Wild Arms has always been a series steeped in mediocrity. It’s a decent series, but not a great one. Which is not to say I don’t like it, I do. Its just never been one of my favorites. The series high point was definitely the third game in my opinion. This review however is not about that game.

It is instead about the game I find as the low point in the series: Wild Arms 4. It’s a pretty big low point too. So much that I couldn’t even bring myself to finish it. It was that big of a drag. I don’t give up on games often, but just had to on this one.

I almost made it to the end. I was probably about 4 hours or so from getting there. However the game is just so boring, and the characters just so annoying, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

This game is kind of a turning point for the Wild Arms series. It did away with the usual old west setting that most of the games had for a more post war wasteland setting. This wasn’t bad, but I still prefer the old west.

Combat was really the biggest change. Combat went from a standard turned based RPG to being fought on a hex grid. It was different, and it worked out fairly well. It’s actually one of the things that wasn’t too bad with the game. I wouldn’t really say combat was alot of fun..but it was at least not entirely boring. The hex grid required a bit more strategy.

The characters were just annoying. I really couldn’t find a single character, either party member or NPC that I identified with, or really even gave a damn about. The story was rather dull, and fairly predictable.

This game was released early in 2006, and even by the standards of that time, the graphics were somewhat of a mixed bag. The characters and backgrounds were alright. It seems like the developers took some extreme shortcuts when it came to actually animating things. Most of the key scenes in the game are done on an overlay with pictures of the characters talking to each other. Usually they are talking about the actions they are doing rather than showing them.

Sound is also somewhat of a mixed bag. The actual background music is good, and usually sets the right mood. I also rather enjoyed the opening song. The voice acting is rather weak, though. Its not terrible or anything, its just that much like the characters themselves, their voices also got on my nerves. Especially in battle.

I really did want to like this game, but I just couldn’t no matter how hard I tried. It’s not the worst RPG I’ve ever played. That place is reserved for Inuyasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask. I actually made it through that game, somehow. Almost took my own life a couple times while playing it. That’s another story, though.

Well, here’s the part where I say if I would recommend the game or not. Like the last couple of games I’ve done, its sorta hard to find. Really though, unless you’re a die hard Wild Arms fan, I would not recommend buying this game. And even then, you might wanna think twice about it. So, fans of the series, give it rent. All others..I’d say avoid. Skip over to Wild Arms 5...from what I’ve played so far it seems better.

	System:	Playstation 2
	Genre:	RPG
	Experience:	Played to within 4 hours of completion

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