Make a Memory: Let's Play Wild Arms 3

[gogglebob]

Chapter Index
Chapter 01: Sweet Virginia
Chapter 02: The Jet Song
Chapter 03: Gunman Clive
Chapter 04: Gallows Humor
Chapter 05: Janus Never Blinks
Chapter 06: To Grandmother's Cave We Go
Chapter 07: Blame Yourself or Guardians
Chapter 08: Wine, Women, and White Lies
Chapter 09: Three-Faced Monster
Chapter 10: Save a Horse (Ride a Drifter)
Chapter 11: Schröedinger's Gat
Chapter 12: The Turtle's Lament
Chapter 13: Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely Quickly

Act 1 Complete Interlude: The Last JRPG

Chapter 14: Goals and Dolls
Chapter 15: Ruses 'n Resurrections
Chapter 16: Lunar Silver Slickster Story
Chapter 17: Sand in Your Huskarl
Chapter 18: The Dying of the Light
Chapter 19: She Murdered Me with Science
Chapter 20: Rest Virginia
Chapter 21: Home is Where the Plot Is
Chapter 22: How does your Garden Grow?
Chapter 23: Luck of the Villainous
Chapter 24: The Self-Righteous Gemstones
Chapter 25: Get a Job
Chapter 26: Everybody Lives
Chapter 27: You're an Errand Boy of the Gods
Chapter 28: Gals being Pals
Chapter 29: Volatile Dreams
Chapter 30: You Can Always Go Home Again (and Again)
Chapter 31: Clocktower: The Struggle
Chapter 32: For Whom the Cat Meows
Chapter 33: The Twin Snakes
Chapter 34: Zoom Meeting
Chapter 35: Going Green
Chapter 36: Villains x Issues
Chapter 37: For a Different World
Chapter 38: You Wouldn't Download a Demon

Act 2 Complete Interlude: Art Appreciation

Chapter 39: Rise and Grind, Virginia
Chapter 40: The Bone Zone
Chapter 41: The History of the World Part 1
Chapter 42: The Meaning of Life
Chapter 43: Love and Lust (and Sea Serpents)
Chapter 44: You Gotta Fly
Chapter 45: Gunmetal Action
Chapter 46: Crossfire Sequence
Chapter 47: In Blackest Night
Chapter 48: For Hope Shines Bright
Chapter 49: Too Many Daddies
Chapter 50: Looking Up
Chapter 51: It's Going Down
Chapter 52: Love can Bloom Even on the Battlefield
Chapter 53: Caged Hearts
Chapter 54: Outlaw In-Laws
Chapter 55: Blasts from the Past
Chapter 56: An Extraterrestrial Affair
Chapter 57: Breaking In
Chapter 58: Breaking Down
Chapter 59: Breaking Out
Chapter 60: Breaking the Game
Chapter 61: Damsels & Dragons
Chapter 62: All About Adam
Chapter 63: We're All the Same
Chapter 64: Imagine Dragons on top of The World

Act 3 Complete Interlude: Music Appreciation

Chapter 65: All Downhill from Here
Chapter 66: The Desire of Gallows
Chapter 67: The Hope of Jet
Chapter 68: All Tied Up with Ribbon
Chapter 69: The Loves of Clive
Chapter 70: The Courage of Virginia
Chapter 71: The Dungeon That Never Was
Chapter 72: Every EX File Key Part 1
Chapter 73: Every EX File Key Part 2
Chapter 74: Waking to the Nightmare
Chapter 75: Disaster Blaster
Chapter 76: Master of Disasters
Chapter 77: Forget You and Forget Her Too
Chapter 78: Evolve and Die
Chapter 79: Become As Drifters
Chapter 80: Our Memories Into the Future

What’s going on here?

This is a Let’s Play of Wild Arms 3. This is not a franchise-spanning Let’s Play like some LPs, just Wild Arms 3. If you do want to see Wild Arms 2, though, that is available.

So will you be addressing the other Wild Arms games?

Probably vaguely often. Wild Arms 3 is very much a product of combining what worked (or maybe never worked) in Wild Arms (1) and Wild Arms 2, so that will likely be addressed as it (frequently) comes up. You do not need to have played Wild Arms or Wild Arms 2 to understand Wild Arms 3, but I will be referencing and potentially spoiling the earlier games. For instance, a significant villain from Wild Arms appears in a prominent fashion in Wild Arms 3, so it is going to be difficult to explain his presence without “spoiling” Wild Arms. Wild Arms games past Wild Arms 3, though, likely will only be obliquely referenced.

So what’s the spoiler policy here?

As previously mentioned, spoilers for Wild Arms and Wild Arms 2 are incredibly likely. I will also probably spoil Final Fantasy 10, a game wherein Yuna has to shoot her own dog, and other JRPGS contemporary to Wild Arms 3. I will also inevitably make references to Kingdom Hearts, the Xenofranchise, and maybe Smash Bros, because those are wells I drink from daily.

Should I read this LP if I’ve never played Wild Arms 3 before?

I am probably going to winkingly spoil Wild Arms 3 in the foreshadowing manner to which we are all accustomed (“probably” nothing: it happens in the very first update!). If you’re in this Let’s Play for a cohesive, linear narrative, I apologize. Other than that, I will do my best to write this from the perspective that you are both a novice and a pro, and I may go on tangents that assume you were literally born yesterday, and are completely unfamiliar with the concept of 2002 AD.

What will be the focus of this Let’s Play?

I like Wild Arms 3. It is also a stupidly long game, so I figured the only way to do it justice in “reporting” form is not a thousand-word essay, but a thousand page Let’s Play. And why bother? Because I believe that Wild Arms 3 is a beautiful unicorn made at exactly the right time to be the pinnacle of what is the evolutionary dead end that is the SNES/Playstation 1 JRPG. What am I talking about? Well, read the Let’s Play to find out!

So you’re not focusing on the story?

Oh, don’t worry, we will be dissecting the story in vivid detail. The narrative is heavily tied to the presentation, so it is getting a spotlight. However, the focus will not be on the details/strategies of the battle system, as, like a lot of JRPGs of the era, about 90% of the battles are more filler than killer. We’re not skipping it entirely, but New Game+ is going to neuter a number of boss fights

Cheating? Again?

Wild Arms 3 has a New Game+ feature that allows you to start a new playthrough with the levels and cash of your previous clear. Considering my past-self left me a save file with (nearly) Level 100 characters and an assload of gella, I am going to honor my previous contributions and play the game with a massive advantage.

Picture or Video LP?

I’m gonna copy and paste this from the last LP: Picture, for two reasons. One, I personally find it difficult to “follow” video LPs, if only because if I’m in a situation where I can sit down and “watch” something, I’m probably watching a scripted show, and not someone else play a video game. This isn’t to disparage video LPs, incidentally, it’s just how my own viewing habits work, which naturally influences what I myself produce.

Are these pictures small?

Pictures have been optimized for a size/eyeball ratio that is accounting for how this Let’s Play will include literally thousands of pictures. I have run this by exactly two (2) people, and they think it looks nice, and the file sizes aren’t too large. I love myself some GIFs (R.I.P., sweet Stephen Wilhite), so please be aware if you are accessing this Let’s Play on a limited internet connection.

Hey, you missed (fill in the blank)! What gives?

This isn’t a walk through, and I’m not going to hit every single sidequest, because I want this thing to end before the heat death of the universe. I’m also not, if I can help it, using a FAQ, so it’s pretty inevitable that I’m going to miss some stuff. All that said, you’re welcome to reply, and I am not going to chide anyone for suggesting stuff. Or, if it sounds like I am rebuking you, I assure you, I am only doing it because I generally sound like an authoritative jerk. Please understand.

This is a classic JRPG with a lot of name options, may we, the audience, choose the names of characters?

No! This is a no fun zone! Errmm… I mean… In the interest of fully analyzing the plot, we’ll be sticking to the default names for most of the characters. … I just really don’t want to write a thousand-page essay on the motivations of PANTS! Maxwell.

When does this LP Update?

I am aiming for a weekly schedule. We will see how that goes.

Anything else?

Special thanks to this Wild Arms 3 script that will save me quite a bit of time.

And now… Let’s Play!

 

[gogglebob]

This LP is starting on March 29, Spectacles Day. Today is the day you can express your true feelings for someone of the opposite sex who wears glasses. On this day we remember a nearsighted girl who fell in love with a fairy who recovered her glasses from a deep well. She went on to become the patron saint of glasses, but she only appears in front of glasses-wearing girls, because she is so shy.

Chapter 0: Let It Roll

(note: a few opening PNGs are larger because I was playing with stuff I would like you to experience the big chunky PS2 pixels. We will switch to standard size permanently once we get our heroine outside.)

According to Wikipedia, Writer's Digest described this sentence as "the literary posterchild for bad story starters". Hell yeah let’s do this thing.

… Look, we’re two pictures into this Let’s Play, and I just stopped myself from making a second reference to seminal 90’s band Train. This… this is gonna be a long LP.

Now it’s time to meet…. OH GOD DAMMIT.

Introducing a main character as an avid reader? You have my attention, Wild Arms 3. I am not 100% sure Cloud Strife even knows the alphabet.

Raytracing my ass, the Playstation 2 handles reflections perfectly.

The night: it is dark and stormy.

And our obvious heroine is all tuckered out.

But something is happening!

… To once again confirm, this LP is definitely going to be GIF heavy. The animation is a big part of why I’m bothering with this LP at all (well, that and my audience apparently voted for it to happen).

Virginia: already standing up. Mission failed.

Virginia is not someone to just sit there on a train and dream about being a moron or something.

It’s the fuzz!

Virginia decides she is not going to deal with the local authorities… but she might be a bit of a klutz.

“Tony” is a recurring name in the Wild Arms franchise, usually assigned to some hapless kid. Virginia is aware of this, and does not respect Tony’s authority.

Oh no! The lock on the next train car has been bypassed! Also, that door clearly opens inward, so I’m not certain what that lock was supposed to do…

She’s been listening to you so well so far, Tony.

Virginia immediately retorts with, “Come on! Adventure!” This is her catchphrase.

Tony emphasizes how he is wholly failing at his job.

ADVENTURE!

This will not be the first time I say this: the dramatic direction on this game is unparalleled, and I do not care who knows it.

The crate is the only thing anyone cares about and you know it, Tony.

Somebody is about to get the Hylian Bow.

Oh, my bad, it’s just the briefcase from Pulp Fiction.

And then: people!

The term “Mexican Standoff” first appeared in writing in 1876, and was used in reference to a Mexican bandit robbing an American in a typical “your money or your life” situation. So I think it’s racist. This is a… Four Player Standoff. Can we get that phase going?

Okay! So here is where the gameplay first kicks in. Like in many Wild Arms games, you may play the characters’ introductions in any order you’d like. As a first for the franchise, all the stories are told in flashback leading up to this dramatic moment. Neat! “The Girl in First Class”, our POV character for this intro-to-an-intro, is the obvious choice, and her listed difficulty is one star out of three.

We also have a suspicious intruder at 2/3.

A drifter guardsman at a full 3/3.

And the boy who broke in back at 2/3.

For the record, despite the difficulty ratings, these are all “tutorial dungeons”, and you would kind of have to try to actively fail at these initial offerings. The drifter guardsman’s area is technically less easy than Virginia’s little romp, but we’re still talking about one-on-two random encounters and “should I use a heal potion now or later” being the only real challenge involved. If you have ever played a JRPG before, nothing about this opening is difficult.

That said, gentle reader, you may choose who is next after Virginia. Pretend it’s a poll or something!

But we’re definitely starting with Virginia first. It just flows best.

After selecting you character, you are given the option of naming them. You may have noticed that Virginia was not formally named by dialogue boxes before this moment… so I probably should not have been so freely calling her Virginia. But she is Virginia! Virginia’s Virginia.

To my knowledge, there are no filters on naming these heroes, so you can name Virginia Maxwell something insane like Maxwell Maxwell, or give “Jet” a stupidly mundane name like “Adam”. You are in control!

TO BE CONTINUED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY

 

[gogglebob]

Actual Chapter 1: Sweet Virginia

Maybe she was on that train longer than we thought…

Virginia is one of the few 18-year-old protagonists that I would accept as, like, 14. She starts off pretty immature in a very teenager way, so I would allow the JRPG trope of her being somehow 12. That said, I was pretty damn immature at 18, too, so…

Sweet! That usually lasts forever.

Stupid Fire Nation.

For the record, these are Gobs, and they are usually the Lvl. 1 baddies of opening Wild Arms areas. So just imagine Virginia’s town is being robbed by slimes here.

Tesla is a massive, life-threatening failure that is going to lead to harm and misery for everyone. Also, this chief of the village has some problems, too.

I have not drawn attention to the changing character portraits in dialogue boxes yet because Virginia’s “what did you do” face is amazing.

Gob’s live by a strict “I do not axe questions” policy.

Man, this is like having to pay protection money to a toddler.

Uncle Tesla is headbutted by a gob. Dang thing forgot it had a weapon right there.

You just got robbed by a creature that can’t figure out horses. Or large dogs.

Man, I wish that was Tesla’s motto.

Yes, Virginia, there is a gob hideout.

See? It’s right there in the name.

Wild Arms 3 is so considerate. Here is your excuse for why there will be random encounters every five feet. No Metal Gear Maxwell for you.

Virginia is equipped with a pair of revolvers. Thanks to the art style, they are occasionally cannons wider than her head.

