Wild Arms Alter Code F

by Agetec

Product Features

• In 1997, Sony wowed the Playstation RPG masses with Wild Arms which featured an involving storyline, affable characters and slick battle techniques. While the game itself was great, the graphics were..less so. Sony revisits the original Wild Arms with a remake which redoes the entire game with shiny graphical sheen and updated game play.In addition to the three original characters - Cecila the pri

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00024W1UG
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 15, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,236 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #85 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Adventure
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

In 1997, Sony wowed the Playstation RPG masses with Wild Arms which featured an involving storyline, affable characters and slick battle techniques. While the game itself was great, the graphics were..less so. Sony revisits the original Wild Arms with a remake which redoes the entire game with shiny graphical sheen and updated game play.In addition to the three original characters - Cecila the pri

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Arms is back!, November 25, 2005

By 

Bokan - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Wild Arms Alter Code F (Video Game)

Well after nearly ten months of Agetec's delaying since February, we finally have this awesome remake of the original Wild Arms that started, and for some rekindled, our love of the wild west. I guess I have to say this was worth the wait. This game is beyond words. Everything you remember from Rudy, Jack and Cece's adventure in 1997 is back with incredible sound, graphics, music and battle system. Even better are Rudy and Co.'s abilities, which have been finely tuned for more features.

Storywise, this remake covers the original WA in its entirety without skipping any finer points. Also, tons of sidequests have been added (including the return of the Millenium Puzzles we all loved so much from WA3) along with the original's sidequests. Rudy and his friends have been given a serious anime makeover and let me tell you, the visuals are stunning. All of WA's music has been seriously revamped for this game and once again, Michiko Naruke does not disappoint. I'd swear that girl must have lived in the times of cowboys and six-shooters to make this kind of music.

The new features are quite a plus. Rudy and his friends no longer have equipment but rather only skills. If you remember WA3 and its Skill System, this will be instantly familiar to you. Of course, there are differences, such as acquiring several levels of the same skill to completely master them (for example you need to have all versions of Silver Harp to block Sleep 100%, meaning you need to collect Silver Harps 1 to 4). The battle system's newest highlight is the Bonus Rate, which uses a multiplier system similar to WA3's to increase EXP. Once again, it's different from WA3, so heads up on this one because it's a bit more complex this time (you don't get a bonus for skills activating anymore). Also, battles are oriented in very interesting style that mixes WA1 with WA3: during regular battles, you run around like you did in WA3, but during boss fights, you stay in the traditional WA1 party formation.

The characters: Rudy, Jack and Cece are now joined by people you will remember from the first game to assist them in combat: Dr. Emma, Calamity Jane and her butler Magdalen, along with others. The battle system utilizes the same Swap Out system from WA2 since you can end up with six people. Their abilities have been tweaked a bit:

Rudy's ARMS: Rudy uses his Hand Cannon ARM as his regular weapon now and can upgrade its parameters at ARMS parlors (much like in WA3). Although, be careful here since similar to WA3, Rudy can only upgrade 15 times and if you want to reset a parameter, you won't get your money back. He doesn't get new ARMS from treasure chests either, but rather cartridges that he can add to his cannon to fire off awesome attacks. Also, Rudy has to defend to restock his ammo which also copies from WA3. On a final note, Rudy doesn't have to restock his ammo for his special cartridges at an ARMS parlor, he only needs to rest to refill those.

Jack's Fast Draws: Jack has a lot less MP than he did in WA1 to use his draws. Not to mention, he has to use the draws to level them up and reduce the MP cost instead of using Secret Signs to reduce it. Because his draws are expensive and there are no more Magic Carrots for refilling MP, you will be spending a lot of time building them up.

Cece's Crest Magic: Traditionally, nothing much has changed here except a few spells have had their ranges tweaked to affect the whole party rather than cast on one ally at a time. Cece's newest feature is that she can regain MP every time she bops an enemy with her wand.

One thing to note is that everyone only has one Force power (their unique original one except for Cece whose Mystic ability has been passed on to Calamity Jane) and only Cece can summon Guardians now. The visuals on the Guardians are jawdropping to say the least though and of course the elemental gems are back as well.

With this game, you are looking at a merge of elements and gameplay factors from the previous three Wild Arms games set into the remake of the original WA, resulting in a huge and addicting game that certainly beats out the earlier months of poor RPGs (such as Suikoden 4 and Radiata Stories).

I HIGHLY recommend this to all fans and followers of Wild Arms. This game will keep you busy believe me. You should definitely get this game, especially since we are all eagerly awaiting the U.S. version of Wild Arms 4th Detonator.

Although beware gamers, due to the rather poor job that was done on the game (many bugs and such), it has been discontinued in the U.S. Hopefully, you can all find a copy.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Arms: A Blast From the Past!, December 2, 2005

By 

S. Rhodes - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Wild Arms Alter Code F (Video Game)

Wild Arms is a classic RPG. Before Final Fantasy VII blew the RPG world away, Wild Arms was there to keep people busy and entertained. Its wild-west/fantasy elements have always been amazing, and it has been branded by several RPGers and critics as a cult classic! And it is.

