#Wild Arms 3

[vgadvisor]

[bluegad]

felt like drawing her :)

[pyreflydust]

[despair-tea]

Wild ARMs 3 — Advanced Wind [NA English ver]

"I raise my hand from beneath the shifting sand and embrace the winds of change"

[starrymarii]

Virginia Maxwell from Wild Arms 🤠

[satoshi-mochida]

Some games that have an English version of a song in it that I think is well done.

Wild Arms 3:

'Advanced Wind'

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete:

'Wind's Nocturne'

World's End Club:

'Go-Getter's Club Theme'

Growlanser III: The Dual Darkness:

'To Your Tomorrow', Opening and Ending Versions.

The many songs from Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.

All the Kingdom Hearts openings.

There might be a couple others, but these are the ones I know of/remember.

Some suggested additions I got:

Final Fantasy X-2

'Real Emotion'

'1000 Words'

Fire Emblem Fates

'Lost in Thoughts All Alone'

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

'Lifelight'

[oldgamemags]

EGM #157, August 2002 - Preview of 'Wild Arms 3'.

[illjustpretend]

Finished sketch commission of Janus Cascade from Wild Arms 3 for the amazing @kitsune528 , thank you again so much!

I just know if I played this back in the day I would have been obsessed with him hehe 🤭

[disastertiffic]

Pillbugs!

[littleeyesofpallas]

Was fumbling around some old files and found these that I don't think I've ever seen posted elsewhere. They're the big footprint shapes engraved on the giant stone slabs in the Fallen Sanctuary, plus the simplified versions used for the mediums.

[vgadvisor]

[thewapolls]

Gah... I wish there was a better fanwiki for Wild Arms, one with a complete series wide bestiary that kept track of palette swaps, because while Unknown is obviously super vague, I know there were other monsters that used this character model and I want to be able to cross reference what they were, and if maybe they had previous designs that got changed between games, to see if there's any distinct core reference behind it all... It's just such a detailed and very specific design to use on a name so vague. Also originally showed up in WA3 as a random encounter before making a comeback in WA5 as a minor boss.

As ever though, just love the toku monstersuit aesthetics present in WA as a franchise.

[pyreflydust]

[smash-64]

2023 Game of the Year Countdown Honorable Mentions (part 1)

Money Puzzle Exchanger Arcade and NeoGeo, 1997

After adoring Panel de Pon last year, I have kept an eye on various older puzzle games just in case I end up liking them. This one transports me back in time to the old school arcades in every aspect. It’s available on the Switch eShop and they have updated literally nothing. Sounds super 90s, looks super 90s, and has awkward translations like so many of those rare arcade cabinets in the 90s. Charm is off the charts, but wow is it difficult. It doesn’t have the same learning curve that Panel de Pon does, and I have not been encouraged to sink as much time into it as a result. It’s clear that it’s meant to be played against a friend, and while I did convince two friends to try it, they both agreed that it was going to take too much time to learn the game and we haven’t done any VS mode. I doubt I'll ever be a huge puzzle game fan, but it's cool to find one occasionally.

Wild Arms 3 Sony PlayStation 2, 2002 This was the game I played this year with the most mixed feelings. I ended up not really liking the combat, the extremely high rate of random encounters, or the story that went way too hard in the sci-fi direction for the type of atmosphere the game originally sets. 

However, the music was enjoyable (Secret Garden!), the ending was actually perfect for the genre (I’ll get to that), and the setting was something I never knew I needed before: a wild west JRPG. I dabbled with Wild Arms XF for the PSP a few years ago, but I’m not a big fan of non-Fire Emblem tactics games, so I dropped it. But both games have made me really want more wild west JRPGs. The setting already allows for all the tropes and story devices that JRPGs require, but is essentially untapped. Fantasy has been overdone in the genre. And sci-fi is less and less unique as many devs are turning to that genre, too. But the wild west already has the mysterious drifters, the native tribes, the outlaws, the lone lawmen, the legends, the unexplored territory, the rivalries, and the hidden treasure. And that all just comes with the territory of a wild west setting so none of it feels convoluted or overdone. I’m not quite sure why we haven’t had more set in this type of world, especially given how popular the American West is, or at least has been, in Japan. 

I also really like Virginia Maxwell as the main character. I’m a sucker for female protags, and apparently this game suffered for it back in 2002 because teenage boys were too insecure for that type of thing, I guess? But Virginia also just looks like a super cool western chick who dual wields revolvers. 

However, as I said earlier, there were a lot of aspects I just grew sick of and I actually dropped the game somewhere shortly after the midpoint, turning to YouTube to see the rest of the plot. And if I had wanted an absurd sci-fi story, I would have played a Xeno game. It seems very weird to create such a great wild west setting, and then just pivot to so much sci-fi. Even more so when you give the game a VERY wild west ending to boot. I actually adored the ending/epilogue to the game because it’s as perfect for a wild west story as the Mexican stand-off was in the opening sequence.

So yeah, very mixed feelings on this game. I’d love to hear what other people thought of it, if they’ve played it.