Hooray! We are officially playing a video game, and not just advancing text boxes! Also, there is a continual gella (money) and time count on the screen that bothers me so much.

Before we take a step, let’s take a look at the menu. Pretty spartan affair here: our opening menu tells us everything we need to immediately know our party (currently one member). An instant HP count is always useful.

The first icon is items. Wild Arms 3 starts you with 10 heal berries (potions… with a twist we’ll cover later) and 10 Gimel Coins (we’ll get there, too). We also have a Sheriff Star, which is proof this is a New Game+ and that I am super cool and handsome. And, yes, the Sheriff Star is the only item you get to keep on a New Game+.

But you do get to keep levels! And Virginia is currently a level 99 powerhouse. This is not as tremendous of a boon as you may imagine, as your equipment is still metaphorically level 1… but… yeah, nothing is going to be able to touch us for a while. Literally! That Evade stat is going to pump up the enemy misses.

General stats are typical JRPG faire. MGR is “magic resistance”, RFX is “reflex” or speed, and “aim” is used in damage calculation when using an ARM (which should be all the time). The bottom left is basically our equipment… but we don’t really have what qualifies as equipment yet.

Regarding Virginia in particular, you can see from her stat spread that she is generally more magical than physical (but not significantly), her speed is tops, and her defense isn’t all that great. Give or take the magic/physical switch, she is your typical JRPG protagonist.

Auto battle options are available. The game will literally have something to say about this shortly.

Here are our ARM specs. Everyone in Wild Arms 3 is equipped with one weapon they will have for the whole game. Said weapon can be upgraded… which we will examine more when we can actually do that.

Okay, let’s get this show on the road!

Dammit! I hate unnecessary exclamation points!!!

Dungeon 101: if there is a locked door, pull a nearby switch. This is the worst security system ever.

And away we go! Again!

Making significant progress here…

Gobs! In the Gob Hideout!

Toothy suckers.

First battle! As you can see, there is a difference between “map model” and “battle model”, but it is not as pronounced as in previous Wild Arms titles.

The Wild Arms/Lufia battle cross returns. The middle, default option gets the battle going, but you can switch party positions (below), adjust options (right), play with equipment (top), or manage auto battle commands (left) if you want. In general, only the top option will ever be useful.

One menu deep and we get to the good stuff. Items up top, force abilities to the left, magic to the right, and basic “fight” is in the middle. There’s also the defend command on the bottom, and that is going to see a lot more use than in your typical JRPG.

Enemies are generally grouped together and then lettered. We will eventually gain an “analyze” spell, but for now we are just hitting stuff.

As previously mentioned, everyone has an ARM… and that’s basically a marginally fantasy firearm. In this case, Virginia is using her “shoot” command to gun down a gob. The other Gob attacks… and whiffs, as may be expected for Super Virginia.

So you’ve got guns, and that means bullets/ammo. Every character has a limited bullet count, and it decreases by one with every “fight” command. I realize that sounds straightforward, but keep in mind Virginia is using two guns simultaneously, and a later character has what is effectively a machine gun. Regardless of the weapon(s) involved, “one fight command = one bullet” just to keep things simple. Bullets are not consumable items (or they’re infinite, however you want to look at it), and a clip is refilled with every battle. If you run out of bullets during a battle, you are limited to a physical attack (that may not even work on a flying enemy), or you must use the defend command to refill back to max. This is, obviously, a much more common practice in a boss battle, and rarely happens in the usual random encounters.

There are other “techniques” involved in your bullet count, but we’ll get there later.

Also, the battle camera is all over the place at all times. As you’ve probably guessed, your “aim” stat impacts the number of hits you will do, and more hits equals more damage. And, once again, even if you somehow score a million hits on a target, that is still just one spent bullet.

Battle results! Items that boost the EXP multiplier have been a standard in the Wild Arms franchise from the first game, so now it is easy to remember if you are getting extra stuff at battle’s end. Additionally, won items are pretty common, and every enemy drops EXP and Gella (probably?).

Your level and “Next Level Up” EXP count are displayed after every battle. VIT is a stat I have not addressed yet that automatically caps off your HP after every fight. VIT drops to zero, and you are stuck using healing items to stay healthy after a victory. VIT can only be restored by special items (that may appear as giant, glowing gems) or staying at an inn. Stay well rested, and you’ll be fine.
“Condition Green” means you do not currently have any status effects.

Aw, it was really Virginia’s first battle.

You can do it, Virginia! You’re a gob-wrecking ball!

Okay, not certain you can fly… but good goals!

And time to move forward!

But we’re not getting too far, because we’ve got another blocked door.

From that Gob fight on, random encounters are enabled. Wild Arms 3 is following Wild Arms 2 rules, and encounters appear initially as exclamation mark “warnings”...

You can hit Circle to cancel an encounter if you don’t feel like dealing with it. However, that drops a point off your encounter gauge (top left), so you can’t dodge forever. Note that encounters are ranked based on your Migrant Level, which can be upgraded by Migrant Seals. As you can see, I’m level 1. Migrant Levels are not carried over with New Game+, even though that would make a lot more sense. This system is like if games with F.O.E. style encounters always based warnings on your plot progression, and not your actual stat-based level.

We can access one unlocked room, and it contains the Wild Arm traditional throwing crates. If you see something, toss something.

I managed to toss a crate into the “ceiling” of the room, and its containing item is now stuck in an unreachable position. That's not great, Wild Arms 3! If I really wanted to, I could leave and “reset” the room to toss that crate somewhere more accessible… but I feel I should live with this mistake.

And besides, the real prize for this room is in a treasure chest. Our first tool! The Tindercrest! We will use this shortly.

There are also some bookcases in this room. I appreciate that the prompt notes that a particular book “catches your eye”. I am still waiting for Pokémon games to acknowledge that a bookcase may contain more than one book containing more than three text boxes…

The Wild Arms franchise has a weird (what I presume to be) translation issue wherein every game has a different name for “whaddyacallit, mercenary dudes”. In Wild Arms 3, those that roam the wastelands are called “Drifters”. They were the much less vagrant sounding “Dream Chasers” in Wild Arms 1. Regardless, “Drifters” are occasionally called “Migratory Birds” in WA3, and seem to attract flight imagery like pigeons attract bread.

A brief lore explanation of “the world sucks because of a giant monster war” is also available. Digging how the presumed first dungeon snuck in some town-like NPC explanations through a mini library.

Between this and the “dark and stormy night” opening, it seems like someone on the staff was a giant trope nerd. Alan Smithy is “the first Drifter”, but it’s more of a pseudonym signature for the many Alan Smithy “tips” that could not have all come from one person that you’ll see around the world. Cute.

One of the books explains how to use the “defend” command to reload. I think there is also a tutorial prompt for this during the upcoming boss battle, too.

Further lore fill-in: the Gobs definitely did not build this house, it was a mansion for the Whatelev family, but their fortune dwindled to nothing, and the Gobs took over at some point recently. Excellent explanation for why a bunch of weird little green things own something that contains a foyer.

Tools! After exiting the library, we have an opportunity to use the Tindercrest. This allows Virginia to toss fire in a straight line anywhere in a dungeon. This is usually used for lighting torches, or maybe generally burning stuff. Wild Arms 2 had a “fire rod” tool, but Wild Arms 1 stuck to a lighter, and this seems to split the difference between magical and mundane. They probably could have overtly drew a connection between this and the Western motif of lighting moody campfires, but I don’t think they ever get there.

So lighting the torches opens that locked door, and now we can explore further into the dungeon. You know you’re walking the long way around when rubble blocks a treasure chest.

An upstairs room teaches “sneaking”. You can hold the circle button to move slowly, which is essential when dealing with traps that activate after heavy footfalls.

If you don’t sneak cautiously, you’ll fall! Falling does literally nothing to your heroine, but it does mean you have to restart the room from its beginning/entryway. A slight annoyance of a punishment.

Excuse me, “tiptoe”. Adorable.

Tiptoeing isn’t all that slow, at least.

Moving right along!

Our ultimate goal is to get downstairs, but, for now, we’re going to open more doors with fire.

White crystals are scattered about any given dungeon. They refill your encounter gauge, which can be useful if you are a coward (says the guy cheating his way into invincibility).

We’ve got another “library” room, and this book all but says to not worry about the random encounters. Without exaggeration, this book states that you should be able to set a proper autobattle standard for random dungeon encounters, and then turn it off for the more complicated dungeon bosses. Talk amongst yourselves whether or not the tutorial telling the player “90% of these battles should just be on autopilot” is either brilliant or terrible. Please answer in the form of a Final Fantasy 12.

Heal Berry acquired! Lore/gameplay mix that is not evident here, but I’ll mention it now: the world of Wild Arms 3 is a wasteland where resources are rapidly running out. As a result, Heal Berries and all their upgraded forms are in short supply, and are not sold in shops. So the most basic healing “potion” in the game is not readily available in infinite quantities. Between the VIT system and how many monsters drop useful items, this isn’t as big a deal as it would be in some JRPGs, but it is worth noting a treasure chest containing a “potion” is still worthwhile.

Also, a random lore reference that won’t be relevant for a while. Stone statues may not just be art in the Wild Arms universe.

Orange gems restore VIT. Battles have cool transition effects.

Eventually we snake around to this big room on the first floor.

There is one mundanely closed door, and one magically sealed door (Doorways are Magic pictured).

Because I’ve just been bumbling around in the dark up to this point. Where do you think you got your new fire tool, Virginia!?

I very much appreciate this new feature. If you don’t know what to do, but you know there has to be something here, try using R2 and X to automatically highlight objects that can be manipulated. I would have killed for this feature back in the lower-res SNES/PS1 days (though that may have been impacted by the fact I was playing videogames on a TV sized for a viewing audience of gerbils).

Looks like we are supposed to deal with that lever thing over there.

Remember how having an analogue stick on the Playstation 2 was new and novel and somehow always mandatory in every game? Roll the stick to turn the valve to open the door. I am having Xenosaga flashbacks, and I don’t like it.

The mechanism opens one door, but the other door is still “sealed by magic”. If you’ve played other Wild Arms games, you’re likely familiar with this message. (Or Chrono Trigger… but that has a different solution.)

But the valve room apparently contains all our crap, so hooray!

… Did Virginia just rob her hometown?

Gimel Coin acquired! Gimel Coins allow you to save literally anywhere [citation needed], but they are also limited in quantity. Dungeons do not contain save points, and, without a Gimel Coin, you can only save in towns. But, that said, as long as you don’t save every other room, you should have/find enough Gimel Coins across the game to never run low.

And, as the game literally tells you, if you find a Gimel Coin, you are probably just about to hit a boss or other reason to save right the heck now.

Our save screen, ladies and gentlemen. Slot 2 there contains my original Wild Arms 3 saves, and “used” 15 on Slot 1 is the clean New Game+ file in case I ever want to start over. I… will likely never showcase this screen again past the prologues.

In Dragon Quest tradition, after saving, Wild Arms 3 always asks if you would like to hold reset while powering down.

Duplicators are consumable items that have appeared since Wild Arms 1. They open magic doors and magic treasure chests. Seen any magic doors lately?

But there is something else in the treasure chest, too.

Virginia inexplicably finds half a photograph of some nerds. And her dad is one of those nerds!

Flashback! Wee Virginia learns to use an ARM.

Okay, yes, it is supposed to be “ARMs” for this game. Thank you, Werner Maxwell.

“Werner and Virginia” makes more sense if you do that Eastern European thing where W’s sound like V’s. Also: Wee Wirginia is adorable.

Wee Virginia wants to grow up to be some kind of heroine that dual wields pistols and goes storming into enemy strongholds with guns blazing.

Everything is so wholesome and great and will be awesome forever.

Meanwhile, back in the present of two weeks in the past, Virginia is bawling her eyes out over a treasure chest.

Yeah! That’s the ticket! Go show those Gobs who’s boss!

Now we can use that duplicator on the magic door, which promptly disappears. Progress!

The next room obviously has something going on…

And that something is a Gob who has the high ground.

Do not underestimate Virginia’s power!

So battle! Hobgob Boss seems to just use physical attacks… and that’s about it.

We haven’t talked about Force Points, so let’s give that a go. FP is accrued after doing pretty much anything during a battle, like being hit, hitting, or even dodging. Your FP starts the battle at a number matching your level (which is why my party is always going to have FP starting off in the 90s), and it fills pretty quickly during any fight that takes longer than two rounds. FP can be used for a variety of things, but our focus right now is Force Abilities. We can’t summon yet, and Mystic is a great skill that spreads an item’s effects to the whole party… which is useless in a one-on-one battle. Oops.

So while Hobgob Boss attacks again, we’ll talk about Gatling. Gatling empties your entire bullet clip for one giant attack. You absolutely have to reload after using it, so, while it is not the end of the world, it is implied to be something more “risky” than your usual fight command. But Gatling has the advantage of a slightly different damage calculation from just using fight: Gatling does more damage the less your ARM weighs.

So, whereas Virginia’s Mystic ability is almost entirely support based, her light pistols make her the best Gatling user in the game. Hobgob Boss just learned that the hard way.

Though, granted, it did take a lot out of our heroine.

Big Boss may be dead, but the soldiers live on.
(Also, you can totally do this on your own, Virginia, you killed like ten times this many Gobs in random encounters.)

Here comes the cavalry!

