So, I started playing this game yesterday and I’ve got to say I’m REALLY enjoying it so far…
My question is, how does this game stack up to wild arms (original) as well as other ps2 rpgs?
Length?
Story?
I’ve just obtained the first set of 4 guardians so I’ve not played very far into the game yet.
Any input would be awesome.
WA3 = Great Opening theme, but never really captures the romance, vastness, wonder, and western feel of the original.
Really? I thought WA3 captured the Western feel far better than the original. Having it all take place in a desert helps, of course. I always felt the original WA diluted the Western theme with too much “regular fantasy”.
Storywise, it’s nowhere near as good as WA1 (pretty awful actually), but gameplay-wise it can be a lot more fun. Length is variable depending on how many sidequests you want to do (there are LOTS). Some sidequests are fun, some are excruciatingly boring. There are about 25 dungeons, each being about half an hour to an hour, rather than a smaller number of huge ones, so the pace is pretty quick and the world is huge.
The diluted western theme was what I was going for. Pure western, IMO, is pretty damn horrible.
I loved the technofantasy setting, if you can call it that. It’s hard to describe, but it’s what stuff like Escaflowne uses, as well. With stuff like golems and other advanced machines, but in a fantasy setting. Really tough to describe, but I just eat it up.
I’ve been wanting more western stuff lately. I played and enjoyed Red Dead Revolver because it was western. The theme of gameplay is just different to me and hasnt been touched on enough in games. I’m glad WA3 is ultra western.
I thought WA3 was a fairly good game. WA1 was pretty stereotypical and the graphics sucked, but it was fun to play. It was a classic RPG. There’s just something about WA2 that couldn’t keep my interest. Maybe it also was lack of time, but anyway, its less fantasy like. I always thought there were a couple things they could’ve done to WA3 to add extra coolness, like tie it with WA1 or polish the final chapter a little bit more, but overall it was enjoyable.
Personaly, I loved WA3.
You might want to give the upcoming WA1 remake a shot.
Don’t get me started on WA3. It’s hellaciously mediocre gameplay, weak storyline, slow battles, lame magic system, annoying graphics etc. bill it as the worst game I’ve never played. The game kills off the only interesting villain in it halfway through, it’s only half done where it SHOULD have ended. The second half of the game seriously seems to be forced. It’s like the writers ran out of ideas and just made crap up for the second half. Key word there, CRAP. I know 10 year olds with learning disorders who could write better story.
While WA3 isn’t Xenogears, Jango needs to play some REAL bad RPGs if WA3 really is the worst.
I found that it got better the farther you got. Probably because more fantasy elements were introduced. The horse battles were cool though.
WA3 should not be played for its story.
None of the WAs should.
And that is precisely the reason that car is off limits to all passengers.
Dude, we’re on a boat.
I know, I’m the one that brought it up. Infact, listening to the soundtrack of WA:AF is what made me want to play WA3… 
What happened Cless? You used to be cool…
Having played all three games (with guidebooks, too) I can say that:
WA first had the best team of villains EVER. The heroes were very likeable, too. The graphics sucked, tho, particularly in combat. And some of the puzzles were murder.
WA2 has the BEST story of all three: an in-depth exploration of what it means to be a hero, from SEVERAL characters’ POV. Also has the best heroes. And the best game ending ever.
WA3 is sort of mediocre compared to the other two. Not BAD by any stretch, just not as good. The final Boss was particularly odd. The graphics were the best, however, particularly in combat. Note that, despite the presence of a certain character, this game has NO continuity with the first WA.
These are just MY opinions, of course. And honestly, I’d recommend all three over most other RPGs today.