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Wild Arms Alter Code F

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game stays true to the original, while adding new graphics and gameplay. The only complaint I had is the world-map scanner. You have press square constantly, it becomes less than an inovative concept and more of a gun to the head. Battles have been greatly improved with the added Stamina bar and having the Force Powers add to specials for the most devastating attacks.

Falls Short of the Original

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I've played the original several times, and it's one of my favorite RPG's. I'm a sucker for remakes, namely so that I can relive the experience in a whole new perspective, and when done right remakes can even surpass the original. With that said this remake is definately above average, and should be a model for other remakes.

But as much as I wanted to give this game a 5-star rating, there were some serious flaws that I could not overlook.

1) The infamous glitch. When you search for a town or dungeon or item on the map, sometimes the screen ends up getting cut off and you are unable to proceed forward unless you enter a town or dungeon. This in itself isn't so much a major flaw as it is annoying, but when you are hanging onto a thread of your life and have just traveled several paces, only to realize there is a (well, I guess you'd call it a blue box of some sort that prevents you from moving forward), the last thing I want to do is try to run back the way I came and see if I can avoid potentially powerful monsters only to find the town I just passed and make the glitch go away. There's also issues with the screen shaking from time to time, especially during cut scenes.

2) Lacking voice dialog in the FMV sequences. I could forgive the original PS and even the early days of the PS2 for leaving off voice talent. But this late into the PS2's life? Don't get me wrong, I don't mind reading. In fact, part of the joy in Wild Arms comes from reading the various books and speaking with the locals to gain knowledge on Filgaia's past. However, the actual movie sequences should have been voiced. In fact, the event file key you find in the outfield allows you to play back the movies you've seen, except this time they are without any dialog (scripted or spoken). This would lead one to believe it was voice was intended, but never included.

3) Battles are very tedious and overlong, and building your characters (with the exception of Jack and Emma) just was not as fun as the original. Part of the fame of the original was getting sucked into battle just to see it unfold in 3-D, which was quite a treat back in the days when 2-D was the rule outside of battle.

4) Cecilia know longer has the ability to use magic outside of battle. This requires that you now use your hard-earned items for healing, and you are not able to use magic to exit dungeons. In addition to that, you no longer have the advanced magic that was part of the original. All of your magic can be discovered in the first town (whether you have a crest graph or not), so there's no mystery as to what you will get later on. Group enemy attacks are now done through a Guardian, which is fine, except you don't find this guardian until late into the game and you are forced to watch the Guardian movie each time you use the attack in battle, until you find the key that allows you to turn the Guardian movies off.

5) I can understand that each character has a special weapon/ability, so naturally they removed the weapon shops. But what about an armor shop to help increase your defense?

6) You find your secondary characters so late into the game they're almost worthless (not that any of the secondary characters were worth the hassle to begin with). They could have had access to these characters spaced out better throughout the game. At least Jane has the Follow Me command to ensure you're first in battle, and Emma's Great Booster will really pump up Rudy and Jack's attacks.

Don't get me wrong. There's still potential here and this game is worthy of the remake it became. New puzzles, new locations, advanced storylines, and some of the best movie sequences I've seen in a long time, just to name a few, make this game worth the time. I just wished they'd waited and worked out some of the issues before releasing this game.

Good Game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Plays well. Not as mechanically fun as the original, but still a great game in it's own right. Additional playable characters also make it interesting.

Return to the Wild, Wild, West. Well, sort of...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Reviewed for Big Boss Games by: TRC

Wild Arms Alter Code F, published by AgeTech, for the Playstation 2, PS2, is a great remake of the classic Wild Arms for the original Playstation 1 system or PSX. There have been some major updates to this game.

Filgaia, the planet, is dying. The main characters Rudy, Jack and Cecilia must find out why. The planet started dying 1,000 years ago after the Great War. You must find a race of people called the Elw before it is too late to stop the demons from taking over Filgaia.

Graphics ? They have been overhauled from 2D top down to full 3D environments. With the 3D upgrade it adds a whole new dimension to the puzzles in this game, 8/10

Sound ? The "wild west" feel to the music in this game truly sets Wild Arms Alter Code F apart from all the Sci-Fi RPGs out there. 9/10

Gameplay ? On the plus side, the puzzles in this game are a lot more difficult.
One huge minus is that you have to search the world map for your new towns, dungeons and treasures. Also, they give you a handy dandy map that shows you where to start searching. 7/10

Battle System ? Turn Based similar to Lufia and Lufia 2 from the SNES. 7/10

If you are looking for a game to tie you over until Final Fantasy XII hits the U.S. this is it.