The entire town wasn’t going to fight back when they were being robbed, but to save Virginia, they rally.

Everyone repels the Gobs, and Virginia is no longer in mortal danger. So Tesla slaps his uppity niece but good. I get it, but I get to say this again, too: I hate Tesla.

Later, Virginia has retreated to her sad cave.

“YOU’RE NOT MY REAL MOM!!!”

Can I just say how much I enjoy how Virginia has the olde timey equivalent of a teenager’s row of posters on her bedroom wall?

A+ for saving the town, C- for execution.

“I’ve decided to become a Gob.”

“I read about it in a book I found ten minutes ago. Sounded nice.”

This seems dramatic, but Aunt Shalte had this reaction to a asymmetrical blintz last week. It’s a thing with her.

The hero of the piece wants to be a hero. Shock.

“I have come to terms with the fact that I cannot do things on my own. So I have decided to pursue a career where I am continually alone.”

“I wasn’t learning how to shoot Gobs to get closer to my dad, if that’s what you’re thinking!”

One of those dudes that just parrots something he heard five minutes ago and acts like he’s totally insightful.

“I’ll think of you when I am hopelessly outnumbered and lost in the wasteland.”

“Yeah, but you also believe in a magical cat that wears a suitcoat and controls all of time.”
“He’s real I tell you!”

Is… is that an extremely polite way of telling someone to “go to hell”?

The entire town just rallied around saving you from a Gob fight, so I want to say literally anyone is capable and caring enough to leave flowers on your mother’s grave. Don’t think about it too hard.

Strike a pose!

“The young girl heads to her mother's grave to bid farewell to her childhood. Her expertise in ARMs, taught by her father, bolsters her resolve. That is all she needed. That is all... Her dreams of seeing the world have become her strength, and lifts her wings. But the path to the future is often a winding one. It tires some and leads many astray. “

“ARMs alone cannot overcome adversity, nor are they the only source of strength. The moment the young girl realizes this, she will have truly become a Drifter.”

And we get an opportunity to save. Wee.

Okay! That’s it for Virginia’s opening story. Pretty typical “coming of age in a dangerous time” story about a girl becoming a woman through some light genocide. Obviously, the threads of her missing father are going to become the tapestry that drives a lot of plot, and, other than that, we just have a good handle on our heroine. She does what is right because it is right, though there may be a tinge of “adventure ahoy!” to her decisions. She also rocks the purple.

But what of the men on the train? Will we investigate…

A suspicious intruder…

A drifter guardsman, or…

The boy who broke in?

You tell me!

What’s next? I just told you to tell me!

(Note: I am aiming for a weekly update schedule, as mentioned in the initial post. However, this is my first picture LP on the new forum, and I am learning from this post and adapting it to future posts. This is just a longwinded way of saying that the second update may be delayed while I monkey with stuff on the backend of how this LP is “produced”. But that means more time for democracy! Yay!)

 

[Mogri]

I vote Boy.

Interesting how ARMs go from something only a cyborg very special boy can use to something everyone's packing.

 

[SpoonyBard]

The Drifter, I remember him being my favorite character I think?

This is immediately bringing back memories. I bought this game pretty much right when it came out because I was coming off a Wild ARMs 1 replay and 2 was fairly fresh in my mind. After the (fairly lengthy) playthrough I never replayed it again. Not because I disliked it, but it was, I dunno, exhausting? I mean, 2 had bloat, but 3? Yow. So suffice to say I am looking forward to reliving the game through this LP.

I love how the characters and enemies just run around the field randomly. Adds a bit of life to the usual static JRPG formations. Also as you might expect the common battle theme is quite whistle heavy.

 

[Purple]

I'll vote Boy to break the tie and save the best for last.

Things worth noting that I don't think you've mentioned: The weird filter over the whole screen that's kind of an early effort at a Valkyria Chronicles hand drawn art look, and the true-to-our-worship-of-all-things-Trigun habit of changing out villains and such based on plot progression during the nice anime intro it plays every time you load your game.

 

[Beowulf]

a cyborg very special boy

A holmcross, I think you mean?

Sure, we can start with the Boy. And woot, I'm very excited for this LP.

 

[Mr Bean]

Yay! I have a soft spot for Wild Arms 3. The western JRPG aesthetic just kinda clicked with me at the time and I remember pouring at least a hundred hours into this back in the day even though I never touched 1 or 2. I'm sure you'll get to it after the prologue, but I unironically adore the intro sequence and how ANIME it is. I don't think I ever skipped past it when I was booting up the game. Plus it does neat things that'll come up later.

Let's go with Boy first.

 

[Kirin]

I played WA1 back in the day but never got to the rest of the series. The intro to that one is still one of my favorite pieces of game music. This looks fun! I too am down with working our way up from Boy.

 

[Kahran042]

Yay! I've been looking forward to this since I saw you mention it.

 

[gogglebob]

So it looks like the order will be... Boy, Drifter, Intruder, then?

 

[gogglebob]

This is originally being posted on April 5, Knuckle Day. Once there was a pianist who cracked her knuckles so much, she couldn't play the piano without some cracking first. Although it sounds sad, they say that watching her bashfully crack her knuckles was an adorable sight to see.

Chapter 2: The Jet Song

Previously on Wild Arms 3: Virginia saved her hometown from monsters, and, after said hometown saved her, she decided to set off for adventure. And you know who else is ready for adventure?

This boy! Who broke in!

Jet is a legitimate name (Jet Li immediately comes to mind), so this isn’t quite as egregious as a certain other playable character named after a noose.

Virginia was two weeks, Jet is slightly closer to T(rain)-Day.

Hey, at least it’s not raining.

… Thief? No, I’m thinking of someone else.

Okay, maybe he is a thief.

The roughest, toughest frail, this Jet.

It’s bread, right? We were just talking about that.

Yeah, gonna solve all your problems during the opening. Sure.

Straight up: I would love a JRPG where a main character accomplishes their big, personal goal during the opening dungeon, and then spends the rest of the game trying to figure out a second lifetime goal. What else are you going to do with that pumped up attack stat, hero? Just some dude fighting dungeon bosses with his friends like "What am I doing with my life?"

Aw hell you know we ain’t finding anything at Doomed to Obscurity.

So Jet is exploring some kind of ziggurat structure in an unknown location. We got a tomb raider!

Jet comes pre-equipped with his first tool: it’s a boomerang! Link would be proud.

And we’re not getting in the front door.

So let’s circle around and hit the roof.

Literally hit that sucker, as you need to boomerang away some blocking material.

Oh boy! Treasure!

But there is a pit trap, so down Jet goes. For the record “raiding a dungeon, seeing treasure, falling in a pit to more dungeon” is something of a Wild Arms introduction trope, so Jet immediately draws a comparison to Wild Arms 1’s Jack.

Meanwhile outside, some nerd with a fanny pack is comin’ runnin’.

And he picks the front door open! Could we have saved our knees if we just waited a few minutes?

Okay, now we’re exploring the dungeon proper.

Wild Arms 3 is vaguely 3-D, so this dungeon merits an explanation of how to swing the camera around. As someone who has a terrible sense of direction, I appreciate the camera locking to a steady north in the event of maneuvering emergencies.

For your fourth wall convenience, all tutorials will be treated as random graffiti that Jet does not understand. These kids and their L1 buttons!

So dungeon time. This area is a lot more “mazey” than Virginia’s adventure. There are also a lot more obvious treasure choke points if you feel like exploring.

Since we’ve got the treasure hunter on deck, I will note this: you are expected to open every treasure chest in the game. You don’t have to, but there is an eventual reward if you have opened every treasure chest in the world. To be clear, this is separate from items found in crates or alike, and specifically only applies to treasure chests. So even in the opening areas, even if you are level craptillion, there is a reason to make a beeline for every chest you see. You’ll thank me later.

And, to be clear, I believe the game is designed so no treasure chest is ever permanently out of reach, so at least there’s that to assuage your OCD…

But speaking of being overleveled, here is Level 94 Jet ready for a battle.

Jet has a machine gun-style ARM, so those bullets he is wearing are not just for show. Before upgrades, he gets four “bullets” before he must reload, but, as we covered before, that can somehow mean many, many more bullets are actually used in an attack. Or six hits to a balloon per one bullet is some kind of magic thing. Whatever!

Since that monster was blown away, let’s look at Jet’s stats. As you might expect from the name, Jet is an airplane fast. His magic is crap all around, his (physical) defense is surprisingly good, and his evade outpaces his impressive speed. Jet is a speedy boy.

Worth noting: inventories migrate between characters. Technically, if you are good at resource management, this can make the latter chosen characters’ areas easier, as they can gobble up all the Heal Berries found in earlier chapters. Also, key items migrate, too, which means Jet now inexplicably has a picture of Virginia’s dad. I’m sure he’s just as confused as anybody.

Anywho, opening areas of this dungeon are basically just “can you walk” and “can you throw a boomerang”. Pretty basic stuff.

The next room introduces the new hotness…

Seering, stabbing pain!

Screw you, ancient traps!

So dungeons from here on out may contain traps. They always take a proportionate chunk off your HP, but will not eventually kill a character, only reduce HP to 1. That said, if you are not using healing items between battles, VIT will not restore trap damage until after a battle, so a particularly nasty trap could leave you starting your next encounter at a severe disadvantage. Luckily, most of the traps in WA3 are either simple movement puzzles (like here, all you have to do is remember to run) or routing riddles (maybe find a way to not walk through the lava). This ain’t Celeste.

Sometimes the hardest part of “traps” is how random encounters can pop up anywhere. Don’t be afraid to cancel an encounter for reasons other than cowardice!

Navigate past a few more spears and we circle out of the basement and back to the main entrance.

And we’ve got company.

Kovahn the Shrugger and some other people are looking for… someone?

Ah, Pike. Good ol’ Pike. …. Who’s Pike?

More importantly: who cares?

Surprising no one: this nonsense gets out of hand.

Got a [date], Jet?

Kovahn of the Guiled Chin offers a reward.

Legitimately, this is New Game+, Jet has all the money in the world.

Do it for Old Man! Or Ribbon Girl!

Jet doesn’t agree to do anything officially, so I guess we’re formally looking for the Crystal Flower. These NPCs will mill about alternately asking for help and calling Jet selfish.

Metaphors don’t pay for ARM upgrades, Gaspar!

Jet has a solemn reaction to the ancient coffin that sits at the entryway here. Also, there is clearly a giant door back there, but it doesn’t work at the moment.

So further venturing into the tomb through the only unlocked door in the area.

We doin’ circus biz now?

In an effort to make these 3-D spaces a little more vertical, dungeons may now contain netting/grates that allow for some hand-over-hand climbing action.

In general, this allows the dungeons to be more dynamic, often including a treasure that is on a different level to transform these areas into something more complicated than hallways.

Staying off the ground has other pointed advantages, too.

The first net room is a basic tutorial. A hallway leads to…

The real test. Not that this is complicated, but it is more complex than just walking.

More traps! Try not to get poked in the side.

Revive Fruits are super useful… when you have more than one party member. Weird that these show up frequently in the solo dungeons.

Pike, I presume?

This is reasonable in a tomb filled with monsters.

“I can’t remember if they wanted you dead or alive…”

Jet acknowledges Pike… and then moves on. Jet is committed to not saving this dork.

Now we’re talking!

Reminder: Jet has a machine gun. Pike has a fanny pack.

Sad trombone.wav

Welp, this has been Operation: Useless.

Oh yeah. Good point.

Apparently Pike has his own treasure!

So Jet will stand guard while Pike digs a mattock out of his fanny pack of holding.

Whatever is happening with Jet’s posing/acting here deserves an award. Love that “shifting eyes while talking over his shoulder” thing going on.

Boss from above!

Let’s deal with the Tatzelwurm. It’s a… dragon? Baby? Thingy?

It has physical attacks…

And magical fire breath to barbecue the maiden’s fair.

Everybody gets Gatling. Everybody gets Summon (eventually). But like how Virginia has Mystic, Jet has Accelerator. For 25 FP, Jet is guaranteed to move first in the battle turn order.

One would assume you are expected to use this skill in combination with something offensive in this dragon battle, but it comes in handy later for reviving party members in battles. I cannot immediately recall a situation where “Jet goes first” disables an opponent’s super attack or something, so mostly just use it for protecting/healing one of your more fragile party members that is then going to heal everybody when their turn eventually comes up. Might also be convenient for setting up “reflect” style spells or alike.

Regardless, Accelerator has some pretty straightforward uses across the adventure, and it is little surprise it is one of the most frequently used force abilities in the franchise. Kind of weird how it always winds up with the dude that is the fastest party member anyway, though…

With boss death animations like that, no wonder these ruins are unstable.

We earned a Dragon Fossil for fossilizing that dragon! The purpose of these puppies will come up later. Suffice to say, you always want more.

And… we’re back? Not just railroaded into a cutscene? Hanging with Pike in Pike Room? Okay.

Technically we are supposed to mosey up the stairs to trigger the next bit of business, but if we wander over yonder…

We can rotate the camera to see one of WA3’s amusing quirks. In much the same way you know Tom & Jerry are going to interact with that hammer because it is painted in an entirely different style from the background, “stuff” in Wild Arms 3 is always a separate graphic from the usual architecture of the area. In this case, there is a hidden exit that appears to be indistinguishable from the wall from one angle (see the previous picture), but is an obvious door “shadow” if you spin the perspective around. I’m not certain this kind of knowledge is ever a make or break for discovering secrets… but I just think it’s neat.

