Wild Arms
Seeing how I'm having a trip down memory lane (or however you say that) due to skimming through my MP3s to use the new Dolby Surround speakers Hanneke got me (<3), I figured I'd drag you guys along. Not sure if it'll stick to this or if I'll make more posts like this, but let's hit things off with Wild Arms.
I'll be frank, I was an avid Nintendo/Sega fanboy around the time this game came out for the PSX. I owned a Sega Mega Drive, my parents sold my NES to my dad's boss' son and I frequented some guy's place to play on his N64. The only PSX games I played back then were at ny best friend Alex's place, but only one really caught my attention - Wild Arms. There's a good chance I'm remembering this game to be a lot better than it actually was, it being my first JRPG and all (I played stuff like FF3 and Chrono Trigger a lot later, through an emulator), but I don't believe there's been a game that's been able to pull off the classic JRPG formula better than Wild Arms. You heard me, I said Wild Arms was better than FF7. Hur.
Anyway, Wild Arms is set in an unique fantasy-western setting, following the separate stories of gunslinger Rudy, swordsman Jack and spell-casting princess Cecilia. This means you'll basically be switching characters after playing with one of them for a while, until the three finally meet each-other in Adlehyde. There they run into your typical "oh my god, demons are invading town!" situation and run into some plot-devices that cause them to travel together. If you want to find out the rest of the story, just get a hold of the game somehow. And try and take my summary with a grain of salt, it's a lot more intricate than I make it sound.
Anyway, there's three things that make Wild Arms work: The setting, the music and the characters. The setting being the aforementioned fantasy-western, which is probably the most unique yet believable world I've run into in a game yet. At least, it was for back then. The second thing I mentioned, the music, really blends in well to make it happen. It's really something you'll have to hear in order to get it, though just grabbing the OST without playing the game might do great injustice to the entire atmosphere. That doesn't stop me from trying, though.
Next, there's the characters. Once again it's something you'd have to see for yourself, but I don't think I've ever been able empathize with videogame characters more than I was able to in Wild Arms.
Anyway, this game's both available on the PSX and on the PS2 as a remake. If you're in for something fun, go and snatch the ISO from your local torrent site or get the remake for your PS2.
I'll be frank, I was an avid Nintendo/Sega fanboy around the time this game came out for the PSX. I owned a Sega Mega Drive, my parents sold my NES to my dad's boss' son and I frequented some guy's place to play on his N64. The only PSX games I played back then were at ny best friend Alex's place, but only one really caught my attention - Wild Arms. There's a good chance I'm remembering this game to be a lot better than it actually was, it being my first JRPG and all (I played stuff like FF3 and Chrono Trigger a lot later, through an emulator), but I don't believe there's been a game that's been able to pull off the classic JRPG formula better than Wild Arms. You heard me, I said Wild Arms was better than FF7. Hur.
Anyway, Wild Arms is set in an unique fantasy-western setting, following the separate stories of gunslinger Rudy, swordsman Jack and spell-casting princess Cecilia. This means you'll basically be switching characters after playing with one of them for a while, until the three finally meet each-other in Adlehyde. There they run into your typical "oh my god, demons are invading town!" situation and run into some plot-devices that cause them to travel together. If you want to find out the rest of the story, just get a hold of the game somehow. And try and take my summary with a grain of salt, it's a lot more intricate than I make it sound.
Anyway, there's three things that make Wild Arms work: The setting, the music and the characters. The setting being the aforementioned fantasy-western, which is probably the most unique yet believable world I've run into in a game yet. At least, it was for back then. The second thing I mentioned, the music, really blends in well to make it happen. It's really something you'll have to hear in order to get it, though just grabbing the OST without playing the game might do great injustice to the entire atmosphere. That doesn't stop me from trying, though.
Click to viewNext, there's the characters. Once again it's something you'd have to see for yourself, but I don't think I've ever been able empathize with videogame characters more than I was able to in Wild Arms.
Anyway, this game's both available on the PSX and on the PS2 as a remake. If you're in for something fun, go and snatch the ISO from your local torrent site or get the remake for your PS2.