Sony's wild wild west RPG series is back for another go, this time on the PS2, and this time with cell shaded graphics. An hour or two with the import of Wild Arms 3, now appearing in Japanese shops, has revealed a game not unlike the Wild Arms you may have seen spinning around in parts 1 and 2 on the PSX. Thankfully, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
If you've played the first two games, you'll be familiar with the opening moments of this new entry. Wild Arms 3 starts you off right in the thick of action as, following an incident aboard a train, you play a brief introductory gaming sequence for each of four main characters, in the order of your choosing. The sequences detail events from a few days before the train ride and allow you to fight a few battles as each character and make use of the characters` special exploration skill which ranges from shooting fire to planting bombs.
Once you're done with all four prologues, the game proper begins. We'll let you see for yourself how everything ties together, of course, but just know that all four characters meet one another pretty much right off the bat. The prologue alone took us about an hour, suggesting that the game itself may be a long ride indeed.
The initial premise isn't all that Wild Arms 3 shares with its predcessores. From the icons to the text boxes, right down to the western themed music (the whistling is back during the intro!), you`ll recognize your Wild Arms right off the bat. The series` trademark action-RPGish dungeon elements are back as well. You don`t just run through the dungeons fighting battle after battle. You have to solve puzzles along the way, often involving pushing blocks into place, planting bombs, lighting lanterns, extinguishing flames and navigating trick floors. The puzzles thus far haven`t been too complex, but the dungeons we`ve encountered have been enjoyable little affairs, and a ways more advanced than the dungeons of the Grandia series.
One interesting point concerns actual enemy encounters throughout the dungeons and in the overworld map. While roaming about, you're in many cases alerted to the presence of enemies in the area by a white exclamation point that pops up over your character's head. You can, if you wish, skip out on the upcoming battle by tapping the X button. You're limited in the number of times you can do this to ten by default, although each time you enter a battle the number of battles you can skip goes up by one. So far, this system seems to work well, although I'm still a fan of enemies being visible ahead of time.
Battles are of the same fare as the original two games, with character positioning now seeming to come into play more. Characters and enemies don`t just line up in a row in order to battle; they`re running around the battle field in pseudo Grandia fashion. Basic attacks, basic spells, summon spells -- we`ve seen it all before, and we of course don`t mind seeing it again. As with the previous entries, awkward camera movement throughout battles causes a few problems with determining which enemy you`re hitting at any given time. Strategy is a bit difficult unless you pay very careful attention.
Other than a few subtle gameplay changes, the main difference we've seen between this and the last entry in the game would have to be those cell shaded graphics. There's nothing really visually complex going on in the game as far as visuals are concerned, with basic animation and your stock PS2 battle effects, but the cell shading compliments the game well and seems to make things look prettier than they would have otherwise. It's worth noting that the cell shading is a bit different than what you'd find in Jet Set Radio; it looks more kiddy, and in fact the game seems to be targeted towards a younger audience, seeing as how the readings for all the Kanji characters in the dialogue are written out for you (this makes things easy for importers).
If this write-up makes it seem as though we're disappointed with the game so far, you're a ways off. The first two Wild Arms games added a few cool action-oriented and story twists to what were otherwise traditional console RPGs. So far, Wild Arms Advanced 3rd seems to follow in the tradition of its predecessors, with just a few more elements. The instruction manual reveals a mini gardening game in which you must grow your own healing herbs (they're not available in stores) and transportation tools that range from massive ships to horses; one screenshot on the box even shows a battle fought on horseback! We`re too early in the game to have played much with the Medium system, which allows you to equip powerful elemental forces to your character, or the Arms system, which has you use the `Arms` devices of the previous games to give your various Mediums new powers. And, of course, there`s the `ASK: Approach to Selected Key Words` system, which will apparently add interactive elements to the game`s dialogue.
As with the previous two entries, hardcore RPG fanatics will likely want to take a look at this game when it sees an inevitable stateside release.
-- Anoop Gantayat, Contributor