh... it just came out last week.

It looked like the Gamestop where I got my copy of the game had several that were just in normal cases without the art book.  Finding one shouldn't be that bad yet.

If you can't find one with the artbook I'm probaby going to be putting mine up for sale on the boards here - hopefully sometime soon (a week maybe?) considering I'm around 30 hours into the game. I'm enjoying it much more than WA4 but it's still not a keeper in my opinion; it's not the kind of game I'd play through again and keeping it just for the artbook seems like such a waste.

I almost have a write up on the game done for you all to check out, hopefully I can get it done and post it soon.

I currently around 25~30 hours into my play through of Wild Arms 5 so I thought I'd write up a little bit about the game and what my thoughts are on it.

Graphics:
As would be expected WA5 is the best looking entry in the series thus far; it doesn't push the PS2 to it's limits - there are a few jaggies here and there on some characters but it isn't a slouch either. The use of color is pretty wide as well, some of the colors used on the characters is pretty bright and loud compared to those used throughout the environments and world map (which usually stick to duller colors unless your in an area with more vegetation) doesn't clash. Gone are the manga style scenes from 4 (which I thought were just a cost cutting measure if anything) and conversations between characters take place in the field; characters move their lips (no lip syncing) and make gestures. The gestures are an interesting part of the characters, as each has one they make use of and it really becomes a part of their personality. However, in a certain sense I do kind of tire of seeing the same pose time after time.

Music:
OK, I'm not going to go into that whole "Naruke didn't do the music thing" because that card is well played out by now and she's not coming back so why the hell dwell on it? (I'm personally fonder of her PS1 WA entries than the PS2 ones anyways.) Some of the tracks are really nice: the battle theme sounds like it takes a page out of Sakuraba's work with it’s strong organ-like sound. Some of the dungeon and town pieces also caught my ear as well and the use of more than one overworld theme (a series first?) was a nice change as they usually reflected the surrounding area pretty well though I still don't think I'd buy that huge six disc soundtrack. A step up from WA4 in the sense it seems a little more refined.

Voice Acting:
Err... well it's not 10 out of 10 that much I can tell you. I personally thought this was a step down from WA4 which wasn't excellent but was respectable enough. WA5 falls into the same category but some of the voices are stretched thin in their effort - especially when it comes to battle quotes. The voices are appropriate to a point (some come off as dead-on in a good, stereotypical way) but you've certainly heard better.

Battle System: Hex mkII
Think WA4 with some small - yet important - changes. Characters can now MOVE and ATTACK in the same round (only one character, Raquel, was capable of this in WA4) so battles move at a brisk pace unless your fighting an enemy with a slow moving animation (you can press start to skip over most spell animations.) WA4's system of awarding bonuses based on a character’s actions in battle is gone, preventing uneven character leveling; inactive characters (when you have more than three characters) receive full EXP. You can switch characters in and out after you have three as long as you’re in one of the outer hexes (switching takes up the turn however.) Battlegrounds in normal battles are always on your standard set of hexes but boss battles usually take place on more abstract formations.

Team attacks return and have come into play more than they did in WA4 as I found myself using them a lot more; they also seem to be easier to trigger for the first time. A characters skills (originals) and force abilities (other than team attacks) are governed by what medium they have equipped and basically act like classes (you have an attacker, healer, attack magic user) and it’s pretty easy to tell what each character will be good at. As in WA4 big chunks of damage get thrown around in battle so you'll make much use of the Heal Spells as berries seem really hard to come by. Actually, gaining an item(s) after a battle isn't very common at all.

Still, WA5 is prone to the problems seen in WA4. Due to the random placement of characters and enemies sometimes your characters can get there ass handed to them before they can act - especially if your surprised or a few of you characters end up on a elemental Hex and the enemy ends up on the one that is the opposite element and nails you with a spell like blast. Ouch! I also ran into some over world enemies that I thought where a little overpowered as well but found easier enemies beyond that point. Some of the spells power ratings and MP requirements seem somewhat loopy, the best example being Blast. Blast costs 26 MP and has a power of 175 while Hi-Blast has a cost of 96 MP and has a power of 215. The difference in power and damage is negligible when factoring in the MP cost. Thankfully, the heal spells are much more economical.

The only other thing I can really gripe on is the fact you need a high lvl to even summon guardians, who’s importance in the story/game/battle system seems to be on the backburner outside what skills are at you disposal. The CG system (a system that allows you to access future abilities by lowering your HP) returns but I don’t use it because I don’t like it – you can always manage with the skills your current level allows regardless.

Weapons:
Well, they FINALLY got this right! Each characters arm (characters keep the same weapons throughout the game but equip different ammo as they would a weapon) has three parameters: ATT, MAG, and FORCE. Dragon Fossils return as the upgrade/tune up item but what is great is that you can readjust these parameters at will at any save point. So you can tune your arms based on the situation - if you need MAG take some points out of ATT and place them in MAG. Later, if you don't need your magic as much bone up on attack (there is always a save point before bosses.) Still, you'll probably set up your characters to take advantage of what strengths there mediums and natural stats give them to begin with.

