Celebrating the series 10th anniversary since its U.S. release in 1997, Wild Arms 5 is now available in stores nationwide. The series has had an errant run with ups and downs that were unpredictable. The first Wild Arms I enjoyed full-heartedly while the second let me down in terms of delivering what was promised. Wild Arms 3 changed up the gameplay mechanics, but outside of that, it didn’t give me chills like the original did. The remake of the original, Wild Arms Alter Code: F, was a decent attempt of rerouting the series to put it back on the right track. Lastly, with Wild Arms 4, it was a mixed bag but overall it delivered a quality experience. So, as you can see, the timeline and history of the Wild Arms series is rich. Could Wild Arms 5 return the series to its roots and find where the heart lies?
The story begins in the world called Filgaia - a world that has floundered due to the use of technology. It all began 12,000 years ago; the people of the planet started to flourish through the use of technology, though, all too soon, it began to decay parts of the planet causing the people to desert the technology. With this abandonment of technology, the people of the planet became more archaic than they originally were and finally had to succumb to the power of an alien group called the Veruni when they arrived at Filgaia with advanced technology of their own.
With that back-story put aside, Wild Arms 5 revolves around a boy named Dean Stark. Living the simple life, the plot thickens when his call to adventure falls right before Dean’s eyes. From out of the sky, a girl named Avril falls before Dean and his friend Rebecca. Clichéd as it may be, Avril is an amnesiac with all of her memories lost besides who she is and the name Johnny Appleseed. In Avril’s clutches is an ARM (gun) and Dean immediately – like every RPG hero – vows to help Avril to find Johnny Appleseed and thus the adventure begins.
The storyline, albeit shallow in scope and short in depth, is effective and often caught my attention. While it’s full of clichés and twists that gamers have come to expect, it’s a fun adventure all the way till the very end. So, although it seemed as if a 10-year old penned the script, Wild Arms 5, at the very least, contains an enjoyable journey for gamers to experience from beginning to end. The last thing that needs mentioned about the storyline is that the ending isn’t that satisfying with too much unraveling happening at one time.
As for the graphics, they are delightful and satisfying. The art style is unique within the Wild Arms franchise. The characters are well designed and their animations throughout the entire game hold just. What even looks even better are the towns they happen to travel through – they are superb with detail. The same cannot be said for the dungeons; they are generic to the core. But in general, the presentation has hands down improved from previous iterations.
Wild Arms 5 contains a good amount of music that helps improve the entertainment. I often found myself enjoying the themes the composer placed for every individual town and dungeon. The diversity helped give each place a unique feeling – even the bosses have their own musical theme. Now for the voice acting, it’s on par with what players should have come to expect from RPGs – lackluster in every area.
Comparable to Wild Arms 4, the gameplay has retained many of the same elements. The HEX battle system returns with seven grids for players to move back and forth on. Each grid is able to hold more than one individual on it, but if attacked, everyone on the grid will receive damage. If two players do occupy a grid, they can combine their power to one attack and execute a combo. Often the grids will carry an elemental property to it to influence what attacks. Lastly, boss battles will have their own HEX fields to participate on.
Thankfully, the tediousness of the battles has lessened somewhat – partially because characters are able to attack all on the same turn. Players will be able to take three characters into battle and the player can switch out members on the fly. For players that look for difficulty in their games, Wild Arms 5 has a few challenging moments that will test the player’s real skill. Other gameplay tidbits include simple puzzles that are a cinch to solve and each dungeon having a handful of bosses, rather than one, to encounter.
Wild Arms 5 is the second best installment in the Wild Arms series and provides a fresh outlook on where the series may be heading in the future. The main story will take 30-40 hours to complete. For players that like more objectives, there are side quests a plenty – though they mainly consist of finding items or people.
Review Scoring Details for Wild Arms 5
Gameplay: 8.1
This is the best the Wild Arms series has seen since the first installment.
Graphics: 7.7
There are no anime cut scenes – whether that is good or bad, that’s up to the player. The cut scenes are from the in-game graphics engine.
Sound: 7.5
The sound effects are a mixed bag of loud clanks and bangs. On the other hand, the music and themes make up what the sound effects lack.
Difficulty: Easy / Medium
Depending on the experience of the gamer with RPGs, Wild Arms 5 will either be challenging or uncomplicated.
Concept: 7.0
While it isn’t the most original RPG on the PS2, it at least returns the Wild Arms series to its roots.
Overall: 7.9
The story is elementary with having to fight a great evil to save the world. But forget about the oversimplified storyline; the characters in the game are wild and crazy enough to keep players curious. Wild Arms 5 is an entertaining game that has enough value to devote 40+ hours of time to.
