Wild Arms Complete Series Retrospective

[@Xygor]

Which game in the Wild Arms series was your favorite? Gain early access to my videos by supporting me at www.patreon.com/xygorgaming OR through KZbin membership by clicking the JOIN button above!

[@StewNWT]

Wild Arms 1 of course. Just like SUikoden 1 it set the tone, and had by far the best soundtrack. The original game had a hydrid of western imagery and high fantasy setting - the subsequent games get less and less fantasy.

[@IaconDawnshire]

The OG

[@bryze9594]

5th, 2nd, 1st

[@MK384]

Personally the first one was my favorite because of the intro movie

[@YaminoSeigi]

No matter which Wild Arms, the soundtrack always be the strongest point, the music style had that particular charm that evokes strong sense of nostalgia.

[@RogueValice]

I haven't played a Wild Arms game in years since I was a teenager. The nostalgic feels when I hear the music brings me back to good times.

[@gavinlucas9761]

This series is so incredibly underrated, and I can't wait to replay these games all over again in the near future.

[@Xygor]

Right on! Hopefully the series is revived someday.

[@inquisitorhoennheim5389]

Currently, as I'm commenting, they have 1-3 on PS store but not 4 or 5

[@jinstinky501]

3 is my favorite.

[@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama]

Alter Code F (the PS2 remake of Wild Arms 1) is probably my favorite overall. All the touching up they did to the original looks and feels fantastic, and of course adding Jane, Emma, and Zed as playable characters was overdue in my opinion (Jane in particular screamed "friendly rival party member" in the original, and then never happened). I am a little disappointed that they did the WA3 thing with no equipment, and they also removed a couple of dungeons, but ultimately, I feel like Alter Code F is the culmination of all the things that made Wild Arms great to begin with.

[@rhinelladiptycha3513]

Alter Code F is so good! The only negative point I can give it is the wonky translation that's full of typos, other than that it's a clear labor of love to the original

[@Version0111]

​@@rhinelladiptycha3513I don't know if I'd say it's the ONLY negative point I can think of, but I absolutely hated how they changed Zed's theme music.

[@Balbazack]

Played Wild Arms 1 (never finished it) like 20 years ago... Done 3 and 4 last year and started again 1 last week! Love those games... Musics and characters have something unique you don't find in most other RPGs and I love it!

[@Saffreuge]

Wild Arms 5 🥰🥰🥰 so nostalgic. It's my favorite in the series. The music can't get out of my head Its post game got really crazy

[@Xygor]

Thanks for your take!

[@travisstase1577]

Wild Arms 2 has one of the best, most underrated stories for any RPG.

[@PowerPandaMods]

This series needs a collection or remaster so badly. Too many were released after the end of a console generation. I've been playing Wild Arms 5 lately, and it's one of the most enjoyable RPGs I've played.

[@feliusv1686]

Dude just a couple years ago i couldn't find any complete timeline vids, im glad people are somewhat picking up obscure games now

[@drowningin]

I’m playing my first ever Wild Arms game currently with XF on the PSP. It’s really pretty good. I do plan to play more of the series

[@Xygor]

XF is so underrated, I was surprised how good it was.

[@thejmr]

i would love a wild arms 2 remake

[@Xygor]

That would be sweet!

[@Emilaiho]

Great retrospective! I loved every second of it! I have a story to share, and this is the first time I’m telling it. Wild Arms is literally the reason I’m writing this comment. My first encounter with the series was Wild Arms 1, around 1999, when I was 9. The game’s puzzles completely blew my mind-especially for a kid my age. However, I was born in a non-English-speaking country, so the language barrier became a real problem to me. However, instead of getting frustrated, I decided to visit my aunt, who was an English teacher and had graduated in the U.K. I remember that I would write down the game’s dialogues in a small notebook and take them to her so she could translate them for me. Little by little, I started getting interested in learning English. After a few visits, she gave me my first "English-Spanish dictionary", which I used over and over, trying to figure out words and make sense of the story so I could keep progressing in the game. Those were amazing nights, solving puzzles and pushing myself to the limit with a new language. Later, I continued studying English and eventually became fluent. This helped me open my own English institute, along with some friends, which I ran for four years (until the pandemic), and now I work remotely as a programmer for a U.S.-based company, using English 100% of the time. So, wrapping up-thanks to Wild Arms, I can say it sparked my journey and interest in English as a kid. Long live the Wild Arms series!