World Map:
The static map from WA4 is gone and while the world map is somewhat like those in the older games it really feels quite different. The search system returns (which never really bothered me) and is now only used to find treasure (towns are somewhat to scale in comparison to your character and are visible from the start.) However, using the search system drives me insane in this game as there is A LOT of ground to cover between locations (thus you'll be fighting a TON as you look) and some of the items lying around in the chests are worth obtaining as soon as you can (for the sheer fun of it they throw Dragon Fossils, Armor and Weapons into some of these chests) so if you want to be as strong as you can at any given point you're gonna have to look for them. Actually, I’m lamenting my treck to the next location I have to go to (even thought the encounter rate is not too high or low) because it’s a long haul and I have to search, search, search - bang - BATTLE! Repeat, repeat, repeat.

One thing annoying about the world map screen is there are a few places where it looks like you can walk but you can’t due to invisible walls. A good example would be a narrow passage between two structures that looks wide enough to go through but you can’t. Not a big deal but it does make it seem a little unpolished. Another annoyance is the fact the X and Y coordinates are not on the field screen but on the map screen, meaning if you have coordinates for say an item have fun constantly pausing the to see where you are – why aren’t these visible in the field like WA3?

The map screen for the world map also has its problems. Some of the pathways are so narrow and there are so many shades of brown it can hard to tell how to get to where you’re going – knowing where to go isn’t the problem as the game circles the area you should go next after you’ve talked or received the right clue – but it’s a little to easy to end up going where you don’t need to go in your search. Still, the world map really drives home the kind of world Filgaia has become in terms of colors used.

Dungeons/Field:
This is one aspect of the series I really feel has fallen by the wayside since WA2. The dungeons in WA5 are a small step up from WA4 in my opinion but their layouts still make them seem like a walk in the park… you really don’t need to search for anything and everything seems somewhat handed to you as far as treasure goes. The puzzles seem a little more old school as well and a small step up from previous entries (I got stumped on one or two.) Tools return to the old standard of being able to take them in and out of dungeons and using them elsewhere but are limited to the main character and while they all work the same way they are basically incarnations of those tools fans have grown to love.

Dungeons also have a mapping system as well and while easier to comprehend than the overworld map the fact the symbol indicating you characters location only tells you what room your in as apposed to where you are in that room. While the exit and enter icons at doorways let you know where you’ve been a little more fine tuning would have been great.

As I said above there is always a save point before a boss so you know what’s coming up even before you see it and there is usually more than one boss per dungeon. The only real problem is the bosses don’t move the story forward as they have little story relevance at all (I’m sure the ones at the end will) and are more like minor roadblocks if anything. Break points return from WA4 but are dubbed as “Sol Nigers” now (thankfully they didn’t put an extra “g” in there during translation) and are usually found at the end of a dungeon. Defeat the spirit in the Sol Niger and you can shut off encounters with the L2 button.

Characters:
To be truthful, but to avoid any spoilers at the same time, all I’ll say is every playable character in WA5 fits into some preconceived RPG stereotype. This really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone yet it hardly seems to matter as they transcend beyond there labels in one way or another - whether it's the writing, character’s actions or the overall presentation I can’t say for certain.

As for the villains and other parties I can't say much - outside one certain character most of them and what they're planning to do is still shrouded in mystery even this late in the game.

Story:
It's starts out simple enough, but I got to be honest, the fact the bad guys are more content to hide in the shadows and watch in wait somewhat displeases me. Still, the game makes it apparent – and quite well I might add - that fighting the bad guys is not the conflict it wants you to focus on. The overall conflict between world’s two races and that between some of the playable characters seems to come before anything else. It works on a weird, almost abstract level but those who prefer more meat to chew on throughout an RPG may find themselves grinding there teeth as they wait for some of the more interesting and revealing scenes.

Anyway, sorry for writing a book, hopefully that will give some of you an idea of what Wild Arms 5 brings to the table.

I think I know what overworld theme you're talking about...There's, like, 3 different ones on the OST with extremely minor variations. Great tune. Battle theme's pretty solid too (it also has a variation or two), but I don't know if I'd get excited about hearing it throughout the game...It tends to drag.

I personally wouldn't recommend buying the soundtrack. I found a handful of tracks that were really superb, but so many just haven't grown on me at all over the past 7 months or so. There's no reason for it to be six discs and even (severely) trimmed (like, I'm talking a disc and a half here with all my favorites and excluding variations), I find myself totally indifferent to it. Musically, it's probably more mature than Naruke's old work, but that really doesn't mean too much in reality.

It's a shame...The series finally seems to take off (or begins to get milked more excessively) and the main series composer either leaves or can't perform on it. Just makes me appreciate the earlier entries all the more (Code F definitely deserved closer listening than what I gave it initially).