Overall I give this unique game an 8/10

Return to the Wild, Wild, West. Well, sort of...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Reviewed for Big Boss Games by: TRC

Wild Arms Alter Code F, published by AgeTech, for the Playstation 2, PS2, is a great remake of the classic Wild Arms for the original Playstation 1 system or PSX. There have been some major updates to this game.

Filgaia, the planet, is dying. The main characters Rudy, Jack and Cecilia must find out why. The planet started dying 1,000 years ago after the Great War. You must find a race of people called the Elw before it is too late to stop the demons from taking over Filgaia.

Graphics ? They have been overhauled from 2D top down to full 3D environments. With the 3D upgrade it adds a whole new dimension to the puzzles in this game, 8/10

Sound ? The "wild west" feel to the music in this game truly sets Wild Arms Alter Code F apart from all the Sci-Fi RPGs out there. 9/10

Gameplay ? On the plus side, the puzzles in this game are a lot more difficult.
One huge minus is that you have to search the world map for your new towns, dungeons and treasures. Also, they give you a handy dandy map that shows you where to start searching. 7/10

Battle System ? Turn Based similar to Lufia and Lufia 2 from the SNES. 7/10

If you are looking for a game to tie you over until Final Fantasy XII hits the U.S. this is it.

Overall I give this unique game an 8/10

A Wonderful Remake

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical at first of the idea of Media.Vision doing a remake of the cult classic, Wild Arms. But rest assured, this remake definitely lives up to the original.

This game manages to stay very close to the original, maintaining all of the original storylines, the original characters, and even the original dungeons. Michiko Naruke, the talented game scorer of the original series, returns here to remake and remix most of the original songs of the first game, giving them a new, polished feel (putting old wine in a new bottle, so to speak, but not in a bad way). Media.Vision even went so far as to keep in the original translation errors that were introduced in the first game (Fargaia = Filgaia; Jack Vambrace = Jack Van Burace; etc.)

As for the new elements that have been added to the game, you are now able to play two extra characters in battle, Professor Emma and Calamity Jane. The dungeons, although they maintain their original names and significance to the plot, have been entirely reworked to fit with the new 3D exploration system.

Another element that has been added to the mix is the ECN gague, which allows you to avoid random world/dungeon encounters, based on a meter located at the top of the screen. This system originally made its debut in Wild Arms: Advanced 3rd.

All in all, it is a wonderful remake for fans of the old game, or it is an introduction into the world of Filgaia for a newer, younger generation of games. Either way, it is well worth the money.

What's with the lovefest?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: January 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I think too many reviewers remember fondly (and rightfully so) the PS1 game "Wild Arms". This remake pales in comparison, and smacks of a desperate attempt by a design team to get a few extra bucks out of a franchise.

First and foremost, there are bugs galore in the game. Serious bugs. Bugs that make you reset the PS2 (although I've heard that some have even had to restart their games, I've never experienced this). This is unacceptable. I don't care how good the source material is, it's shoddy and unprofessional to rush something with a price like this.

Which brings me back to my original point - the source material has already been published, and can be found for a lower price than the remake. All that is given here are better graphics (though they're nothing to write home about - for the time, "Wild Arms" for the PS1 had very nice graphics. The same is not true for "Alter Code"), some extra characters (which cannot be accessed until late in the game), and a couple of extra dungeons. What's more, the battle sequences in the remake are much poorer than the original offering, and much MUCH more annoying. They are over-long and often very tedious.

Sorry, but I don't see the love for this imitation. Bugs, design issues (the surprise encounter rate is ridiculous - but only when your characters are of a high enough level to avoid most encounters), and just general sloppiness make this one of the more tired RPG's I've played. I give it two stars only because the original was a 5-star offering...

Overall, a good representation of the original

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Wild Arms Alter Code F is a remake of the original Wild Arms for Playstation. Wild Arms was a fantastic game, and so the franchise continued to the point of making a PS2 rendition of the original.

However, some things have changed. No items to restore MP. Fewer force point options, and three new playable characters, making a total of six. Personal skills take the place of personal equipment, and some of the scenery has changed.

In broad strokes, though, this game has what appealed to me in the earlier version: puzzle filled dungeons where you need to use tools to get further, great music, an epic battle with alien invaders, interesting sidequests, and of course, Zed (a very enjoyable character).

If you liked the original, you will thoroughly enjoy this remake. Still, if you like the idea of an RPG with a Wild West theme, you may well like Wild Arms. An excellent RPG for those who follow the genre.

