Make a Memory: Let's Play Wild Arms 3

[SpoonyBard]

Who knew Clive was capable of such sick burns? I thought Gallows was the caster of the party.

With the first battle against one of the mysterious robed trio we get to hear one of the most unsettling boss themes in the series, even among JRPGS:

This track doesn't even try to sound even vaguely 'Westerny', it's a lot even for a JRPG. The track title isn't even subtle, and this is the battle theme for the robed folks.

They're not all sunshine and rainbows, methinks.

 

[gogglebob]

Ain't no sunshine or rainbows in today's update!

And today is, of course, July 26, Talk Like a Hobgob Day. Gob-gob! You talk dis way. No speak sense. Hard speak. Me hate. No speak dis way, me come after you. Gob-gob!

Chapter 16: Lunar Silver Slickster Story

Previously on Wild Arms 3: It’s a girl! By which we mean we found out that Clive has a daughter, and a different girl tried to kill everybody through a series of dungeon traps. But we rescued a third girl, Claudia, and now it is time to take her home.

Here we are.

Claudia is no worse for having been possessed by the robed woman. Incidentally, Claudia still has her “Ah” accent, so apparently regional dialects supersede possessions.

Gallows has learned nothing.

We have no idea what Claudia remembers from the incident. All we know is she doesn’t give a hoot about Gallows.

Angela, Claudia’s boss who set us on this quest, is happy to have her wage slave back home.

You know, we paid Angela for information to find out about that ruin,

Spoiler: but it seems like...

but it seems like she is the one making out here…

Gallows certainly saw no reward.

It wasn’t Virginia for once!

It is dunk on Gallows day!

I don’t see what this has to do with Capcom 90's era fighting games…

Clive… bro… don’t know how to tell you this… but… Could you find a way to rephrase that? It got to be kind of a thing…

At least Gallows identifies there was an issue.

Love my Westerns including Japanese gestures.

Okay! The Guardians indicated we should head somewhere southeast, so let’s see if we can get some information.

We are on the right track!

Claudia will provide directions that trigger the next area. I guess rescuing her did provide a reward.

Getting kidnapped by bad guys is not a trick!

The rest of the town is much the same, so let’s trot over to the shrine.

Yes! Good! Love this name. Going to name my kitchen after this.

Architecture kind of looks like the (Lost) Guardian Shrine way back by Baskar Village.

Looks like they stopped at Taco Bell on the way over.

Ah. That would be the three-bean burrito.

Wild Arms had a Pleasing Garden. I wonder if there is a relation…

What’s important is that this place has violent, sentient trees stalking around. Play lumberjack when you have a chance.

There are some obvious paths to the sides, but they are blocked. Straight ahead it is.

Have to hit a switch first, though.

Here we go.

We have a treasure room here, and it contains our first second tool. Err… That is to say the first tool we receive outside of a character’s introductory dungeon.

Note that Wild Arms 3 allows you to rapidly cycle through your characters by hitting the L2 button, but you cannot do the same for tools. You have to open a menu like a jerk.

Steady Doll is another Wild Arms staple tool. This is the tool that is “thrown”, and will activate switches or open treasure chests. In both Wild Arms and Wild Arms 2, the “tool” is a sentient creature (Hanpan the Windmouse in Wild Arms, Pooka the Pooka in Wild Arms 2), but here the Steady Doll is just another mundane(ish) tool. I guess we blew the mascot budget on Schröedinger’s cat.

That duplicator door in the previous screenshot contains an oddly specific treasure: the tiny flower. A tiny flower is incredibly rare in the wasteland, and it is good to have at least one for gardening purposes later. Or you can use it up at some point to pump up a character’s luck stat. Luck fluctuates, though, so don’t waste it…

Here is our new tool scoring a treasure chest we otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach.

And it’s an important treasure! This is the first Migrant Seal found in my PS2 “cheated” playthrough. Finally! Slightly less monster encounters!

See? Got the tutorial for finding my first. If I was on the ball, we would have seen this in LP Chapter 8.

Okay, now time to hit the other side.

The next room demonstrates how the Steady Doll can push blocks. Note that Steady Doll cannot push any blocks that we would not otherwise be able to push (like that one we found in previous update). This is the Steady Doll, not the Strong Like Bull Doll.

Eh, let’s get in a random fight.

So there are these mushroomed little jerks. In a normal playthrough, they are kind of monstrous.

Here we are in PS5 land for a demonstration. First they cast “Water Zone”. I don’t know exactly what Water Zone does, but I am going to guess it pumps up the damage from water attacks for the remainder of the battle.

And then they use an attack that I’m going to ahead and call Hydro Pump, and it can eat off like half a character’s HP. And these buggers attack in groups of four. So if they all decide to use their super move at once, you’re pretty well damned.

And they also use Amnesia attacks, so you might not even get experience points if you manage to survive. In short, these things are super annoying, and, if you are unlucky, they could wipe out a party inside of two rounds.

Not that that is possible back on the PS2 playthrough…

A little bit of a puzzle here.

Note that the Steady Doll can push blocks, but there is no way to toss that little dude and “pull” blocks. So don’t get stuck by leaving two blocks next to each other.

We see a lot of booby trap chests in this dungeon. They will drop half your current HP if triggered. I am just noting this because there is something infinitely funny to me about your character getting exploded, lying there, and then the victory music kicks in while everyone else is just standing around.

“Should we help her up?”
“Nah, she’ll be fine. She’s still twitching.”

Okay, back to dungeoning.

There is a switch on the wall. Have you figured out that this is the Steady Doll tutorial dungeon yet?

Hey, something that has nothing to do with the Steady Doll.

Snake around the room to jump on this “big” switch from above. Just need a little extra gravity to deal with this puzzle.

Eventually, you will fight a boss in this very room. And this treasure that allows you to summon a Guardian one extra time is a hint to its solution. Foreshadowing!

But for now, more Steady Doll! This one is an elevator that you must be standing on before deploying the doll. We already had a puzzle like this with torches in Ka Dingel…

Are we there yet?

Hey, we’re outside.

There are no encounters here, and you must use the boxes around the area to trigger three separate crystal switches.

Number two is over by a treasure chest.

And number three is hiding just out of reachable range by the first crystal. Finding this one through camera rotation is a sticking point for some (like me. I’m talking about my dumb ass).

Now we’re back to Steady Doll’ing along.

Hey! Here is one of those ambushes I was talking about a couple updates back. It… works just like in every other JRPG. I guess it should be noted that you can still be ambushed even if you are level 99 and your opponents are little more than speedbumps. Technically, ambushes work on the Luck stat, and this is somehow the second time in this update that we will note that Luck fluctuates randomly.

Right past there, we’re at our main destination. Odd narrative choice: nobody in the party talks about this thingy, but we’ll get an explanation the next time we see one. For now, it’s just… something or other.

But you have to know we’re on the right track.

Here we are. Some transparent woman and…

Slickster.

This is a legitimate question, as what the heck is happening here?

That is not a very helpful answer.

“Also the robes. But the fact that you’re a jerk is what I noticed first!”

Hey, we have a name for “Robed Woman” now, even if Slickster won’t introduce himself.

Remember, kiddies, only villains talk about how women are too emotional.

“Just going to go ahead and assume you’re doing something evil here!”

“Your boorish behavior annoys me. Take a look around. This warm, shimmering light...Oh, how beautiful life is...The existence of this guardian will cease, but will continue to live on in a new and beautiful form.”

Oh, great. So he’s draining the life out of gods. That is never good.

“She wasn’t using her life anyway.”

“Which is a legitimate question! Anybody know how to stop this?”

“Hey Karen, don’t get mad, I just work here.”

Remember, kiddies, only villains come up with customer service slogans.

Slickster isn’t big into the fighting.

You knew this was coming!

Or not. Looks like Janus is… hiding behind a pillar? Appreciate the party all ready and looking around for their dungeon-mandated Janus fight.

Okay! Not the boss fight we were expecting, but a boss fight is a boss fight!

Let’s fight Slickster. Note that my capture card is working fine, thank you, Slickster is just… a little fuzzy today.

A quick analysis does not offer any explanation.

And he doesn’t really do anything…

But if you try to do anything, you will fail.

And then he’ll kick in on actually punishing the party. He can drain off some HP, or hit you with an attack that randomly assigns three status effects. In a game where you have a separate healing item for every effect, that is really annoying.

You can hit him with magic.

Or you can use Clive’s 100% accuracy Lock On attack. That’s how I banished him on the PS2 playthrough.

Over in PS5 land, I did it the “right” way. You’re supposed to interpret Slickster’s fuzziness as he’s moving too fast for your bullets to hit, so casting Decelerate will bring him down to normal speed.

Note that this is the only place in the game where Decelerate has such an effect. Under normal circumstances, it just drops an opponent’s speed, and that is rarely useful in Wild Arms 3.

Slower Slickster is still wild with the status effects, though. Figure out which status effects you can live with before wasting all your turns tossing Peppy Acorns back and forth.

Yeah! Eat bullets, slowby.

Okay, we’re done with you now. Note that he still says “this drawn out battle” regardless of if you finish him in a turn or two (which is what happened on the PS2).

Clear Chime will save you from confusion. That would have been useful for this fight…

Janus decides to pop in after Slickster falls.

I feel like you just answered exactly why Janus didn’t bother. Bro does not like to be “used”…

Funny, I used the exact same excuse to take Friday off last week.

Apropos of nothing, Slickster always kind of reminds me of Michelangelo of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is a shame, as I like Michelangelo.

“Moreover, there never would have been a need to utilize guardians if only you had acquired the Ark Scepter in the first place! Do you realize the pain and suffering my body endures by trying to make contact with an intangible, spiritual being!?”

An explanation for a plot point from like ten updates ago! Now we know the exact reason for the train robbery.

“Boss, I’m sorry. To make it up to you, I’ll actually do my job for once.”

“Hey, good guys. Could you let us through? Have to deliver the god juice back home or something.”

Well, they wouldn’t be if you hadn’t just conveniently given them a path out of here…

So the party follows after… mostly.

Guess Gallows is getting a vibe or something.

What’s that, transparent girl?

Guess we receive the last of the god power here.

Incoming message for Gallows! Get equipped with Determination.

Our first new tool since the first chapter is joined by our first new medium since the first chapter. Yay!

We have control again, so let’s equip that puppy. This rock boosts HP and magic stats, so it is best on Gallows or Virginia.

It also comes with skills for resisting sleep and dark attacks. FP Save reduces the amount of FP you need to cast a spell, so this medium really is probably best on prime mage Gallows.

A quick note about our latest Guardian acquisition. Celesdue is the only Guardian original to Wild Arms 3, as every other Guardian popped up in Wild Arms 1 or 2. Note that Celesdue is listed as the Dark Guardian, but that is likely a translation error or a temporary bit for Wild Arms 3, as Celesdue is correctly denoted as the Moon Guardian in Wild Arms 5. This tracks in Wild Arms 3 with her gravity/moon powers that appear in her spell list and summon attack. And, ya know, that whole “Celestial” name pun. There was also already Leitea Salk, the OG Dark Guardian, in Wild Arms 2. And notably, while Celesude does grant a darkness immunity, she does not confer any darkness spells, as that is reserved for a Guardian we will obtain much later.

So, anyway, Celesdue. That’s her.

While we are in a menu, note that over on the PS5 playthrough, both Jet and Gallows were afflicted with Amnesia, and we ran out of Amnesia curing items thanks to those mushroom jerks, so they are not going to gain any experience points for any bosses seen in this update. To use the vernacular, that sucks goats.

Also, we are currently existing in one of the few spots where you absolutely cannot save. Spoilers: we are between boss fights right now, and it is assumed that the designers recognized that you could put yourself in a situation where you are down to 1 HP and incapable of leaving to heal or buy healing items. There are decent odds you wouldn’t even notice that this is a place where Gimel Coins are disabled, though, so don’t worry about it.

Anywho, you should know something is up, as you have to walk about of the dungeon. I guess we are technically chasing Slickster and Janus… we’re just doing it at a leisurely pace.

This dungeon still operates like it always has. You can fight through a few random battles on your way out.

If you see this room, stop and heal for a moment. You’ll be glad you did!

We finally catch up in the room with that jumpy switch.

They have been doing pretty well so far! And we didn’t even fight Janus.

Janus is not looking to bolster his performance review.

There is no transition between this and the previous screenshot. Slickster all just shouting about ancient creatures now.

“Angolmois! Unleash your hidden frenzy! Do not hold back!”

Wait! Angolmois? We’re going to fight that thing? Here!?

Yep. King of Angolmois. Right there. In the flesh. Super.

(Wild Arms 1)

(Wild Arms 2)

So a bit of explanation for anyone that didn’t play the previous Wild Arms games. In Wild Arms 1, “Angol Moa” is described at the start as some unstoppable demigod, and is eventually fought as one of the toughest optional super bosses. In Wild Arms 2, Angolmois has no real explanation, but is arguably the hardest optional super boss around. In both cases, Angolmois requires a lot of preparation, and a surprisingly high amount of luck. Nobody likes a super boss that can confuse your prime attackers.

Here… he’s pretty much just a regular boss of no major concern. So… hooray! I guess Slickster’s “explanation” notes that King of Angolmois is an ancient evil like always… he’s just kind of let himself go in the intervening years.

It is listed as question marks here, but the only reason you need to worry about Angolmois is he has got an assload of HP. There is a (gameplay) reason for this, but let us assume Slickster just summoned the monster with the most health to cover his escape.

King of Angolmois uses a simple single-hit dark spell, or…

(Wild Arms 2, again)

The Seventh Moon, his signature attack. This was debilitating/obliterating in his previous appearances, but it is mostly just your average multi-hit attack here.

What is important here is we have new spells thanks to our new Guardian. Despite legendarily being susceptible to sleep in Wild Arms 2, it does us no good against Angolmois here. Feeble Mind reduces magic power (who cares), and Eraser dispels status boosts (which is not a current issue). But! Grav is your typical JRPG gravity spell, and will ratio down an opponent’s HP. Guess what this King of Angolmois actually is vulnerable to…

In fact, in my PS2 playthrough, summoning Celesdue’s 100 FP gravity attack killed Angolmois outright.

I tried not using any gravity attacks over on the PS5 playthrough, and it did not go well. Angolmois never really does too much damage, but without the obvious “use the spell you just got” bit, cutting through all of his HP is a major pain in the ass. Takes for freaking ever…

Anywho, he’s dead now, and we won’t see a super boss version of him in this game. Fun fact for the day: “King of Angolmois” appears in the predictions of noted prophet Nostradamus…

“The year 1999 seven month
From the sky will come a great King of terror:
To bring back to life the great King of Angolmois
Before after Mars to reign by good luck"

… And some weirdos used this passage as “proof” that Nostradamus predicted September 11. I cannot even begin to explain the incorrect math that is behind that one…

Oh, and Slickster and Janus escaped. Back to the plot, I suppose.

So that’s that for the dungeon, and our party presumably exits while this drama plays out back at Bad Guy Base.

Janus is being berated, and “Masked Man” inexplicably picks up the proper name of Leehalt.

“He was going to save that energy for the puppy orphanage, but now that’s cancelled, all thanks to you.”

Oh, and Slickster is named Malik. And we get a sort of explanation on Panakeia. We already basically knew this from the “ain’t got no teleports because my panakeia is a quart low” last update.

“Our degenerated bodies are like a foreign element trying to survive on Filgaia. This very planet will try to cleanse itself by removing these foreign elements: us. Your duty is to protect us from Filgaia's purification. That is why we let you live.”

Though it is elaborated that Panakeia isn’t just good magic juice, it is the only thing keeping these three from being expelled from the planet.

“The Dark Spear you have received shall expose the truth, and lead us to the garden of truth. You have been endowed with the power that exceeds all so that you can stop the terraforming at all costs.”

Terraforming? This crap bowl of a planet?

… Do you?

Apparently, Janus’s “understanding” is that he is stronger than his bosses with that spear, so he’s going to get all stab-happy on ‘em.