Back to touching the stairs to leave and triggering a dang earthquake.

Don’t worry, Jet, you’ll get your glass rose or whatever eventually.

“Maybe don’t use a machine gun in a room barely large enough for my fanny pack next time.”

But Pike found his treasure! It’s… bullshit! All bullshit! BAH!

BAH I SAY!

I will give a pass to the concept that monster populations have been on the rise, but that still ignores how this dungeon is lousy with spikes, spears, and other pointy things that are generally unpleasant for children.

So this was Pike’s lil’ memory box, and he was willing to risk life and limb to get it before moving out of the country. Cute.

Normal thing a normal person would say about having a lousy/unremarkable childhood, or a case of super amnesia? Well, this is a JRPG protagonist, so what do you think?

“That's why I'm a Drifter. I'm free as a bird to fly wherever I want. I have no worries. Maybe except my income.”

Stop blowing your budget on kicky, red scarves, Jet.

So the stairway out is inaccessible, but Pike unlocks his “secret" passage that we were talking about a minute ago.

We already conquered the boss and had our cathartic denouement, but there is still a little more dungeon left to go. Pike is technically “with us” at the moment, but he does not participate in our acrobatic shenanigans or random battles in any way.

So is all the netting around this ruin original to the place, or was it the result of it being a playground back in Pike’s day?

There is a minor puzzle here where you have to be on the right “plane” of the dungeon to hit the crystals that unlock the way forward. Confirming that the boomerang does not work like the Wild Arms 2 throwing knife, and hitting a wall does not mean it will trigger something as it falls.

Now we’re properly lined up. And you can see the second crystal in the room! Wee.

Pike is over the moon, Jet is futilely trying to get all the monster goo out of his hair.

Maybe you should have thought of that before the dragon attack?

Meanwhile, Jet is getting introspective.

Pike has got places to be. I understand, I always put off dungeon pillaging until the last minute before a trip, too.

“The closest station from here would probably take me about five days on foot. And it'll take me about another day by train to reach my destination. Even though I have a week left before I start work, today's the only day I have to pack everything. That's why I don't have time.”

I appreciate any fiction that takes the time to note that travel used to be a gigantic time sink, and not just “the jet is over there”. ... Wait.

And Jet learns that there is a train that may be of interest.

Another conversation, another hidden doorway.

“Will there be another three other people also interested in this treasure? Will they become lifelong friends?”

Pike says there is no way Jet would be able to get a ticket, but Jet won’t stop shifting his eyes as he replies that he will be fine.

Pike agrees to fill in Jet on all the train details when the audience isn’t around to be bored out of its mind by transportation schedules. In the meanwhile, Pike talks about how he will always cherish the time he spent in that basement with a complete stranger who gunned down a lizard.

Jet literally does not understand that this thing that is happening is a memory in the making. He was planning on forgetting about Pike right about…

Now.

Afterwards, Jet looked into the train Pike talked about. He managed to get onboard and waited for an opportunity to infiltrate. A sudden impact and the chaos that ensued gave him the perfect chance to break in. With the treasure in plain sight, this was where he would encounter three strangers. Were they friend...or foe? The darkness that opened up before him seemed endless, as if obscured by the world's future. The train Jet had boarded was still making its way through the long, endless tunnel.

Yeah, hope this “treasure” isn’t just a pile of crap again…

And we’re back at a save stop. Thanks for coming by, Jet!

So what do we know about Jet Enduro? Well, he seems to be a lot more pragmatic than Virginia, and, despite the fact that he appears to be a “boy”, he definitely has a bit of a mercenary side. Virginia would charge into a dungeon just to save a fanny pack, left alone the living person attached to the thing. Jet? Not so much.

I bet these two protagonists are going to be super best friends!

Next time on Wild Arms 3: You ain’t seen pragmatic yet.

 

[Kahran042]

NGL, I platonically ship Jet and Pike. I'm not sure if there's actually voting for the next scenario, but if so, I'm voting for the Suspicious Intruder, because he's my favorite.

 

[gogglebob]

So far, just going with how the votes "already" went, with Guardsman up next, and then Intruder. Unless more people vote otherwise!

... Also, you will be expected to explain your favorite pick in a few posts.

 

[Kahran042]

... Also, you will be expected to explain your favorite pick in a few posts.

*sweatdrops*

 

[gogglebob]

This is originally being posted on April 12, Bread Day. There was a baker who dreamed of baking a bread that popped. Using thin crusts, he created a bread in the shape of a six shooter that actually popped. While popping his bread in the kitchen, his wife, who was an ARM user, thought it was a hold-up and fired some rounds inside to scare the robbers. Well, anyway, there's a 30% off sale on all bread today.

Chapter 3: Gunman Clive

Previously on Wild Arms 3: Jet learned the true meaning of friendship with his new best friend, Pike. Jet will now have fabulous adventures all over the world, and Pike will shovel horse manure for the rest of time. This is canon.

Moving on to the guardsman.

No, that’s… that can’t be right.

Better.

Couldn’t just be a simple “week” with this guy…

When I first played Wild Arms 3, I thought 30 was, like, the oldest a human being could be. Now I look wistfully at this young’un and his childish adventures…

Clive Winslet, age thirty. He is about to embark on a mission considered the most deadly of all Drifter trades--eradicating a monster. These drifters are accustomed to risking their lives to face danger. They do it for the reward and to satisfy their spirit. One cannot deny that in the eyes of many, these Drifters are just ruffians driven by greed. Could this man be nothing more than a ruffian as well...? Or perhaps...

Narrator? This guy wears glasses. Everyone knows he can’t be a ruffian.

Steal his look! Clive has green hair, glasses, a generally red trench coat (with black shoulder bits), surprisingly cool gloves, some kind of leather chest piece, a holster that is evidently incapable of holding his ARM, and vaguely stylized boots. I’m just noting this because it was true in 2002, and it’s true now: if I could pull off this style, I would.

Oh, anyway, Clive was hired to kill something around here, and Borgnine is just trying to help out.

“The keeper of these caverns” is a phrase that is going to come up a couple of times on this quest. I don’t know if this a really awkward translation, or some subtle character building to establish how Clive can’t just say “that thar monster fellar”.

Clive is doing it all alone, as he is a professional drifter, emphasis on that “professional” bit.

In we go!

And for just a touch of transition fun…

Welcome to the Den of Miasma. Hope you brought a flashlight and a gasmask.

Borgnine is going to stand here forever as instructed, but he will provide some heal berries if you deign to talk to him. You may need them…

Like Jet, Clive comes with his tool: bombs! This is another recurring Wild Arms tool, and they work just like they do in every other videogame: they stay still, eventually explode, and they are mostly useful for clearing obstructions.

Bombs also do not hurt “you”, nor do they impact NPCs in any way. Some of the Wild Arms titles at least have townsfolk acknowledge when you’re throwing literal fireballs in their direction, but not this one.

Clive has the “maximum difficulty” rating on that character select screen, so the designers seem to assume you would have chosen literally anyone else first. In other words, Clive starts in a monster den, and random battles are possible about ten seconds after you can wiggle your dualshock.

Clive’s ARM is a rifle with some obvious sniper accessories. This is the strongest weapon in the game… but it also starts with a mere 2 bullet capacity.

So Clive packs a punch, but you will likely be reloading quite a bit if a battle lasts more than a round (well, two, technically).

Also, if you like seeing that hit/combo counter climb, sorry, Clive usually only gets one hit. It’s one big hit, though.

Clive is basically your tank. His attack and defense are great, and he has passable magic in a pinch. Speed is his dump stat. Old man bones don’t move so fast.

I appreciate that the “bruiser” of your party is also “the smart one”. It’s a conceit that works a lot more easily when attack power is based on weaponry, and obviously the crack shot is going to be the “strongest" in this gun world. This is also, for better or worse, a contrast with the muscular character that will be introduced in the next update.

Also: Clive’s ARM is the Gungnir HAG35. Noting this for any Norse mythology/Final Fantasy fans.

Time to clear out the keeper of the caverns!

It may just be because less is “happening” (unlike in other opening dungeons that offer a tutorial every three steps), but Clive seems to have a more frequent random encounter rate than Virginia and Jet. Also, this cave seems to be more… structured? Like, there are a lot more dips and side paths where you could get lost. It really feels like Clive’s dungeon is intended as the “what have you learned” finale to the other three introductions. Then again, Clive is the only one in a cave, as opposed to a manmade structure. Environmental storytelling?

But at least there’s treasure!

Gee, those rocks sure do look different from the rest of the wall.

Zelda rules, ladies and gentlemen. You see a rock that so much as looks at you funny, you blow that sucker back to Death Mountain.

What did I just say, tiny rocks that were minding their own business?

So these things. Translucent poison plant thingys are all over this dungeon. They are classified as traps, and will cause damage if you bonk into them. Use a bomb, and they’ll get out of your way. Blue plants stay “dead” when bombed, red ones will pop back up rather quickly. Watch your boots.

A lot of this dungeon includes one-way ledges. Does this mean this dungeon will be traversed in reverse? (yes)

There are no guardrails, so try not to fall off any walkways. Again, falling does not cause any damage, but it will restart your journey at the entrance of the room.

More plants to explode. Clive should look into some manner of bomb-based lawncare business.

Other fun fact about ledges? If you drop off the side, it cancels any pending encounters. If you are desperate to avoid fights, and you’ve depleted your encounter gauge, just throw yourself into the abyss.

Finally working our way up to that treasure chest from a couple pictures back. A gimel coin! Time to save!

Probably something behind this doorway…

Nope, just another mundane room that is hiding a boulder-blocked secret passage.

This hidden room contains two treasure chests and… a whatsit?

If you’ve played previous Wild Arms titles, you know what you’re looking at here. A bonus super boss lurks in this “holographic archive”, and you will have to return much later to release/fight the monster. For those of you who like reading ahead, this optional boss is Arioch, and he is attached to one of the worst things to ever happen in a JRPG. Suffice to say, when you have the ability to unlock/fight him, do so immediately…

So ignore that wicked presence for now and grab some gold.

Oh, hey, I finally accidentally bumped into one of those plants. Funny that this message can trigger on practically the last crop.

A little further along, and we’re in boss territory.

Okay, yeah, let’s just say Clive pontificates like a weirdo.

There is a minor earthquake, and the ground gives way behind Clive.

Given there was a complete path leading up to the keeper, it can be assumed Clive is the first to get this far.

No keeping, keeper!

Stop making everything blurry!

I guess this creature is very… batty? Like, do a lot of flying creatures live exclusively in caves? I’m not a biologist, I’m genuinely asking.

Oh, here I thought we entered battle mode because we were going to try to talk it out.

Hi, Goldrake!

Goldrake is hanging around on two legs and chomping away for the first part of this battle. Note that Clive is slower than molasses going uphill in a blizzard, so be aware of your HP and heal before you are nibbled to death.

Clive’s unique ability is Lock On. It guarantees a hit, and, thanks to how “accuracy” is less binary and more active in WA3, usually means Clive will do some bonus damage over his usual attack. It is very useful, though, like Jet’s Accelerator, seems like kind of a tease to attach to the guy who has the best accuracy to begin with…

Whammo!

This battle is a legitimate fight where you can die. That said, your opponent has a scripted bit wherein it must eventually fly, so “phase 2” will begin after you do around 300 HP of damage. If you exceed 300 damage, congratulations, it doesn’t matter. Flying Goldrake still just uses physical attacks.

And this “scripted” bit is basically a tutorial on using Lock On. We just did that!

I know!

Goldrake will suffer one Lock On shot, and that’s that.

Yeah! You go, Clive!

Aaaaand hubristic victory.

Clive is mad at himself for not only getting too cocky, but also not correctly deducing that the cave full of poison might have a connection to the monster that can spew poison. Live and learn!

Or die.

Yep, just die.

But we do get a battle results screen, so I don’t think it’s a game over yet.

Condition green? This is a lie.

Clive has some self-doubt going on.

“Why is my wallet missing? Damn that monster!”

So Clive is poisoned. And, fun fact, it is literally impossible to obtain an antidote at this point in the game. Good luck with the status effect, dumbass!

“Wise” if only because the route you used to get here completely collapsed, and help literally will never reach you.

Jet got a little perfunctory adventure after his boss battle, but Clive gets the actual meat of his personal challenge post-boss.

Yes, you are actually poisoned, and you absolutely will lose a chunk of your HP with every few steps. Resource management is now the name of the game (okay, Resource Management 3).

Condition green seems so far away…

So we bomb our way out of this lair.

And learn that random battles are definitely still a thing. You’re poisoned no matter what is going on!

Wild Arms 3 poison always works at the end of the battle round, not distinctly when the poisoned character acts. This would be relevant in a situation with more party members, and if you are using your slowest character (that would be Clive) to toss around antidotes. I don’t know why you would do that, but it could be relevant.

Bad news: getting 100 FP usually clears all status effects, but this is apparently plot-poison, so you’re not getting out of poison status that easily. Good news, though, is that VIT will fill you up after every battle, so if you were good about managing damage on the way to the boss, you’ll be topped off frequently during this trek.

This room of poison plants is a minor puzzle to see how few “moves” you can make to clear the area. Extra walking means extra poison!

Another minor earthquake blocks the route forward. Is Goldrake just screwing with Clive at this point?