[@VasilibriuM]

Thanks for making the video, I clicked as soon as I saw it. It's truly a shame that the Wild Arms Series has been mostly forgotten, just like the Breath of Fire series... At least we got the first 3 games available on PS4 & PS5. I guess I'll have to play the other games on their respective consoles, as I highly doubt they'll ever be ported to the modern system in the near future.

[@Xygor]

Thank you so much for the support!

[@Kezmanisgod9]

I absolutely love Wild Arms 1, I try to play through it once a year, I plan on playing through all the games I have, WA1-5 and Alter F. I actually liked the search system but I love to grind and overlevel my partys so it’s all subjective per person. Love these series videos.

[@dmann1982]

My big memory of Wild Arms, 3 in particular: Playing through the game, got to the Humbaba Boss (IYKYK). I was prepared for it, in context. Clive had Valiant, and a Dark Ring Mysticed on him. Humbaba had Weaken. Clive was down about 300HP. And Clive got a critical for nearly 8000 damage. Did a very solid kill from it.

[@Xygor]

Thanks for sharing your memories of 3!

[@sleepyprinny]

I played them all and Alter Code F and 5 were/are my favorites

[@Xygor]

Thanks for dropping your thoughts here!

[@Arupacas]

This video was made for me. Wild Arms was my very first JRPG and has been such an integral part of my life. Thank you so much for this amazing deep dive!!

[@sorrowinthewind4258]

My favourite RPG series by far, it has so much heart... Very underrated.

[@usefullinks531]

Most underrated soundtrack in gaming.

[@LanEXHikari]

These videos are so entertaining and insightful as I've never owned a PS console. I've only heard of Wild Arms until this point and now I can tell why it's so respected despite its lack of popularity 👍🏼

[@Valtrass69]

Wild Arms is one of my favorite franchises, i'm glad somebody like you who define himself as an old school guy highlights the Wild Arms games. I really hope Armed Fantasia will be released soon and on PS4 !

[@leeartlee915]

It’s been almost 30 years but I still feel proud that I was playing RPGs in the early 90s. Still have my original copy of Chrono Trigger I bought at Toys ‘R Us for me 11th birthday.

[@cycloidp]

I grew up playing all this amazing RPGs. Wild Arms is one of those series that are close to my heart. From the music, Colors, gameplay, story, everything was sooo awesome. I remember putting the game on my psx just watch the intro and whistle along with the intro. I still own all the original disk in their original cases with booklet and all. So many games i will like to play again and this would be the first series to go through from 1 to 5. Now we need wild arms 6 or a remake.

[@milagrosgutierrezmartin9506]

3. My favourite is definately 3. Perfect ambience and vibes. The rest do have some of that wild west ambiance, but 3 is just perfect in that regard, and I love the characters. The battles and animations are also perfect, unlike 4 and 5 which were just too long, and the Hex system never seemed to click with me. Also, I really disagree with you, and think the cel shaded art style makes it timeless rather than just being another ps2 RPG. I came late to the series, but I regret not having been into it in it's heyday. Guess we'll have to wait and see how Armed Fantasia turns out.

[@drwps.]

that unique font in Wild Arms 1&2 though ❤

[@Coyoda]

Wild Arms 2 blew me away. I played it during covid because I hadn't actually gotten to the 2nd disc and I was surprise by how cool the characters were, the story, etc. Despite the spotty translation, it was an awesome game with great puzzles and some symbolic themes in its narrative here and there.

[@jonathanu.3865]

I'm a huge wild arms fan of the first trilogy games.. and yes i also do like the scan/search system on the world map. It makes you feel exploring in real life where you unlock surprises along the way. I say it's a neat mechanic. 😊

[@Spacecorgi]

That goddamn mechanic where you had to scan for towns made me rage it was so nonsenical

[@Valtrass69]

I was dreading towards this scan system on the map but surprisingly it didn't bother me that much, i kinda liked it to be honest lol.

[@thepun3721]

wild arms gotta be one of my all time favorite games, ive had fftactics and wild arms on rotation since release

[@nopalsito_]

Wild Arms 3 has to be one the greatest RPGs

[@oneupdawg]

My fave is ultimately Wild Arms V. Absolutely love this one even though I've played all even the PSP title.

[@Xygor]

Thanks for your thoughts!

[@thecognitiverambler8911]

Played 1 through 3 and none others. 1 is definitely my favorite. High hopes for Armed Fantasia.

