Review of Wild Arms 3
Dec. 15th, 2003 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathanyI've finally finished one of the longest games I've ever come across.
I enjoyed Wild Arms 3 (PS2), but it also had one of the biggest mixes of good and bad in any game that I've played. For those of you who have never come across it, Wild Arms 3 is, very roughly, a cross between the Final Fantasy and the platform/puzzle genre (eg. Haven). You control four characters following a storyline but you spend much of the game in dungeons solving puzzles and beating up on monsters.
Story Line
The main story line was good... once it got going. I think I must have been approaching ten hours in at the point which the main plot really kicked off and I felt this was much, much too late. In fact, I might not even have still been playing had I not been lent the game by someone who had assured me it was my kind of thing.
In terms of content, it was not dissimilar to the PS FF storylines with the same epic but also personal feel to it. It fleshed out the backgrounds of the four main characters very nicely (and possibly more so than FF does for non-lead characters). My main complaint about the content is that there was way too much distance between when the player could work something out and when the characters did (eg. Jet's background).
Characters
Probably the strongest aspect. The four main characters were well done - they were different from each other but you rarely felt their being together was forced (the exception being the early promotion of the party leader without objection from anyone).
Also all the minor characters were nicely thought out from the bad guys to the other Drifters to the townspeople. It did feel like a consistent background.
Puzzles
Some of these were well done, some weren't. My biggest objection to them, though, wasn't the puzzles themselves but that more of them should have been in "non-encounter" rooms. Particularly when a new "puzzle solving tool" was obtained or a lot of movement was required to solve a problem.
I liked the Millennium Puzzles (an optional bit), although I completely disagreed with their difficulty ratings. As far as the obligatory ones went, I think that too many of the dull and frustrating puzzles were about how to make the new "puzzle solving tool" work and that a quick demonstration in-game might have been a better way to go. I know that the preludes were supposed to do this, but I personally got stuck on some of them (such as Jet's) !
Fights
Hmm. Probably one of the weakest points. The bosses were interesting and the rest weren't. There was the odd exception (on both sides), but that was about the size of it.
Tactically there wasn't much to do. Some bosses required a bit more thought, but usually it boiled down to working out what their weaknesses were rather than dreaming up particularly cunning responses.
I did enjoy fighting the various mediums though. And the other Drifter parties.
Length
Incredibly long. I had about 40 hours on the clock at the end and it doesn't include fights. So I reckon my total playing time was probably double that. I loved this aspect (and it's value for money - or would have been had I bought rather than borrowed), although I'm aware that some people have a preference to short games (such as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
al_fruitbat and zandev).
Originality
It did remind me a bit of FF, but when you have a "save the world" plotline, I guess there's a limit to the different types of possible threat. The graphics were very different though, as was the music. (I prefer FF on both fronts, but then I'm horribly biased). Despite reading criticisms of the music I enjoyed it and found no tune irritating.
Other stuff
Where's the *@#! Dungeon ?. Probably one of my biggest complaints. Too many of the places were described in terms of vague geography and I could sometimes spend hours looking for them. Particularly before I had decent transport.
A World Inconsistency. The first thing that's said by the main characters when they meet is how Drifters rarely work together. Yet the only other Drifters you meet are working together !
Almost Equal Opps. I was impressed that the two of the three main Drifter parties were led by women (the third was an all-male party). I was less impressed that the two leaders had to have an obligatory girlie slapping match (I was equally unimpressed with FFVII's Tifa vs Scarlett).
Endgame Bosses Fights. A word of warning for anyone who finds the FF endgame boss fights too long or too numerous. They're still only a quarter the length of Wild Arms 3. And they usually have save points.
It's a FAQ moment. I found a FAQ to be practically a necessity. Mainly 'cos I wanted to finish before Christmas (otherwise I'd be spending New Year still looking for "The Abyss" dungeon).
No more games until Christmas now. I've got other things to sort out.