Well, bringing a rifle to dinner didn’t help…

The “new feature” for bombs in WA3 is that Clive can lay an epic number of explosives as need be.

Stupid rock!

From there, it is the dungeon you already know and love, just in reverse. Thanks to all those cliffs, you can make an easy beeline back to whatshisname with the berries.

See? We’re already back at the entry area.

Clive is doing super!

“Just a little riddled with poison. I’ll be fine.”

“Monster got away. Too much HP. You still got any of those berries?”

Clive passes out in Borgnine’s arms, and he starts having a flashback/hallucination about this friendly looking chap.

Herlock Sholmes here appears to be working on some kind of machine, and Clive is hanging around. Is he helping? Hindering? Lording over the little dude with his superior playable character model?

Clive doesn’t look too happy about whatever is happening here.

Enigmatic!

Welcome back to the more current flashback.

Please note: the doctor here is wearing a labcoat and sandals. This is obviously Zoidberg’s humansona.

Anyway, Clive just drank antidote tea. No more poison. Yay!

Main character killed by a well-meaning NPC doctor would be quite the opening, too.

Happy End!

Oh yeah, there was a point to this whole journey.

I have no idea how they torched that cave. We were setting off bombs in that place like it was the only reason to own multiple controllers for the Sega Saturn, and not a single pebble actually caught fire.

But Clive realizes the flaw in the plan there.

With no lair, the monster is going to come here. Also: how smart are these creatures supposed to be? It played possum, dropped rocks around an intruder, and now is tracking villagers back to their home?

But Clive is ready to take this bird-lizard out!

One casually-tossed antidote for the road!

Yep, Goldrake’s on its way.

Clive is mentally reciting poetry on his way to monster huntin’.

To thineself be true, turn this dragon into glue.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to chase down this creature all over again. He comes to visit on a nearby rooftop.

Town battle!

Goldrake will use its poison attack just once. This is convenient, as you now have exactly one helping of antidote from the cutscene. Use it.

This is now the “real” battle against Goldrake. It still pretty much just tries to hit Clive, but it does hit harder.

What’s more, since it is now permanently flying, it is a harder to hit target. This means you should do whatever it takes to pump up Clive’s FP, and then use Lock On as much as possible.

And then it kersplodes. Only takes a Lock On or two (with some lucky regular attacks) to take Goldrake down, but it is still the most difficult boss battle of the introductory areas.

Couldn’t have dropped that from the first battle, ya jerk?

The townsfolk cheer, and Clive cheers back.

Hooray for our hero!

Clive aspired to be a bounty-hunter and Drifter. But he always earned more than just a reward. His gave his clients peace and in return they gave him confidence. At times he might stop and rest his wings, but no Drifter ever stopped drifting.

He’s got restless rifle syndrome. Got it.

Clive's next mission was to watch an artifact on board the transcontinental railroad. But he wasn't alone. Opportunists were a dime a dozen. No one knew how many were on, or where it was headed. After all, some journeys only start at the last stop.

Clive’s adventure doesn’t actively show you how he got on track (ha!) with the train nonsense like the others, but it does outright tell you “yeah, he got a new job.” We now have confirmation that Clive is the one weirdo in the 4-P standoff that was supposed to be there.

(And if you are curious about who hired him... we'll see the job's source sooner than you think...)

Anywho, save and call it a day. Eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that my timer jumped up a tick from Jet, as I actually completed our next update’s hero’s journey before Clive, and only presented Clive first due to democracy. Let’s Play magic! About 25 minutes is all it takes to complete the prologues when you’re powering through with high levels. And it takes four weeks of updates! And this game is like 40 hours long! Gonna be a long LP, folks!

Next time on Wild Arms 3: Slacking is magic.

 

[Beowulf]

40 hours? No, no, if you do sidequests and all, this game is 70+ hours.

Also, I'm entertained that you called out the name of Clive's ARM but not Jet's. I remember being very amused when I figured that one out.

 

[gogglebob]

Also, I'm entertained that you called out the name of Clive's ARM but not Jet's. I remember being very amused when I figured that one out.

Clive's ARM is what I consider "cute" in reference to mythology and Clive's personality. Jet's ARM is arguably foreshadowing by way of Wild Arms knowledge through mythology in a way that would make The Riddler proud. This is a fancy way of saying I figured I'd cover it when we get to the relevant portion on Jet's whole deal.

(Though, to be clear to Beowulf and anyone else, always feel free to mention anything you notice. Sometimes I have a plan! Sometimes I absolutely don't! Probably most of the time!)

 

[SpoonyBard]

The stark difference in difficulty with Clive's scenario seems quite a bit more than the scale they used would suggest.

Also thanks for the PTSD with the mention of that one optional boss.

shudder

 

[gogglebob]

This is initially being posted on April 19, Polka-Dot Day. One year, no rain came to the village. The village chief sought help from a passing saint for a prayer for rain. Hearing the request, the saint replied with a heavy voice, 'To bring rain upon this village, all must wear polka-dot clothes and pray.' The truth was he only wanted to see the village girls wearing his favorite polka-dots, but it really brought rain. How about that!

Chapter 4: Gallows Humor
or
Staring at the Rude Boy

Previously on Wild Arms 3: Clive protected a town against an avian enemy that was filled with poison. Please don’t lick its corpse, kiddies!

And now we have our final character, a suspicious intruder. Note that you will wind up back at this “character select” screen after completing the other three introductory stories… even though you literally cannot select anything but your final choice.

The Wild Arms franchise has a tendency to either go with “real” Western names (like Rudy, Brad, or Virginia), or names that evoke weapons (Kanon) or both (Ashley Winchester). Gallows is a legitimate last name (that has fallen out of favor for some reason), but it is going to be a first name here, because I think it is supposed to sound “foreign” (think Tina/Terra here).

Almost… there…

I appreciate how the average age of our heroes in Wild Arms 3 is at least old enough to get out of high school. Not that Jet would have passed…

Gallows Carradine, age twenty-four. He has turned his back on his lineage and destiny, and recently took to the wasteland as a Drifter. Yearning to escape his fate, he harnesses his inherent strength, so that he may live freely. However, he has yet to realize the true meaning of his actions. Little does he know that it is his very lineage and destiny that gives him such strength...

Yes yes, we’ve all heard of the hero’s journey. He’s at the point where he tells Obi Wan he’s just a farm boy. Got it.

Who cares about Gallows, someone please tell me this is all in English in the original Japanese. Let’s crowd to the wilderness!

If you zoom in, most of the text for these articles is just item descriptions. Still impressed they didn’t just go with random squiggles, though. This game was originally produced when your average television was the size of a potato. And not one of those fancy pants baking potatoes!

Seems this Ark Scepter has caught Gallows’s attention. And, hey, this is the first story that reveals what might be in that glowy box from the intro! We already knew a train was involved!

Yes! We just covered that!

But Gallows has his own Ark Scepter! Where did he get that?

Oh, thank you for explaining.

So we’ve left the generic breakfast stop of Gallows and flashbacked to Gallows at home. Note that, with Virginia and Clive both flashing back to conversations with older mentors, Jet has the only opening that does not contain a flashback within a flashback. Couldn’t remember to have an origin story, Jet?

Meet Shane, Gallows’s brother. Shane not only has a real name, but he is also a good boy.

“Heck, yeah...Those of the priestly lineage must enter the priesthood, right? Well, not me. Why the heck do I have to follow some stale, old tradition? I'm gonna live freely. No one's gonna tell me what to do.”

Follow your own dreams! And tell that stupid owl that keeps dropping off letters about some stupid magic school to eat a stupid vole.

Gallows does not want the responsibility of his heritage. He does want the material goods of his heritage, though, so he’s getting into thievery.

Though is he really a thief if he’s stealing his birthright? A question for the ages.

Okay, yeah. He’s a thief.

And half the reason he is doing it is to piss off his grandma. Endearing!

Shane accepts that his brother is going to heist family heirlooms and actively infuriate old ladies. I don’t know if Shane is meant to be innocent and good, or exceptionally apathetic.

It is hard to hate a guy whose selfishness is so all encompassing.

But where’s granny? Probably at the very place Gallows intends to rob.

“Always foiling my plans…”

Important information: Shane has the ability to see the future. If you ever need to get the plot going with some prophecies, give the kid a call.

Spoilers: Oh, you sweet summer child.

“Let me know you’re okay! Send me some messages on AIM!”

Our first town! Wow! There are people to talk to and everything! Gallows gets the only 100% “friendly” area in the intros. The only remote competition is Jet, who gets a room of NPCs.

Meet the save doll! These inexplicably sombrero-clad little dudes are the dedicated save points of Wild Arms 3. You need a gimel coin to save anywhere in the world except villages, where you will usually find one of these guys hanging close to whatever counts as the inn for the town du jour. They inexplicably speak Spanish sometimes even though there is no Spain/Mexico anywhere on Filgaia. They are basically an aesthetic nod to the fact that Mexicans exist in Westerns, and somehow that nod wound up translating to living vending machines. This is not the most improbably racist thing that will appear in this update.

Since we’re at a savepoint, let’s look the status screen for Gallows. His weapon is a Coyote M17F Mod that is basically a fantasy sawed-off shotgun. It is as useless as wings on a slug. As you can see from those contrasting Attack and Magic stats, Gallows is a destined shaman and your party’s prime spell caster. This is the converse of Clive that was mentioned last update: Gallows is huge and muscular, but he is your mage. And, yes, this means that he is one of the rare ab-bearing wizards in gaming.

Hell yeah! Gaming!

Anywho, here are everyone’s “starting” (nearly level 100) stats all together so you can compare and contrast at will. Note that Gallows and his miserable AIM stat puts him far behind the other guys (and gal) on ARM damage

Gallows is the only starting character to bear a medium. These items are basically the main equipment of Wild Arms 3 and your conduit for utilizing magic. They will be officially introduced and explained in much greater detail in about two updates, but starting your mage off without any kid of spells would be cruel, so Gallows gets a freebie for his introduction. As such, Gallows has two offensive spells, a healing spell, and “analyze” for funsies. We’ll get into it more later, but this is an ideal setup for introducing magic gameplay.

But before we get to thwacking monsters, let’s chat about town. Ellen here is one of the few villagers that seems remotely sympathetic to Gallows.

You actually get a bit of interactivity here with conversation branches…

And if you are honest about your dishonest intentions, you’ll score some heal berries for the trip. Hooray!

You can speak to chickens, but they don't give a cluck.

Cordell offers a tutorial on the signature Wild Arms world map radar system. We’ll see that in use in a few more images.

Love that you can use “Gallows hates this place and everyone in it” as an excuse for all the townsfolk to do the introductory JRPG thing of “as you know because you have lived here your entire life, the terlet is over there”.

Virginia got a random book, Gallows gets a random dude that gives you the same basic “there was a big demon fight, things went poorly, and now the world is absolute crap” story. The Baskar version gets a little more into the weeds on the Baskar and how some other magical race was involved, but same basic deal.

“… Their followers sought refuge from the material world and formed our village in nature. But look at you! What ghetto did you crawl out of? Your ancestors roll in their graves!”

Screw it, let’s talk about Gallows and race.

I don’t want to make this a “thing” every time Gallows gets a featured bit or whatever, but there is just… a lot going on with the design decisions that went into Gallows.

To start, there’s the whole Baskar thing that has been going on since Wild Arms 1. Wild Arms heavily draws from American Westerns, so it seems natural and vaguely expected that the series would dip into the “cowboys and Indians” tropes. In Wild Arms 1, Baskar village is a mostly “primitive” area that dedicatedly ignores the “new religion” of a literal abbey with nuns and follows the “old ways” of living with nature and in harmony with the guardians (gods). In Wild Arms 2, they were featured more because Tim, a party member, is a Baskar that was smuggled away by his mother… because they wanted to sacrifice the poor kid. Hmph. But once you get past the whole “child sacrifice” thing, they are once again a generally well-meaning group of people that are “magic”, but a different “magic” from the more established (and technologically advanced) magic users of Wild Arms 2 (the “real” magic village of WA2 exists in its own magically domed city with teleporters). Wild Arms 3 generally follows this pattern by making this “tribe” technologically primitive, but abundant in spiritual and “harmony with nature” power. Pretty typical stereotype for a Native American tribe in media (see also every fighting game character that uses a tomahawk), but it at least seems to empower the people involved. In all three Wild Arms games mentioned, there isn’t a pervasive “oh those terrible Baskars” sentiment from anyone but bad guys.

But then you’ve got Gallows. For some reason, Gallows is black.

Like, this is weird to examine, but even when you look at official art of Gallows next to his little brother Shane, it is clear that Gallows has much more of a tan. And those lips! Nobody else in the game has such prominent lips! Gallows has the typical “Native American feathers and flare” outfit going on, but it sure seems like he is meant to appear African American. And that’s before you get into some weirdly racist tropes that are definitely there. I am convinced Gallows’s (excellent, expressive) battle stance of standing there swinging his gun below his waist is meant to be evocative of a “gang banger” with his sawed off shotgun. And, oh yeah, you get random dudes (like in the screenshot that prompted this) that call him a “thug” and ask which “ghetto” he crawled out of.

And couple this with the fact that Gallows is the only playable character with something darker than a practically translucent skin tone (Jet may qualify as albino) and also…
1. Consistently “the dumb one” in conversations where everyone must comment on a subject
2. The one who is introduced via stealing from his family/people
3. Will consistently be the one talking about “hangovers” and “let’s grab a drink”
4. Literally initially nicknamed as “suspicious”

And… yeah… it’s a little… let’s say “suspicious”. Jet is there to steal things, too!