Unfortunately for Janus…

This has been accounted for. Always keep a leash on your inevitable betrayer.

Hey, the Gias bomb-collar was what kept noted prisoner/Wild Arms 2 “hero” Brad in line. Neat!

“Now bark like a dog!”

When was Janus not something to worry about?

Second time Melody’s fortress was mentioned. Looking forward to raiding that fort!

And Malik’s job is to grab some more god-power.

While Leehalt oversees the Huskarls. What the hell are the Huskarls?

And the Garden of Truth… What does it all mean? Guess we’ll find out!

Next time on Wild Arms 3: Let us never speak of the Huskarls again.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Well, they wouldn’t be if you hadn’t just conveniently given them a path out of here…

Damn! They're very slowly getting away!

 

[gogglebob]

There was one exit! The party was standing in front of it! This was a very straightforward situation!

 

[gogglebob]

It is time to turn the crank on the giant machine that says "Let's Play". And I am doing that on August 2, Undies Day. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. this morning and thought to myself, 'Jeez, I only have my undies on.' It's not an idea I should be proud of, but as a holiday enthusiast, it's in my blood to follow my instincts.

Chapter 17: Sand in Your Huskarl

Previously on Wild Arms 3: Slickster, that bugger, was stealing the guardian’s life force. The guardian was being eaten alive.

Right?

Clive asks what this “signifies”, and Gallows is taking it personally that the rest of the party isn’t outraged.

Gallows, it is okay. A dude tries to slay one of your gods, you are allowed to get upset.

What we know: bad guys are bad.

Go ahead and check out the last update, because…

Clive, I get that you think you’re being smart here, but “Slickster” literally confirmed he was working with Purple Robes Woman when he named her and said, “I am working with her, dummy”.

Jet out.

Virginia has had a long day,

Spoiler: so she’s going to ignore Jet’s usual nonsense today...

so she’s going to ignore Jet’s usual nonsense today.

That always works in JRPGs!

Gallows…

Dammit…

Would it have killed Granny to send Shane off on this mission? Kid is a walking library…

Passive aggressive is the best kind of aggressive.

See? It can work!

“The light shines on the high ground, becoming dew at night, and augite by dawn. Those who wish to seek the light, shall visit and offer prayers of prosperity.”

We just had what passes for our “dark” Guardian, guess we are hitting the light next.

Unfortunately…

These ain’t exact directions.

For a tremendously vague verse, we are immediately deciding it is talking about this specific geographic location we happen to be standing on. Clive is right, of course, but it is a remarkable coincidence.

“And if there isn’t a Guardian Shrine, maybe the next town has churros!”

Clive and Virginia step out for a bit of impromptu foreshadowing.

You’re not paranoid if there is a global cabal of evil prophets out to get you.

Hey, remember when Janus noted a bird was watching him on behalf of his superiors, and then it was proven that “bird” was some freaky green alien? Just mentioning that for no reason.

“When an invisible force, or someone who doesn't reveal his name creates a scene, there is no significance to his actions. They fully understand there is no power or justice involved, as they are enclosed within a cellar, where no one can denounce them. However... Long before this world as we know it, there was a force that brought about atrocity. With power or justice, or perhaps both equipped, they may have been able to proudly reveal their true identity...”

… What? So… uh… people who know they are doing bad hide, but people who think they are doing good, even if they aren’t, are more open? That… uh… That the idea?

Gallows needs a drink now.

See? This guy gets it! Simple and to the point.

We have a dungeon in the mountains ahead of us, but past there is a town. Somebody write that down for later!

Time to leave Crappy Twister for a while. We spent a surprising amount of time in the surrounding area, but now we are moving on.

Sand Canal is our next destination. Note that during my first playthrough I kept trying to “trigger” this dungeon, as the surrounding landscape makes it so obvious there is some kind of something here. I am pretty sure I have been trying to “discover” what would ultimately be Sand Canal since when we first got the horses…

Clive? You want to confirm we are being watched? It might make you feel better.

Oh. Hello.

A trio of knights bar our path. Command?

“Bros, you are in the wrong genre. You should have bandoliers, like Jet here.”

Not bothering with a GIF for these losers, but note that their armor piping glows neon. They are funny lookin’.

“By order of His Majesty, none shall pass! We Huskarls protect him with our lives.”

Hey! They are the Huskarls! The lead bad guy was talking about sending them out at the end of the last update.

So let’s fight the Huskarls.

If you analyze any of them, you won’t find any weaknesses or distinct stats.

So usually if there is a tutorial dialogue box during a fight, it is leading you to the “solution” to what is basically a puzzle fight. In this case, in actual practice, it is actually… kind of sarcastic.

The Huskarls do use support abilities a lot more than their contemporaries.

But they are also… kind of terrible. Having beaten these losers on my “normal” playthrough, I can confirm that they are little more than a speed bump, and their talk of “working together” is exaggerated. They work together about as well as dumpster cats.

The biggest problem is that one of them will definitely heal the others if you start focusing on one knight. However, their Heal spell isn’t all that effective, so you can probably outpace the healing… and that’s if you choose to not just kill the healer first. Remember the fight with Maya and company? That had the same gimmick, and it didn’t get a tutorial…

Other than that, your only major concerns are an attack that can cancel one of your character’s moves (which is generally just annoying), and an instant death attack that is admittedly frightening… but rarely used.

I just called down the wrath of Guardian and called it a day.

Are these supposed to be real names? Or just transliteration nightmares?

So they gonna run.

Thanks for coming by… I guess? At least it was a boss fight at the start of the dungeon, so we could easily head back to town if healing is somehow an issue.

The party takes this “threat” appropriately seriously.

Now let’s start this dungeon for real.

The Sand Canal is like a regular water canal, but with sand. I am checking my math here, and it looks like this officially counts as our sewer dungeon for the game.

First challenge: stand on a block, trigger a switch with the Steady Doll. An easy beginning!

Oh but would all sand canal blocks be so easy…

A duplicator door is always good for treasure.

The unique treasure here is a Holy Root, a consumable item that heals any malady. Keep that handy for the next time a robed jerk sticks seven status ailments on Virginia.

Moving on.

I guess these crates are a trick related to the next switch…

Despite the presence of throwable boxes, you need to use Jet’s boomerang to arc around a pillar and open the next door.

Jet has got this well in hand.

This is your sewer dungeon, please keep it clean.

Knocking this bridge into a usable condition means running into it with a good dash. Pictured: a camera that was not prepared for the task.

Jet has a bump on his noggin now.

I haven’t noted the encounters yet because there are a lot of “rooms” in this dungeon, and you seem to scoot in and out of doors so quickly that the game doesn’t have time to trigger battles. This is just as well, as the only monsters here are Cave Tauros, which appear singularly or in groups. They hit hard, resist earth, are weak to wind, and… not much else to them. This specific dungeon is not about the fights.

There is still treasure about, though.

And gems. Can’t walk three feet without gems.

The next room has a sand-er-fall. The way forward is behind it, which is how waterfalls are supposed to work.

Camera has to scoot around if you want to see that door.

A “maybe it would be a good time to save” treasure is around the corner if you ignore it, though.

And saving wouldn’t be a bad idea, because guess who we caught up with.

It took very little effort! Like you guys!

Could you guys be more generic? Seriously asking!

I thought you were worried about your liege? Eh, whatever. No need for character development with these losers.

I am moderately certain this is the exact same fight. Maybe there is some variation? Or is it just a test of whether you have already been drained by the whole two random encounters that happened between the entrance and here?

Been there, done that.

Eat rifle, losers.

From the genius that hired Janus, ladies and gentlemen!

Are you begging for forgiveness from your ancestors? Are there more Huskarls?

Oh. Guess that answers that question.

Green Ranger syndrome?

Oh? That wasn’t rhetorical? Sorry, Jet.

Red, white, and blue. And green. National pride is at an all-time low.

Let’s Huskarl! To the max!

Same fight, slightly different now.

If you were expecting anything special from Jasteuch… sorry.

The one thing this green meanie has got is a hit-all attack that looks to be generally physical in nature. It is not all that powerful, but could necessitate some group healing. Luckily, it is used rarely. In my “normal” play through, I think he only used it once.

(And don't bother trying to research if "Khordah Avesta" has any relation to the real-life, ancient "Khordeh Avesta". That way lies madness.)

Other than that? Same fight.

And DJ Jassy Jeff doesn’t have anything new to offer past his superish attack.

Drown together, losers.

They don’t even have good drops…

The Huskarls are dead now. They will be forgotten after this update. Virginia sees the bright side, though.

Now we know that we are weirdo magnets. Let’s go to Anime Expo next!

Virginia is rested and back to not tolerating Jet.

Clive is on the level, though.

Gee, Sherlock, did you figure that out from how the Huskarls were literally talking about fighting for their “majesty”?

“We don’t know any other villains, so let’s blame Janus and the robe folks.”

“And they have dishonored us by forcing three boss fights with living speedbumps! Set ARMS to kill, boys.”

Presumably the Huskarl corpses all fell into the sand stream, and are floating off to wherever sewer sand goes.

Little gem fill up before the dungeon continues.

Other healing items are available, too.

Ah. Welcome to the first of a few final, terrible puzzles for this dungeon.

There are three differently colored sets of blocks in this room, and three switches that will “activate” the blocks. Once a block chunk is live, they slowly float between stationary islands, and it is your job to navigate the blocks to the exit or treasure hidden around the room.

If you know where the exit is, you only need to activate and traverse one set of blocks. However, if you want the treasure or do not have a map, you will eventually have to activate all the switches hidden around the room. And every time you accidentally saunter off one of these blocks, whether it be because of careless walking, the lack of “borders” keeping your character on a block, or the inability to properly gauge exactly when two blocks are touching, you will fall into the sand, and be sent back to the start of the room. There is no technical danger to your party here, but the possibility of continually falling into the muddy drink makes this room as irritating as the sand that gets in everything.

Eventually, you may leave. At least if you activate the blue blocks, there is a “never have to see this room again” shortcut from the entrance to the exit.

And then the next room is Pure Hell: Part 1.

Conceptually, this is a neat puzzle. There are three differently colored sets of blocks, and they follow a very set pattern of white-black-blue. The trick here is to figure out which blocks are going to appear when, and walk your way across this continually shifting bridge.

Unfortunately, there are some deliberate dead ends in this maze, and you need full screen awareness at all times if you want to make it through this labyrinth. Either that, or you must memorize the exact path, which can be difficult with the continually shifting blocks/colors, and the fact that you can’t see any more than about a sixth of the area at a time. You can walk down a nearby pathway to get a “preview” of everything to start… but good luck remembering the path from that.

Again, it is simply more annoying than dangerous, and it is not like anything in this room will incur a Game Over (short of someone getting frustrated and ending the game via the power button…).

Little more dungeon to go.

And more Hell.

This is the same conceptual puzzle as last time, just with a bigger maze. It is thus a bigger pain in the ass. However, this one has the trick of a switch about 60% of the way through that you can “cheat” with a Steady Doll to open a pathway around the puzzle. Or maybe it is intentional? Whatever makes this end faster…

Four minutes! This room took four minutes! I swear that feels longer than it sounds!

Big ol’ “fall down from somewhere high” switch and no where to fall from. I guess we’ll get some manner of Super Mario Bros: The Motion Picture Officially Licensed Jump Boots in the future.

But right past there… Wait. They were actually walking through here, too? Like… we caught up to them? This… this makes no sense. They teleport! They must have just been pacing around the room waiting for us…

And that is the last we will ever hear about the Huskarls. Sorry, we will not be visiting their war widows in the next town.

The gang’s all here!

Leehalt has been seen in “narrative” cutscenes multiple times, but this is the first time he stands before our heroes.

And this is the first “Slickster” says his name. No real idea why he decided to bother now…

Lady? You got a little… green… thing… it’s right… No, don’t look back. You might scare it.

I have been fast and loose with this “spoiler”, but the official name for this group is “The Prophets”. Here is the concept’s introduction with what passes for an explanation.

Honestly, the party has had a pretty succinct explanation of what they are up to thus far: they steal god power and ancient technology. Why does anyone ever do that?

Okay, that’s one answer.

Five steps of evolution! Drink!

… Wait, I might be thinking of something else.

“The first step was the creation of air and ocean on this planet. The formation of amino acids came next. The third step brought self-producing macromolecule compounds. That was the origin of life. The fourth step heralded the arrival of single-cell organisms. Soon, those gave rise to multicellular organisms, followed by mankind. And this is the final step!”

Would you believe me if I told you this dude just inadvertently described the final boss?

But what is important is that these prophets want life to go further.

And apparently that can be done if the whole planet evolves past its current state.

And guess who is supposed to be responsible for such a global under…. Gah! Greenie! Get out of the frame!

Can we see your résumé? Have you given rise to any new forms of life already? Do not tell me you made that thing skulking behind you…

A quick aside: The narrative thus far has established The Prophets as maybe the worst set of villains out there. Yes, we have watched them successfully steal whatever they were after in any given scenario, but Melody and Malik both had to be rescued by Janus, with distinct notes from both of the featured prophets about how they were running out of gas and helpless without their spear-wielding bud. And Janus is their ringer? The guy we beat so bad, he got gills? The planet being endangered is a bad thing, obviously, but the threat here is… not all that threatening. This is like a turtle stealing a machine gun. It could go poorly, but does the little dude even have a trigger flipper?

Oh! You guys are claiming you made Janus into Fish-Janus! This is not something to brag about!

Virginia did ask to hear their plan, Jet. Be nice.

“Do demons drink?”
“No, higher lifeforms have no need for alcohol.”
“I’ll kill you dead!”

In Wild Arms (1), “Hiades” was the home planet of all demon kind.

Here, it is the library of the demons. Or maybe it is their internet? Their “world” became their “world wide web”.

It definitely has an emphasis on arcane knowledge.

“You’re a bunch of demon fanboys!? Nerds!”

“But you know this planet sucks, right? We are standing in a sand sewer right now. This whole place smells like Huskarl.”

“And who are you to judge what is right and what is wrong? Who do you think you are? Such arrogance is dangerous, my dear.”

“I can't tell yet...I came out into the wasteland hoping to find justice. But I know it's wrong to hurt people! And I'll never believe you can steal the guardians' energy for Filgaia's future!”

AVALANCHE would be proud of Virginia.

Leehalt? What in the hell are you talking about? You don’t have any friends, and if Janus or Fungus Alien told you these were people that would help this plan…

Speaking of which, Janus teleports on in.

Things only villains say #6,071.

But daaaaaaad.

Leehalt actually marginally compliments Janus while warning him not to go all out, as his powers have a greater purpose than kicking Drifter behind.

The prophets (and their pet) teleport out. We’ll fight you nerds again some day!

Wasn’t planning on it!

Virginia is on fire today.

Yeah, that is why we beat you literally every time you showed your scaly face.

Bro, the fourth wall is thataway.

Okay, technically this is yet another Janus fight, but there is a twist to this one.

Janus will attack with regular(ish) moves for two turns. In a normal playthrough, all you have to do is heal during these turns. On Round 3, you are going to want to defend, because…

Ultranegative Rainbow is a move that can drop the entire party if you’re not in the higher ranges of HP. It (naturally) does jack all to my super powered party, but it can wreck your day if you are of average levels and not prepared. Presumably, the challenge of this fight is based on seeing if you still have HP to spare after a whole dungeon and three Huskarl fights.

And after Janus’s third turn blast, the battle simply ends. All you have to do is have one last man standing with at least 1 HP.

“I am talking about my fish abs!”
“We know!”

Thanks for nothing, Janus!

Regardless of your HP count, the party heads for sunlight in a seemingly dilapidated state.

“Unimaginable power...The power to change Filgaia... The wisdom the demons left behind...”
“They're using that power to get even with the guardians... No, with all Filgaia! Durnit! We've got to do something!”
”I believe we need to regroup. I hear there's a mining town up ahead. Hopefully, there are foothills close by...”

