Wild Arms 3: Wild Arms 3
tigger77
90% score
Being a big fan of the Wild Arms series I had to pick up 3 after seing all the screenshots in multiple issues of Gamepro. I have always applauded the developer from tryin to add a few different things instead of just following in the tracks of other developers who pretty much ripoff Final Fantasy and change character names and small story line. A Wild West theme....brilliant. An RPG series that finally breaks away from the mold of swords and sorcery. The character specific tools also add a unique touch to the dungeon crawling. The option to use cell shading and the cross-hatching color technique gave the game a story book look that really appealed to me. The sotryline itself, while not as epic as a Final Fantasy game, (let's face it what RPG can match an FF story) does its job of moving the game along. My only true gripes about this game would be the repetitive nature of town- dungeon-town-dungeon. Also wandering around aimlessly mashing on the X button to find the next town or dungeon or whatever gets a little old. I also found some of the random encounters a little tough at the beginning in certain areas. Maybe it's just me but when I leave a dungeon and the enemies outside are taking off more HP than the boss I just defeated I think something is seriously wrong. However, these few gripes did not detract from my overall gameplay enjoyment. I actually found myself on numerous occasions turning the game off in frustration only to pick up the controller again 30 minutes later. For those of you who have aleady played both Final Fantasy X and Kindgom Hearts through and through and discovered all the secrets I suggest you at least give this game a good once over. It will do well in holding you over until FFX-2 shows its lovely face on these shores. I GIVE WILD ARMS 3 A SOLID 4.5.