This is just being noted because it is something that this humble Let’s Play author noticed quite a bit across the breadth of Wild Arms 3, and I don’t want to point out “this is problematic!” every time. Gallows is overall a great character that I personally enjoy, and he definitely does improve from his initial state of general selfishness over the course of the story. Given the choice, I would take the more fascinating (and fun!) Gallows of WA3 than the good boy Tim of WA2 (and Shane seems to be a deliberate echo of Tim, too). That said, it is still going to be noted that the one character from a fictional-but-based-on-reality fantasy minority and designed based on a real-world minority is introduced with the main character trait of “kinda shifty”. Or maybe he is meant to be “street smart”? Either way, it is not a good look.

Representation is cool. But maybe don’t use that to reinforce some hateful stereotypes.

(Though, for the record, there is one other clearly African American character that appears eventually, and he is demonstrably the most competent person on his team, so…)

Okay, back to talking about good things. You see how the roof canopy here gently sways in the breeze? Pretty cool.

We can’t leave town quite yet. We have to check on a nearby shrine (not the one we’re looking to rob) before we go.

And who should we find here but…

Hi Granny! For the record, there is literally nothing to do in town, so if Gallows has been avoiding this altar, it was a premeditated move.

Gallows explains that he thought Granny Halle might be at the other shrine he never visits.

Guardians dammit.

Remember how I said Gallows is characterized as the dumb one? Yeah.

Granny warns Gallows against going to the temple. This is a flashback! We know he’s not gonna listen!

This little lair has a pretty interesting mural that we can barely see. Could someone bring a lightbulb in here?

Dumb and lazy.

Okay, now we can leave town.

It’s the world map! Gallows gets his own town and access to the world at large. Exciting!

You cannot use tools on the map, but you can use your radar. Like Wild Arms 2 (like, exactly like) there is technically nothing available on the world map beyond locations you have already left (like Gallows’ hometown there in the previous shot). You must use your radar to discover signposts, treasure, towns, and dungeons. Treasure or signposts will pop up whenever you are in range and trigger the radar, but towns and dungeons usually have some kind of “plot trigger” to allow you to find them when the time is right. In general, if you see text in red, it means you have just heard information that allows you to find a related location.

The radar system is fun for setting the mood of “exploring the wasteland” and doing your best to stumble around in a world where you must actively discover your next destination like a proper explorer. However, in practice, it usually just means you hammer the square button every few steps, and all you find is a stupid sign.

Credit where it is due: putting this sign immediately south of the village is genius. Of course a player is going to go south of the village to find the Southern Sanctuary. Guess we have a little more walking to go.

There are battles on the world map. Are you surprised?

Gallows gets three bullets per clip. Also, if you are using Gallows’s fight command for anything other than FP accumulation, you are doing it wrong.

The humble balloon is right up there with the Gobs for being opening Wild Arms monsters. This balloon is a little more horrifying than its PS1 brethren.

This Gallows is Level 100 (or whatever) jacked, so his ARM does a lot more damage than otherwise. Time to pop, balloon.

The “ocean” of Filgaia is a bit dry at the moment. You cannot traverse it on foot, though. Gigantic monsters living in the sands are an issue. Something something Dune reference.

Destination!

But first, let’s use some honest-to-guardians magic.

Once you’ve got a medium, you can use magic. The whole party will have access soon enough, but Gallows is the only gent with magic out of the gate.

Magic requires FP, but does not use FP. It does not acquire FP, either, but using magic will not deplete your FP gauge. Force abilities, like accelerate or lock on, absolutely use FP. Using magic does not. This just means that your mage probably has to throw out a fight command or two to accumulate enough FP to cast in the early game, and, once you level up a bit, you’ll always start with enough to toss spells right off the bat. To use the example here, once Gallows is level 10, he will always start a battle with the FP to use Refrigerate.

Analyze is available from the start for a reason. The main reason you use magic is for the purpose of hitting elemental weaknesses. The other reason you use magic is that it will “transform” any defeated opponents into an elementally matching gem. Kill with an ice spell, get an ice gem. Elemental gems are the JRPG trope of “item that casts spell”. Note that you will receive this item reward in addition to any item rewards you would have won otherwise. Not an “or” situation.

We’ll talk more about magic in a minute, but now let’s get to exploring.

Gallows, do you even know what the dang thing looks like? I mean, I would assume it is kind of scepter shaped…

Oh yeah…

Guess I could have done the magic explanation after the magic tutorial.

Whatever! Into the Southern Sanctuary/Fallen Sanctuary (but that title doesn’t help newbies find the place).

First of all, you have to “fall” into the Fallen Sanctuary, and then it looks like there is no way back. But there is a switch immediately thereafter that generates some easy-return stairs. Huh.

Two paths immediately available after entering. A doorway further into the sanctuary, and a staircase leading up. Up is always good!

Unfortunately, this leads to a dead end with eight altars all in a circle.

Four of the altars are inaccessible, but the other four are reachable. The open ones are all dedicated to the guardians of the four basic elements. In case you’ve never played a JRPG before (or even encountered any kind of fantasy magic), there is the battle “clue” here that fire stands opposite water, and earth stands opposite wind.

Anyway, nothing to do up those stairs right now, time to head back and down into the dungeon.

Block puzzle! Gallows is getting all the tropes.

Blocks can be moved. Put block on switch. You understand.

At least Wild Arms 3 is one of those games where you can reverse-push a block backwards. … Pull? What the hell is that?

Next area has some treasure! Oh boy!

There’s a heal berry and a gimel coin, but more importantly, Gallows’s first tool!

The Freezer Doll is the icy alternative to Virginia’s fiery tinder card. Aside from the obvious elemental difference, the other change here is that Gallows stands motionless and can rotate around with an ice “beam”. Virginia just tosses her fire sticks.

Some bookkeeping here: Gallows is equipped with a medium. Gallows cannot unequip or change his medium, so the section of the menu in or out of battle for changing mediums is unavailable. In battle, the “no” message is also unexpectedly insulting for Gallows.

Let’s analyze why that is.

Analyze is pretty robust in Wild Arms 3. You get a complete breakdown of elemental weaknesses/strengths and the various ways they can impact things, the reward for a defeated opponent, and its HP. Naturally, this was back in the day when bosses were forbidden from sharing their HP count, because JRPG designers were masochists. But HP is available on any other random mook.

Analyzing is important when you only have Gallows on the team, because you want to know whether something is weak to Water or Ice, which are two separate elements in Wild Arms.

Now let’s get back to using that elemental doll that is inaccessible during battles for some reason. Virginia had to light a bunch of torches with her tool, Gallows has got to put ‘em out.

Wow! The door opened! Good thing the Fallen Sanctuary apparently based its security system on eternally burning flames.

This dungeon is mostly a series of puzzles and extremely boring hallways. Either Virginia or Gallows has the dullest dungeon structures, and I am leaning more toward Gallows.

You are supposed to stand in the middle of this room and rotate around to all the candles, but I just came through the door and started blastin’. Oops.

Whatever! It works! Moving on.

More like the Repetitive Sanctuary, amiright, Gallows?

Move block to pressure plate, step on other plate to open door.

The ol’ ancestors here did imagine future generations would be able to figure out puzzles for kindergarteners.

The next room has a pressure plate but no blocks around. Guess we’ll have to come back to this dungeon later with the Cane of Somaria.

Just trying to give you some idea of the scope of this dungeon…

There! Some actual ice rotating. Happy?

Looks like we’re here.

I really appreciate how Gallows has such a distinctive voice. I could not see Virginia referring to herself as “papa” at any point.

But it looks like we have…

Boss battle! Multiple boss battle!

Kesaran Pasaran, like Clive’s (first) boss, is something of a tutorial/puzzle battle.

This creature is weak to water. Write that down.

This fight is four against one, but that is more so there can be four targets, not four attackers. Generally, you do not see a round where every Kesaran Pasaran attacks, as they predominantly just float around and measure the situation.

Not to say at least one won’t attack per round, though.

The trick here is that every time you kill two KPs, they will revive. As you are controlling a party of one, that means it is literally impossible to simply beat down four monsters in four rounds. They would all be back faster than you could admit that Granny was right.

So what’s a Gallows to do? Well, our final unique force ability is Gallows’s own Extension. This allows a spell to target a group of enemies or allies. Basically, this means that everyone may eventually use magic, but only Gallows will ever have the ability to “select all” on a spell. The healing/buffing options for this are obviously tremendous, but it also means Gallows could potentially hit an elemental weakness, and wipe out an entire enemy mob in one move.

Like this! Like Clive and Lock On, the solution to this fight is to use extension on a (your only) water spell.

Extension only targets a group, so it is kind of useless offensively when there are multiple “gangs” of monsters. But if all your opponents have the same name and are only distinguished by single letters, you’re in the clear. Bye bye, Ark Scepter Guardian Thingies.

There could have been a little tension in this quest if it wasn’t a flashback…

It appears Virginia is the only protagonist that got to shortcut right from her boss to her finale. Everybody else has got to hoof it out of their starting dungeon like a peasant.

And, while Gallows doesn’t have to deal with poison or Pike, he does have to avoid invisible walls.

Looks like our hero is trapped.

And considering his solution to the problem is “try hitting it,” we might be here for a while.

What’s this?

Shane! Such a good boy!

Dude is psychic…

Or… just has common sense.

I always appreciate when two characters that are brothers act like, ya know, brothers. They love each other, but they both know they’ve got problems. Problems like being stuck in an invisible box.

We’re in a box! What can we do now? Take cute cat pictures?

Our one tool doesn’t do diddly, and running into the walls is what got us into this mess…

What would a priest do?

Well, the Ark Scepter we just recovered is technically an item in our inventory, so we can use that and… hear voices?

Cool thing: when the guardians (essentially the gods of Filgaia) speak, they get their own font. Uncool thing: they are cryptic and useless.

Maybe that little divine pep talk will help us figure things out with Shane.

Shane? Bro? Yes. Yes, get us out of this box we are begging you.

Gallows is shocked Shane would suggest such a thing!

Shocked!

So Gallows decides he will solve this problem with math!

2 Apprentices = 1 Whole Master

“The science is sound!”

This is Gallows’s whole deal: he is kind of a dummy, and he often looks for shortcuts, but this does seem to lead to unique solutions.

Hooray for solutions!

And since we’re having a heart-to-heart, Gallows explains that he isn’t just doing the whole drifter thing to spite Granny or have a different life or something, he simply needs to be free.

Shane understands.

Brotherly love for the win!

And the walls come down.

Presumably after a lot of crying and hugging, Gallows hightailed it out of there. A few weeks later, he is back at the Waffle House considering this whole “other Ark Scepter” thing.

Welp, gonna have to rob a second Ark Scepter. Who knew he’d have to do that twice in one season?

A Drifter who soared over the wasteland, liberated from all restraints. His next target--another Ark Scepter. Verifying which of the two treasures is real will determine his self-value. It may be regarded as a small sense of pride. The dangers involved are many, but it's all so he can break away from his lineage and destiny. Little does he know, however, that unseen tracks already lie before him. An article obtained by desire...This can be considered a ticket to freedom...But it's a one-way ticket, and the destination is unknown.

You know, not much of a color transition there.

And we are back at the save screen. All introductions completed! Now we can finally get back to the great train robbery next week. Will we discover the secret of the multiple Ark Scepters? Will somebody else try to rob the train? Will we ever address Tony again? Find out next time!

Next time on Wild Arms 3: From one to four in thirty seconds.

 

[Mr Bean]

Problematic as Gallows is (I forgot about those lips!) I still appreciate how he and Clive switched places coming out of central casting. The skinny dude with glasses and a thesaurus in his pocket is your physical powerhouse while the buff, shirtless meathead is your dedicated mage. Come to think of it, Jet and Victoria are kinda swapped too - the taciturn amnesiac ISN’T the main protagonist.

 

[Mogri]

ANBROSIA

Can you fight for 48 hours?

 

[gogglebob]

BONUS CONTENT!

 

[gogglebob]

This is originally being posted on April 26, Idea Day. There was a gloomy man who tried to make poison from herbs to kill the woman he hated... One day, he accidentally spilled the herbal mixture over his clothes, leaving a green stain. The stain was so stubborn it couldn't be washed away. Seeing this, the man decided to market the concoction as green paint, instead.

Chapter 5: Janus Never Blinks

Previously on Wild Arms 3: We have completed all the prologues! So we’ve got…

· A new drifter that fights for justice
· An experienced drifter that fights for justice
· A new drifter that will do anything for a buck
· An experienced drifter that will do anything for a buck

Such variety!

No matter who you chose last, at the culmination of their tale, we cut immediately to a train station.

It must be kind of weird or absolutely normal if you somehow choose Virginia last.

This suitcase is where Virginia keeps the 999 items you have on your person at all times. It is never seen again.

Virginia was the narrator this whole time? Is… is she omnipotent?

“There goes our Virginia, off to… uh… somewhere. What did her ticket say? Adventure? … That isn’t a place.”

Around and around we go...The world that encircles me begins to revolve...The gears grind, and the spinning wheels of fate begin to turn...And finally, the train departs. A journey without a purpose. The train just steams away to the world beyond today. The accident that ensued on the train I happened to be on...And the three strangers I would later encounter...These were all coincidences. But if coincidence is a part of fate, I want to roam this vast Filgaia to find the reason behind that encounter.