A few unattributed text blurbs appear in black and white. Basically, everyone is feeling the burn to toast some prophets.

Which we will get to next time. There is a short, possibly dangerous (with low HP) walk over to the next town, and then it is time to strike back! Or… strike… somewhere? Did the Prophets divine some directions for us to follow?

Next time on Wild Arms 3: Oh! Right! That shrine! Let’s go there!

 

[SpoonyBard]

Hey, remember when Janus noted a bird was watching him on behalf of his superiors, and then it was proven that “bird” was some freaky green alien? Just mentioning that for no reason.

Which is weird because freaky green aliens notably despise birds.

Anyway, 'evolve the planet into a demon' is some delightful late-90s-early-00s era JRPG nonsense. And I'm pretty sure that's not even the most ridiculous plot point in this game!

 

[gogglebob]

Anyway, 'evolve the planet into a demon' is some delightful late-90s-early-00s era JRPG nonsense. And I'm pretty sure that's not even the most ridiculous plot point in this game!

It very much isn't!

But you know what it is? It is August 9, Coveralls Day. Why are coveralls called coveralls even though they don't cover your arms or your head? They sure don't cover all.

Chapter 18: The Dying of the Light

Previously on Wild Arms 3: After a lovely little jaunt into a sewer, Janus unleashed his true power, and left the party reeling. Well… I mean… that is the plot explanation of what happened… But our gang kind of still has 90% of their HP, so “reeling” may be a bit of an exaggeration.

Regardless, we are out in the open wasteland looking for shelter.

This walk to Little Rock is not that long, but it can be difficult if you actually are stumbling from the Janus encounter.

And here we are. You must “discover” Little Rock with your radar, but the geography gives you a pretty significant clue for where to look.

Spoiler: Rock around the Little Rock

Rock around the Little Rock.

Fun fact: Little Rock Arkansas was not named for this. It had something to do with a Frenchman looking at the local geology.

So Little Rock is worse than most Wild Arms 3 towns (which are already pretty lousy). Practically everyone in town is talking about how this used to be a successful mining town… but heavy emphasis on “used to”.

It can’t be all bad here, as there is a duplicator hidden in a random crate. You need to be successful to have that kind of rare item hanging around.

Also, if you are paying attention, you will notice that the residents of Little Rock are the same NPCs that Jet encountered during his opening dungeon. None of the NPCs seem to distinctly note this, but they each have different dialogue for Jet that seems to indicate he is slightly more familiar than the rest of the party.

Who knew that little girl from the intro was an ARMs-meister?

There is a treasure chest that is currently inaccessible thanks to a broken bridge. You would think someone in town would work up the courage to jump over and see what is in there…

Virginia is totally mentally writing her own book about this whole adventure.

For reasons that no one can explain…

The sound test for Wild Arms 3 is hiding in Little Rock’s inn. The canon explanation is that the place is staffed by a frustrated musician, but whatever; if you want to listen to all the music from Wild Arms 3, here is where you hang out. Note that more songs are added as they appear in the game, so you won’t have a full list at this point. Also note that the names for the tracks are sub-kazaa quality. Just be glad half the tracks aren’t attributed to Weird Al…

Gaspar is that old man you could see in the previous screenshot, or during Jet’s intro dungeon…

And his diary from when he was a child notes that he would like to sail on “the ocean blue”. But there’s no “blue” ocean in Wild Arms 3! It’s all sand! Sand filled with monsters! Is this some kind of flourish-based continuity error, or foreshadowing of a future plot point? Hmmmmm.

Anywho, whatever the lore relevance, the sad finale for all this is that Gaspar is still sitting downstairs in the pub, so leaving town or sailing the seas never happened.

Yeah yeah, sucks to be you, Gaspar.

Anywho, let’s hit that shrine. Even a “fallen” shrine should yield a clue or two.

Look at that beautiful, yellow ocean.

When you die and become a zombie (don’t laugh, it eventually happens to all of us), your hands grow two times as large as your head.

Alan Smithy, you immersion destroying cad. This is a tip that you should save multiple save files, even if it does make your PS2 chug. Surprised they didn't outright say, "Now go to Electronics Boutique and buy a PS2 memory card just for saves from this game."

So there are not many clues that you can do this, but if you figure out that Little Rock’s residents are obviously Pike’s buddies…

And scan the right spot a little north of Little Rock…

You will find Jet’s introductory dungeon.

You don’t ever have to return here (revisiting two out of four introductory dungeons is mandatory), but if you do it now…

You can scoot up to that treasure chest that triggered Jet’s pit trap…

And use the new Steady Doll to retrieve the treasure from afar. No need for another fall down to spikey town!

Migrant Seal acquired! Note that Jet’s opening dungeon crawl was very reminiscent of Jack’s introductory dungeon in Wild Arms (1), and that also had the punchline of coming back later in the game to obtain worthwhile rewards.

Okay, now we can go to our real destination for the day.

Bah, can’t tell this ruin from the last one…

At least it is supposed to look slightly different. And weirdly symmetrical…

“Anybody? Can we naturally sense gods, or is it because of the mediums? I can’t remember a life before this adventure…”

So you sense a big waste of time?

Gallows? You got something?

Sensing nothing is in and of itself concerning.

Are we too late? (spoilers: yes)

Spoilers: you won’t.

Let’s go get that Shine, Mario!

There are two staircases on either side, and a path forward down the middle. We are going to head left first, and encounter a simple puzzle that involves two tools. Uh, that is to say, two of the tool items. I don’t want you to think I am calling Gallows and Jet tools (even if Jet totally is).

Simple puzzle, simple solution.

This guy has a little more to it. Move blocks into position as they “mirror” and move blocks on the other side.

Still, not a big deal if you can immediately visually identify which side of the room is perfect for a three-block bridge.

Treasure!

Random encounters! There are two main monsters in this dungeon, and one is a color swap of the original Gob creatures from Virginia’s opening dungeon. They are only marginally upgraded.

Why so serious?

But they drop potion berries, which are the next upgrade up from the heal berries we have been using since the adventure started. You can feel the progress!

If you went forward at the start of the dungeon, you’d find this room that ends in a locked door. Taking the side stairways lead you to puzzles and (eventually) these balconies at the top of the room. We are currently on the “left” balcony…

And once you are up here, use Gallows’s frost doll to blast the window and let the light shine through.

Casting daylight on these orbs is the answer to opening that door. Now we have to go take the right path to activate the other orb.

Here is the other main creature of the shrine, Fairylight.

These weirdos usually come in large packs, and they will either completely wreck your party with light-based magic, or…

Emoticon at you, which does nothing. Feast or famine with these guys.

Now we are hitting the other side of the dungeon for that other switch.

Lit torches on one side, unlit torches on the other, and a mirror in the middle.

Light up in perfect symmetry to open the door forward.

And be sure to run headfirst into the glass to break it so you can make your way through. It is going to be amazing if our party makes it through this adventure without brain damage.

Remember: if there is a treasure chest you cannot immediately reach, use your steady doll.

And now we have the other orb uncovered. The right path was a lot easier than the left…

Let’s blow this… whatever we are calling this.

Those aren’t reflected gems, this is apparently transparent glass. And Gallows is going to be picking its shards out of his hair after he runs through it.

Next section is the same as the first: way forward is blocked, and you have to head left and right to dislodge the blockages.

And find a few treasure chests along the way. For the record, unless it is a duplicator-locked chest/door, almost all treasure for the rest of the game is either cash, healing items, or the items to double reward exp or cash. A Gimel Coin sometimes gets thrown in there for good measure.

Block pulling puzzle.

Moving this block moves that inaccessible block above in a mirrored fashion. Are you noticing a theme in this dungeon?

Block on switch, move on.

Another mirror/torch room.

This one requires two things…

Lighting the proper torches and…

Tossing the proper crates so the boxes match the immovable boxes at the other end of the room.

If you do just one of the tasks in this room, but not the other, the door will not open.

Oh. Sometimes you get duplicators, too.

No “puzzle” of blasting a window with ice here, just a simple “pull the switch” ends each of the puzzle wings.

Jump down, try the other side.

I admit: I found this puzzle to be the wiliest in the dungeon, but it is mostly because it can trick your brain into thinking it is more complicated than it is.

This is another room where the blocks on one end move to match the blocks on the other end, but you only have three blocks, and the switch that you obviously must activate is part of a gap that would require four blocks.

Do not try to build a bridge across that incorporates the switch like I did.

Simply build your three-block bridge like last time…

And then move one of the blocks on the other side to mirror-activate the switch on the other side.

The trick is that you only need a two block bridge during the second part of the room, so you can sacrifice the spare block on the switch after you cross the first bridge. Don’t try to do it all at once!

The next puzzle room is shaped like the first puzzle room we saw, but the trick this time…

Is to steady doll-dislodge the blocks so they can be “double” used as a bridge.

And then use the steady doll if you want to grab that treasure. No need to drive yourself nuts with building another bridge.

Second switch down.

We are done with solving puzzles for this update.

Does anyone feel bad about how much of these sacred Guardian shrines we, ya know, actively break? That glass could be hundreds of years old!

As was predicted at the entrance, this place already got trashed before our arrival.

And… uh… covered in spiderwebs? Are these magic spiderwebs? Or do Guardians serve the function of keeping the bugs out?

They told you last week!

Dust?

Like at the last shrine, Gallows seems to be capable of gathering ambient Guardian energy.

Woo! New medium! That's number six!

Thanks, Flash!

I am telling you: dust.

“I have some compressed air if you think that will help, Gallows.”

Forget dusting, it’s time for a dustup.

Even if the villains are already done here, you ought to have a proper boss fight.

Behold!

It is the Mono-Eye Titan! Apparently, this cyclops is resistant to dark, but weak to light. Gee, did we just acquire a light medium?

Keep that moon medium handy, though, as a resistance to dark is good for your defenses.

As Virginia demonstrates.

You can equip/switch mediums during a battle. The newly acquired Flash Hit will up your HP and AIM stats. For the HP bonus, (after these fights) I usually keep the Flash Hit medium on Virginia.

Also convenient for Virginia: the SOS Invisible skill will defensively “hide” the user when their HP gets critical. Light resistance is situational, and Initiative ups the odds of getting a preemptive strike before a battle. These skills are not all that useful, but they’re not terrible.

Anywho, this eyeball is weak to light, so let’s see what happens when we summon our new, light-based Guardian. I’m not certain it is evident from his appearance here, but Stare Roe has always had a sort of Beetle x Power Rangers motif.

So that obliterated our opponent. This fight is no more complicated than described here: defend against dark, attack with light. No real tricks beyond that, unless you count “learn you can equip and shuffle mediums in the fight menu just like the pause menu” as a trick.

A dark ring is useful for defending against dark attacks. But what are the odds we will have to fight an enemy with dark attacks again so soon?

Guess the eyeball being blasted cleared out all the… whatever was stuck to the walls. Not going to think about it.

Hey! It’s that thingamajig again!

And this time, we get an explanation.

“Is that like a figma?”
“Well, it is sinful…”

A chonk? Is there a chonky boy around?

“I am the smartest person in this party, and you complimenting me is like a toddler telling an accountant they are good at math. Now continue your explanation, peon.”

Oh we getting Catholic all up in here.

“A long time ago, humans used the guardian energy to stop the world from decaying. This lost prehistoric culture viewed the guardians as living bio-plants and sealed them in rural locales of the world. The world is feeding off this guardian life force...and continues to survive.”

So there was previously the implication that the Guardians were helping us on our quest because they liked humanity or something. Now we have the clear statement that the Guardians have been more or less enslaved, and that has been the status quo for centuries. Oops?

Yeah, I guess oops.

The Baskar religion is about peace and living in harmony with the planet and the Guardians. But there is also a significant level of contrition and atonement there. Sorry our ancestors enslaved you, gods! And we’re not doing anything to free you! It would be bad for the economy!

And, yes, it appears that trapping the gods themselves didn’t even work out all that well. Double oops!

The theological implications of the gods of Filgaia not so much liking the place as having divine Stockholm syndrome are staggering.

And this also adds a lot to Gallows’s rebellion and apparent rejection of his faith at the start of this story. Gallows is a self-centered 20-something, but he also knew damn well his religion and destined profession are based on enslaving a (holy) race.

Screw you, chock!

“This thing is like the original sin we continue to carry on our backs...Living on this planet means carrying a burden of sin...I know it sounds crazy, but...that just gives us more reason to live. We can't let the guardian's support go to waste.”

But it looks like Gallows has come around on the responsibility of knowing you owe your life to the sacrifices of others.

“Even if they did completely blow it on keeping this planet alive.”

Gallows leveled up to rank Jesus.

We learned about Original Sin, now it is time to go.

But maybe we got time for one more?

I believe the producers are trying to wedge in as many boss fights as possible.

In the grand tradition of this dungeon being all sorts of mirror-based, please enjoy the negative version of our last boss.

Hecto-Eye Titan is the literal opposite of our last opponent: this thing is resistant to light, but weak to dark.

But it still uses dark-based spells.

And we don’t have any dark spells of our own! All we got from the Moon Guardian are gravity spells, and those are a totally different element.

Oh, but we didn’t look at Stare Roe’s spell list last fight. We have Spectre, which is the light attack that could have helped last battle. Clearance is your “esuna” or “remedy” spell that clears status effects. Valiant is technically a status effect that boosts your damage output when HP is critical (which can be utilized really well for a Gatling attack). And reflect is exactly what it says on the tin: the ability to reflect spells back at the caster.

Hey, wasn't reflection the whole theme of this dungeon?

And that’s the answer to this fight: have Gallows use his Extend (target-all) ability on the Reflect spell, and bounce back all those dark attacks on Hector for massive damage. Everybody else can shoot along, but the frequent reflected weaknesses will make short work of this dork.

The damage isn’t massive, but it adds up quickly, and you will take very few hits, as Looky Lou uses magic nine times out of ten.

I want to say this is one of the few bosses that went down equally quickly in my cheating and normal playthroughs. You just have to know to cast reflect immediately.

If it distinctly dies from a reflected spell, you will score a dark gem for your troubles. These consumable items cast generic dark magic, but they are extremely rare before obtaining your own dark spells.

Can’t transform a planet if the old gods are still kicking around, Gallows.

You are strong enough to beat not one, but two giant floating eyeballs, so I think you can handle it.

We are done with this dungeon/shrine now, and it will literally never be mentioned again. That said, while we are here, I am going to note something of a spoiler-y nature: the plot of this dungeon coupled with its geography is brilliant. Next update, we will learn that the villains that have been eating Guardians got their start effectively a few blocks down from the shrine. So couple the fact that this place feels “empty” with how the local townsfolk have been commenting that their town/region went to crap when the local shrine fell into disrepair (and their town has apparently been crap for a while), and a quick bit of unspoken storytelling emerges: this Guardian/shrine was first on the villains’ hitlist. Because it was right next door! So, yes, the party was too late to save Stare Roe, but the good news is that this shrine was literally the first casualty of this war, and the poor bug god never had a chance.

I mean, yeah, that isn’t very good news, but at least it is one less thing for the party to feel guilty about.

And speaking of those villains…

Program Heart possession? Bro, if this gets into some Ansem wizbiz, I am out.

Ah. Finally getting that “fort” up and going.

Divine Fortress Asgard! Oh man! Asgard was just a summon for Marivel in Wild Arms 2, but in Wild Arms (1), Asgard was an enormous golem that was part transportation for the party and part loveable pet. Remember that Ka Dingel explosion I mentioned a few updates back? Well, the party only survived that because Asgard sacrificed his big robotic self to save everybody. Love me some Asgard, and some kind of “Asgard”, whether it be a nickname or a more literally robotic echo, appears in every Wild Arms title going forward, too.

At least they’re a golem again this time.

Asgard is tall, but, like, not building-tall like previous appearances.

Asgard appears shadowed here. Still an imposing figure, though.

And they are ready to fight!

