Potentially the lamest Wild Arms title yet, but then again, having not played Wild Arms 4 at this point, I can't say for sure if it is that bad. It has some redeeming features though. Not really gameplay-wise if you must, since much of it is similar to before, force abilities, two members being able to use guns, eight elements, the usual stuff. There seems to be even less Western-styled setting in this game than its predecessor, although Damzen City and that one border town seem quite nicely done for locales, especially with the music AGAIN being center-stage as the crowning best thing about Wild Arms 2. But this one has quite a lot of greenery, perhaps moreso, and more swords and weird magic going around. Oh yeah, and the whole deal with FP required for certain things such as magic itself is quite taxing if you utilize Force powers a bit too much. Some actual improvements are better tools to use, better dungeons to go through, a rotatable isometric view, and an interesting take on encountering enemies where you can skip some if needed, also a few of the ambushes in this game make a character stand alone against the enemies.
So yes, I don't like this game nearly as much though. The idea of ARMs being an anti-terrorist organization rather than, you know, people with guns is pretty pathetic. Also only two characters, Ashley and Brad, seem to employ the guns, the others use daggers and cybernetics, staves, weird robot things, and an umbrella. And in Ashley's case, he uses a gun-blade...thing. Urgh. It's so weird how Ashley's plot plays out too, a ceremony goes completely wrong where everyone turns into demons, Ashley included, but being a main character means you get access to a sword that will basically make you a better demon in Lord Blazer. His companions he gets on the journey are mostly nothing special, the most interesting ones are the war criminal Brad and Kanon, who actively seeks him out, attacking him multiple times before joining eventually. The villains for the first half of the game are the members of Odessa, bringing order to oppression and conformity, apparently, they are mostly anti-heroes in a way. Antenora's probably the most interesting one, an ACTUAL anti-hero against the leader Vinsfeld. Also Judecca is just an ass, Caina is a weird case of a character gender-swapped in translation, and Ptolomea in reality is just a general who looks out for his men.
But you know who stands out above everyone else in terms of character? Irving. He's probably the one character that after playing the game, I ended up hating most. His actions are the ones who actually make everything seem so damn grim overall when the events unfold. He directly helps out the heroes in ARMs, but also apparently was responsible for funding Odessa, so he's basically the mastermind of both parties. For what cost though? Basically whether it was ARMs or Odessa who win against each other, the winner would have to deal with the even bigger evil that made up the second part of the plot. Yep, all his plan, and to make matters worse he ends up giving himself and his sister up to that evil just so the heroes can defeat it. Really now? Oh yeah, and Lord Blazer was actually put in place for Ashley because of him. I play through the entire game just to realize how senseless this character ended up being, and how much of a "hero" he is.
Now notice the last word I said there in the quotes, "hero". This is the one thing I loved about Wild Arms 2 the most, the idea of a hero that of course usually gets stretched by JRPGs to mean someone does good to all, potentially at a cost. Naturally, every character who's name isn't Irving is opposed to the idea of a hero. Ashley ends up opposed to the idea eventually. Brad hates it due to it potentially making him a criminal. Judecca flat out mocks the idea of a hero. Hell, even an early part of the game has Ashley being sent to prison so he and Lilka can apparently rescue Brad. As early as that, the idea of a hero is pretty much embellished and foretold. Well done with that aspect Wild Arms 2. I can't respect you for some things, but that right there is a huge plus.
No comments:
Post a Comment