[@yazarc4598]

Wild Arms was the continuation of Lufia 2 that we never got. I’m replaying Alter Code F right now. So much fun! The first two games…..hitting a random battle had me scrambling for the volume button the first time. It’s really jarring.

[@daggerv]

I need to replay this since it's been over ten years, but this was a game I recommended to friends that really love Lufia, because at the time I saw a lot of similarities in them.

[@Xygor]

Which one did you remember most?

[@gregmeli951]

How did you know I was thinking about Wild Arms two days ago?

[@Xygor]

We read minds here at Xygor Gaming!

[@MK384]

I beleive I am one of the few who has all of the games physically. Including the PSP and Anime, Twilight Venom. To this day, I still get teary eyed listening to the opening song from the first game.

[@Mighty10917]

They have their Ups and downs but none the less they're good games and I'm glad that the spiritual successer (Arm Fantasia) is happening

[@Xygor]

Hopefully it comes out soon!

[@darrylnevels6141]

I played the first Wild Arms and yeah its a classic working on Wild Arms 2 now.

[@espfusion]

I don't know if this is a very popular opinion but I played Wild Arms 1 when it first came out and even back then I thought the battle graphics looked awful. Wild Arms 2's were only slightly less awful which is pretty bad seeing how it came out like 3 years later. They should have put a lot more effort into it or just went with 2D/mostly 2D (like Suikoden) I also thought the 2D graphics outside of battle in WA1 were just okay. The sprites had this prerendered 3D look with bad outlining that I didn't think looked that great.

[@nanya524]

The Cel-shaded graphics of WA3 have aged VERY well. The HD version hardly needed any touchups to work.

[@jesserivera2043]

Honestly, I've been trying to find this series ever since davinc reviewed it on his channel. It's definitely not easy

[@AnthonyIsToeKnee]

Excellent video! You make me want to buy the whole series lol

[@Xygor]

Great! Mission accomplished!

[@driftingswordsmanzer]

My first Wild Arms game was Wild Arms 2 loved it but never finished it as a kid. I will though, currently playing through WA3 just purchased WA1 last night. After I finish WA3 I plan on finishing WA2 then WA1. Can’t wait for Armed Fantasia.

[@ArchGeek]

This series has always been a favorite. I’ve gotten every game in the series, except the cellphone games exclusive to Japan. Looking forward to Armed Fantasia, backed that a long long time ago.

[@brianrobinson75]

wild arms 1 is my favorite game ever

[@Xygor]

Right on, it’s the best!

[@veghesther3204]

Sadly once Wild arms 5 had its PS2 release their hasn't been a 6th CONSOLE game ever and No X F doesn't count since its a tactical Vita RPG so they haven't made a 6th Wild arms game in YEARS

[@BLU3D4Y]

I can't recall it very well but I vaguely remember loving Wild Arms 4 the most due to story plot 🤔

[@sleeperyjeemtoybox]

Just dug out my copy of the first game, still got some cheats ripped out of gaming mags stuck in the manual. Item Duplication. Secret Aliens. Chest solution to De La Metalica. Got to go with the first game as a fav., but with music from 3 the standout to me.

[@Xygor]

Glad the video seems to have renewed your interest! The first is the best!!

[@reili5098]

as always, appreciate your videos!!

[@andrewsingsthehymns9567]

ive always loved RPGs however, i missed out on most of them... didnt even know they existed... this series included until about a year ago.

[@leroy3510]

I'm from Europe and it's a bummer that Wild Arms 2 amd Alter Code F never came to europe and that 5 and XF were available here only in selected countries Italy and France. So i have the full US import collection of all 7 games and the anime Twilight Venom.

[@PlatinumHaro]

Wild arms was my first big rpg, that my dad let me play.

[@CrimRui]

Nice retrospective, although I wish you dived more into it with some unique stuff. Like in first game where you get the Guardians, the characters failed the tests to get them, but since nobody else is left to protect the world, they still decide to help out, even though you had a weak ''heart''. Other things like Wild Arms 2 having a 2nd intro that happens after new enemies appear and story changes in Disk 2. Also, losing your mind over scanning in WA2 is a bit of stretch. From one to other town, you can only go in two or three directions to look, so you find it in a minute or two at worst.

[@happygamingdays6883]

what wild arms did it has been done in other jrpgs before but sadly those games never came to the west or europe been Summon Night and still is a good entry to the wild arms series

[@Xygor]

True! Thanks for your thoughts.

