User Reviews (11 - 14 of 14)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Not enough stars for this one

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: March 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Okay, so Alter Code F stunk, right? So this should be no different, right? Wrong to the max! This game is off da chains 30+ hours of entertainment extreme! This was the best game I've played since Dragon Quest VIII, and my favorite Wild Arms ever. I just couldn't stop playing. Fun but simple platforming, innovative battle system, unique characters, and nostalgic enemies galore (gob gob). To the non-WA fan, maybe not so, but to the WA fan, maybe so!

Wild Arms 4......

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having come across Wild Arms during the third installment, I was hooked on the Wild West Themed RPG almost instantly. There was something about the game that appealed to the 'cowboy' in me. Out of all the RPGs I've played on the Playstation 2, I consider Wild Arms 3 to be one of the finest RPGs I've ever played on the system. You can imagine my surprise when I began playing Wild Arms 4 and find out it's nothing like the previous installment. Sure, it acknowledges it's six-shooter history but this installment seriously downplays the Wild West theme in favor of a more postapocalytic setting. Not that Wild Arms 4 is a bad game, by any means. In fact, it's a pretty dadgummed good one. It's just if you're coming into it expecting it to be like the first three installments, well- you'll be just as surprised as I was and sadly mistaken. Wild Arms 4 tells the story of Jude Maverick and a group of his friends trying to stop a coalition of congressional knights and save everyone in the process.

I will have to give Media Vision a nod for trying to create a little something new with the series this time around, especially with the new HEX battle system and it's challenging platforming segments(yes, you read that right...platforming segments). The game is a beauty with it's anime style characters, lush environments and whatnot....graphically, the best game in the series thus far. When you're trying to compete with the heavyweights out there, you have to shake things up a little bit to get people to notice. In that respect, Media Vision did quite nicely. The only thing I found wrong with the game is that it's rather short. Depending on if you're a hardcore RPG gamer or not; you can finish Wild Arms 4 in, literally, a day or less. I will point out that I've read many reviews online that state the game clocks in around 40 hours to complete. Either way, it's not too bad.

In closing, I did enjoy Wild Arms 4 despite all the changes made and recommend it to fans of the series, casual or hardcore RPG gamers. However, I hope they return the series to its' roots when and if there is another installment. If you can't wait that long and need another 'Wild West' RPG fix, let me suggest Western Lords...coming to the Nintendo DS real soon.

Deserves a high rating

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I was completely impressed with this game. As an RPG series, Wild Arms has evolved very well. And 4th Detonator is absolutely an improvement on past installments.

But although Wild Arms 4 offers a great RPG experience, the best part of the game is the story line. You simply can't get this kind of writing from contemporary Hollywood movies.

Anyone who is looking for an alternative to mainstream media should check it out.

Not a good game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been with the "Wild Arms" series from the ground floor. The first game was very nice for its time, with numerous extras, an interesting story, and an excellent, quick-paced battle system. The second game was incredible, with a search option built in, an number of extras, and a great story which was unfortunately marred by a translation which ceased to make sense on the 2nd disc (in fact, it literally makes NO SENSE at times). The first PS2 offering, WA3, was a very nice game. Although the graphics weren't great, I liked the idea of cel-shading, and the game itself was very fun, and long. The remake of WA, "Alter Code:F", was a disaster, of course, but nevermind about that.

Now, this brings us to WA4. I bought this game immediately upon release, but for whatever reason, I never played it. Now I know why - this game is bad-to-mediocre, at best.

Let's begin with the story, the cornerstone of any RPG. Boring. Unnecessary. Insipid. These are words that come to mind. I don't mind that a game doesn't continue in the exact same fashion as its predecessors (in fact, with the sole exception of the "Suikoden" series, this is generally a sign of a decaying franshise), but there is absolutely nothing interesting in this latest story set on "Filgaia". The game itself clocks in at about 40 hours (less if you can make good use of "Lucky Cards" and the like), and most of it is a dungeon-crawl. There are about 4 towns, TOTAL, in the game, and you get absolutely nothing from speaking with townspeople. NOTHING. They don't add to the story - in fact, their ramblings often make zero sense in the game itself. I won't spoil the story, but it essentially steals from WA2 (in a bad way), and has absolutely nothing that will make you want to play on, other than the desire to get through this stinker.

Graphics. Not as important in an RPG, and actually, I kind of like the graphics here. The outlines of the cel-shaded characters have disappeared, but this shouldn't come as a surprise - it's been years since the last WA game was released. There is little to distinguish the graphics of this game from its predecessor other than that cited above, however, and the game lacks the ability to move the camera, which is an annoyance when trying to spot treasure chests (and by the way, there are only 178 chests in this game, far less than the last offering. This isn't surprising since there are fewer dungeons and towns in this game than in the last one).

Gameplay. It's a disaster. Dungeons are long and boring, and make up the majority of the game. The puzzles are easy, but annoying, requiring long, out-of-the-way trips to obtain tools to light torches, or the like. There is one light here - I love the option of turning off encounters when you fulfill certain conditions. It doesn't really make the game more fun, but it's an innovation I would like to see in more RPG's down the line.

Battle: The HEX system is a great idea that isn't utilized in any way, shape or form. Boss battles tend to be ridiculously easy (cast "Slow Down" and "Lock", and you won't lose), and regular battles are either easy or cheap (basically, if the computer gets to take 4 turns before your characters, you're gonna feel pain. Otherwise, you're in the clear). The strategy aspect is there, but it is rarely necessary. One of the final battles is a nightmare, however, but that's OK - there's nothing that would prepare you for it anyway.

Extras: Totally drops the ball in this regard. The arena has turned into a lot of tedious, single battles, all of which cost money, and none of which give you any feeling of accomplishment. The Sheriff's Star (the best badge in the game) is an exercise in tedium - it take millenia to obtain the necessary ingredients, and the rewards are meager (OK, you are now the strongest character in existence. The regular game bosses are still a joke, and Angolmois is still a nightmare). There are a few sealed monsters (as in all the series), but now it is an incredible pain to open their seals (often requiring a ridiculous amount of backtracking, because you lost the tool necessary to open the seal). I find it to me more ordeal than fun challenge.

There are also a few bugs in the game. It is impossible to find every monster in the game - some of them were removed from gameplay, yet were NOT removed from the monster list. That's unacceptable.

I fear WA4 may be the last in the series. If so, that's too bad - a great series has been marred by two terrible outings. I give the game two stars overall, because in the hands of better developers, there are some excellent innovations here that could really make for some interesting gameplay.

Review Page: 1 2 

Actions