Asgard’s big deal has always been their defense, so please enjoy watching Asgard identify Janus as a threat and barrier all over the place. And, yes, it did take an awkward minute or so for Asgard to assess the situation.

Malik may not have been responsible for this project, but he did his homework.

“Do you really want us to answer that question, Janus?”

“Don’t worry, Janus, Asgard is still working out some bugs. It is not because they immediately sense you are evil incarnate and will betray us immediately.”

“Gonna kill you some day, robot.”
“Affirmative.”

Janus out!

Is it?

And by “fighting spirit” do you mean “immoral, murderous fish dude”?

“There are two types of people in this world. Those who use, and those who are used. Janus Cascade...Which might you be? And us?”

You sure you don’t already know the answer to that question, Lee?

Yes, winding up on the wrong end of that Soulcalibur is going to be hilarious.

With that little introduction out of the way, somewhere around here the anime intro updates to include Asgard, too. I am very fond of how Asgard looks sufficiently like a demon, a robot, and a tall guy wearing a trench coat. Excellent design. High marks.

So that’s it for today’s update. We will venture forth to… Crap, we ran out of leads again. Can somebody clue us in on our next destination back at Little Rock?

Next time on Wild Arms 3: To the lie-b'ary!

 

[SpoonyBard]

'Stare Roe' sounds like the name of a He-Man/She-Ra character.

I actually completely forgot about Asgard. He's gotten a bit of a glowup since we last saw him, no longer a giant clunky robot, he's now a more moderately sized clunky robot rocking a stone trenchcoat.

 

[gogglebob]

Going to give the ol' block quotes a workout today. And speaking of today, today is August 16, Note Day. There was a man who couldn't say no. To solve his personal dilemma, he came up with the idea of writing down all of his thoughts on pads of paper. Believing that note pads wouldn't have been invented without him, not being able to say no to people, he named the day as 'note' (no to) day.

Chapter 19: She Murdered Me with Science

Previously on Wild Arms 3: We went to the village of Little Rock, and then explored a dungeon. This week, we are going to…

Oh, this just screams redundancy.

We might have the same basic trajectory in this update, but at least the townsfolk have decided to update with a new quest.

Spoiler: To the laboratory!

To the laboratory! … You can’t hear it, but I am pronouncing that in an extremely German way. It sounds cooler.

Keep going past those last ruins…

And see what we can see over here.

Once again, the map icon is the same as any other ruin, but… does this place have, like, a fence? That’s new…

So every dungeon we have explored so far has looked appropriately ruin-y. You know the drill: switches and traps you might expect to see Indiana Jones outwit while he is trying to obtain the golden donkey or whatever. This “ruin”, though? We have clearly just stepped into an abandoned reception room.

And Jet…

Has some quick flashes of… something.

“Brain… hurt… must… order… office supplies…”

I really do appreciate how Virginia will freaking murder Jet over making stupid comments, but is immediately concerned the minute Jet has so much as a tummy ache.

Relative to normal Jet parameters, of course.

Repression: fun for the whole family.

Welcome to the Leyline Observatory. I am surprised no enterprising drifters have stolen those comfy chairs.

Your enemies for this dungeon will be zombies, sentient books, and the occasional skeleton dinosaur.

There are two kinds of book enemies here. The most common is basically a spell book, and uses random elemental attacks. Your party cannot distinctly be weak to any given element, but you can pump up resistances if you want to save a little HP.

And zombies want to give you the heebie jeebies. Note that anything undead around here is weak to light magic, and you just scored a light spell in the last dungeon. The book monsters are all weak to Fahrenheit 451.

Here are the comic books (alternative book monsters) you will encounter. They are mostly in the latter part of the dungeon, but let’s give them a look now while we are talking about fighting.

These creatures can inflict “glass” on your party members.

Glass is a status effect that will freeze any actions for three turns, and if you are hit with a physical attack during one of those turns, you’re instantly dead. The good news is that these books are generally accompanied by other books, which only use magic attacks. The bad news…

Is that they may occasionally appear with a Bonedrake. If that happens, kill the dino quickly, as those suckers only use physical attacks, and if they target a glassed party member, it ends poorly.

Once again, use light magic on these undead dorks, and they will go down relatively quickly. This is another excellent reason to equip Virginia or Gallows with that light medium. Virginia uses magic effectively quickly, and Gallows hits even harder magically.

So this “dungeon” is definitely very mechanical in nature. Previously, we only ever saw the hollowed-out tanker ship in Jolly Roger as an indicator that this world had any sort of recognizable modern conveniences around. Everything else has been repurposed “ancient tech”.

But treasure chests are timeless.

Lockers and lab coats? Not so much.

If this was Earthbound, you would have just acquired a new item.

But here’s an item we can use.

The radar is Jet’s second tool. It will make a tone if there is a treasure in the room, and will display a flashing reticle if the treasure is within sight. Treasures that are in treasure chests are kind of obvious, but this is ideal for finding items buried in barrels, crates, or any other thing that can “hide” useful items. Any given town is just lousy with items concealed in barrels…

Note also that if you are trying to complete that “find every treasure” quest, the radar is amazing for checking dungeons for anything that was missed on an initial run. However, the radar will not beep for treasures hidden in the next room over, so to speak, so if there is a hidden door or passage that leads to treasure, you are out of luck. In other words, the radar is amazing, but not simply a win button on finding everything.

Let’s call this foreshadowing! Also: we could have been buying candy bars this whole time? Who is selling those?

There is a door at the end of this passage, but…

It is locked. Let’s go back and see if we can find a clue forward.

This console next to a giant machine looks promising!

But it requires a password. Anyone have a hint to that one?

I could have dealt with multiple choice…

So there were some books back in the other room…

“The Leyline Observatory is funded by a special organization, where we research and study -leylines-, the energy network that sustains the planet. By analyzing leylines, we strive to refine energy that sustains the planet. If successful, we will be able to deter the decay of this planet, and breathe new life into the environment. May our blood and tears become the blessed rain, and our toil the light that warms the flowering greenery. We must bear the fruits of our research.”

This update is going to be lousy with book learnin’.

There is nothing I would like to read more than an internal memo from ten years ago.

“Four of you will be assigned to the night shift this month. You must enter the elevator using your name as the password, before you can begin your shift. P.S. Bryant, please let Inkapilia know. Benedict, you're last so please empty the trash before you leave. Any questions, please ask Vilente, who comes in before Bryant.”

Oh! Oh! It is one of those “who placed first” puzzles that I used to hate in grade school! I am good at those! Thanks to a general need to see these stupid word puzzles over as quickly as possible!

It was Inky that was responsible for activating this elevator. Eat it, Vilente.

Spoiler Trivia: This facility had seven employees. All four mentioned here are designated by last name, because you would already recognize two of them by their first names. The third will be relevant to the plot as it goes on, and then there is the fourth, Pete Inkapilia. Pete Inkapilia…. Seems to exist exclusively for this puzzle. The other six researchers have huge impacts on the plot and individual members of your party, but Pete… Pete just gets the elevator going.

And with that password entered, the gears start turning. Literally. Even if I am not making a GIF of it…

Now this door is active…

And we can ride an elevator to the next area. Going up!

Similar structure. This is basically an office building, so do not expect any exciting dungeon layouts.

Here is an example of the radar shouting, “Yo! Over here!”

They were totally studying that fossil, and we are totally robbing the place.

“Underneath the crust of Filgaia lies a network of leylines, which act as blood vessels to supply life energy to the planet. Atop these leylines lie geologic stratum strong points, called leypoints. It is interesting to note that many guardian shrines can be found atop of leypoints. Not only do leylines circulate the life energy of the planet, it is also assumed that they connect to leypoints to amplify the energy mutually. In a sense, leylines and leypoints are similar to the blood vessels and organs in a living organism. This comparison paved the way for the Filgaia Theory, which views the planet as one single life entity.”

This is the “scientific” explanation of the chocks from last update. Basically, yes, Guardians and leypoints and Baskar Shrines all work together to keep the lifeblood of Filgaia going.

A decade after the lab was abandoned, the passive aggressive chalkboard messages remained. If you missed the radar above, this message will clue you in to head back up and give it a look. Though I don’t know anyone that plays JRPGs that would think to check a chalkboard but not a locker…

Oh yeah! I keep forgetting to call our horses to this new continent. And I will continue to do that after we get out of this dungeon.

Looks like we have our next locked door. Though I suppose that whiteboard did offer more than one clue…

Use the radar in the next room, and you will find that ID cards are easy to find with advanced technology.

A key by any other name.

This book on luck is sealed with a duplicator. Using a duplicator on a book is almost always a waste, but this one does explain an important game mechanic in greater detail…

“Some may boast about physical strength, as some may boast about magic. But how many of you boast about luck? How many of you out there on the battlefield take luck seriously? Well, let me tell you this. That powerful one-timer, the Critical Hit, and the ever so handy Defender; these skills are activated by chance and governed by luck. And what about those death blows and the various status ailments the enemies throw at you? These can actually be prevented by skills and luck. And the booby-trapped treasure chests you get after winning a battle--the chances of you successfully defusing it also depends on luck. It can be said that almost every action you take in battle is affected by luck. Having read this, I hope you take luck more seriously from now on. If you do, there's no doubt you'll emerge victorious in the wasteland.”

Confirmed: luck is important. I mean, assuming the game works like it is supposed to work. I am still a little gun shy after playing too many Final Fantasy games where criticals are determined by moon logic…

“The progenitors of the human race are said to have arrived on this planet long ago, on a ship that soars the heavens. However, there is no mention of where our forefathers came from. Without any absolute evidence backing up this folklore, many have come to view it as a mere fairy tale. On the other hand, there are those who take the folklore seriously, citing the fact that the human race seemed to appear in history overnight. I strongly believe that solving the mystery of the ship that soars the heavens will one day shed light as to the true origin of the human race.”

Wild Arms? I know you love yourself some Trigun, but please don’t go full Trigun. It makes things so… complicated.

Looks like activating the elevator got some monitors up and going.

“The experimental record data was damaged. By piecing some of the words together, it seems to have something to do with environmental data and stimulation patterns dating back 1,000 years ago. It appears the scientists were trying to revitalize or transform the environment artificially.”

Given the books lying around this place, this should come as no surprise. The voodoo that science do around here was all in pursuit of improving Filgaia.

Moving on.

Moving on up.

I assure you, this is a different floor from the last time you saw this layout.

I mean, for one thing, there is more money here.

Yes! A JRPG tradition!

But it is duplicator-sealed…. And you can’t read it anyway! Wait… Jet has amnesia, so he is either six months old, or 2,000. Let’s try someone with a valid driver’s license.

And Clive is told he’s not mature enough, either! He has a kid! He is one of the few PS2 JRPG heroes confirmed to have seen a naked lady!
So the joke/solution here is that the forbidden warning is based on your Migrant Level (currently a “three” up in the corner there). Once you clear 18 Migrant Seals, you’ll be allowed to see the Adult Mag… and what a day that will be.

So anyway, don’t waste a duplicator on this book… yet.

Duran, Duran…

“She came by again last night. Whenever I'm lost in a labyrinth of contemplation, she reaches out her tiny hands...Who is she? Actually, it may be wrong to define her as a real person...As long as I don't tie myself down with logic, she is just she... I'm at a point where I can't live without her anymore...I can't continue my research without her...I can't concentrate...I want to know more about her. I am more interested in her than I am learning the mechanics of the generator.”

I’m sure some random dude fantasizing about a little girl will have no lasting on the plot or be a clue to something that has been randomly mentioned since back at the start of the adventure.

Oh! A mimic chest! Haven’t seen one of those since Melody’s dungeon.

The mimic was actually kind of difficult a few dungeons back. Now we have leveled up, and the trap is… two mimics. They can score some lucky criticals and make your life miserable/dead, but mimic fights are now about as difficult as regular encounters.

And we score an accessory that protects against the “Glass” status effect. For more information on glass, please scroll back up to that bit with the comic books.

“Demi-humans may look and think like humans, but they are different. Demi-humans called Elws are said to have once existed on Filgaia. These Elws are said to have fought off the demons using the power of guardians. Originally, the Elws were a peaceful race, but lead by the blacksmith warrior Vassim, they fought to save the planet. Other men who were said to have been revered on an epitaph are Fulcanelli, who performed the secret ceremony, and Blavatsky, who had insight about Filgaia. After the end of this bitter war, the Elws vanished, and no one has heard from them again. According to one theory, since the Elws were closely tied with nature, they are believed to have died off from the decay of the planet. Are the Elws extinct? No one knows for sure. The demi-humans Elws have long been forgotten in the pages of history. Perhaps we will remember them, when this planet returns to verdure.”

The Ruins of Memory library made reference to demi-humans that were magically similar to, but separate from, the Baskar, and now we get a name: Elw. Elw are Wild Arms Elves, and have appeared in various Wild Arms titles. Note that the proper names in this book are echoes of Elw characters from Wild Arms (1)… but they are barely ever going to be mentioned again in Wild Arms 3. We got no time for elf business…

“The end of the great war gave birth to the fundamentalism of nature, Baskar. Secret ceremonies were held using the power of guardians, and two sects of Baskar were established. One as a religious group for those who had nowhere to turn to, and the other as restorers of the decayed environment. Shortly after the flames of war had died out, the Baskars tried to rejuvenate Filgaia through the use of guardians. Guardians, which were considered to be the power that sustains the world, were attempting to do just that. The Baskars were said to have set up chocks, a structure signifying the belief in guardians, over the leypoints. These chocks were used to suppress the expansion of the wasteland, and at the same time, amplify the guardians' powers, while supplying energy to the world. However, the spreading of the wasteland was more severe than expected, and the chocks only worked to delay the decay, instead of revitalizing the environment. These chocks became referred to as guardian shrines, and play a ceremonial role today. The rejuvenation of Filgaia would have to find a new, different approach...”

Looks like modern Baskars are a mix of “religious Baskars” and “nerd Baskars”. This dichotomy is easy to see with Gallows and Shane.

“Artifacts left behind by the great war brought about a new power to the human race. Machines, capable of activation through the use of will as an extension of oneself... Artifacts from Ruins: Memories. Otherwise known as ARMs. Today, ARMs commonly refer to portable machine weaponry, but originally it encompasses the technology used to make them. To this day, no one knows who these memories belong to. But the fact remains, that we have come to depend on its powers.”

Did you think I was making up that ARMs acronym back at the Ruins of Memories?

Enough reading! Let’s hit the next elevator room.

Hey, this isn’t an elevator…

The party separates, and Virginia can interview her boys for their opinion on this place. Gallows once again inadvertently hits the nail on the head: any and all scientists are insane.

Jet is muttering to himself…

“Implantation of the sample completed on time. Adjusting time schedule by 02. Everything is proceeding smoothly. The project was feared to be blasphemy against divine nature, but the favorable progress helps to ease our collective conscience. This is a significant leap forward to the theory. The outcome will be proven once the project begins to take shape. Adam Kadmon is about to be born.”

Adam Kadmon is a sin against God? I would not want to be in the same room as that guy…

“Will the seven of us earn a place in history as the creators, or as immoral sinners? That will all depend on the completion of the sample. The seven of us have come this far, so that we can deliver another tomorrow for the planet...”

I admit I take it for granted because it will be repeated over and over starting at the end of this update, but I believe this is the first we have confirmation that this whole place was run by a team of seven. Such a lucky number!

Clive just wants Virginia to read more. Note that he is not telling that to any of your other companions.

“Son...My only regret is that I was unable to show you a world full of verdure...But wait...I will overlap the new world formation onto your figure. A new life... A life that must carry the burden for generations... Adam Kadmon...You are our only hope...Guide this Filgaia so that it will once again be filled with greenery...You are the world's hope...I am counting on you--for all children of this planet...”

So Adam is a blasphemy, but also the hope of the world? Sounds about right.

Guess that is all we are getting out of these consoles.

So absolutely not talking about this Adam Kadmon character, let’s talk to Jet…

Who starts clawing at the walls like a cat.

