Wild ARMs: Advanced 3rd

Sure, Wild Arms 4 and 5 had some western themes in them as well, but of the three I have played, this one is the most like a western. Never played the first two games, so for all I know they are equal to this one or even more so, but I highly doubt more. The towns look like something out of a western, you ride on horseback and use western style guns. You even fly on a dragon that transforms into a jet and fires missile. Okay, so not every part of this game is a classic western, but for the most part it is. The story is really good and it has great characters as there are some memorable villains and heroes on display. The game would be even better if not for a few annoyances in the form of searching and some of the dungeon puzzles can tend to get on one's nerves as well. The final fight is also a bit stressful as it is a nine stage fight and there is a trick to nearly every stage! Took me nearly three hours to finally defeat the last few bosses and the final one. I have played this one a couple of times and have won it twice now, and have to say it was a lot more fun than I remember. Perhaps this is due to the influx of bland RPG games made for people who did not even like this type of game in the past where the battles are mainly push buttons, heal and do super moves and watch a boss fall in a matter of minutes rather than the strategy that goes into the old school ones where a boss battle can linger for hours!

The story has four drifters having a chance meeting on a train where they soon join forces. They find out they can get the powers of the guardian and it is not too long before their temporary meeting becomes sort of a partnership. There is Virginia who uses her six shooters to dispense justice in the wastelands. Gallows, who uses a double barreled shotgun and is learned in the ways of a group of holy people. Clive uses his rifle to fight his enemies and searches for a reason behind the world's decay and there is Jet who has no memories and only wishes to make money. They will come face to face with many villains on their quest and rival drifters all of which are great characters. Strange people calling themselves prophets seem to have a strange purpose and use a drifter named Janus in their schemes and while Virginia is still new to drifting, a young lady named Maya and her crew will show Virgina the ropes and occasionally do battle with her as well! All this leads to strange threats as just as you think things are wrapped up, you will learn why the planet is in decay as a creepy laughter from an unseen foe will be heard signifying something sinister watching from the shadows.

The game play is good for the most part as it is fun going into towns and certainly fun finding out what exactly is the prophets plans and such. The fighting is fun too, just wish they did not limit how much you could upgrade your weapons as I hit the cap fairly quickly and money became almost pointless. The leveling is fun as you get points that you can in turn use to make your characters impervious to elements or perform certain actions. It is a nice bonus in that they let you change up your stuff during each turn in battle; however, I only used that feature minimally and mostly for the final battle as the conditions for victory were constantly changing during that epic battle. Like I said, the searching was the most annoying thing. I could see searching for dungeons, but they had you search for even towns. Trust me, it is annoying trying to search while being constantly attacked!

So, this one was very fun overall and better than most of the RPG games released now. The story for instance is a lot easier to follow than another game I am currently playing, Final Fantasy: Class Zero. I remember enjoying 4 and 5 more, and since I am going to play both of those soon too, I shall be able to state whether they are still better than this one, or if this one has perhaps risen in the ranks. Happened with Grandia II, used to think it was not as good as the first, now they are nearly neck and neck. So for a fun, western themed RPG if you can track it down or download it, give Wild Arms 3 a shot. Just be prepared to use some sort of guide, because I truly don't see winning this one without it.