[@bv1825]

Im not suprised that Wild arms has that western vive, Japan at that time was a great fan of this genre

[@feiwong3634]

Huge WA fan here, i remember getting the original Wild Arms when ff7 was released, and a friend of mine that was playing it one day saw me wih WA, and laughed on how "ridiculous" it looked, being sprites instead of 3d and rendered backgrounds. I didn't pay any attention, as a i fell in love with WA, and played every entry and bought tons of merch. It was sad seeing that Sony killed the franchise, even having a big following, specially in Japan, luckily we have a spiritual succesor in the making with Armed Fantasia.

[@prolevelcallout4597]

I was literally just considering getting into the Wild Arms series too(was looking for rpgs that have double and triple techs like Chrono Trigger)

[@0zRevolution]

This reminds me so so much of GOLDEN SUN

[@johnkim7890]

The first wild arms I ever played was 2 and i loved the concept of Knight Blazer. Then when the ps3 released I managed to download wild arms 1 from psn and played that too. Both are great games. I did finish 3 but... ehhh I agree with you on the cell shading and the overworld was just too muddy in color for that style and to top it off yeah the sonar/radar feature for 3 in particular was pretty bad...Cool video, it's nice to remember good old rpgs.

[@nouashax__]

I used to hate the map search function, But I kinda like it now. ahahaahah . . . .

[@leko3969]

alter code f for me was the BEST wild arms i played... I barelly finished 3 and 4 and 5..didnt have the same guts for 1 and 2..

[@KillAllCommies2]

Armed Fantasia looks very promising

[@Xygor]

Yes it does!

[@lvl21bellsprout92]

Didnt even know there was a wild arms 4 or 5 crazy😅😮

[@prodbyANT]

These games are so much better than their spiritual successor Tame Legs

[@Se7enBeatleofDoom]

Somehow Johnny Appleseed has returned.

[@gaussminigun]

@xygor you probably knew this already but: The Ecstacy Of Gold - Ennio Morricone

[@mattjenn6316]

I found a copy of 3 in a pawn shop so i bought a ps2 game was so good my fave wild arms

[@noble_wine]

I overlooked this game though I did like Lunar and the older tales games.

[@Caba-Rojo]

Wild Arms was originally going to be an action rpg.

[@dannyhartwig7595]

was stuck in wild arms 1 at some point and couldnt fig out how to move on. 2 and 3 where also nice

[@Caba-Rojo]

The original trumps Alter Code F… you hit the nail on the head. It feels like it lacks the soul of the original.

[@Bailzar]

i didnt finish wild arms 3, i think this is the one where you had to grow your berrys and i didnt like that very much, if i recall the felt harder, even though 1+2 werent super easy specially when you were young, wild arms one was brilliant, i loved wild arms 2 for Knightblazer if im honest :) saddly never played 4+5 or the psp one athough i do own them all havent got round to trying

[@scuba-people]

would love the same on the shadow hearts series !

[@williamjones4117]

I am hoping and praying and perhaps commiting blasphemous dark rituals in exchange for unholy favor, that the kickstarter delivers, as a fan of Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts.

[@IaconDawnshire]

I'm not sure how I feel that we never got Wild Arms mobile. :/

[@Xygor]

I don't think we were missing much!

[@SwagimirPutin]

The first two Wild Arms games are what sold the series to me, but I kind of started to lose interest with the third. I never finished that one and never played any of the games beyond that. I'm not sure why, so I am hoping this video might give me a reason to go back and check out the rest of the series.

[@Xygor]

That’s exactly where I found myself until I tried the rest!

[@SwagimirPutin]

@@Xygor I've tried the third one multiple times, but I found the radar system to be really bad and the character development just wasn't a thing. Even the radar system in WA2 didn't bother me as everything was pretty easy to find. I was wandering the world map for way too long in WA3 just to find where I needed to go.

[@KaiHanson-cd5xt]

Need more wild west inspired rpgs

[@Xygor]

Agreed!

[@Paur]

Man, despite how clunky it was told, the story of wild arms 2 clicks with me, at least on the concept level. Terrorists and counter-terrorist organizations, a well meaning but manipulative person pulling a huge and risky xanatos gambit, fighting a universe monster. It has the necessary pieces to be an epic storyline. But the execution was a bit off the mark. The translation certainly didn't help either. I also wish Anastasia and her wolf companion was playable permanently. It's like there's a second awesome story with her and Lord Blazer that lingers in the background, that will never to be told. Never played the other Wild Arms games, but I think I will give them a shot.