Thanks for the write-up. As I expected, I'm not missing much by sitting this one out. WA2 remake, please.

My friend who is away on his mission is the biggest WA fan I know of.  If you're selling, you've already got a buyer.  (In other words, DIBS!)

Thanks for that info, I thought I was going crazy as the battle theme sounds a little different now than when I started playing and I wasn't sure if that was the case or I heard it so much my ears were spacing out.

I sold my WA3 soundtrack a little while back but opted to keep ACF, it somehwat gets a free pass in a certain sense as good chunk of the tunes are remixed from the original. It's a lot like the Star Wars special edition were the upgrade is both good and bad: I love "The Power the Supports the World" but the remixed version of "Power Fighter" in "Ka Dingel" was complete let down.

Definately for this *IF* they stick closer to the source material unlike ACF.

.

I never did finish this game... I got near the end and ended up getting really annoyed because of some balance issues and sold it. The game pretty much proved to me I'm sick of J-RPGs and I've been staying away from them.

I also hated the one character (the last character you get) so bad, that shit eating grin of his just bothered the hell out of me... ugh, what a TERRIBLE character.

As for WA4, one word: Raquel. If it wasn't for her the game would have been a complete waste.

Hmmm, maybe you should try a good ol' US RPG
Depends what you're in the mood for though. If you love collecting stuff, Diablo II is great, and it's super fun to play, has a great soundtrack, cool story... just another winner from Blizzard! Of course, if you love exploring and the open environment, go with Morrowind or Oblivion. Now, if you want a JRPG in the style of US/Western classic RPGs, there's Etrian Odyssey, which frankly is great!

cheers,

-avatar!

Reminds me of how I felt of Jet in WA3.  Well, except he never smiled, but still...

I, myself, have been hammering through practically every JRPG franchise the PS2 has had to offer, which, in relation to this topic, would be Wild Arms.

Wild Arms 3:

Released in the U.S. in 2002, I never thought it was worth $40 after it came out, especially after having been exposed to the juggernaut that was Final Fantasy X; I didn't pick it up until it was $20 in 2004.

As a more traditional-styled RPG, it frustrated the hell out of me with its rigid, strategy-obsessed turn-based system; each boss had a certain strategy to defeat it; I think that's cool now, but back then, I didn't feel like playing chess. Also, level-building was NOT EASY; battles didn't supply enough EXP for the trouble; level-building became easier when I learned how to spam Lucky Card in conjunction with Mystic during boss fights.

No voice-overs? Scrolling text? Psh, c'mon...

The search system was bogus; after about 8 hours spent into the game, and I couldn't find Nidhogg pass for the life of me, I promptly sold the game. But that was before I found out about Game FAQs or Walkthroughs.

And now it's 2008. I bought the game back for $5 used at a Gamestop, and I've finally picked up from where I left off, and managed to find Nidhogg Pass. I'm actually looking forward to finishing what I started 4 years ago.

I dig the Wild-West theme of WA3 first and foremost, and I love the soundtrack.

Fighting the same damn bosses (Janus, the Schroedinger Family, the Prophets, and Asgard) are REALLY wearing me thin, though. I dig all of the sort-of generic monster bosses, though; they actually have some cool designs!

I'm not really motivated by the plot, either; mostly by the setting and music.

WA3 REALLY reminds me of Trigun, and almost sort of a rip-off too, considering that the Guardian shrines are supposed to be living bio-plants, and humanity came to Filgaia on a spaceship from another planet.

Wild Arms 4:

Not as Western as WA3, it's more of a military story, and even strictly sci-fi in some aspects, just not a space sci-fi story.

I'm actually enjoying it more than WA3, and I like the soundtrack, too.

I actually liked the manga close-ups of the characters while they're talking, but sometimes, they seem disproportionate to the other characters, namely Arnaud to everyone else.

No world map = linear terrain-based dungeons = bad decision.

Definitely digging the new battle system, and I like the platforming elements they through in there, but they mostly neglect the Tool system used in WA3, though it hardly plays as prevalent a role, it seems more so like they throw it in there as an afterthought.

Arnaud, Raquel, Kresnik, and Lambda are all interesting characters to try and figure out; now, I just wish I knew why everyone thinks Arnuad's still just a kid; something lost in translation, there...I'm honestly interested to see where this plot turns out, though I already have my share of predictions.

I remember skipping the battles all the time, so I never level built   Boss fights ended up being insane as a result... a few were really thrilling life and death ones that lasted a few hours.  But then unwittingly (and unfortunetly) I equipped an Item on Jet that multiplied his experience... and also I learned about the being able to change material (?  The stones used for the summons) during a fight feature... and the difficulty became signifigantly easier. 

I really disliked the story/plot of WA4, though the settings were cool (the sky breaks )

I played the hell out of Diablo II my last year of high school, and even with news of Diablo III I don't plan on touching it when it's out.