Oh. Hidden door. Of course Jet knows how to activate a hidden door in a place we have never been.

Totally normal thing to have happen.

“If you rotate the camera just so, you can see there is kind of a gap…”
“What are you talking about?”

It is progress that Jet is telling his companions about his unease at all.

“There’s a lot of science-y stuff around. Do you think they downloaded your brain or something?”

Stop haiku’ing at us and get a move on, Jet.

Clive, for the only time in the game, tells one of his friends to stop thinking.

You were going to go through the secret door anyway, Virginia, but it is nice to have an excuse.

Giant transparent tubes. Is the image of a fully grown human floating in a tube something that exclusively comes from fiction, or does that happen to people in reality? The only real-life example I can recall was when my Uncle Goku floated in a tube for a couple hours after his fight with the Ginyu Force.

Everyone has a different reaction to the tubes. Most of the party just finds it ominous, but Jet is particularly having a bad time.

“How can Filgaia possibly be a living planet?' The theory that tries to answer this extremely simple, yet difficult proposition is the Filgaia Theory. In order for life-forms to continue existing on Filgaia, it is necessary for the life-form to regulate itself. Every species of life-form works together as a single organism to control the planet's environment. Surprisingly, there have been cases of self-cleansing, where foreign elements have been expelled. This function is very similar to ours. From a universal standpoint, Filgaia is regarded as a single life entity. Currently, the Filgaia Theory is moving forward with systematization. By regarding the planet as a life-form, there are also plans to heal or revitalize the environment. We look forward to providing the results of this research.”

Boring books in this secret passage…

“The Guiding Word...is the magical password. The Guiding Word...is my name, and the key to open the gate. The Guiding Word...will be lost in the sea of words, if we rely on conventional wisdom...”

Prepare yourself for the dumbest puzzle available.

Here it is. We need a password to proceed.

Probably entered “Adam” or some variation on it a thousand times after that “The Guiding Word is my name” hint. Nope! It is simply “Guiding Word”. Screw you, the very concept of this puzzle.

Let’s get out of here.

One final room with a few books.

“The many secret ceremonies stored inside the information library Hyades gave people the means of creating new life. Golem. This is said to mean, 'unborn child'. A steel machine that carries out orders in a detailed and precise fashion. Yes, it is a machine... However, not only does this mechanical golem carry out orders, it compares past memory and data to perform the most appropriate action. It has a will of its own. In fact, it is safe to say it is a life-form with its own personality. It is not a life born from life, but a life born from truth...That is a golem. How close is this truth to god?”

Now we’re getting into the forbidden knowledge! And, apparently, Hebrew is a language on Filgaia!

“Its discovery was a coincidence. The first group of scientists, which later went on to form the first council, came into contact with the wisdom, deep within a ruin. The ruin was named Mimir's Well, and was set up as a base of operation to analyze the wisdom. The wisdom was determined to be a crystallization of wisdom, dating all the way back to the great war. Due to its advanced and dangerous nature, the wisdom was concluded to be technology of demons from folklore. This wisdom, or artifact left behind by demons, was accumulated and stored inside an emulator zone—a memory area similar to human memory. These can also be considered as memories left behind by demons. The scientists named the information library that existed inside this emulator zone -Hyades-. Hyades, and the wisdom left behind were analyzed by the group of scientists for many years to come. Their goal was to utilize the power that once destroyed the planet to try to rejuvenate the planet. Wisdom is something that wavers. Its value and its use are not to be used in one place.”

Gee, weren’t our resident villains talking about Hyades…

But let’s see what is over here on the table…

It’s half a photo!

Anybody in there look familiar? I know you want to focus on the dude with the glasses and pigtails(?), but maybe those other three…

You must actually have a memory of your own if you want to proceed.

Open the menu, and select the other photo half that you found during Virginia’s opening dungeon.

And here we are. Looks like we had tape readily available.

Man! It has been a productive day! Jet had some flashbacks, Clive got to research along with the old guard, Virginia is discovering daddy clues, and Gallows… got in some cardio! Rad!

I refuse to believe Virginia did not already relay her entire life story, like, six times over the course of the train ride over here.

“Dear mother in Heaven, today I found out where dad used to work.”
“I worked there, too, honey.”
“... What?”

Aw, Jet wants to learn more about his teammates.

“Well he sure ain’t that weirdo with the white hair. Who would want that guy as a father?”

Again: probably!

She normally doesn’t have much patience with Jet, but involve her father, and Virginia whips up to eleven inside of seconds.

Choose your response carefully, Jet.

This should be an excellent bonding experience for these two. A great way to build trust is…

Oh. Oh no.

He said not to freak out!

Once again, the Wild Arms franchise is amazing when it comes to… let’s call it “text box pacing”.

High marks for presentation all around.

“That dirty-minded pervert of a father! I've come to grips with him leaving me, but what about Mom? How could he do this to her? Well, yes, it might've been wrong for me to assume Daddy was dead, but if he was alive and well, I just wish he would've come home to see us.”

Virginia is shouting/working through some stuff.

…. Just. Just don’t.

So… like a father, then? Okay.

“I know, I know...I know my father wasn't like that... I was always such a daddy's girl...I loved him so much...There's no way he could be such a person...I'm just so happy...So, Daddy was doing fine...I wish he would've told us himself...I wish I could have let Daddy know I'm doing fine, too...”

Aaaaand meltdown completed.

“You guys want to go explore another dungeon while we give Virginia a minute?”

Wait, might need the full party for this.

It’s Melody Vilente! Just felt like throwing in her last name for no reason!

She’s still so happy to see Clive. Looks like someone has a nemesis!

Oh, Asgard is here, too.

“Asgard is actually made of an unobtainium mesh, you philistine.”

Sister got demoted to golem herald here.

Asgard! Could you please stand somewhere with better lighting?

If you recall, the Gemini Circuit was what Melody was heisting back at her dungeon.

Clive, I have seen your world. “A machine” should be guardian-damned shocking to you.

Big deal, even Jet can level up.

Golem fight!

Hey buddy. You forget to equip your left hand this morning?

Were you expecting any weaknesses on this demonic fortress?

We can make a big deal about Asgard learning or whatever, but that means their training-wheels battle is going to be pretty boring.

Asgard’s high-power barrier will block any and all attacks of any nature. There is no way to “break” or bypass this barrier.

However, these hits do accrue FP for later, stronger attacks, and Asgard cannot attack while barriered. So, basically, just make sure you are not using your best moves on a turn with a barrier in place.

Asgard optimizing data is creepy and ominous… but damned if I can figure out what that does. Probably just means you’re going to get punched again.

So punch back.

Despite the plot bookends of this being so impossible/difficult for everyone, this is a very basic boss fight. Don’t worry about Asgard “learning” or whatever: this is not one of those deals where using your best attack will be recorded so it will never be effective against Asgard again.

Virginia, you’re starting to sound like a non-Goku character in Dragon Ball Z.

Oh, then we get Krillin’ed.

Welp. The party is dead now. Guess I spoke too soon, as this update was rewarding for the party until everyone, ya know, died. We’ll never learn anything more about Virginia’s dad now. Everybody get together and write your eulogies for the party for next week.

Next time on Wild Arms 3: Hey, Asgard, wanna go hang out at a firepit or something?

 

[SpoonyBard]

Wow I completely forgot about the Glass status effect. Marginally more interesting than the usual JRPG status of 'Stone', at least.

For some reason Asgard shares a battle theme with Janus, weird choice that.

Man, Virginia continues to have amazing reactions, truly one of the best heroines of this era.

 

[Mr Bean]

I know lots of important plot stuff is happening right now, but what's really bothering me is trying to figure out which one of these lab coats is Pete Inkapilia. We have guesses on 4? of them, and I'm assuming Pete presents as male, so which one of the two background guys is it? Baskar guy on the left since he was on night shift with the other 3?

 

[gogglebob]

Absolute spoilers for a plot twist or confirmations or something that won't happen for a WHILE, like, we are talking about Chapter 4 spoilers and we're on Chapter 2...

From left to right, confirmed:

Spoiler: Spoilers for late game stuff

Leehalt Alcaste, Melody Vilente, UNKNOWN, Malik Bendict, UNKNOWN, Werner Maxwell, UNKNOWN

So that leaves Pete Inkapilia, Elliot Enduro, and Duran Bryant. To my knowledge, despite having huge impacts on the plot, Elliot and Duran are only ever talked about in the plot, never seen as a sprite. Duran's whole deal is that he was manipulated by a dream demon, which puts him as the most spiritual/most insane, so I kind of see him as the Baskar dude with the glasses. He is also ultimately responsible for the explosion of the reactor, so him being on the side of the rest of the "bad guys" makes thematic sense. Elliot Enduro is responsible for Jet, and Jet was distinctly noted to be made in Elliot's son's image, so it tracks that he is the dude between Malik and Werner. Also, just fun to have Jet's two dads next to each other. And then that leaves what I presume to be Pete at the far edge there, the other side of Werner. "Presumed Pete" certainly looks female, but with the full list of names (in the English script), it looks like there is only one distinctly female name in the lot anyway (Melody). Also, thanks to prevalence in the plot, every other character winds up with a confirmed gender. It is possible "Pete" was a weird translation of an original Japanese name that someone didn't think too hard about because Inkapilia only appears twice in the whole script (once for this update's puzzle, and another update later when the Council of Seven is named officially for the first time). I have no idea, but Pete could very well be Peterella or something in the original. It makes no difference to anything if that name got mangled along the way. Regardless, I am putting Pete on the end there by process of elimination.

Also, to be absolutely clear on something that I have seen floated before: that is absolutely not Virginia's mother. Ekatrina Maxwell used to work with Werner, but we have no reason to believe she is in this picture. Like, heck, could you see Virginia seeing a picture of her father and mother in labcoats, and she doesn't say anything about it? Preposterous.

And now you know... the rest of the story... or something.

 

[gogglebob]

Come on guys, let’s play on August 23, Rain Day. Rain solidifies the ground, so it becomes hard to dig into. It's a real nuisance. Try this. Dig the packed dirt and pack it back up again. You will get dirt sherbet. Neat trick to show the kids.

Chapter 20: Rest Virginia

Previously on Wild Arms 3: Everybody died.

See? So I guess we’ll have a little writeup of what happened in Wild Arms 3, and how…

Oh, maybe we can squeeze an update out of Melody standing around and rubbing it in.

“These guys suck. Do I need to write that down for next time?”

Come to think of it, like, literally no one is resisting the Prophets right now. Nobody knows they exist! If our team is dead, then what is the battle data good for? Gotta fight the united army of Jolly Roger or something?

What’s this!?

Spoiler: A cat from behind!?!

A cat from behind!?!

“Hm!? Reinforcements!?”

“That's an outrage...They're not one of us. If anything, they're our enemy.”

Oh! Oh! It’s Virginia’s girlfriend!

Relationship tips: if you know someone that is consistently noting the physical aspects of a person for no apparent reason, like casually referencing their butt, legs, face, etc., then there is something going on there.

Asgard is staying mute, but glowing red eyes are not usually a good sign.

We really appreciate the assist here, Maya, but remember when we had to save you from Janus? Before he was a fish-demon? This is not going to end well for you…

Excellent observation, Todd of the eternally flammable afro.

The standoff!

Aaaaaaand resolution.

Alfred, the boy wonder, detonates a smoke bomb, because Maya is a lover, not a fighter.

“Hey! Only Virginia is allowed to call me a fox!”

The Human Instrumentality Project is going great.

So Maya and friends presumably scoot out with the corpses of our heroes, and Virginia has a post-death dream.

Before the golem showed up with the murder-quake, Virginia had a pretty significant breakthrough on The Search for Father. Guess that is playing hell with her subconscious.

You’ll reach him one day, Virginia!

…. Not him.

Hooray! Virginia survived! The Let’s Play plays on!

There’s an excellent pan from Virginia’s perspective of the rest of the party recovering, too. Please note that Jet is clearly injured, but not taking assistance well.

Gallows is also helping Clive. I take this as gameplay/plot synergy and how Gallows has a surprising amount of HP.

She’s talking to the cat. The cat is going to be on guard duty. If you have ever met a cat, you would know this is a terrible idea.

And with that, we have the full names for this Schröedinger family. Todd the be-afroed butler, Alfred the shy little brother, Shady the flying ‘n talking cat, and…

Maya Schröedinger, the sweetest girl in the world.

“My HP drops to zero an awful lot.”

Can I just say that this little “try moving it” moment is something I have seen 10,000 times in real life, but super rarely in fiction? Such a simple thing…

Maya is back on her bullshit from back at Serpent’s Coils.

“Easily and repeatedly!”

“A Drifter confronts two obstacles the longer they continue their journey. One is the artifacts of prehistoric culture that far surpass the technology of today. I'm sure you're well aware. And the second one is the cause of Filgaia's decay.”

“You'd be all right if you stick with measly undertakings, but once you get yourself involved in those two matters, there's no turning back. Moreover, if you're not careful, you might just lose your life--like you almost did just now.”

This is… kind of progress? Maya seems to admit that Virginia can deal with “shallow” Drifter business, but the deep stuff is going to get her killed.

“Let the people that consistently run from danger take care of these problems.”

If you expected anything else, you have not been paying attention.

“Don’t say to impress your girlfriend, don’t say to impress your girlfriend, don’t say to…”

Look, Virginia, I get it. It is hard to talk to a new date about your parents and your quest to find them.

If she is an adventurer that travels the world, aren’t her bags already packed?

I don’t know how much emphasis is supposed to be placed on how Virginia’s whole “heroine of justice” thing that was her reasoning to Maya last time is now being supplemented by “gotta get closer to Daddy”, which has been her true goal from the beginning…

Did Maya get the answer she wanted? Or the reaction she wanted? Or is she offended? She ain’t tellin’.

“Next time you show your face and try to get in our way... I, Maya Schröedinger, will crush you to the ground, no holds barred. Just remember that.”

This was payback for rescuing them back at Ka Dingel. Next time, there are going to be more afros lit aflame.

Everybody else leaves, but Alfred must speak truth to our party.

“I know my sister likes you. She has a poster of you in her room now. I have no idea where she got it…”

The party decides to chill a little while munching on heal berries.

Nearly died, time for a weenie roast.

“Jet, I’m sorry I called you a bastard sin against Guardians that was grown in a tube.”

“I'm sorry...I said something selfish...I probably shouldn't be the leader of this team...My father's been missing for a real long time now...I'd given up on him, but once I found out he might still be alive, I kinda went in over my head...Then, Maya drilled me with her lecture, which made me realize she's probably right. It's too dangerous to get involved any further.”

“Heh heh, she said ‘Maya drilled me’.”

Oh, uh… Virginia wants to quit. This update is a rollercoaster of whether there will be a next update!

Wild Arms 3 Gaiden: Virginia Maxwell in Daddy Quest (Daddy Warrior in America).

“It sounds stupid when you say it…”

“Okay. But keep in mind that Maya has a lot of sway over my opinion for reasons I cannot fully admit.”

“I saw your dad wearing a lab coat in that picture. You know how few lab coats are in this wasteland? No way that guy doesn’t know something.”

D’aw. Though I appreciate the mental image of Virginia trying to “stop” Clive, and he just doggedly following like six feet behind anyway.

Say what you will about Gallows, but he did make up his mind at the start of his story to leave his destiny behind. It was for generally slacker-based reasons, but it was an active decision.

“In this kind of situation, I think it's the leader's role to stand behind that person and give them a boost. I don't know if that would define you as a brilliant leader...But as a good leader, at least. You actually make travelling the wasteland kinda enjoyable. We can't think of anyone else we'd rather have leading us. We all knew there was danger involved. We wanted to do it. Well, we've come this far. Let's see this through to the end, together.”

I really appreciate how Wild Arms 3 completely justifies the party working together because, ultimately, they all enjoy working with each other. This is not a game where everyone is cooperating because “we gotta find the Frozen Flame” or “we collectively hate that Archadian Empire so much”.