[@megabyte5726]

i think you would like visual novels more then jrpgs

[@StewNWT]

By the way why no coverage of Alter Code F?

[@Xygor]

It’s at the end

[@c.rackrock1373]

WildARMS 1 has a stellar story and great design. The only real complaint I had is graphics. WildARMs 2 has a good story but fantastic design and is one of the best jrpg's on ps1. I loved it the day it came out and it still holds up decently. WildARMs 3 is great but not amazing. In the ps2 era, though, it was a real gem. WildARMs 4? That doesn't exist, stop makin stuff up. They quit making them after 3! *sniffle*

[@razorbackroar]

Let’s goooo

[@UndeadEggmiester]

Honestly I loved the first game and the second but after that I just kinda quit playing the series. I recently watched someone play through 3.. or was it 4 I forgot what one. But I thought the game was fine at best but not as good as 1 or 2.

[@Xygor]

I don't blame you, that was basically me!

[@VictoriaCruz-f7r]

Jones David Rodriguez Steven Lopez Lisa

[@thatweekzz]

(sry for language) FUUUUUUUUUCK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

[@Xygor]

Glad you like it!

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

Didn't like WA3. If I remember correctly, you could only run in a straight line, which resulted in me mostly slow walking through dungeons, which was awful.

[@dustincompton992]

My favorite was probably one of the first three. Hard to say which exactly as they all had very good things about them. Least favorite on the other hand was DEFINITELY 5. The writing in that game was just so, SO bad, and it’s story only got worse the longer it went on and the more I thought about it. That and I thought the combat was a step backwards as I prefer unique character capabilities and I remember the fights against the members of Brionac in 4 being far more interesting.

[@gaddyric]

I only played the first two games. The first was my favorite by far. I hated how they more or less wrote out the guardians in the second game and wasnt really satisfied with the story. Because of that I lost interest in the series.

[@finalfayth9165]

the best for me was wild armes 2 then wild armes 1 , i hate the 3rd one , wild armes 4 and 5 are not wild amres games for me but you can like them maybe. i like wild armes 1 on ps1 the most , the ps2 remake was good but not enough fot me especially because there no equipement for charecters and the camera was from above in dungeons !!! i hated that so much

[@sveknut]

My favourite game in the series is a close finish between 1 and 3, although 1 barely takes it. Then 5, and then 2. I didn't like Wild Arms 4, worst in the series. It strayed too much from it's western roots, the story was crap and I never got engaged. On the other hand, I liked the new battle system.

[@StewNWT]

Also as much as I love the first game I can't deal with Wild Arms Alter Code F. I want so badly to want to play it and play the extra content and characters but they didn't just fuck over the beautiful 2D art with ugly as sin 3D pixelated graphics, but they BUTCHERED the amazing soundtrack.

[@sethreynolds3907]

its wild arms cross fire

[@countpicula]

Alter code f is superior to the classic in a lot of ways and you’re insane for not trying it….

[@filgaia1]

Feel compelled to comment given my username

[@TheDiscoGenre]

From what I've gathered: Wild Arms 1 is a good first shot, but nothing world changing. ACF is a weird monkey's paw: Wild Arms 1 with more content but WA3's jank gameplay. Wild Arms 2 is an improvement of everything from WA1, outside its janky translation. Wild Arms 3 has the strongest Wild West tone/vibes, but the gameplay is very jank. Also Persona 3 did its final boss better. Wild Arms 4 is basically Grandia 3/Shadow Hearts: From The New World. Gameplay is fun, but the story is *VERY* corny 6/10 anime nonsense that abandons the Wild West setting (mostly) for generic sci-fi post apocalypse world. Wild Arms 5 is cope for WA4 abandoning the wild west tone; battle system/dungeon design have improved, especially the dungeon design, but like 4, it still has the 6/10 corny anime writing, but worse in someways due to its length. Also loses the cool gimmick boss fights from 4 because there's no Raquel tier shenanigans party member.

[@riodave4954]

I understand u want likes and sub but omg maybe once or twice not every 5 mins...

[@SpoonyBard88]

Wild Arms has a bizarre design problem wherein your skill progression is not only unintuitive, but completely unrewarding. You gain so many completely useless abilities, and every encounter just boils down to just doing the same abilities over and over. It's really frustrating.