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So I haven't played a good quality single player game in a long time that lasts more then 5-10 hours (main story not counting side quests) let alone an rpg with a good story that lasts a long time.
Last RPG story I played was Mass effect 3 I think and that only took me 12 hours or something to beat the main story. I will say straight up when I play single player I don't do side quests as they bore me I go for the story. If it's a good story I just want to beat it as I love good stories.
So this brings me to a series I was introduced to a long, long time ago. That series is called wild arms, for anybody curious this is a console game made for playstation/playstation 2. It has a total of 5 games. I have played and beat wild arms 1 and 2 (loved those games). It's been a long time since I played a game of the series (tried 3 - it's ok but story isn't as good as I feel it could be, haven't tried 4 yet).
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Wild_Arms_5_US.jpg/255px-Wild_Arms_5_US.jpg)
So I got wild arms 5 and started playing. I was surprised there was voice acting (wild arms 1 and 2 had none). While most is text based there is voice as well which was a pleasant surprise, but most of it is again still text which I have no problem with.
So first 2-3 hours is kinda bleh not to engaging just your main man Dean (guy you control) and his friend Rebecca. He wants to be a drifter/golum hunter (golums are lost technology from 12,000 years ago). So beginning I was thinking eh it's ok so far. Then the game started getting really good. I mean really really good. I haven't played a game where I got so engaged I can't stop playing in a long time.
I don't want to write down the whole story so I will mainly just describe why this game is so awesome. I'll admit combats lame, otherwise great game (well fantastic story :D).
So as you go to tell rebecca you are leaving your home town in this area with your handy dandy shovel a golem arm slams into the ground revealing a girl named Avril who lost her memory and can remember 2 things, her name (Avril) and a name which is Johnny Appleseed (i'll be honest this is a lame name LOL).
Anyway what makes this story so good is the unpredictability. I can't predict what will happen and even though I think I know what is going to happen I AM WRONG! I love this, it's been so long since I have played a game where I just have no idea what's going to happen. (Ok I can predict boss fights and if you ever play a wild arms game that's really easy to predict  ). Other then that this game does a very good job and engaging you and making it hard to predict what will happen.
It also has GREAT character development. I will just describe a character from the game who when I first "met" in the game I absolutely hated him. I was hoping he would die or something, but the way they went into his life history actually made me start to like him as a character and now he's one of my favorites.
Normally if I don't like a character I dislike them all game long. Not this time!
I will explain how I grew to like the character, this will have spoilers so I am putting it in a spoiler tag.
![[image loading]](http://lparchive.org/Wild-Arms-5/6-Greg_Russellberg.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler +So when you first meet this guy he's a golum crusher which as you can imagine he kills golums. This pisses dean off as he's a huge fan of them and they almost get in a fight but with intervention from Avril prevented the fight. He was a dick, talked down to you and is obviously the tough guy of the series. Later on you end up having to travel with him as he destroys a golum on a train and ends up blowing up the train, but saves the 3 amigos lives first (dean, rebecca, avril). He takes them to a town and then goes away again. Some point later in the game you find him again except at a funeral where you talked to a man who's daughter and grandson were killed. He believes Greg to be the murderer of them (he was married to the wife and obviously the kid was his son). turns out some freak who is insane had tested his golum and killed his wife and son. The freak lets Greg live because he wants him to develop his revenge so that he may have a challenge some day in a fight. Literally his son gets in front of gregs wife telling the freak that you shouldn't use your powers for evil and how his father said to use his powers to defend the helpess. Greg had to watch this all helplessly as he was slammed into the ground from the freak. Then the freak shoots the kid, and was going to shoot greg but his wife jumped in to push him and dies herself. That is when the freak sees greg all mad and wanting revenge and instead of killing greg tells him he'll let him develop so that they can fight again in the future. This scene was really intense fyi when you finally see the whole scene unfold. I can't wait to kill that freak fuck that guy! The video for those interested:
This is bit of a ramble but I feel if anyone is looking for a good RPG or a good single player story this is it.
I will say I have played this game for 27 hours so far and I am pretty sure I still have a good ways to go before I beat the game. It's hard for me to stop playing (fuck you work, fuck you school!) and has been why I haven't played sc2 in a week or 2 now xD.
