Probably, yeah. But only barely. I don't know what to say about Wild Arms 2: Second Ignition. It does some interesting things, but it does a lot of bad things.
The character backstories, for example. The game doesn't go into much detail about them. We know Brad was a war hero during the Sleyheim Liberation War, but how did he get that title? What glorious thing did he do? I don't think we even know what that war was about. We know it was to overthrow the king, but does anyone know what said king did? We know that he ended it all when he turned his homeland into salt. Show, or at least tell, us how it started. Vinsfeld shouldn't have made up a cause for war that ended so poorly.
What happened to Illia's sister? It seems like she died but how, when, and why? It's a pivotal moment in our mage's history so explain.
I think Kanon got the most backstory, but I want to know more. How long has she been exorcising demons? Go into more detail about her Valerian cadet blood. We see the impetus of her character now give us some action scenes!
Marievl is an immortal vampire! When did she become the last of her kind? And for that matter, how does she know so much about Ashley?
Tim is a twelve-year-old, so I'll give him a pass. But I'd love to see more on the relationship between Ashley and Marina. Their love story was vital to everything, but I never felt connected to it.
The plot advancement had its misfires. There were far, far too many overdone events and "And then" storylines. Every time we fought Odessa, someone was telling us that they bought enough time. We beat them handily often, but it never mattered in the end. If nothing advances in a game, then what's the point of playing it? But I have more to say about them in a moment.
Plot McGuffins came from nowhere. A few twists were shadowed with books, like the Valerias being descendants of the Sword Magess, but others were just poofed into existence. Brad clones?! The Gygas bomb, the nuke dragon, The Pillar and sacrifice, vampires, cybernetics, most of the lost technology, and Valera being Odessa's backers. All of these appear from nowhere and fade away just as fast. The Heimdal Gazzo is relevant for an hour, and the Life Reflectors for even less. The weapon that turned Sleyheim to salt is a series of lost technologies that I'm interested in. Who made all of this stuff, and where'd they go? Even the immortal vampire doesn't know. And the Chateau turning into a plane is nonsense.
Is Odessa the worst set of villains in JRPGs? They accomplish nothing other than hijacking a radio tower, having an airship, and stealing a nuke no one knew existed. Who do they kill? They kidnapped and destroyed a church, but no one died. And they had potential, even if it was just on a relatable basis. I'm curious how a great evil organization would exist in a world where finances are relevant. There's one scene where they discuss funding, but it's thrown away until a terrible twist at the very end. Their personalities don't even make sense. Judecca seems like a scientific genius until you learn he's just a boring sadist. Ptolomea is a commander for the ground troops, but we don't discover that until he dies. Antenora has a fun twist on loyalties, but it only serves to make Vinsfeld look evil for the sake of evil. Was there a reason he killed her family? Caina having a homosexual interest in Vinsfeld is interesting, so I'll give them that one. It gets bastardized in the American release, but I'll pick and choose what twists I use in games. These guys are a dull threat. "Threat" being a word I use loosely, of course.
The battle system was fun but easy. As I said earlier, I don't like difficult games, but this was too much, even for me. There's no real challenge, and what is there is just status effect spam. It's entirely superficial.
The setting was kinda hit and miss for me. It's supposed to an American western theme, which the game hits occasionally. Except for a lot of sand and a few cowboy hats, is there anything that makes these towns western? No water shortages, small town/anti-government vibe, horses, religion, or shootout/train robbing mid-bosses? Hell, there's only one train!
The music was the same. It often fit the scene, aiding to the setting, but many pieces left no impact on me. I dug some of them, the main town theme, for example, but there's no hook, and parts of the songs kinda sucked. The tracks toward the end were all great, but you got to hear them once. I will say, though, the hovercraft song beats any of the Final fantasy ship themes by a full eight measures. I liked what I heard, but I just don't think I'll remember most of them.
And now for the good news! I did like the battle system. There's a lot of stuff here: from magic spells to multiple special attacks that don't even take into account those spells. The guardians giving characters flexibility and more actions to take was amazing. It's a materia-lite mechanic. Kanon was boring and straightforward, and Ashley felt limited since there's little need to transform, but Illia and Brad are great! I even liked Tim's method of getting spells, even if I found him too weak to use. Blue Mage Marivel is a cool idea, but I never went into it, which is my fault. I won't let her one time to shine, where she won, by the way, impact my feeling toward her class. Many games give one or two mechanics to work with, but Wild Arms gives you four. And you can swamp characters, gear, and tactics on the fly. I'd love to see a game that incorporates these things in a better presentation.
I liked all of the characters. Yes, even Tim. I have some qualms about them, but I like them as people and playable cast. They have fascinating backstories (that need to be expanded) and a definite place on the team. DPS, tank, healer, speedster, magic damage, a bit of everything: I like my cast to have defined roles. They all have their relatable ideals: Why do I fight? What of my past? Is it okay to throw your life away for others? These are questions that people ask themselves every day. It isn't something crazy like, "Am I a clone?" or "I don't even have a backstory.". A game doesn't need to get too deep, and a simple "I fight to be snuggled by childhood love" is more than enough and relatable.
Dungeon exploration is where the game shines. Finding Tools and figuring how to use them to solve the puzzles in the depths of the earth was fun. Many of them managed to even tickle my brain. Sure, a few were terrible, but they can't all be zingers. Many RPGs either do away with puzzles or make them optional. Some make them tedious and make me not want to play the game or hide them in the boss battles. The difficulty in Wild Arms 2 was perfect in this sense.
With a 4-2-3 ratio, I think is my least enjoyable game that I've finished since starting the blog. And I understand that. Ultimately, I did enjoy my playthrough of the game. It didn't overstay its welcome, I didn't get mad or consider rage quitting until the final boss, and a part of me wants to play more of the franchise. I thought about playing Wild Arms 1 instead of this dark aged game, but I kept my plan instead. Kid me would have loved the game. Thirty-something-year-old me finds it middling. It's a decent game and deserved better than my totally forgetting about it in the depths of depression. But it's incredibly flawed and needed some storyboard editing.
But I'm gonna indulge in some nonsense for a moment.
Four of Odessa is named after rivers in Hades. Vinsfeld's last name, Rhadamanthus, is a judge of the dead in Greek myth. The final dungeon is a spiral downward into a blue/frozen landscape. The final boss is a dragon, creatures sometimes associated with Satan. is this game a terrible allusion to Dante's Inferno?
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