So, basically, the point of your journey is you want to find the point for your journey. Got it.

Or at least a decent Let’s Play.

The planet Filgaia is slowly rotting, its once lush vegetation withering away. As if it weren't enough, all sorts of predators roam the desert and prey on innocent travelers.. Yet there are some willing to brave this wasteland to seek their fortunes. These folks are called "Drifters."

… Still think that “drifters” could have been localized to be something more… better.

Though it’s not like “Wild Arms” is ever a phrase that made any kind of sense to begin with.

So this is a staff roll with some banging music and…

Some minor flashbacks to what everyone (not just Virginia) was up to before the standoff. Who picked the lock? Looks like Gallows.

Who almost slept through the whole thing? Virginia.

I would complain about flashing back to something we had already seen if that update wasn’t already a month ago…

Probably not a coincidence that “Character Animation” is credited while Virginia does her little feint-run.

And while Jet has the most fun sneaking onto the train. Was he down there the whole time?

We don’t see the dialogue again, but we can all recall that Tony is terrible at his job.

Clive rushes into action. I guess his guardianship didn’t involve actually hanging out with the treasure.

Gallows got there first! Was he always intending to steal the thing, or just confirm it is what the newspaper said it was?

Clive was this close to blowing a few holes into Gallows. Or at least knocking off 12 HP.

And we all wind up at the treasure at the same time.

Back to the present! Or the character select screen!

Suddenly! An explosion from above interrupts our possibly homicidal heroes. There’s a hole in the ceiling now!

Spoilers: Tony somehow keeps his job after all this.

“Or we’re being attacked by some kind of poisonous, flying bird lizard. That ever happen to anybody?”
“Yes.”

Quick to assume it is a person there, Clive. Virginia spent her entire intro fighting thieving monsters.

So Clive and Virginia want to sort out whatever business is on the roof, but the two literal thieves involved are a little more leery.

Spoilers: this all works out. That said, trusting two guys that were really obviously trying to rob the place in order to maybe catch a third thief (that could be working with the first two guys!) is exactly why you wound up lost and poisoned in some godforsaken cave, Clive.

Guess we still have a few more credits to get through. Not everything is sepia this time, though!

“Might be easier to lift the girl if you put your shotgun down, Gallows.”
“No.”

And our team of four meets a team of three.

If you don’t feel like zooming in, the blonde on the left has some kind of face/eye scar, the cowboy on the right has noticeably not buckled his pants…

And the man in the middle means business.

Shrewd, too!

Ah, the mortifying ordeal of being seen.

Royal “we”.

The important distinction here is that “the heroes” may have all had their ARMs at each other’s throats, but nobody actually pulled the trigger. Robber here is quick to jump to the carnage.

Though maybe not everyone is on board with violence.

But violence solves everything!

(Everybody pays attention to the hit, but take a moment to note cowboy’s wince.)

For the record, it appears that parentheses indicate whispering or something along those lines…

Either that, or Clive and Virginia have developed some immediate telepathy.

Gallows and Jet do not respond, but nod in agreement. Basically, they are part of the party because Clive realized that, even with Virginia, he was outnumbered. Pragmatic beginnings.

You can’t tell me Jet and Gallows both aren’t considering just grabbing the treasure during this melee and going with option #3 here.

Credits are just trying to sneak in where they can!
(That is Robber’s sleeve, if you’re curious.)

Quick aside: Wild Arms 3 seems to present Drifter teams in groups of four. The backstory to these guys is that they used to have a fourth member, Lucio, but he died under mysterious circumstances. “Mysterious”, in this case, is defined as “nobody ever decided to spring for a flashback/model of Lucio”. Whether it was to save a couple of bucks or because nothing could be more interesting than the myths about the legend of Lucio, Lucio does not actually appear in Wild Arms 3 at all. That said…

The ol’ official website had this piece of art, and it is consistent with some background comic that appeared in the Japanese exclusive Wild Arms 3 Complete Guide. Lucio is the redhead with the halo, obviously. So, basically, what I’m saying is we could have also been fighting a guy that can’t button his shirt to match the man that can’t button his pants.

(And, aw, Wild-Arms.net is still a valid URL after all these years…)

Whatever the case with Lucio, he is gone now, and it is immediately clear that left an impact on this group.

And we get some names! Dario is the fly guy in the ten-gallon hat, Romero is the wannabe ninja.

And the leader is the one and only Janus Cascade.

Given his blue hair, red motif, the fact that his ARM is a bayonet style gun, and another parallel that comes along in a few hours, I always assumed Janus was designed as a sort of “evil twin” counterpart to Ashley Winchester, main protagonist of Wild Arms 2. They do not have much in common on the personality front, but I’ve always thought there was a resemblance. Janus is certainly a lot less… friendly.

Gallows! The game has barely started! Knock it off with the lampshading!

Have you ever tried to have a conversation on top of a moving train? It is amazing if anyone understood like three words Janus actually said.

“We must protect that thing 50% of us were trying to steal!”

And, without any proper JRPG battle transition, here is our first four-person battle. Note that this is the first four-person battle in the franchise, as both Wild Arms titles before this one only ever allowed three people per fight. If you are curious, Wild Arms 1 only had three characters total, and Wild Arms 2 had more than three party members, but you had to pick and choose between battles. Wild Arms 3 has four in a fight, and those are the only four you are ever going to get.

Wild Arms 3 is turn based, so everybody (opponents included) just chooses an action at the start of the round, and then waits their turn to gun down opponents. Jet and Virginia usually act at the top of the turn, while Gallows and Clive usually wind up toward the end.
Also: you are going to see a lot of my party defending through these early battles, because otherwise the fights would be over within about two screenshots.

The minions only seem to have a single attack each. Dario tosses shuriken at one team member.

Janus, though. You gotta watch out for that guy.

Multiblast was a move/ARM used by Ashley in Wild Arms 2. Here, it is an attack exclusive to Janus, and it nails everybody with a hail of bullets. As this is the first battle with more than one party member, it is technically the first multi-hit enemy attack in the game.

As such, we get a quick aside/tutorial acknowledging how the party may be hurting after that salvo.

Virginia has Mystic, which will now finally come in handy to spread a healing item across the party. Gallows also has Extend, which allows him to use one (healing) magic spell on multiple targets. You’ve got options! Also (not mentioned by the game), Jet can Accelerate to first place and heal people at the top of the round to guarantee they will be alive and available for later actions. So, really, only Clive has a Force Ability that does not have “defensive” utility.

While we are talking about healing: Heal Berries (and, thus, Virginia’s item-based Mystic) always heal 300 HP. That is great for the early game, as it takes a little bit for your party members to have more than 300 Max HP. Gallows has his healing spell, but that healing is exclusively based on his magic stat, so it probably only heals like 80 HP a pop at the start. So figure out what will actually work before making a choice.

Back to being shot at. I choose to believe the full name of this weapon is Gillius Thunderhead 12/23

I assume this is the name of Janus’s ARM, and not simply an attachment. Janus being equipped with a shark is appropriate.

Should we start dropping these yokels?

Or just analyze their stats? Not really much to these guys. Not that you would expect anything of the “boss of tutorials”. Presumably to account for how any one of these party members could be all of Level 2, and there is no way to revisit tutorials and grind, this battle is remarkably easy.

Time to end ‘em.

As is proper to a plot fight, nobody “dies” or “disappears” when their HP is depleted, they just find various ways to look tired.

Because these guys are going to be around for a while.

Already with the cute nicknames.

Pop quiz, Virginia. What is the white-haired boy’s name? …. Did you just say “plane”?

“Nooo, it’s also my birthday, I’m a little birthday boyy…”

Battle officially ends here for some reason…

Very little has changed since we got that carrot.

But we can see why the battle is well and truly over.

So Team Janus leapt to their deaths? Guess that solves that problem.

Oh, wait…

They just jumped onto another train on a lower track. Guess that’s why Janus was watching the clock.

And Virginia just watches as they go.

“We didn’t accomplish anything, but we’re going to act like this was a win, Princess!”

“You also probably can’t hear us anymore, but I’m going to keep talking!”

Good morning.

Those credits kept going all night.

“In the future, if you are trying to rob me or my client, I will simply go to another room.”

Aw. Clive got a souvenir.

“What you saw, young lady, was the sparkle of the Ark Scepter. It's a sacred artifact used to communicate with the power that sustains the world.”
“The power that sustains the world? So that's what they're after...”

So since you already have one, does that mean you sustain the world, Gallows? What’s that? You were going to pawn it for beer and gum?

And away the train goes. Just going to leave us all here… wherever… here… is?

Dark, too.

You shot a maximum of three guys a couple of times. I don’t know how much helping you think you were doing.

And, to coin a phrase, there was no getting off the train you were on.

“Hope everyone brought their hiking boots on that train ride.”

And Clive indicates that Gallows might just know where we are all going.

Yep! As you may have guessed from an Ark Scepter being involved, Clive is returning the booty to granny.

“You wanna go together? It seems like that would be easier than figuring out how to separate our item stash now.”

Professional Thief is now part of the Ark Scepter Protection Committee because there might be a paycheck.

Oh Guardians, we’re going to play I Spy the whole way there?

No, not with those people.

D’aw! They probably talked about their introduction dungeons on the way over. I wonder if Clive mentioned the part where he was knocked unconscious and randomly experiencing flashbacks.

Please save before actually playing the game.

So this is where the game officially begins. We have a full party, we have access to the world map (after the save screen), and we will be slightly less railroaded (ha!) going forward.

That said, since this is the official start of the Let’s Play (a month in), we’re going to quit and…

Press start. Because we want to see…

The intro!

As has been stated in this very thread, this animated intro is one of the best out there. It is not as good as the transcendent Wild Arms 1 intro, but it is right up there for the PlayStation 1 & 2 era.

The whole thing is basically an excuse to see our main characters in slightly higher definition.

Clive has the tiniest bit of stubble. Very Mr. Fantastic.

Stop being sad about scarves!

Whole party just found out that kittens eventually grow up to be cats, so they are taking a moment.

No guardrails in the wasteland.

But there are horses!

And cliffs!

And sandstorms!

And comradery! The defining theme of this opening is basically how the team goes through a lot together, together.

The moon is pretty, too. Looks like we only have one this time.

Everybody gets to showcase their “powers”. Clive has his ARM…

Gallows has his magic…

Jet has his boyish good looks…

And Virginia gets to duel with Janus

Variable opening system activate! Wild Arms 3 has four distinct chapters, and each of the chapters are defined by their main villain du jour. Janus is the antagonist of Chapter 1, so he is featured in this rad Trigunian duel for Chapter 1. When we advance to future chapters, Janus will unfortunately be replaced.

Virginia is sticking around for the long haul, though.

These guys, too.

I enjoy the little coda to the intro that we don’t have time to stand around and pose all day, gotta find a way down this stupid cliff…

Into the sunset. Or the sunrise. Something with the sun.

In Japan, the title is technically Wild Arms Advanced 3rd. That has to play hell with this delightfully compact logo.

That’s the intro. If you didn’t already look it up on Youtube, a song plays over that sequence, too. Before the prologue chapters are complete, the full animated intro will play any time you load a game, but the song will only feature whistling for the main chorus. Once the intro dungeons are completed, you get actual vocals.

There is a Japanese track from the original release of this song (called “Wings”, incidentally). The Wild Arms wiki gives us this general translation of the Japanese lyrics:

I don't have the power
To swim against the stream
But I've made up my mind

Even so, it is because I have my memories
That the calm winds cried out to me,
"Don't turn away, keep on walking"

Those memories in my heart
Are slipping out now
And seem to disappear into a shining tomorrow

True power doesn't lay
On just pulling the trigger
I can advance forward and I won't get lost

And these lyrics will change in future chapters (Chapters 3 and 4, though not 2). However! In the American localization, the lyrics were localized and sung in English. Wings does not change throughout the different chapters, but sounds slightly more lyrical in English.

A change in time finally made up my mind
I raise my hand from beneath the shifting sands
And embrace the winds of change
Suddenly, everything is up to me
The pages turn flashing full of memories
I can see all too clear,
The time has come to face my fear
And there's a fire burning in my heart
To shine when all is torn apart
And I will make it through this desert storm
Safe and warm!
My shield is strong,
I'll take my chances here and now
Bring on the fight,
I'll find a way to win somehow!
No tomorrows, no regret,
I'll risk it all for this brand-new day!

In both cases, it is clear the “singer” is Virginia, further centering Wild Arms 3 on its heroine. Good stuff!

We’ll talk about the other chapter songs as we get to them, as they are relevant to Virginia’s journey and the overall Wild Arms 3 plot. Also: there may be more of a reason they were not localized beyond perceived indolence…

And speaking of things being centered on Virginia, here is the “outro”, or closing animation that appears every time you tell a save prompt that you would not like to continue playing the game.

I personally saw this animation a lot less when playing Wild Arms 3 the first time, as I just usually saved and turned off my Playstation 2 like a normal person.

Technically, all of your party members’ current stats are listed across the closing. I deliberately took these captures during Jet’s intro dungeon, as that way there is less text for our one party member.

These are basically a series of static images slowly drifting around the screen while music plays. Good finale for chilling out.

And, if you haven’t caught it, it is basically a series of images about Virginia and her daddy (issues).