A rather huge remake, although it could have probably waited a little longer...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

WA: ACF takes the original Wild Arms 1 and expands upon it greatly. It features re-dos of everything from the opening cinematic straight down to the dialogue and field graphics. The game also features numerous extras that make the original WA1 almost inferior, but the question remains: Was it really the right time to remake the first WA?

The graphics in the game are noticeably now all in full 3D. This helps a lot especially for the conversation and "movie" sequences where the story can be now much more appreciated. This shows one way in which 3D graphics are superior to 2D sprites. However, the 3D graphics in the game are not the best and they seem somewhat lacking, especially when compared to other RPGs out on the market today (FFX-2, Dragon Quest 8, Digital Devil Saga, etc). Still, the graphics are not downright ugly, and the battles are now much more enjoyable with much better 3D graphics than the ones used in the original WA.

The game play of the game itself has improved for the most part. The game features many elements from other WA games, so WA: ACF now "fits in" with the other games in the series. However, some of the changes are a little bit of a disappointment. No longer can the player equip weapons and armor to their characters. They also cannot put summons on every character in the party, as they are all limited to one character. Also, Rudy (the protagonist of the game) uses his ARM exclusively in battle, which is somewhat debatable as to whether or not this is a good or bad change. Also item shops have been vastly down-graded, and players will have to search for healing items for a huge portion of the game. The makers also removed one of the more exploitable items from the first game (goat dolls), so the players will have to use more strategy when tackling the harder challenges in the later parts of the game. Finally, the game features more than the regular 3 main characters from the first that can be recruited to your party. While these extra characters are a nice addition, players may not even ever fully utilize them since they only become permanent members of your party after you have completed side-quests that occur towards the end of the game. Still, these extra characters can add to the power and overall feeling of accomplishment that goes into completing the game.

The game also has a plethora of "extras", ranging from artwork and sound galleries that can be obtained through completing various tasks and earning "Ex-Keys". It also comes with a bonus DVD that features episode 1 of the Wild Arms anime, which is highly recommended for fans of the series.

The sound quality of the game is surprisingly good, although some songs in the game fall into the generic RPG dungeon/battle/town music heap. For the most part however, the game features many well put together orchestrated/synthesized songs that are downright beautiful. One disappointment players might find however is that all of the spoken dialogue has been removed from the game. All of the Japanese voice acting is gone, and apparently the makers had some problems finding English voice actors to dub the American version. This somewhat deters from the overall feel of the game, and it can make the conversations somewhat of a drag, especially for people who have played the original WA and already know the story.

WA: ACF is highly recommended for anyone who has not played the original Wild Arms, and also recommended for anyone who has and needs a "new" RPG to tide them over in the midst of a game drought. It still feels somewhat not too long ago since the release of the original Wild Arms, and some may wonder while playing it: "Why was this remade so soon"? While it is a very polished remake, the question will probably linger in the back of the player's mind.

Good remake; absurd pricing.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: February 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First, I'd like to state that I am a fan of the Wild Arms series and have been since the release of the first installment on the original Playstation. Having said that, I don't hesitate in admitting that the first game in the series is indeed the best one to date, remake notwithstanding. As a series, Wild Arms takes an interesting approach to the RPG genre with a mix of both Western and Sci-Fi themes. The results are normally quite enjoyable.

The game in question is a remake of the very first game. As a remake, it does well to capture the overall feel of the story and it's characters, but it doesn't quite nail it. One wonders if the people behind the project were at all involved in the original. One could argue that there is something lost in the upgrade of the visuals and such, but that the elements that made the first game endearing are still intact... or should be. Sadly, it fails to come across with the same charm. Where one would have expected a much more fleshed out story with more detail lent to the individual characters' underlying plots, the game seems to fail. The score, which was a big factor in the original, is watered down and nowhere near as evocative this time around. Fans of the original, like myself, will definitely enjoy it riding the nostalgia factor but will surely agree that this remake could have done a much better job paying homage to the game that spawned the series.

As a stand alone game, it is a good, solid RPG with an entertaining story. The graphics, despite the update, come across as a tad bit dated (blame the delay in localization) and the battle system is nigh archaic. Plenty of side-quests to delve into make for moderate replay value. All in all, a game worth your time if it were priced at $30 tops.

One issue I'd like to tackle here is the fact that the merchants here at Amazon are pricing the game as some sort of collectors item. Should you browse the limited buying options, you'd be faced with ridiculous prices for a game no better than many other RPG's already in the bargain bin. (...)
Bottom line: Anyone looking to buy this game; do not pay more than $40 for it at this time. That's as expensive as it should be at this point (and quite honestly, the game is not worth THAT much).

Thankfully, I received mine as a gift and spent not a single penny on it, making the experience pretty much painless.

Hope this helps.

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