The storyline in Wild Arms is unchanged. The land of Filgaia is losing its strength. What used to be green has now been turned into dust, and the world continues to slowly die. The planet's downfall began during a war that was waged many years ago between the humanoid race and the metal demons. The Guardians of Filgaia lent their strength to do battle, but after pushing the demons away, they lost most of their strength. Since then, the world of Filgaia has been slowly dying.

There are three characters you'll go through Wild Arms with. There's Rudy, a man who carries around an ARM, Jack, a treasure hunter, and Cecilia who has the ability to communicate with the long lost guardians.

Each character is introduced with a small prologue sequence that's unique to Wild Arms, and has been used in every title. These sequences not only introduce you to your major characters, but also serves as a tutorial for the game. Each character has a set of tools they use. With these tools you'll solve various puzzles along your journey. These tools range from staffs that light your way through areas, to a little critter that you can send out to flick switches or open inaccessable treasure chest. Either way, each tool is not only valuable, but neccessary to complete the game. It makes for something interesting to do on the field as opposed to other RPGs that constantly have you run from point A to point B only facing off in random encounters.

Battling in Wild Arms is simple, and complex. Like any RPG, you give your characters orders and watch them all attack, and then watch your enemies. It works, although by now the battle system definitely needs a tune up in this regard. Because of it's overly simplistic way of battling, most battles are somewhat slow and tiresome.

Aside from that, however, the battle mechanics are fairly well done. You can cast magic using Cecilia's magic crest, and Rudy can use his ARMS so long as he has ammunition, while Jack performs sword skills. This all requires MP and is, again, simple, but there are other nifty things that can be done. Each time a character takes damage, or deals out damage, he or she will gain Force Points (marked FP in the game). The more they have, the more able they are to perform their special abilities. Each ability takes 25 FP, and then it must be gained back again. There's another upside to Force Points. Once you reach one hundred force points (the maximum amount) your character is cured of any negative status ailments such as poison. This makes Wild Arms battle system unique.

The battles, as I noted, tend to be fairly slow and can sometimes drag on forever. This is remedied by the Migrant Level system. The Migrant Level system is simple and easy to use. In the corner you've got a Migrant Meter. When running around across the field an exclamation point will appear over your character's head. Press the circle button and you can bypass the battle. This takes away a bit of your Migrant Meter, but if you feel you need a break it comes in handy. The system does work, but with the frequent number of battles you'll get in, you'll use up your Migrant Meter in a matter of seconds. It does refill by battling, at least, and when in some puzzle rooms, you don't have to worry about battles at all.

The biggest change from the original is obvious: the graphics. They made quite a change, ditching the super-deformed look of the last decade and smoothing everything out. Characters and environments look very detailed. While the update in graphics is certainly welcome, it's sad that it doesn't utilize the power of the Playstation 2. These are by no means bad graphics, they just don't bring out the potential of the PS2. Some animations are also a bit blocky. The enemies look better, especially some of the bosses. That's also a welcome change. So while the graphics look great, they're not really jaw-dropping.

The music is still good though. The western theme that Wild Arms is known for still exists. Not only that, but it still sports some adventure themes of its own as well. The combination of Wild-Western, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi has always been a well established staple of the Wild Arms series. The music never seems to forget that either.

Another big change from the original is that you use six characters. While you'll mostly travel around with the default three, the other three are welcome. You'll have to recruit these characters by way of side-quests, however, and locating some of them can be troublesome. However, that's what's also pretty cool about Wild Arms Alter Code F. There are plenty of sidequests, hidden bosses and hidden items to uncover. The basic quest may only be about thirty hours, but doing everything this game has to offer is time-consuming, and actually fun. The hidden bosses are especially a treat, giving every RPGer the challenge they've been waiting for. And unlike most RPGs that give you some dumb item just to prove you've succeeded where so many have failed, you may actually get a decent reward in Wild Arms.

It's safe to say this is a good remake. The battle system may still be a little slow, but the game is still, overall, fun. The update was certainly worthwhile. Many Wild Arms junkies have probably already played this game in it's original state, and they most certainly weren't wrong in doing so. It's a classic. Any RPGer that hasn't played this game, should. And anyone who played the original should be satisfied at a well done remake.

The Good
+Remake of a classic game
+Interesting story
+Loveable characters
+Pretty cool battle mechanics
+Good soundtrack
+Lots of side quest

The Bad
-Battles are way too frequent
-Battling is a little slow paced

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rather huge remake, although it could have probably waited a little longer..., August 8, 2006

By 

Stephen J. White "Dragnilar" (Richmond, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Wild Arms Alter Code F (Video Game)

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.