You’ll find him one day, Virginia! Hope you don’t have too many game overs before that!

And everything fades to a starry night.

Like the opening, this one is whistled until you complete the intros. You get lyrics for Only the Night Sky Knows eventually. In Japanese, it seems to translate as thus…

My memories of the rusted smell of the guns
Keeping my both hands on all the time
I just want to fall into a silent slumber
Under blinking stars of wilderness
The name I happened to call out in my dream
Only the night sky knows who that was

While the English localization that is song is…

I can still recall the smell of smoke from rusting guns
Lying here beneath this starry desert sky
Tired from the fight I fall into a slumber
With memories of days gone by
What was the name I call out in my dream
Guess for now only Heaven knows

Fun fact! None of the English localizations were ever released on official albums!

Anywho, that’s that for this week. We have a full party, a rival party, and a mission to deliver an Ark Scepter or two. Time to go wild (arms).

Next time on Wild Arms 3: “You all heard her! Gramma said we gotta kill god!”

 

[SpoonyBard]

Oh come on, Janus is nothing like Ashley! Ashley was possessed by a demon!

I should also point out that the english localization of the opening theme is a bit of a banger?

More effort to localize the lyrics into english than to just do Wild ARMS 2's approach and just make it instrumental.

 

[gogglebob]

Oh come on, Janus is nothing like Ashley! Ashley was possessed by a demon!

Not only a demon, but a demon that was known to man, woman, and god to have tried to destroy the whole of the world. What are the odds of that kind of thing ever happening twice!?

Anywho, today is May 3, Butler Day. Butlers are handy people who handle all of your general affairs at home. They can even help you sleep better when you tell them to count sheep for you. I wish I had a butler...

Chapter 6: To Grandmother's Cave We Go

Previously on Wild Arms 3: The whole gang finally got together. Now they just have to figure out if there are any epic, world-spanning quests around here.

It is rather cruel to drop our poor party off in literally the middle of nowhere without so much as a map.

Head North! If you are abusing your radar system, you’ll find a sign around here that says just that.

There was no reason to wander further than the Southern/Fallen Sanctuary during Gallows’s introduction, but if you did, you would encounter monsters that would murder you until you turned around.

But now that we have a full party, Beast Slugs are little more than a bump in the road.

Lookit that whole party, ma. You can’t really switch party members “out”, so the only way to not receive EXP is being dead at the end of a battle. Which, honestly, is kind of an experience onto itself…

We are hoofing it back to Baskar. Once you get past the initial drop off place, the path back should be recognizable.

Welcome home, Gallows! Since we were here once already, we don’t have to radar Baskar out of the ether.

“Is this the reason you’re the way you are?”
“No, she’s probably over in that cave.”

Also, Virginia calls out Jet on his general silence.

Fun fact: that kid barely has anything to say across the whole of Chapter 1. Keep an eye out!

“I have to go collect my paycheck.”

I chose to believe Clive receives all his jobs via carrier pigeon.

Gallows made no attempt to fake his death on the way out, he just naturally believes that everybody else would assume he wouldn’t last three months in the wilderness.

He is right.

“I have the gift of prophecy, but you’re so inconsequential to the fate of the universe, you’re never mentioned!”

Virginia is here for the family drama. Jet is contact-embarrassed for his brother in thievery.

Gallows only successfully ran away from home for three months. We will never know if a circus was involved.

We immediately transition to Gallows’s home and Halle. The awkwardness is palpable.

When we get paid for a job, we literally get paid for a job. This ain’t no cutscene funny money, that is the most gella your party has ever seen at this point.

“So I’m going to subtract two hundred gella…”

Clive and Halle simultaneously reveal that…

It was always assumed that Gallows would see the press about an Ark Scepter, and wind up attached to the thing.

So Granny played Gallows like a fiddle. It isn’t revisited (much) past this point in the story, but I enjoy how these two have a sort of Road Runner/Coyote thing going on.

Granny didn’t like that.

I’m seeing double! Four Ark Scepters!

There can be more than one magical artifact of infinite power, dummy.

There is nothing not funny about the fact that Halle banked her entire “get Gallows back” plan on the idea that the dumbass couldn’t remember that there was more than one Ark Scepter. And she was right!

Anyway, during the last three months, Gallows grabbed numero uno, Shane nabbed another two scepters, and the last one was to be delivered by train (and escorted by Clive).

“And my ancestors created four of ‘em, because they bought the materials in bulk.”

So you can either talk to a god, or kill a god. Or both. Maybe you don’t like what the god said? You’ve got options.

“The Ark Scepter made it to the colony safely, away from the hands of villains...Thanks to all of you, that is. But I do have a new mission I would like to ask of you.”

After a quick change of venue for some added drama, Granny gets to the good stuff.

Virginia, Jesus. Look, we all know you live in a JRPG, but, my sister in Christ, you don’t have to be so genre savvy about it. Zounds, let the audience come to that conclusion first.

(Oh, and, yes, this is her immediate reaction to the dialogue transcribed above. No skipping screenshots here, Virginia jumps straight to deicide.)

“You want us to mortally wound the guardians, leaving them to die long and laborious deaths in the harsh existence of the wasteland?!”
“Girl, what is wrong with you?”

For some follow up answers, let’s turn this over to Shane.

The guy from X-Men?

“A blue shadow will rise from the ancient dead on our planet, Filgaia. The resurrected blue shadow will wield a sharp, cold sparkle that will eat away the planet. People, animals, and all other life-forms will be devoured, and eventually Filgaia itself...”

Yeah! The blue guy from X-Men!

Virginia was all about killing gods until she found out there might be an even bigger god on the block. Now she wants facts.

I appreciate that Gallows 100% always supports his brother (when he is not fleeing the county).

“We needed a name for this ambiguous, apocalypse thingy, so I just went with the one color we know is involved.”

“But this threat is not all that the dream speaks. It also tells of how the blue shadow will be defeated.”
”The blue shadow shall be expelled by releasing the chains which bind the guardians. Filgaia will eventually rejuvenate, and a little girl will bring about peace and tranquility...”

Not to get all spoilery on such a fun twist, but, if you have not played Wild Arms 3 before, and you have guesses on the identity of “a little girl”, I guarantee you, your guess is wrong.

So Granny suggests these four randos should be the ones to release the chains that bind the guardians… or at least strike up a conversation with the gods.

“You can do it. When I said the bearer of the Ark Scepter has the right to kill a guardian, I meant...You must face it in battle. It proves that you are worthy to face these intangible, invisible beings. And by fighting and proving your strength, the guardian will be released from the earth, transferring itself into a medium.”

You really could not have been more clear about that when you were talking about god-murder all of thirty seconds ago!?

Virginia, I know you’re a Skinny Minnie, but you must understand that not everyone is a Size 2.

I see where this is going. Halle is going to reveal it’s actually just a pretty rock in all of a minute.

Remember how Gallows has a pseudo medium that got him through his introductory dungeon?

Well now he doesn’t. Granny obliterated his medium!

Now our mage can’t cast any spells! He’s useless! Useless I tells ya!

Gallows straight up loses his party utility here, but he has a chance to get it back by smacking around a god or four.

“Okay, enough about our party’s butt monkey. When do we get paid?”

“You get four magical items that are wholly unique in the world and grant you the untold power of a god. Do you need gas money, too?”

So the plan is we’ve got four people, and will acquire four mediums. Granny seems to imply that she thinks the crew will do the right thing once they are all powered up… but she is playing it coy.

Gallows, somehow, does not understand the concept. Gal, buddy, Granny has duped you, like, three times that we know of in the last five minutes.

Halle makes the point that outsiders have to handle this, as the Baskar’s dedication to museum exhibits apparently borders on apocalyptic.

Note that Halle and Shane are apparently the only people on Filgaia aware of an encroaching catastrophe, and their solution is "a long shot".

So let’s discuss: Gallows is going to complete this mission because he already misses his old, shattered medium. I admit, if I had the power to generate ice water at will, and lost it, I would fight to get it back.

Clive is interested simply because he is… interested.

Jet is characteristically practical.

And Virginia was convinced the first moment that god slaying was mentioned.

“We’re in, Gramma!”

“You made a wise decision. Not the fact that you accepted the mission, but the fact that all four of you will carry out this mission together. The guardians have sealed their bodies in a distant time, but still exist today in intangible forms. Their strength far exceeds those of humans, so you should all watch out for each other.”

Wait, whoa. Nobody ever said fighting a god would be hard.

“If you guys need to fight giant bugs until you are level 5, have at it.”

Could I interest you in one more tutorial for the road?

The A.S.K. or Activate Selected Keyword system is one of those dealies where developers were trying to find new ways to make the dialogue bits of JRPGs more stimulating and interactive.

Does the entire Carradine family have the ability to break the fourth wall at will?

Any time you see green text, hit the square button, and you’ll get a follow up on the highlighted text.

Sometimes this is required, as a random NPC might “mention” a nearby town or dungeon, and hitting the square button will get you (radar mandated) directions. During more cutscene-like moments, the ASK system is usually an excuse for one of your characters to verbally react to something someone says.

It never hurts to ASK, so if you see green, hit square. Learning is helpful!

So our plot mandated beats are over, and we can explore Baskar at will (again). Roykman here is our first shop. There was not a single opportunity to spend gella during the intros.

As previously mentioned, HP healing items are not available for purchase. Additionally, you cannot buy Gimel Coins, or anything that instantly grants FP (like the force carrot we won at the end of the last boss battle). However, you can buy a whole host of items that heal status ailments. While you do not have limited inventory space (you can buy 99 of everything, which should last you for the game), the fact that there are so many different status ailments and attendant cures is something that can be a bother. Nobody wants to blow cash on five peppy acorns just in case some random mook can inflict the dudes with depression.

Regardless, for now, your best choice is grabbing a few antidotes, as we already know how much of a bear poison can be. Pinwheels to cure confusion are a good idea, too. Anything else we can get to eventually.

The sweetest plum here is the World Screen, which is a world map. It does not automatically make radar items appear or anything super useful like that (we will earn that item eventually), but it is handy to see where you’re going. Now isn’t normally the time to buy the thing (nor can you probably even afford it at this point), but it will be essential by the time you get a boat and/or airship.

Oh, and call whistles summon your horse. You have a horse yet? No? Okay then.

Roykman will one day be our best travel buddy and only mobile shop… but right now he’s staying put.

Baskarians are not sure about Drifters running off with their artifacts, but they do know more about their culture than Gallows.

Speaking of, changing your leader will get different reactions with different people. As an easy example, everybody still hates Gallows.

There isn’t an inn in Baskar, but it sure is convenient Gallows has four beds in his house. Maybe Shane has a lot of sleepovers?

“Is the Blue Menace just water?”
“Please leave our town.”

I like Ellen here. She gave Gallows heal berries a few months back, and now her “secret to being the best drifter” is not making loved ones worry. Good on you, this specific Ellen.

Okie doke, time to head out and slay god. Slay-ish… I guess.

We’ve got four Ark Scepters, half a photograph, and twenty breath mints. We are good to go!

I’ve got New Game + money, so I bought a World Screen. It’s a great big world out there, and we have technically only seen that tiny bit of brown around the middle. The white dot is us, and the highlighted green square is Baskar Colony (as it is highlighted in our anemic town list). Fallen Sanctuary could be highlighted if I hopped over to the Dungeon section.

Note that the world map contains X/Y coordinates. This had to be a boon for FAQ writers back in the early 21st Century.

Also, like a lot of things in Wild Arms 3, you will receive a reward if you fill in literally 100% of the map. This means you must go everywhere. Again, wait for the inevitable airship if you want to go down that road…

Anywho, back to the Fallen Sanctuary. We know the way!

And that’s where we are going to quit for today. Consider this something of a 2-parter, as the whole “here is the plot of the game” thing already took up a lot of time, and now we’re going to have to fight four separate bosses. That’s a lot of ground to cover! And giant, flaming monsters to defeat!

Next time on Wild Arms 3: Communing with god (with guns).

 

[SpoonyBard]

The color blue: Threat or Menace????

Anyway, this gang has the flimsiest of all reasons to even be together but I'm sure by the end of their journey they'll all be fast friends and maybe even learn some lessons along the way!

Oh man, that world map takes me back. I'm pretty sure I DID 100% the map itself, I remember it being weirdly frustrating? But whatever, will be neat to see it filled in again. Just a bunch of brown for now, but soon we'll see some luscious greens and blues no doubt!

 

[Beowulf]

Oh man, that world map takes me back. I'm pretty sure I DID 100% the map itself, I remember it being weirdly frustrating? But whatever, will be neat to see it filled in again. Just a bunch of brown for now, but soon we'll see some luscious greens and blues no doubt!

I'm trying to remember if I made it or not--I think I might have gotten close, because I remember scouring it for minigames, but I might have gotten fed up and stopped.

 

[Kirin]

Been following along and enjoying this, but also noting with increasing dismay that with the higher image limits per post on the new forum, the page is starting to take a loooong time to load even on decent internet, and is especially obnoxious in any browser that doesn't keep your scroll position as it loads in media above you. Not sure what the best solution is; putting the bulk of each entry in a spoilerpop would presumably fix the scrolling issue, though I think everything still gets loaded so it wouldn't change the bandwidth.

 

[Kirin]

Though I also just noticed that was post #29, so I can double-post and temporarily fix the problem by making a new page
(With default posts-per-page anyway.)