The mystique of the Old West is strong enough on it's own, but pondering "what if" and trying to answer it certainly doesn't hurt. A sorceress versus a gunslinger, who's weapon was found from the ruins of the old world, over 1,000 years ago (that's when everything cataclysmic takes place in a video game, you know; that or 100 years ago, as long as it's a power of 10). And if that's not enough, throw in a little science fiction! Throw in a couple of alien species while you're at it and make it harder to decide what is human. Can you fight someone who, aside from an unnatural hair color, looks like the guy down the street? Can you tolerate cowards who abandoned a world because it got harder to live there?

         For me, characters are key to whether or not I like the game. If I dislike the characters, I wouldn't care how good the story was or how great the battle system was, I wouldn't play the bugger. Wild Arms has not disappointed me (except in one case, but that's the second game and not the focus of this site anyway). Who can say they truly hated Professor Emma, who had dreams of flight? And what of Calamity Jane, who's work is "flawless and fat-free" and has some of the best lines in the entire game? And Hanpan, little Hanpan, the cute little brilliant Wind Mouse who hangs out with, well, I'll just say Jack, because I don't want to insult him because the Fast Draws are some of the coolest attacks in the game (none top Crest Sorcery's "Valkyrie" spell, I say!) and he gets some of the best lines as well. And I dare you to find one person who hates Zed. Everyone loves Zed.

         Everyone mentioned is fine and all, but my favorite, my absolute favorite, even above Jane and Zed, is Rudy. If I were in a video game, I'd be for the most part a female version of him. As a child, knowing there was something different about him and painfully reminded of it by the other children, growing up into a quiet young man who, while typically not actively disliked, has no real friends (until, of course, Jack and Cecilia) and no place where he belongs. This doesn't just strike a chord in me; it plays an entire tune. I was, quite frankly, a weird kid who was the one person people seemed to target for verbal abuse so that they could feel big, so I, too, was a quiet person for a long time (*Fake British accent* … I got better.), so that's why he's so very dear to me. Doesn't hurt that he's just the cutest little thing and a gunslinger. Despite not liking the idea of picking up a gun myself, gunslingers make me feel all wibbly.

         There are also little things that far from hurt Wild Arms's case. How many games give you the ability to arrange all Memory Card data at once at "New Game/Load Game" screen? Or let you load a different file through the menu you can call up at any time? And they give you a screensaver too! And not often do you see games where characters turn around before going in the opposite direction, which give you the strangely amusing ability to make your character twirl in circles and "Riverdance" by alternating pressing opposite direction buttons at a certain rhythm (slow for twirling, fast for "Riverdance"!).

         … they have waaaaaaaay too much time on their hands, don't they? Then again, so do I if I make my characters "Riverdance".

         Anyway, so what's so appealing about Wild Arms? It varies a bit from person to person, but all of that is why I like the game. Now, Rudy, "RIVERDANCE"! *presses direction buttons quickly*

-Chibi-chan
March 12, 2002