Though Gallows does still have personal reasons for helping.

Doubt!

“Heh heh, he said ‘that weird threesome.”

“But by working together as a team, it gives me courage--like I can and have to do whatever it takes. A married sniper who talks in big words; a sulky lookin' punk; and most of all...”

I will say this: I very much consider Gallows’s origins and design extremely problematic. Beyond that, though? He really is one of the best characters in an already exemplary cast.

“Maybe it’s because we’re level 99 and blast every monster into another time zone…”

“Just like our leader said, it's a bond. We're not tied together by fate. We're tied together by a bond. That's how we made it this far. And we'll continue to be together. Ain't that right, leader?”

Yay! Virginia is back on board!

We had Clive and Gallows talking about how much they like Virginia. For Jet’s turn, we get a masterful fake out. True facts: I am glad I am doing this Let’s Play. I would miss this kind of directorial joke if I wasn’t carefully analyzing every minute of this game.

Clive recaps the plot up to this point (or the mystery contained therein), and notes the torn photo, the “plan” of the prophets, and all the random books we read at the lab. Just have to note all of this for the players that dashed through that last dungeon, and didn’t spend an entire update bookworming.

Damn, here I thought that was the final battle.

Bro just wants to sleep in his own bed for once.

D’aw.

Clive claims he has further research materials at home, but no one is objecting to meeting Mrs. Clive and Clive Baby.

Okay, maybe someone is objecting. Later, while everyone else is asleep, Jet leaves a letter and walks away.

…. I’m sorry. Textbox name says what?

Oh. Oh you asshole.

Virginia is right there. She is asleep literally within sight of her dad. He’s over here, Virginia! Wake up!

“Her girlfriend sure thinks she’s in danger.”

“Shhhh. I’m trying not to wake the baby.”

Were Jet a friend in modern times, he’d be one of those guys that deletes all his social media accounts every other week after making a few vague posts, and then brings them all back like two days later.

I think Asgard and Werner go to the same tailor.

Jet’s ARM is (like everybody) named on his status screen. I believe this is the first it is named by dialogue, though. Technically, it is the Airget-lamh B/V2.

(Wild Arms 2)

We don’t have to get into the details of that naming and how it relates to Jet right now, but we may as well note that the legendary Excalibur-type “sword in the stone” of Wild Arms 2 was the Argetlahm. There is also a fun, mythological way this alludes to Wild Arms 1 as well, but we’ll get to that later.

So apparently Werner’s parenting style is
Step 1. Give child gun
Step 2. Leave
It’s been working great so far!

I choose to believe Jet is gradually talking louder through this conversation so as to get Virginia’s attention. She is sleeping like a snorlax.

“She is so screwed up, man. Let me tell you about this one time we fought these Huskarl guys…”

You $&#$ing asshole.

You $&#$ing, enigmatic asshole

Like, seriously? Is this a ghost situation? Are you sixth sensing me, old man?

“Why aren’t you just our fifth party member? Wait, crap, are you going to green ranger this thing?”

Did this seriously just occur to you Jet? That the guy who raised you might know where you come from?

You $&#$ing asshole.

Our most silent party member was raised by our most silent NPC.

Was this Werner’s intention? Did he want to sway Jet back to hanging with Virginia through sheer asshollery? And does Werner visit Jet, like, every night, and we just don’t know about it?

“Asshole.”
“Punk.”

Yeah, okay, Squall.

Seriously!? Werner just leaves? Virginia… Christ… Like… Find a new quest. You will be so much happier.

The next morning, Virginia finds a letter.

Next destination: set.

… I think.

“Is this envelope sealed… with a heart?”
“It was either that or the Grumpy Bear sticker, and that seemed a little on the nose.”

Yoink.

“Opening someone’s mail is a federal offense!”

I made that Squall joke earlier in good faith, Jet.

Aw, she is her father’s daughter.

Come on, Jet, tell her about Werner. Do it just to hurt her. Do it, Jet. Do it.

Fine. Stick to your guns.

Just hitting all the PSX Final Fantasies here.

See, Jet, you do get your affirmation that you want to be in this party after all.

Guess what! There will technically be gameplay in this update!

We were a little south of the lab, camping out in the shadow of this giant rock.

Now we make south to illegible village name.

Gotta be somewhere around here…

Here we are! Humphrey’s Peak! After all that family drama, I am certain we need to give Clive’s homecoming room to breathe. Does Virginia even know anyone that wasn’t in this update? She has a pretty small social circle…

Next time on Wild Arms 3: All you skinny daddies better look out, because Fat Daddy is back in town!

DISCUSSION QUESTION: You think Jet should tell Virginia that Werner is, like, hovering over the party, and was evidently hanging out, like, five feet away last night? Or should he keep his moody mouth shut?

 

[SpoonyBard]

Jet won't tell Virginia about Werner because it would mean carrying out an awkward conversation with her about it and he'd rather keep her in the dark than be even slightly uncomfortable, not to mention it's better for his survival.

He's not wrong, just look at how Virginia acts around Maya, dropping a bomb like the fact her dad is usually only like 10 feet away from her at any given moment is likely to cause her to BSOD. That's one less meat shield party member around to rely on. So it's tactical. Purely tactical.

 

[Mogri]

Jet won't tell Virginia about Werner because Jet won't tell Virginia the time of day. The other considerations are valid, but they're background dressing.

 

[gogglebob]

Nobody has a high opinion of Jet! Good.

But today is a brand new day, specifically August 30, Moth Day. There once was a chatterbox who talked all he wanted and never listened to anyone else. He became so noisy, a guardian changed him into a moth. The big mouth became the big moth.

Chapter 21: Home is Where the Plot Is

Previously on Wild Arms 3: Virginia and company were defeated by Asgard the Golem, but then rescued by the power of love. Now we’re past all that, and, after a quick, secret visit from Virginia’s father, we’re going to Clive’s home.

Humphrey’s Peak is a long walk from Little Rock, but a quick jaunt from that laboratory dungeon.

Looks like a pretty place.

I just said that! Bah!

“You don’t make ‘buy a town’ money on shooting poisonous birds.”

“We just had the blue roof installed last month. It is somehow already out of warranty.”

Fun fact: This is not a super mountainous area. I have no idea what this is supposed to be the “peak” of.

Maybe

Spoiler: we will discover answers under this bridge...

we will discover answers under this bridge.

What lives under bridges? Trolls! Navigate a little “hidden” path in the dry canal, and you’ll find Uncle Gob, the only friendly Gob on Filgaia.

This was mentioned a number of updates back, but there is an official sidequest to fill in every corner of your world map. And Uncle Gob here is the quest-giver! Shade in your map to 100%, and you’ll earn a special reward from Uncle Gob. Do not attempt until you have an airship, though!

It’s also kind of funny if you sneak down and see Uncle Gob before exploring the town properly. Let’s get up there and talk to that weirdo in the blue coat! Or the strange little girl walking around!

Okay, back topside now. Roykman the merchant is here for all our shopping needs, and he… is having brain problems caused by verdant towns?

Bro, what are you doing with our save point?

The save-bot had to be repaired? Was it corrupting memory cards?

That… makes a sort of sense. They do look like little robots, so our save amigos being excavated ancient technology washes.

“We members of the Ark of Destiny maintain these figures for free. Some consider us a religious order, but we don't exactly place our faith in any god.”

So Filgaia is home to a sect of religious mechanics, apparently. And, yes, Albert, you know that any time someone says they are not a religious order, they absolutely are a religious order.

See? We all up in some cult wizbiz here.

Directorial accident or entirely deliberate that there is a cross in the background right now?

Albert, keep the savebots working, and you can hand out all the cult paraphernalia you want.

I do not want to consider the practical ramifications of how people in a JRPG world test to see that their save points are working.

Anywho, rest of the NPCs around here are just teasing future quests all over the place.

This old man points the party towards an optional area over by Baskar. Next week, Ricardo!

“I don't know if it was something I ate, but I had a terrible dream last night. It could be such a letdown when you realize it's only a dream. I dreamt that Filgaia was filled with water, and everybody was much better off than they are now. Under the clear blue sky, I was farming the land with my family by my side helping me out...But then I woke up...It was terrible.”

“Clive, your town is freaking me out, can we go to some perilous dungeon now?”

“Your daughter better be hella adorable.”

“You got lucky this time.”

Clive slides into dad mode instantly.

Filgaia is a blighted world where ranch dressing has not yet been invented.

Virginia is about ten seconds away from happy sobbing in the doorway.

Death to celery! It restores zero hit points!

Going to have to stop this update here, as I just died from sweetness overload.

So we’ve got Catherine, Kaitlyn, and Clive. This is one of those weird “Zippa married Zappa” situations…

“They’re those people over there who didn’t take their shoes off when they came in the house.”

“Gallows, did you shove Virginia aside to hit on my wife? Badly?”

“I am a sentient smiley face given flesh!”

“And this is my pal, Saddy the Saddest Boy.”

“Did you know you could eat breakfast with a fork and knife?”

“Great, Catherine! … Can I call you mom?”

Check out the hand over Kaitlyn’s shoulder. I wonder how many NPCs distinctly sport wedding rings.

Married life in a nutshell: we need to save the world, honey, do you mind if we borrow the living room?

Catherine is going to watch 90 Day Fiancée in her bedroom, but call if you need anything.

“Dear wife? You’re going to help us with the book learnin’?”

Subtle worldbuilding!

Clive: owns some books.

Gallows: needs cliffnotes.

Jet: Possibly illiterate.

Virginia: Just happy to be here.

“Mainly because our environment… according to leading researchers… ‘sucks’.”

(Wild Arms 1)

Aside from the obvious mythological allusion, the Yggdrasil System actually originates in Wild Arms (1) as a sort of backstory for some nonsense going on with the demons. But it isn’t distinctly much of a thing there, just some general worldbuilding for why there are 10,000 monsters running around. In Wild Arms 3, meanwhile, we are going to hear a bit more about it…

“Oh, but there is a section here about the experts who carried out this project. Let's see...It appears they were a party of seven, each with their own area of expertise, such as science or magic. The members of this organization were replaced according to what specific field was needed at the time. However, this organization always consisted of seven members, and later referred to as the -Council of Seven-.”

And who exactly was responsible for this Yggdrasil System…

This is one of those sections where, if you read every book at the laboratory, it looks like your party has amnesia (well, beyond Jet’s usual amnesia).

“Have I met any… councils recently…”

You have a break here where you can talk to your party members. This is another “can you solve the mystery” puzzle like back at the end of the lab.

In fact, it is so much like the last time we saw this “puzzle”, it has the exact same solution: select the taped photo from your inventory.

“Daddy! Plus six Non-Daddies! That's seven!”

This picture is from ten years ago, so this project that nobody ever thought to date is probably from around there.

“It would be a stupendous coincidence if the only picture of seven people we have ever seen is the Council of Seven.” (logic has no place here, Clive)

This guy are slick.

“Gasp! One of the Non-Daddies has a name!”

Virginia again confirms this photo is absolutely from ten years ago.

He’s an anime character, Clive. How can you tell he hasn’t aged unless he has become one of those anime tiny old men?

What does it all mean!?

And since we’re on the subject of Malik, we’re going to flash over to him at Bad Guy HQ, where he is apparently admiring his own giant Zero Suit Samus amiibo.

They are worth more if you keep them in the packaging.

Please do not punch the glass.

Oh, my bad. He is growing his own Zero Suit Samus. Living the dream of the Gamefaqs message boards.

Who is this mysterious blonde in a tube? Nobody is saying for right now, but I guarantee you it is creepier than whatever you are thinking.

This should end well!

“And Clive, thanks for letting us sleep in your master bedroom, on the floor, like a pack of dogs. Best I’ve slept in a while!”

“Jet, how did you get so many dorito stains on the table? My wife has been scrubbing that spot since sunrise.”

“We now know two things, and that is overwhelming.”

“Let’s stop thinking so hard” – Gallows Carradine

See? Needs cliff notes.

Virginia focuses the party on the connection between the Council of Seven, the prophets, the planet, and, most importantly, her dad.

Clive makes the connection between “the planet” and a local cave. Kind of a jump, but a dungeon is a dungeon.

Do you think Jet stays quiet most of the time because he’s a raging idiot?

He is specifically talking about those orange/white gems we see all over the place. Those aren’t just “game powerups”, they’re “real” shards of planet life! Or something!

“I don’t believe in guardians. I’m an atheist now. Kept meaning to tell you, Clive, but it never came up.”

“Catherine, I was so sloshed that I barely remember that week.”

Crap! Another sugar coma!

I’m sorry, Clive? There was a Guardian Shrine down the street, and you were just going to have us sit around and read for an update?

And, more importantly, we can get another Guardian medium powerup!

Choice is scary!

“After Catherine finishes making us breakfast! I smell bacon, and I’m a hungry girl!”

Oh my Guardians there are family photos on the mantle.

“Yeah, uh, guys? I’m going to stay here. With my family. Whom I love.”

“Our wedding? You do remember today is our anniversary, right?”

“I always wondered why we got married at the Danger Shrine.”

Kaitlyn knows why mommy is giving daddy leads.

Aw, they used to both be nerds.

Ominous foreshadowing! Or you just don’t talk about tragedies in front of the kid. Either one works…

“Reminding myself how rock stupid Jet is at all times helps me to not think about my demoralizing past.”

And we’re good to go. Seems like there is a surprising amount of wine in this room, Catherine.

Everyone says adorable things when confronted with Kaitlyn’s gigantic bear.

Kaitlyn was holding out on us! A Grab Bag is your basic “random extra experience points” item. Use it on whoever is falling behind in the ol’ levels.

Like the Gallows residence, this is one of a handful of free inns in Filgaia. Remember that when you can instantly warp around the planet and want to save a few bucks.

“I don’t remember having to fight for my life on my wedding day, but that whole thing was kind of a blur.”

Clive’s family obviously has different dialogue for Clive versus the rest of the party. Amusingly enough, switching between the two affirms the two separate plot goals now available.

And Kaitlyn has tips for a nearby train station.

Humphrey’s Peak has not one, but two game-spanning sidequests.

Kaitlyn has gotten into a new book series, and dedicated father Clive is responsible for not only procuring the latest volumes, but also reading these books to his daughter.

Collect all the Adventure books, and you’ll receive the same significant prize as filling in the map for Uncle Gob. We will get into the details of that quest in a separate “side quest” post, but know that all the reading involved here does feature a character or two from Wild Arms 2…

Cheville is in the house next door. Cheville is depressing.

Looks like her daughter died back in April. Maybe we will be able to cheer Cheville up in yet another sidequest.

But, in the meanwhile, we have some actual game to play. This ain’t Xenosaga! We can’t have two updates of just dialogue scenes.

In honor of that good uncle that lives under the bridge, here is the current state of our world map. We are that white dot to the east. Our next two plot dungeons will be in this general area.

But first we are going to catch a train to the west.

Gotta be somewhere around here…

Here we go.

The train stations may contain important NPCs, but they generally all look alike.

Good talking to you, too, Walker.

We can now travel back to Midland Station (Baskar, Jolly Roger) or Westwood (Claiborne, Little Twister). But we can also hit Dune Canyon, a whole new location that is apparently near that Luck Shrine everyone keeps talking about.

If there was a train station here, and Clive literally lives here, why didn’t we just take a train in the first place? You know, to avoid that whole stupid sand dungeon…

Welcome to Dune Canyon. Tony said something about gargantuans?

Simon will not let you leave until he echoes Tony with a warning about a big monster that “responds to fast-moving things”. Let’s put “move fast” on the agenda.

You know what moves fast? A horse.

These giant lobsters are scary, but they are not “wrecks a train” scary.

And I guess we found the luck shrine/Fortune Gear while we were galloping around.

Give me your gargantuans, game!

A green exclamation point? All the other encounters around here were white…

Yep, that’s gonna be a boss fight.

Meet Diobarg, the one required fight in Wild Arms 3 that occurs on horseback.

