PS1 REVIEWS: Wild Arms 2

The first Wild Arms was a very good classic JRPG with a Wild West twist, and it must have been reasonably successful since this sequel was released three years later. With the release of the sequel, Wild Arms became a bonafide franchise, with many of the tropes established in the first game carried over and expanded upon here.

I originally played the game near its release but did not finish it due to my memory card getting twice corrupted, right when I reached the second disc, which must have been one hell of a coincidence. As such, I was fully expecting to absolutely love this game when I finally got the chance to finish it 24 years later. Yet, my rosy memories of the game had to contend with reality, and some serious flaws in the game kept it from being the unqualified masterpiece I thought it was as a kid.

Don't get me wrong, it still is a very good game, but I no longer think it is within the echelons of the greatest PS1 RPGs.

#A22(S): Wild Arms 2:-
Year: 1999, 2000.
Genre: JRPG.
Publisher: Sony.
Developer: Media.Vision, Contrail.

"Yes, blood did get spilled. But, in an era of delusion, if someone doesn't stand up, even more blood will be shed"

Like in the first game, you begin your adventure with a great anime opening sequence that showcases the main characters and the world of Filgaia, with excellent animation accompanied by an instrumental version of the main song: "You'll Never Be Alone". I didn't know that the song and its lyrics would be more than a cool opening sequence, but both music and theme turn out to be very important to the story, with even some lines of dialogue at the end closely mirroring the lyrics of the song.

Once the intro is over, as is now a trope of the series, you go over the introductory chapter of the game's three main characters. Unlike the first game, two more characters join the gang with an optional sixth character available in disc 2. While all characters get the chance to shine, the main character is undoubtedly Ashley Winchester, who is possessed by a demonic form early in the game; becoming extremely powerful as a result.

Ashley will have one hell of a first day on the job

Other than Ash, there is Lilka; who is a ditzy mage following the footsteps of her much more talented sister, and Brad Evans; the "hero" of a fallen rebel army who is branded a criminal and hunted at the beginning of the game. Eventually, the party is joined by Tim- a kid with the magical ability to commune with the planet's Guardians- and the serious mercenary-type Kanon.

This group of diverse characters forms, under the leadership of the mysterious Lord Irvin Veleria, the international group ARMS, which is responsible for protecting the planet from the threat of an emerging terrorist organization. The conflict between ARMS and the terrorists of Odessa is the highlight of the game's story, especially since it is here that the game has some interesting things to say about the nature of politics and nationhood.

Once you go into disc 2, the story takes a nosedive thanks to the emergence of a galactic-level threat, which lacks the personality and immediacy of Odessa and is presented in gibberish pseudo-scientific techno-babble that is more distracting than enlightening. Yet, I have a sneaking suspicion that I only feel this way due to the extremely poor localization of the game.

Most famously represented by the antics of Liz and Ard

Yes, this is one of those PS1 games which had a noticeably bad localization effort. Nearly all the hallmarks of such shoddy work are here. Miss-attributed dialogue, stunted words, literal but not streamlined translation, poor choice of words, grammatical errors, and a litany of other mistakes that honestly make it difficult to reflect accurately on the strength of the story.

Still, despite the way the game jumps the shark at the second disc and its terrible localization, I enjoyed the story and was invested in these characters. The central themes of "heroism" and the message that "You'll Never Walk Alone" shone through clearly, and the strength of such a diverse cast shielded me from the worst effects of the game's "dialogue".

"Bonds made in the battlefield are the strongest"

Just like its predecessor, Wild Arms 2's combat is a typical turn-based battle system with little to no complications. The sequel has two major differences though: Firstly, you can replace any character with one in the reserve party at the beginning of your turn. Secondly, the MP system is entirely gone and is fully replaced with the Force Points (FP) system.

The FP system was present in the first game, where it governed your character's "Force" abilities, but it is greatly revamped here. Each battle starts with FPs based on your character levels, and you gain more points by attacking and getting attacked. Once you accumulate enough points, you can trigger your character's special abilities, from Ashley's and Brad's ARMs to Lilka's magic. Doing this does not use your accumulated FP, nor does it raise it. You only consume FP by using the powerful "Force" abilities each character has.

Please enjoy a bazooka shell to the face

One thing you may have noticed with this system is that Magic can now only be used in battle, which means healing outside of battle can only be done with items. Also, due to how FPs are not consumed when using special abilities, this means that the more powerful special attacks, from stronger ARMs to crowd-controlling magic abilities are expensive and require a few turns to build up.

However, that doesn't mean random battles become a slog, as their difficulty usually tracks with your level, and as your level increases, so do the options available to you at the beginning of the battle. If anything, the game is too easy most of the time, even against the multitude of bosses you will face.

Besides the abilities that make each character unique, there are "Personal Skills" that you could increase as you level up. Of the 25 or so "Personal Skills" a few should be invested in early, and these can break the early game from a difficulty point of view.

Ashley's Demon form makes things even easier

Yet, if you are craving a challenge, you could go for the masochistic experience with the game's many optional bosses.

"No matter what you do, I believe in you and will be waiting for you to come back"

Outside of combat, the franchise's penchant for puzzles in dungeons is fully on display. With five main characters, each with their own "Tools" to tackle the dungeon puzzles, it allowed the developers to craft better and bigger puzzles than they did before.

