*~swearing to the sky~*
"Why Wild Arms?"

      My dear visitors, you may be wondering why anyone would want to create a shrine to a game quite a few have called "uninspired", "lackluster", and criticized for have elements of other games in it (e.g. the Millenium Fair From Chrono Trigger being copied as the Ruins Festival in Wild Arms). Well, doesn't every gamer have one game they really, really like, nay, love, and no other game will change that fact? Look at many FF6 fans, for instance. They love that game and not even another Final Fantasy game will replace it in their hearts, let alone any other game. The game that I have latched onto just happened to be Wild Arms.

      When I first had heard of the game, I was looking through a GameFan magazine. Inside of it was a preview for a Japanese game that would soon become an obsession of mine. The characters were listed as Rody (which was translated as "Rudy" in the U.S. version, obviously), Zack (translated as "Jack"), and Cecilia (Translated as... Cecilia *sweatdrop*). As I read the description, I became intrigued by this game. When I found out it was coming over, I was practically doing backflips in my room. And since it came out near my birthday, that sucker was soon mine. (Semi-ironic note: The person who started my affair with RPGs, my darling brother, was the one I conned into getting it for me for my birthday. ^^)

      Even if it does copy a bit from other games, I didn't know that when I first played the game. It was the second RPG I ever played (the first being Suikoden. It's a good game, but it didn't have the same draw...), so all this was still pretty new to me. I don't recall who's tale I started with (I think it was Cecilia's, but I can't be sure), but I was quickly pulled into this whole new wor- ("Disney! Lawsuit!", a male robot cries.) Er, anyway, I got pulled into the game, so to speak. The underlying themes concerning power just spoke to me. "The 'Absolute Power'... the power to protect [what is precious]," "Power without heart can be good or evil," "Power is a vehicle, not a driver," and so on; I don't think I'll ever forget those lines.

      The characters... I really identified with Rudy. Always the "outcast", picked on by the other kids as a child, reclusive as he got older... I'd wager the only reason he even talked to Jack and Cecilia so soon after *minor spoiler deleted* was because Emma wouldn't let him into Lolithia's Tomb without some help. Jack, he (with Hanpan, of course) added a little levity to the story, as well as some... interesting plot developments with Lady Harken... As for Cecilia... Am I the only person who doesn't think she's a total whiner? She matures quite nicely as the game progresses, I think. And without her, there wouldn't be a game. It'd be "Metal Demons take over, the end." That is, if the Tear Drop was still around...

      The story is quite clichéd. However, it's the execution of the plot that matters. With support characters like Professor Emma (a.k.a. "The Ego" ^^;), "Calamity" Jane Maxwell (I want a Volcannon Trap key too! ^___^), and everybody's favorite drunken captain, Bart (Somewhere, a Ethos priest laughs his ass off...), there's hardly a dull moment. Evil moments however... &*(@&#)!@(&# PLEASING GARDEN AND DE #@*)(#& LA METALLICA!! Damn those #&)@#& impossible puzzles! *ahem!* There, I feel better now.

      In short, I really, really like Wild Arms, and there's nothing you can do to change my mind. So there, nyah. >p

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