Diobarg is technically a boss-class monster, but a pair of elemental weaknesses makes this a lot easier than other bosses.

The big snake has a lot of money and experience to offer, so treat ‘em like a regular boss.

So there are certain status ailments that will never work while on horseback, as no one wanted to work out exactly how you could have a party member both sleeping and riding a horse. Either as a way of demonstrating this to the player, or because some beleaguered programmer forgot, Diobarg will attempt to use a variety of status effects that will always miss. Don’t think too hard about it, and just enjoy having a round where the opponent is wholly ineffective.

There are some legitimately threatening physical attacks, though. You’re not invincible here.

Diobarg has a lot of HP, but is otherwise pretty tame. Shoot or use watery attacks at will.

They didn’t really “optimize” the big boss death animation for horseback. Your party basically laps Diobarg while he is busy exploding.

And here’s the reason you fight Diobarg: 15 Dragon Fossils! Woo!

In case you missed the results screen, a quick message confirms that you now have a pile of dragon fossils available.

You may recall we needed exactly 15 Dragon Fossils to earn a sand vessel. We now have 21 Dragon Fossils. So I guess we found a whole six fossils before we hit this payload. Note that this fight (and its reward) is theoretically optional, but I have no idea how you are supposed to earn another nine fossils before it is plot necessary to have a boat. I think you are guaranteed one more…

Also note that defeating Diobarg will “unlock” Dragon Fossils as a drop from regular monsters, so you may now earn random Dragon Fossils from battles. That never happens while Diobarg is still breathing.

And speaking of which, Simon will have new dialogue once Diobarg is down.

Yet another sidequest is now unlocked! After hearing about puzzles from Simon, Millennium Puzzles can now be unearthed across Filgaia. We will get into that Yu-Gi-Oh nonsense in another update.

So we are supposed to go to the shrine or the gem cave, but I am feeling flush with Dragon Fossils, so let’s skirt on back to Jolly Roger.

Ah, memories…

Just going to go ahead and scoot over here…

Not going to think too hard about why Jet’s radar is indicating a cat is a treasure…

Here we are.

Guess what we have for you, Emilia!

“That's what I wanted to hear! Actually, I had taken out a loan on dragon fossils to make the part I needed...Now I can pay the loan sharks back and sleep soundly for once. So, the Sandcraft is yours!”

Hell yeah! We get a ship, and Emilia isn’t going to have her legs broke!

The Sandcraft has its own battle system, complete with battles that may lead to game overs. So don’t go flying out to (sand) sea willy-nilly.

Away we go! Or… it goes. The Sandcraft is now going to be docked outside Jolly Roger and readily available.

Unfortunately for you, dear audience, we do not actually need the Sandcraft for another few updates. We will explore Sandcraft battles and how the ol’ jalopy can be upgraded with further Dragon Fossils in another update.

And speaking of which, we’ve hit our limit for the day, so we will pick up on our dual pending quests in the next update.

Next time on Wild Arms 3: We completely ignore our dual pending quests.

 

[Purple]

I really love how Clive has a nice alive loving family and I hate how absurdly rare that is for RPG characters.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Kaitlyn is adorable, interrupting the conversation to state that she doesn't remember her parents' wedding is a legit little kid thing.

I'm pretty sure there's no plot beat later in the game where his wife turns out to be evil or even gets kidnapped and needs rescuing. Clive just has a nice wholesome family for the whole game, no big deal.

 

[Mr Bean]

Also ribbon promises are just too adorable for words.

 

[gogglebob]

I ribbon-promise that today is September 6, Beer Belly Day. I'm envious of beer bellies. Beer bellies are soft and comfortable to touch. You can even make root beer from them, right? No? Then I don't want one.

Chapter 22: How does your Garden Grow?

Previously on Wild Arms 3: We met Clive’s family, and resolved to explore the nearby gem mine or Fortune Shrine.

But remember Ricardo? No? He was the old man who noted a deep forest by Baskar. And, while Clive’s adoring wife and child gave us clues to plot-relevant locations, I am pretty sure this Ricardo guy is on the level. Did you see his hat? Kaitlyn doesn’t have a hat…

So we ride! We were already at Jolly Roger at the end of the last update, so we’re pretty close to Baskar.

You need a horse to jump that chasm by the forest. You can’t just wander over here when you are first visiting Baskar.

And if you scoot around the perimeter of this forest, you can radar-up what looks like a town. Jackpot! Thanks for the tip, Ricardo!

The Secret Garden?

Spoiler: Let's Burnett!

Let’s Burnett!

One house, one girl, and, yep, that’s a garden right there.

Virginia is the official ambassador of our party.

Unfortunately, the audience is not very receptive.

This is just what happens when you live in a solitary house on the other side of an impassable chasm.

“Not everybody talks. Let’s stop menacing this little girl.”

Jet would say that…

And that, too.

Mom and Dad are not pleased.

Welp, this place was a bust. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.

!?

Stealthy little silent girl.

Aw, it’s so nice when two people start a toxic relationship so fast.

“Ha ha! You said a word! Idiot!”

She’s verbal!

She’s crazy!

“You hear crying, Jet?”
“Oh, you’re gonna hear crying.”

I’m sorry? Is there good soil on this planet?

“Girl, please note that I said ‘investigate’. Nobody here knows how to… un-corrupt soil.”

*Nod*

And here’s a present from the flower girl.

I want to say that this is the biggest haul of Heal Berries since the opening when Clive received five and was told it was most the village had ever had.

This would explain why a little girl can live alone in a world mobbed with monsters…

So we get more heal berries if we investigate some dirt? Score.

It was implied!

“Jet, you are a stupid baby.”

Gonna have to put a bell on this girl…

Florina? You been involved in the same conversation here?

Baka.

So Florina doesn’t have a complicated life. She will stand around and restate your basic quest if you need directions or have a memory like Jet.

And, naturally, you can loot Florina’s few worldly possessions, and come away with a Duplicator.

Not much to the Secret Garden at the moment, but now we can gallop over to the source of the rot or whatever Swamp Thing is so worried about.

Note that the monsters around the forest are more difficult than the literal starter enemies that populate the other side of the gap.

And, hey, remember how I said Dragon Fossils could be regular drops now? Here’s one!

Our dungeon du jour is just on the other side of the forest, a short hike from Florina’s place.

So since I haven’t distinctly stated it yet this update, this whole quest is optional. You can technically start it as soon as you have a horse (possibly acquired as early as Claiborne, just before you meet Maya), but the game/Ricardo seems to guide you back here when you first visit Humphrey’s Peak.

I personally see this as Wild Arms 3’s “DLC dungeon”. There will be one weird gimmick to this place that will reveal itself shortly, and it gives the impression of a modern DLC challenge. And what am I talking about? Well, technically, no matter your level or place in Wild Arms 3, the gimmick to this place is a tremendous equalizer, and it can create some challenging content whether you are level 1 or level 99.

Kind of like DLC challenges in modern games, right? Designed to be played whether you’ve already beaten the game, or just cleared the opening tutorials. Well, anyway, here’s the dungeon, try not to fall off the path.

Now, it was noted that you can challenge this dungeon anytime after obtaining the horses. However, the Wild Arms 3 FAQ community seems to agree that the earliest, most viable time to do so is after obtaining light magic from the Guardian Shrine a couple updates back. Literally everything in this dungeon is weak to light magic, and it makes these battles go a lot faster.

However, if you do want to do this dungeon immediately after obtaining the light shrine, you must double back through that stupid sand dungeon. I just wait until the train station opens up, and come back to murder creepy doll monsters when there is less walking involved.

Don’t run with scissors, kids.

These creapazoids also cast “slow” on your party members. That normally isn’t an issue. I wonder if we’ll see speed make a difference in the near future, though…

Simple block puzzle here. The path is limited, and you have to leave the entryway, trigger that switch, and then find the exit while pushing boxes around so they don’t block your progress.

Falling off the ledge at any point will reset the puzzle, but you’re good with walking at this point, right? Toddlers can do that.

Moving right along.

Simple little U-shaped room. I’ve got Jet in the lead because I am using his radar repeatedly. You don’t have to make the same “mistake” I did: Turns out there is only one treasure chest in this dungeon, and you can’t miss it.

And we’re getting there!

Looks like we reached somewhere important, as the door immediately closes behind us.

And we have to drop down a ledge to reach that treasure chest. Making it really clear that this is a point of no return…

Anyone else got a bad feeling about this?

“Part of the seal that decorates the chest is chipped. Could it have faded with time, or is someone responsible...? A strong stench of death creeps out from the small crack! The stench slowly transforms into a human shape and begins to unleash death!”

Good news: whatever was causing flowers to cry is here in this chest, and we successfully found it. Bad news: something or other is ready to “unleash death”.

Calling this thing “human shaped” is kind of a stretch…

Not certain exactly what we’re going for here. Ring Keeper has bandaged, bloody “monkey “ arms, tusks, and… pants? I’m not certain if this is supposed to scream “ancient evil” or “angry orangutan”. Should have sent a Lich…

When I said everything in this dungeon was weak to light magic, I meant it.

Ring Keeper is more or less scaled to the possibility you will fight it early in the game.

Its strongest ability is a party-wide dark attack. You can equip a Guardian to protect against dark magic, or just make sure Virginia or Gallows are always ready for a party heal. Though, again, if you are here after clearing a few dungeons, it won’t do much damage.

The other trick to this battle is that Ring Keeper may nullify all magic when its health gets low. This hampers your ability to heal with magic, and completely drops your ability to do extra damage with light magic.

But it also means Ring Keeper cannot use its most powerful attack, so kind of a wash.

And ARMs are always available.

Eventually, Ring Keeper keeps no more.

I wonder if this is a consistent drop, or if that Dragon Fossil will not appear if you did not beat Diobarg.

Now the fun begins.

Probably could have noted you should save before fighting Ring Keeper…

So this treasure chest comes with an explanation. The reason for the sad garden is apparently the Corpse Ring, which has been “leaking” out of the chipped treasure chest. You can purify the Corpse Ring by taking it to sunlight… But doing so means you have to carry the Corpse Ring, and that will drop your HP to 1 (and VIT to 0).

In other words, you are going to have to dash out of this dungeon under the condition that a single hit will kill your party.

Also: saving is forbidden until the curse is lifted. You know, just so you can’t get stuck.

And, if you recall, the way back from the treasure chest was blocked when we entered the room. The path out of here is a whole “new” dungeon experience.

The trick is now a test of how well you understand the encounter triggering system of Wild Arms 3. Obviously, having a higher Migrant Level and ECN gauge is going to help you to avoid as many battles as possible.

All the pits and entryways are a way to avoid encounters, too. If you are in a situation where you cannot spare the ECN points to cancel a fight, you can drop into a hole. It will mean you respawn at the start of the room, but at least you won’t have a threatening exclamation point over your head.

The block puzzles are also another option. Any time you “grab” a block, an encounter is canceled, so you can “camp” the blocks if you are living in fear.

And that shouldn’t be too much of an ask, as this room has so many blocks and switches to deal with.

Moving right along, stealthily.

You could have a much higher Migrant Level/ECN gauge, but ol’ Level 99 party is running low on points.

Almost… there…

Fine! I’ll get in one fight for demonstration purposes!

All the monsters you saw earlier still stalk these halls, but Rat Monkeys will also appear while you are escorting the ring.

Rat Monkeys must have 255 speed, because they always go first, even against my super-leveled party. Luckily, they don’t seem to have high accuracy, as they never actually hit my PS2 or PS5 party members. I am pretty sure they exist solely to give you a heart attack.

This is for scaring me!

One more block/path puzzle for the road.

This one is really annoying. Honestly, this whole dungeon challenge (complete with its music) isn’t all that difficult, it is just very… stressful.

I have no idea how I got a preemptive strike against the fastest thing in the game (technically, it was thanks to the luck stat), but I will take it.

Are we out of this room yet?

Rat Monkeys can poison your party members. Can poison drain your HP to zero in Wild Arms 3? I wasn’t going to find out, as I used an antidote immediately.

Okay, last big stupid room with a lot of pits…

Game is just trolling you at this point. Take it easy, encounters work on steps taken, not a timer. No need to rush.

They put a switch at the end here just to see if you would accidentally dash into any of those pits.

Great! Now we’re at a balcony over the entrance. So close!

I wonder if you can double back and do a whole dungeon loop with 1 HP. I wasn’t going to find the answer to that…

Sunlight!

The ring has been purified.

We don’t even get to keep a souvenir?

And we’re back to normal. Nice of the purified ring to give us a fill up after all that nonsense.

You don’t technically get anything from completing the dungeon, but now we can go tell our client the job is done.

Is it still a secret?

“Do these words mean anything to you? We assumed the ring was an issue, but there was this monkey thing…”

Good. Glad to hear we don’t have to go through another bonus dungeon.

Like she’s some kind of magical elf?

Florina only appears in this optional area, and has no further impact on the plot or lore or whatever. But, for anyone that played Wild Arms (1), Florina is very familiar. She seems to share a purpose, demeanor, and general look with Mariel. In Wild Arms, Mariel was the last Elw (WA elf) on Filgaia, and she had extremely similar interests to Florina. Mariel also looks identical to Florina when she appears in Wild Arms: Alter Code F, the PS2 remake of Wild Arms (where she also got upgraded to temporarily playable character). And additional fun facts: Mariel’s brother from Wild Arms was distinctly named as a historical figure a couple updates back; and, in the Japanese version of Wild Arms 3, “Florina” is not named at all. So couple this all with the fact that Mariel’s trademark elf/rabbit ears are potentially hidden under Florina’s hat, and there is a strong implication that Florina straight up is Mariel of Wild Arms. Elves are immortal, right?

Jet doesn’t give a damn about all that, though.

“Actually...If you don't mind, I have one more reward for you. The soil is corrupt no more. Now I can share with you the bounty of the harvest: goods for your journey.”

Okay! Stuff! We needed more of that!

In case you missed it through subtle NPC dialogue, Clive plainly notes that you cannot buy healing items like Heal Berries or Revive Fruits anywhere in Filgaia.

“And this place is kind of out of the way, and we really don’t want to be stopping by every…”

Quid pro quo, gang.

Jet knows how to listen to a lady.

“I have to yell at him three, sometimes four times a day.”

“Naw, we just like going through dungeons and gunning down guerrillas.”

Ack! Did Gallows just speak Mr. Saturn!?

Jet getting all sensitive in front of his new girlfriend.

“This is all the tutorial you’re going to get, people, so listen up.”

Quest complete, now we can reap the rewards. Literally.

There isn’t much of an explanation for all this in-game, so I’ll give you the lowdown.

First there is the sowing. As everyone knows, sowing is the best part. You need only one type of plant-item to start sowing. Anything you have never sown before is grayed out (hey, we did just start), and this list does not expand. This is every item that can be gardened, regardless of if you have ever found one in the first place. For the curious, the three berries at the top are different quantities of “potion”. Revive Fruit is self-explanatory, and Holy Root is a cure-all for status ailments. Tiny Flowers up your luck, and carrots of various sizes boost your FP during battle. We get all that?

You have eight different spots where you can sow seeds. You never have more than eight spots, and you obviously have more than eight options, so choose wisely. As far as I can tell, it does not matter where you plant what. This isn’t NieR, you don’t have to worry about cross pollination or breeding or whatever.

And then we wait. Every plant grows at its own pace (and we will get into improving that pace in a moment), but that growing does legitimately take time. For the record, it appears the main things that count as time are…

· Actual, real game played time
· Talking to NPCs
· Battling
· Entering towns (though you have to “switch” between towns, you can’t just walk in and out of the same place)
· Staying at an inn/sleeping

Technically, the “real game played time” has the least impact on things, but it accumulates by the minute, so that one happens without trying. The greatest thing you can do is take a nap, and there is a free inn right down the road at Baskar…

(Some screenshots may be from later in the actual game...)

