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- Wild Arms 5
Wild ARMs 5
- August 28, 2007 16:54 PM PST
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As my car pulled out of Reno, NV last summer I questioned whether or not my decision to buy a cowboy hat in the parking lot of a truck stop from a guy named Leslie was a good idea.
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As soon as I started playing Wild ARMs 5 I donned my dusty hat and felt justified with the decision I made a year ago; after all how can you play as a cowboy if you don't at least look the part?
Hex-us For the Rest of Us
The Hex-based battle system returns from Wild ARMs 4, and can be frustrating at times, but ultimately it provides a deep and complex battle experience. Battles happen randomly, and when they begin, party members are placed randomly on one of seven hexagonal spots on the field. The catch is that some of the spaces have elemental attributes. When attacking from these spaces they affect your fighter's attributes. Initially, it seemed unimportant, but in no time flat, the most trivial battle could wipe my party out. This could have been irritating, but after dying the game offers the choice to retry the battle. To help balance out the steep curve on the battle mechanics, the party's HP is replenished after a fight is won.
Following the Wild ARMs tradition, dungeons in the game are varied and complex, but the map is vague, making crawling through dungeons aggravating at times. Getting through the elaborate mazes requires solving puzzles, most of which are easily overcome though using the ARMs to shoot orbs, or using brute force to move blocks or turn cranks. Grinding through the dungeons quickly becomes tedious, however, because of the muddy map that does not clearly mark the party's location. There's nothing more irritating than getting spun around and lost in a maze, especially when random battles happen at an overwhelming rate.
A Painted Desert is Worth A Thousand Words
In a departure from the ARMs formula, there is no over-world map instead, there is an open environment much in the style of FFXII. Unfortunately there is little to be found when exploring the far reaches of the continent. There are nice details across the desert landscape, but without a reason to go see them, they quickly become useless background. I found myself wanting to take the train, leaving wandering the country side for level-grinding.
The look and feel of the game is spot on, simultaneously evoking western and sci-fi imagery. Unfortunately as the story unfolds, things start to feel a bit complex, and I found myself loosing track of what was going on. The story revolves around the search for someone--or something--called Johnny Appleseed, which is linked to the lost memory of a young girl. Especially towards the beginning of the game this feels a bit silly, but the themes quickly turn mature.
Wild ARMs 5 is a solid RPG experience. The story is convoluted at times, especially towards the beginning of the game, and the random battles feel tedious, but the inventive combat mechanics and addictive strategy elements kept me locked in this futuristic Wild West.
The sometimes ridiculous characters, anime presence, and engaging story line work together with intensely fun and strategic play mechanics to make this installment of the ARMs series the best yet. For the $40 price tag that includes an eighty page artbook, it's more than worth it for any RPG fan to pick up.
PROS: Western inspired soundtrack, inventive combat mechanics.
CONS: Tedious random battles, lack of a solid map.
