Video Game Review - Wild ARMs (1997 - Sony Playstation)

I consider myself open minded about video games and movies. When I look back on some of the games I've played (Final Fantasy Tactics, SaGa Frontier) and the movies that I've seen (Falling Down, Manos: the Hands of Fate), Im proud to say that I've done a great service to the world. That service being the idea of looking at a bad video game or movie and rating it properly. Sometimes I find a gem in the sewage of the bad movies.  Other times I'll find the experience of a game to be far better than the game itself. This is one of those games.

Wild ARMs is an RPG that is considered innovative. It may be considered innovative because of the ability to switch characters and move them independently of each other, but I doubt that would over shadow the main reason why this game is a note in RPG history: it's a western.
Not the first RPG with a western theme (Oregon Trail, anyone?), Wild ARMs takes a lead from the TV show "Wild Wild West" but in the way that only an anime-influenced game could. This leads us to our three heroes.

• Rudy Roughnight - A young blue-haired boy with the amazing ability to use ARMs (read: guns). There's some mystical bullshit about who can and can't use ARMs (plot point). This kid'll be your main guy for a while & he's generally considered the hero.
• Jack - A treasure hunter whose intro owes a lot to Raiders of the Lost Ark and Benny Hill chase scenes. He's also a master swordsman, whose skill is a "Quick Draw" (??). Very suave and very dependable in a fight.
• Cecilia - She's some magic chick. She can heal and stuff, just like every "staff chick". She's also the only one who can use Summon skill. She's a prototype version of Final Fantasy X's Yuna, but not as well known.

Wild ARMs' mild popularity owes a lot to its predecessor, Final Fantasy VII. There are many instances where a story element will draw a parallel to FF7. Summon stones are one; fighting the final boss in a weird dimension is another. The game's main protagonist has a gay first name and a manly last name, per the Squaresoft fashion. You'll even have to fight large machines of elemental origin, akin to the Weapons in FF7. The game does have original points, however.
First is the fact that the Summons can be enhanced. This was before the leveling up of Guardian Forces in Final Fantasy VIII was made necessary (much less, made). The enhancement of the Summon skill used on an equipped Summon stone could not only do double damage but also provide a better summon animation.  Second is the personal vehicle of travel. It's much better than the Highwind, but its drawback is the need to find an engine component in order to completely explore the known world. Strangely enough, Cowboy Bebop's Swordfish airplane may be borrowing from the design of the transport.
Third on the list is an action that shocked me to the core. I never thought that an RPG hero would go that far to save the world, but I was wrong. There was a reason why it happened, and I don't think any RPG can top that. To tell you what it is would destroy the whole shock value of the act, and I believe that everyone should experience it.
Music in this game is superb, and has 1960s influences. Of particular note, the Map Screen music is a reprise of "The Ecstacy of Gold" from Enrico Morricone's soundtrack to The Good, the Bad & the Ugly. While the music is great, the graphics needed work. These two factors canceled each other out, leaving me with the experience to decide the rating.
 
I'll have to give Wild ARMs a 6, because it was only alright then. The "shocking action" is the kicker that put it up to 6 in the first place.  The game has since been remade into Wild ARMs: Alter Code F, with better graphics, for the PlayStation 2.  I have no idea what Alter Code F means, as I haven't played it.

RATING: 6/10