Reaping your bounty is always a good thing, too. There are no “expired crops” or flowers that die if you do not swing by the Secret Garden often enough. The longer you go without visiting the Secret Garden, the more berries, flowers, and carrots you will acquire when you return. Of course, having a glut of healing items is always a boon, so you probably want to visit as often as is possible (and, luckily, the plot takes you back to nearby Baskar a number of times before you get your fastest modes of transportation).

And then there’s breeding. This is a totally misnamed system that is the “challenge” of this little gardening minigame. In short, every plant type has, basically, a HP gauge. Or maybe it is best represented as a percentage chance? Whatever. What is important is that every seedling has a gauge from 0-100, and the higher the number, the more plants you will yield from a harvest. Every plant starts at a predetermined level, and you can increase that level by “breeding”… which is basically just using up more of any given item by giving Florina additional amounts. As an easy example, the humble Heal Berry has the highest starting value of about 70, and if you “breed” another 30 berries with Florina, you’ll hit 100. This means you will get much higher yields of Heal Berries when harvesting for the 30 heal berry initial investment.

Also, for making any item hit 100, you will receive the additional accessory Dried Flower, which boosts the effectiveness of items during battle. And on top of that, if you 100 any of the berries or the revive fruit, you will then be able to purchase them at a secret shop found later in the game. Note that these sales will only happen if the berries are maximum bred… which likely means you already have every berry you will need for the rest of the game at that point. But it’s the thought that counts!

And, like a lot of things in Wild Arms 3 (many of them mentioned last update), if you 100% breed every flower to maximum, you will receive a special “sidequest complete” treasure. However, I checked my original save file, and, despite pouring hours into the game, I never bothered to complete that quest on my first go round. Do not expect to see it happen here…

If you are curious, the berries and revive fruits start with the greatest breeding/harvesting levels. From there, you’ve got the holy root, and the carrots both behind that. Starting at a dismal level of 5/100, the Tiny Flower is the hardest crop to grow, and if you are interested in getting a legitimate flower garden growing, well, good luck. Sorry about tiny flowers being plot relevant in this blighted wasteland. They are a right pain in the ass. If you need to know a plant's current "level", Florina's description of the seedling gets progressively more optimistic as it improves.

Anywho, the gardening quest offers a lot of options. Do you focus on breeding as many healing items as possible? Maximize breeding returns by growing only one crop, pouring your bounty back into the gardening, and then earning prizes? Take the ol’ “super boss challenge” and harvest as many full carrots as possible? Buy a turbo controller exclusively so you can auto-sleep at a free inn and maximize harvests? There doesn’t seem to be a right answer to exactly what can be done with the garden, so have fun with it.

And on a personal note, I won’t be mentioning the Secret Garden again during the Let’s Play, but, like upgrading the ARMs, know that I am stopping back here randomly to grab additional berries and whatnot.

And that’s that for this update! Sidequest complete!

Now we scoot across the world for plot-relevant challenges...

Next time on Wild Arms 3: It is always lucky to see an old friend.

 

[Mogri]

What do you suppose the Duplicators duplicate?

 

[gogglebob]

Keys! I feel they are the most misnamed items in Wild Arms or any other JRPG franchise. Literally from that start of Wild Arms 1, all duplicators have ever done is open locked doors, and then later games included "locked" books. So the concept there is that a duplicator is a magical key that can "magic morph" itself into whatever the (theoretically disparate) magic locks require. "Magic Key", guys! "Skeleton Key" if you want to be more interesting! The icon in Wild Arms 3 is a pretty standard key icon, too! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO US, WILD ARMS!?

 

[Mogri]

How do you duplicate something you don't have?

 

[SpoonyBard]

On the one hand, actually sticking to their guns regarding the theming of the game and limiting the availability of even common healing items due to the world's environment takes some chutzpah and I gotta respect it. On the other, though, it doesn't make it any less annoying that you have to jump through all these extra hoops to stock up on the sorts of items that are otherwise readily available in its contemporaries.

I don't think it becomes a huge issue by the end of the game, weirdly enough I think you sweat the berry scarcity earlier on when the game should supposedly be easier, but still, it's just something that grated on me throughout my playthrough back in the day because they just felt like the sort of items I should have had to ration but did.

 

[Purple]

See, the thing is, at a certain point the pendulum swings wildly in the other direction when you get your own personal little garden and all the fruits and veggies go from incredibly rare and valuable to I literally have an infinite inexhaustable supply and valuable. Aside from selling produce for infinite money you really need to see what life is like with a limitless full carrot supply. It's hard to fathom just how hard that breaks the game.

 

[gogglebob]

Okay, let's get this off the agenda before that Nintendo Direct announces the new Wild Arms Pixel Perfect Compilation...

And speaking of agendas, looks like today is September 13, Spider Lily Day. Spider Lily is the common name of a flower called Lycorus Radiata. It's a nice potted plant, but don't eat it. I sure regretted it when I did.

Chapter 23: Luck of the Villainous

Previously on Wild Arms 3: We met what may or may not be an elf, and she helped us get our Pikmin on.

But now we are done with optional content and back on the trail of advancing the plot.

Clive’s family gave us two potential leads. The gem mine is closer physically, but Fortune Gear is a potential Guardian shrine, and those dungeons have consistently reaped the best rewards across this quest.

Word.

The last Guardian Shrine felt empty, but, like two shrines back, this one likely has an intruder.

Gonna have to exhume another god corpse…

Dungeon/plot synergy! This room/platform serves no other purpose than to remind you that Clive got married here, and Fortune Gear is available for parties and bar mitzvahs.

Spoiler: So let's get this party started

Unfortunately, there is a bit of a monster problem.

Critters are the slimes of the dungeon, and are about as ineffective as monsters get.

Just go ahead and waste a turn, why don’t you?

Griffins are more threatening, but still little more than road bumps about to become road pizza.

Oh, you can raise your speed stat and use wind magic? Nobody cares.

There are some nice drops here, though. You have to be lucky (appropriate for this dungeon), but you can score the Cait’s Boots from critters. This accessory will boost speed when HP is low, which is ideal for Virginia, your squishy healer.

Past the altar is the main entrance to the dungeon, but…

Above that is a duplicator-sealed door.

If you are somehow trying to conserve duplicators, this summon-stock-up item isn’t that amazing, but…

The other chest talks?

I swear this game dumps all the game-wide sidequests on you all at once. This treasure chest keeps a running, omnipotent tally of all the treasure chests you have ever opened. No, it does not offer clues to where you may be missing one (or 319). However, once you open all the other chests, you get to fight a super boss, and that super boss drops yet another “end game bonus” item. So, as has been mentioned in this Let’s Play before, there is a reason to find and open literally every treasure chest in Wild Arms 3.

Okay, we’ll come back here after we’ve opened every chest ever (maybe). Time to get the dungeon going proper.

Our first mundane hallway contains a secret.

If you see a skip in the game time, it’s because I came back to this wall later. Every later hallway that looks like this area has a door located right about where that bomb is placed. After completing the dungeon, I returned to this room to find…

Secrets!

A duplicator chest contains a Migrant Seal. Always need more of those!

Moving on to the “real” challenge…

You have 12 moves to play Concentration.

There are four colors, and you have to activate the lamps so they match. Green and yellow is a loss!

I think these lamps are randomized, but I genuinely do not know or care if that is true. Nor do I know what happens when you run out of “turns”. Whatever. Here we are just before matching green to green.

This leads to a hallway that includes a treasure room that does not require bombing to score the chests.

Hey! A book!

Hey! An annoying puzzle!

This is the same deal as the previous area, except with the added pain in the ass of holes popping up all over the place.

I played this on two different systems, and I swear some of the holes are randomized. Or maybe they only appear if you activate certain lamps? Whatever the case, this is more annoying than anything, as the holes just serve to reset your position back to the entrance, and potentially mess up your memory of what color is where.

Just past that irritating puzzle is our irritating boss.

Always be suspicious of localized black holes.

Jet? Bro? Remember to bring sunglasses next time you need to follow up such a sick line.

Olivier! Welcome back, buddy.

Olivier was the boss of Lilka’s introductory dungeon back in Wild Arms 2. Aside from a graphical upgrade, he looks pretty much the same.

He’s going to be a little more resistant to magic this time, though.

You must take Jet’s advice and make Olly eat bullets, as he will literally devour any and all elemental attacks. He is also fond of barfing.

As you might expect from this gross malcontent, status effects are the name of the game here.

Don’t you wipe your boogers on me!

Remember that filling your FP gauge up to 100/”Condition Green” will cure all status effects. This battle will probably last long enough that it could save a few consumables.

Olivier had a more interesting death animation in Wild Arms 2…

Hazel Sprig will protect against Disease, one of the many status ailments Olivier could inflict.

Bad vibes!

And bad news…

There is still more dungeon to go here.

And it is most certainly Janus.

March on, brave warriors!

Full disclosure: I have no idea how this puzzle works.

Pressing a button does… something? Am I supposed to make that light stop at a particular statue?

How about I just break the whole stupid thing? Does that work for you?

Was I only ever supposed to light that torch? Did I correctly guess it should be the East one? Was it just a matter of lighting a single torch? Or freezing the other pillars? Hell if I know.

The “bomb”/treasure corridor in the hallway is blocked by an impassable door this time.

But running headfirst into a nearby switch solves that problem.

And there are two duplicator-sealed items in this dungeon! How convenient!

The next room has a bit of a variation on that Concentration puzzle.

There is not a counter on this puzzle, but the lamps turn off after being activated really quickly. So you have to find the matching colors, and then find ways to instantly activate the two corresponding lamps. In this case, tossing out the steady doll is probably your best bet.

And just past there is the end of the dungeon. Check out that hot chock!

Hi, Janus!

Virginia coming in hot!

That’s good and smug, Janus, but you know there is no way we are avoiding a boss fight at this point.

It is vaguely hilarious that the Prophets just went ahead and gave Janus, the least trustworthy person on Filgaia, the spear that is the entire lynchpin of their plan.

What a loyal dog.

They already told us. You were there.

Oh, never mind. Looks like Janus just has better ideas.

Gasp. Betrayal and all that riot.

This is what happens when you chow down on a god.

“Wrong, Virginia. What I do best is crocheting. But double-crossing is one of my other skills.”

These kinds of people always have an explanation for why they’re the secret hero…

This is evil/true.

And Janus is very familiar with being a pawn.

Not new information!

He used to be so nice!

Incoming monster.

So technically this is a clue as to what to do in this fight.

Most parties (i.e. those that are not participating in a New Game+) will get bodied by Janus’s opening salvo. Your first reaction may be that this fight is unwinnable (like the last time we saw Janus), but analyzing your opponent will reveal the truth…

Scan Janus, and you will see that his talk of draining the Guardian was not all bluster: Janus starts with literally every buff possible in Wild Arms 3.

Two Guardians back, we received the Eraser spell. This is Wild Arms 3’s dispel ability that eliminates buffs.

One cast of that, and this boss fight becomes vastly more manageable.

And Janus does not “rebuff” after the battle begins, so you don’t even have to worry about conserving FP for an Eraser cast again. Just wail on ‘em.

Yeah yeah, act like our attacks don’t do anything or whatever. We won.

It’s not that funny!

No way anything is painless with that spear around.

I am moderately certain this is not a “you are allowed to lose” fight, as I soundly trounced Janus in both playthroughs. That said, regardless of outcome, Virginia winds up on the floor.

And just when you think Janus is going to finish the party…

He decides to play with his meal.

He did already defeat us once a few updates back.

Oh, now Virginia remembers it is possible to stop someone from walking away?

Janus does not take directions well.

More gods to kill…

Janus walks out, the party recovers, and Gallows decides to see what’s left of the local deity.

New Medium! Score!

The Luck Guardian is pissed the heck off.

You also both just got kicked in the head by the same guy.

Gallows decides to have a little introspection.

Going to get your own dark spear?

Clive’s main purpose in the party is identifying when someone needs a moment.

Don’t know why Gallows decides to stop monologuing, We’re all friends here, G.

Being a demon is not true freedom. Getting crunk at Little Twister is the real dream.

“And then I get crazy go nuts with the metaphors.”

That’s as good of an excuse as any!

“If Janus kills all my gods, then telling my granny and her whole religion to go screw is going to be less satisfying.”

Revenge freedom!

We got a new book we can read to the kid, so that sounds heartwarming.

And we’re done with Fortune Gear. As previously mentioned, you have the choice of visiting Fortune Gear or the Gem Cave, but Fortune Gear is always the best choice. A new Guardian Medium outranks anything you would find in the other quest.

Lucky Hand does not actually increase your luck, but it does increase your evade stat.

If you want more Luck, you’ll have to utilize its personal skill, Luck Boost. This medium can also grant EXP Boost and Gella Boost. These skills obviously don’t technically help you in a boss battle, but having more EXP for higher levels or Gella for ARMs upgrading is obviously a significant boon.

And here are your spells for this medium.

· Hox pox temporarily increases luck… but that is only really useful if you are extremely focused on critical hits. Otherwise, for important battles, it basically just increases your odds of not being hit by a status effect you could cure in one round anyway. However, it can be useful if you are trying to score rare drops from mundane enemies.

· Pickpocket is Wild Arms 3’s steal command. Wild Arms 3 is not the kind of game where “steal” earns you rare items, so it is pretty useless. Basically just an excuse to augment a monster's "rare" drops. There are some special cases where it will come in handy, but those are arguably mandatory and highly hinted. Most (if not all?) common bosses in Wild Arms 3 literally do not have anything to steal.

· Randomizer costs 0 FP, and randomly casts one of your other spells. Note that the spell is randomly chosen exclusively from your list of current spells, so you won’t see anything outside of what is currently equipped. This seems like it would be a good “last ditch effort” when your FP is tapped out, but the odds of it actually being useful for a particular situation are super low. Probably just “randomly” cast Pickpocket…

· And Familiar… despite the description, it generates a non-elemental attack. It can be super powerful… but, like the basic theme for this Guardian, it is luck-based, and thus incredibly variable. Wild Arms 3 offers a lot of attack options already at this point in the game, so ignoring the costly (60 FP) Familiar is an easy choice.

Given these spells are almost universally terrible, I usually designate Clive as the bearer as the Luck Medium, as his atrocious magic stat means he loses nothing from never visiting his spell list. This pairs well with the Fire Medium, as Fire’s critical plus personal skill and Luck’s luck plus personal skill will mean more critical hits.

And here is the Luck Guardian himself, Chapapanga. Chappy has generally the same design as when he first appeared in Wild Arms 2, where he was an optional guardian that lived in a shrine by Brad’s adopted hometown. The joke of this character has always been that he is dressed like some kind of superhero, but has the unfortunate handicap of being like six inches tall. As you may expect, his summon attack does very little damage, and is universally useless against bosses. But! You may want to use it during normal encounters, as if you successfully land a finishing blow with Chapapanga, the defeated monster is guaranteed to drop an item. This is a right pain in the arse, but useful if you are dedicated to obtaining some random creature’s drop.

Fun fact: This was Chapapanga’s final appearance until Wild Arms 5, where he reappeared redressed as some kind of “cool” ninja. I understand the urge to make him a little more attractive to edgy audiences, but New-Chapapanga dropped the goggles, and that is a sin I cannot forgive.

And that’s that for Fortune Gear. Did everyone enjoy seeing where Clive got married? No? Too bad.

Next time on Wild Arms 3: Enemies to lovers fic (with cosplay)!

 

[Mogri]

pain in the ass of holes

I know this is not what you said, but technically, it kind of is, and I can't read it any other way.

 

[gogglebob]

I am nothing if not a cunning linguist.

 

[SpoonyBard]

After the entire dungeon and the party ready to take him down, Janus denies the party and bolts out of there.

Fortune Gear launches rebukes.

 

[Mogri]

Hey, the entire Fortune Gear dungeon is optional, right? What happens if you delay coming until way later? Does Janus scale? Does he not appear there after he's defeated, or does he not get defeated until Fortune Gear is no longer accessible?