Indeed, if the dungeons in the first game were a proof of concept, then the dungeons here are that concept fully realized. Many dungeons have multiple levels of puzzles, with some even adding in a text puzzle to solve (which is an unintended difficulty thanks to the terrible localization).

That escalated quickly

Different from the first game is an extended focus on exploration. With a fully 3D map and multiple ways of travel, you are encouraged to roam around the world looking to complete an extensive bestiary as well as engage in some cool optional quests. Most of those quests involve some optional dungeons with a Guardian item within or those uber-powerful optional bosses I mentioned, but one quest has you recruit the secret sixth character.

With multiple systems to deal with, since each character has a different upgrade system for their special abilities, a lot of optional content, and fun gameplay elements both inside and outside combat, Wild Arms 2 is engaging throughout the game.

"When we meet such grave danger, nothing should keep us apart. I wonder when it was I forgot that true strength comes from joining together?"

Released early in the PS1's lifecycle, the first Wild Arms had the good luck to depend heavily on classical sprite graphics outside of battles. Released 3 years later, Wild Arms 2 could have fallen into the trap of leaning too far into polygonal graphics that wouldn't stand the test of time.

Thankfully, that's not the case here. Character models outside of battle still retain a charming sprite look that is a bit taller and more detailed than the first game, and the 3D world is simply designed so that it doesn't show its age.

Its certainly not the worst on the PS1

As with the first game, the graphics are fully 3D when going into battle, and these have been massively improved over the first game, even if they do show their age. Yet, you can be sure that it is due to these polygonal graphics that developers managed to cram in so many unique-looking monsters and bosses in the game. Sure, not all of them are well-designed, but variety has its merits.

Finally, let's discuss the game's soundtrack by Michiko Naruke, which is another soundtrack that is inspired by Spaghetti Western music, but also with the series's focus on a retro-futuristic setting. While most of my memories of the game were of excellent tracks such as the two opening songs, "Field-Wandering", and "Battle-Knight Blazer", I forgot that the soundtrack has a lot of duds. Rather, to be more accurate, one of the game's worst tracks is also one of its most frequent; "Battle- VS Mid-Boss" plays against all non-special bosses and it is an atrocious track.

It is a shame that the game's soundtrack isn't as uniformly brilliant as the first game.

In Conclusion:

Finally finishing this game 24 years later, I understand why I fell in love with it the first time I played it, but I am also apprehensive of some flaws that I couldn't see at the time. The story is cool at first, especially thanks to a strong cast of characters, but it is let down by a terrible localization job. The gameplay is simple but fun both inside and outside of combat, but it is very easy to remove any challenge from the game. The graphics and music are great, except when the polygons get too jagged and a bad tune repeats one time too many.

Yet, the game is filled with the unique style of the Wild Arms franchise in nearly everything it does. That unique style is the reason I still remember the first time I played the game, and the first time I saw that opening movie and knew, despite the instrumental version having no lyrics, that I will never be alone.

Final: 8/10 (Recommended)

Pros:

• A good story with some solid themes
• Very good growth for the main party
• Some brilliant scene direction
• Solid turn-based battle system
• The Action-Adventure gameplay in the dungeons
• Brilliant opening movies
• Good combination of sprite work and 3D graphics
• A seriously expansive bestiary

Cons:

• Atrocious localization effort
• A confusing second act made more confusing by shoddy dialogue
• Lack of challenge outside of a few bosses and the extremely tough optional bosses
• Obtuse solution to some puzzles
• Jagged 3D graphics in some cases
• The soundtrack is weaker than the first game

Tips:

1. Break boxes and inspect barrels for items. Later, the radar tool makes it easier to find treasure.
2. Crest graphs are reusable, so experiment with crafting spells.
3. Talk to NPCs in town to know what to do next and for tips on optional stuff.
4. Don't sell Cecilia's items, as you can use her force skill to do some unique magic spells early on.
5. If you kill an enemy with Cecilia's Mystic force on a Bone item, you will get a guaranteed drop.
6. All other equipment can be sold.
7. There are missable optional bosses, such as one boss during the countdown in the Maze of Death.
8. Luck is extremely useful for Jack to learn skills faster, and for his multi-hit Blade art.
9. You need enough duplicator keys to progress one optional side quest, so keep some handy.
10. Stealing items is great for getting recovery items, not for getting equipment.
11. When you access the Outer Sea, explore the islands for some optional Guardians.

The nature of "Heroism" is a big theme of the game

 

Series:

For those reading one of my PS1 review blogs for the first time, here is the basic concept:

I already reviewed both major Generation 4 consoles, and am now reviewing Generation 5 consoles. I already finished reviewing the Sega Saturn, so I am now reviewing the PS1. In these reviews, I take a top 100 games list and review the games that interest me in that list.This time, my review series is based on this list from Retro Sanctuary and other sources, since the PS1 can handle a list bigger than a top 100.

This party gets stranded a lot

Next Game:

I was afraid that Wild Arms 2 wouldn't live up to my memory of it, but despite its obvious shortcomings, it did do that. I enjoyed it greatly and I am happy to have finished it after all of that time.

Next, I am going to play another Resident Evil inspired game, Galerians, which I think has a total of FOUR DISCS. That's a lot of space for a supposedly short game, so I expect a lot of cinematics. Hopefully, the game is good as well.

Stay tuned.

For Previous PS1 Game Reviews:

The List 

This blog was originally posted in Cohost on March 13th, 2024.