[PS2] Wild Arms: Vth Vanguard

I'm going to wet my pants over the eventual newest release of Wild Arms yet again! With a fifth in the works, I'm guessing that the 4th held it's own despite mixed feelings over some of the new in-game systems.

I am excited that there are two girls supporting the main character this time. Very nice, seeing as how WA3 had Virginia as the female lead, and WA4 had Raquel as the overkill princess. I was sort of hoping that they'd continue to break convention with the guy being the mage type, but I don't think spellcasters would have use for shovels.

I like the encounter avoidance system in WA5 since you could totally skip it without sacrificing ENC gauge points anymore, although by the time you were able to seal off encounters, you had already cleared the dungeon most of the time. Plus, a good amount of the time, you had to beat stronger than average monsters due to detonation status in order to work for your break point rights.

I'm a bit suspicious about there being no prologue this time around. I know WA4 didn't do the "separate characters uniting" thing that was done for the first three, but I really liked that concept. Hopefully they can still retain the feel of "we all met by fate" that I love so much.

I loved the hex system as well, even though some people hated it. The trade off of having all characters in one hex as opposed to separate hexes is a neat balance. Even if you beefed up your hex(es) with Arnaud, and weakened the opponents' hex(es), you could be in danger if you were sloppy still.

Geting excited about this already

How ya doing, buddy?

I'm the exception to that observation. I dislike WA2 because it was so ugly when I finally got the chance to play it. The controls annoyed me too so I traded it in prematurely. Therefore I'd like to see a remake of WA2, but possibly with voice-overs unlike Alter Code F.

Other than WA2 though, I'm just nuts for the rest of the series so far, and hopefully V can add an ever nicer reiteration to the Wild Arms feel.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

"Jump!... One More!"
I turned my voice frequency to max, since I didn't mind. I forgot whether you could turn it off completely in the options screen or just put it to a minimum. You're right though about how it loses it's effect and she's still saying it at the end of the game. Finest Arts distracted me from noticing too much.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by dark1x

I do appreciate the fact that you are healed after each battle,

So it doesn't work like in Alter Code F where they had the VIT gauge then? I always felt annoyed whenever it went empty, and the enemies start to chip away at your actual life.

I really hope that the story stays as cheesy as always because that's one of the main reasons I am drawn to Wild Arms, for the cheesy "teamwork beats everything" mentality. Although I loved the "comic book" presentation in 4, I think cutscenes in 5 would also be very welcome as well.

I'm currently addicted to Nana Mizuki's "Justice To Believe" which is the opening theme I think? I hope the rest of the music has as much of an impact as that. I look forward to what each boss battle song will sound like.

How ya doing, buddy?

Now that the soundtrack is out on gamemp3s, I can say that I am starting to miss Michiko Naruke's work. I loved a lot of Kouda's songs in Wild Arms 4, and while Vth Vanguard's OST is far from bad, it's not very catchy. Noriyasu Agematsu's stuff is all right, but it doesn't particularly compel me. At least Justice to Believe is really nice still

I was speaking idiomatically.

All copies!? Or first 100 or so?
That's almost too sweet of a deal.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'm hoping it's not last-minute delayed or anything since I've been waiting all month and longer for this, being a Wild ARMs junkie and all! Went to EB today to check just for the slim possibility they got it on the ship date. My only disappointment going into it is how Justice to Believe will sound in Englsh *shudder*

FELIPE NO

Lol Rebecca's black suit. slightyl risque.


I just got to Gounon and the timeline is sort of bothering me now. I know it's purely fanservice that the cameos are present and the characters are here are vaguely named so that you can't definitively point their cameos out as canon, but:

Spoiler:

Paladienne (Yulie) asks you to find her brother but then by the end of Wild Arms 4, Kresnik is already dead. As well, you see Raquel and Arnaud in the Mirapulse pub but then if Kresnik is still alive, then that sort of implies that the quartet never met yet. :s

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

At this moment I'm fighting the Memorial Shrine's Sol Niger and I have one glaring gripe. Up until this point, the game makes you manually get out of dungeons and such, going through all the long rooms again. This last event was the only time so far where you didn't have to travel from one town all the way to another (Laila Belle and Mithysmere). Granted there were scenes and such along the way out, but it's still somewhat annoying to not be instantly transported out or back to town.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The artbook is actually paperback, but still good nonetheless.

Does anyone know the track name of the song that plays in Mithysmere? I've taken quite a liking to it's somber mood but have deleted many tracks of both volumes of OSTs out of incorrect first impressions.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Finally got the Monowheel, which gladly replaces manually running to and from every long stretch of road between cities and dungeons.

The story is still pretty messy so far, with there being more the ever-shifting reference to what exactly this Johnny Appleseed is. The revelation better make sense because I can't keep track of all the switching descriptor pronouns for it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

No comment on the ending or how things are wrapped up? I hope it's still satisfying enough, or that the second and third playthroughs provide alternate endings with this I read about different versions of the last boss or something.

Right now I just finished Harmonde, so I guess I'm still not close to the end of the game, even going by the soundtracks with song for that town not being towards the end. As for this point, I'll have to say that everyone seems to have had a destined rival battle, and the game loves to use the mechanic of "fights you're meant to lose." Still looking for the name of the song that plays in Mithysmere

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

It is a dead average RPG, and this coming from a die-hard Wild Arms junkie. However, for me at least, the hex system has a very strange lure to it and makes battles exciting. Can't say the same for others who apparently hate the hex system.

No perceivable benefits from Wild Arms 4 data so far. Just won't be able to recognize the WA4 cameos when you see them, that's all.

I was speaking idiomatically.