I enjoyed Wild Arms 3 (PS2), but it also had one of the biggest mixes of good and bad in any game that I've played. For those of you who have never come across it, Wild Arms 3 is, very roughly, a cross between the Final Fantasy and the platform/puzzle genre (eg. Haven). You control four characters following a storyline but you spend much of the game in dungeons solving puzzles and beating up on monsters.
Story Line
The main story line was good... once it got going. I think I must have been approaching ten hours in at the point which the main plot really kicked off and I felt this was much, much too late. In fact, I might not even have still been playing had I not been lent the game by someone who had assured me it was my kind of thing.
In terms of content, it was not dissimilar to the PS FF storylines with the same epic but also personal feel to it. It fleshed out the backgrounds of the four main characters very nicely (and possibly more so than FF does for non-lead characters). My main complaint about the content is that there was way too much distance between when the player could work something out and when the characters did (eg. Jet's background).
Characters
Probably the strongest aspect. The four main characters were well done - they were different from each other but you rarely felt their being together was forced (the exception being the early promotion of the party leader without objection from anyone).
Also all the minor characters were nicely thought out from the bad guys to the other Drifters to the townspeople. It did feel like a consistent background.
Puzzles
Some of these were well done, some weren't. My biggest objection to them, though, wasn't the puzzles themselves but that more of them should have been in "non-encounter" rooms. Particularly when a new "puzzle solving tool" was obtained or a lot of movement was required to solve a problem.
I liked the Millennium Puzzles (an optional bit), although I completely disagreed with their difficulty ratings. As far as the obligatory ones went, I think that too many of the dull and frustrating puzzles were about how to make the new "puzzle solving tool" work and that a quick demonstration in-game might have been a better way to go. I know that the preludes were supposed to do this, but I personally got stuck on some of them (such as Jet's) !
Fights
Hmm. Probably one of the weakest points. The bosses were interesting and the rest weren't. There was the odd exception (on both sides), but that was about the size of it.
Tactically there wasn't much to do. Some bosses required a bit more thought, but usually it boiled down to working out what their weaknesses were rather than dreaming up particularly cunning responses.
I did enjoy fighting the various mediums though. And the other Drifter parties.
Length
Incredibly long. I had about 40 hours on the clock at the end and it doesn't include fights. So I reckon my total playing time was probably double that. I loved this aspect (and it's value for money - or would have been had I bought rather than borrowed), although I'm aware that some people have a preference to short games (such as
al_fruitbat and zandev).Originality
It did remind me a bit of FF, but when you have a "save the world" plotline, I guess there's a limit to the different types of possible threat. The graphics were very different though, as was the music. (I prefer FF on both fronts, but then I'm horribly biased). Despite reading criticisms of the music I enjoyed it and found no tune irritating.
Other stuff
Where's the *@#! Dungeon ?. Probably one of my biggest complaints. Too many of the places were described in terms of vague geography and I could sometimes spend hours looking for them. Particularly before I had decent transport.
A World Inconsistency. The first thing that's said by the main characters when they meet is how Drifters rarely work together. Yet the only other Drifters you meet are working together !
Almost Equal Opps. I was impressed that the two of the three main Drifter parties were led by women (the third was an all-male party). I was less impressed that the two leaders had to have an obligatory girlie slapping match (I was equally unimpressed with FFVII's Tifa vs Scarlett).
Endgame Bosses Fights. A word of warning for anyone who finds the FF endgame boss fights too long or too numerous. They're still only a quarter the length of Wild Arms 3. And they usually have save points.
It's a FAQ moment. I found a FAQ to be practically a necessity. Mainly 'cos I wanted to finish before Christmas (otherwise I'd be spending New Year still looking for "The Abyss" dungeon).
No more games until Christmas now. I've got other things to sort out.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-12-15 07:07 am (UTC)Whether I like long or short games actually depends on the type of game (and whether it is any good).
I'm coming to like both ends of the spectrum more that the middle ground: either a game has to be short, easy to get into and fun or alternatively extremely long and complex. :)