Remember that 27 hours of gameplay is me only playing main story, I skip all sidequests and everything and I still haven't beaten it. I can not for the life of me remember when I played a good story that lasted more then 12 hours. This game is incredible (to me anyway) and always crave seeing the next part of this fantastic story.
Why did I write this? Well if there is anyone out there looking for a good game I would recommend this. If you don't have a ps2 but a good pc just use an emulator.
As a question to anyone who read this longish type blog have you guys ever heard or played the wild arms series? If so how did you find the games?
  
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For a second I thought you meant that WoW is the greatest RPG of all time.
That title is a bit misleading...
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wild arms has never really failed to disapoint.
Actually PS rpgs never really failed to disappoint.
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On October 21 2012 07:26 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
wild arms has never really failed to disapoint.
Actually PS rpgs never really failed to disappoint.
So much this, i havent played a bad RPG on PS or PS2.
PS3 however...13-2...And on that note, the except for PS2 is X-2.
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On October 21 2012 07:31 Capped wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2012 07:26 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
wild arms has never really failed to disapoint.
Actually PS rpgs never really failed to disappoint. So much this, i havent played a bad RPG on PS or PS2. PS3 however...13-2...And on that note, the except for PS2 is X-2.
What are some other good PS2 rpg's? I was thinking of playing the wild arms 1 code F (remade of wild arms 1) or going to wild arms 4. Don't know of many other good PS2 rpg's but if there are others that are as good as wild arms would be awesome to get so I can play it after I finish this one :D
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Maybe ff12, and star ocean : till the end of time ? They aren't that bad, but i can't compare them to wild arms since i've not played a single one. Will do since it costs like 2-5 euros in my local store...
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On October 21 2012 07:19 Antylamon wrote:
For a second I thought you meant that WoW is the greatest RPG of all time.
That title is a bit misleading...
Hey don't hate, arena was really fun in tbc and wotlk.
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On October 21 2012 07:33 blade55555 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2012 07:31 Capped wrote:On October 21 2012 07:26 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
wild arms has never really failed to disapoint.
Actually PS rpgs never really failed to disappoint. So much this, i havent played a bad RPG on PS or PS2. PS3 however...13-2...And on that note, the except for PS2 is X-2. What are some other good PS2 rpg's? I was thinking of playing the wild arms 1 code F (remade of wild arms 1) or going to wild arms 4. Don't know of many other good PS2 rpg's but if there are others that are as good as wild arms would be awesome to get so I can play it after I finish this one :D
Star Ocean was ok, but I can't really recall a rpg that really stood out on anything past the ps2 that i've wanted to replay over and over again.
Nothing like wild arms, saga frontier, half the FF series.
If you count kingdom hearts as an rpg for ps2 that was pretty good and unique.
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On October 21 2012 07:26 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
wild arms has never really failed to disapoint.
Actually PS rpgs never really failed to disappoint.
Hmm... yeah that's tough. can't think of anything but chrono cross.
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Have you played Uncharted 2 for PS3? Not exactly an rpg but flat out the best script and voice acting of any game I can remember.
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Wild Arms 3 was really the highlight for me  Great series, also loved Xenosaga.
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That guy's outfit looks sexy as fuck. Lol, like a hybrid mix of Assassin's Creed 2 and 1. But the hat is what the fuck.
Nice review. There are all sorts of games that I SHOULD play but never do b/c of SC.
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If anime style is ok for you, you can try out persona, one of the highest rated JRPG game ever. (the battle system is a bit dull for me, but the characters WILL make you want to play more)
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On October 21 2012 07:19 Antylamon wrote:
For a second I thought you meant that WoW is the greatest RPG of all time.
That title is a bit misleading...
that would be an "MMORPG"
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On October 21 2012 10:42 Qwyn wrote:
That guy's outfit looks sexy as fuck. Lol, like a hybrid mix of Assassin's Creed 2 and 1. But the hat is what the fuck.
Nice review. There are all sorts of games that I SHOULD play but never do b/c of SC.
Well I am glad I started playing this. Like wow just so awesome to play such a good game that lasts longer then 10 hours then you beat the campaign you know?
Think I am going to do wild arms 4 next then the wild arms 1 remade version or i'll do a different game all together.
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On October 21 2012 07:33 blade55555 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2012 07:31 Capped wrote:On October 21 2012 07:26 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
wild arms has never really failed to disapoint.
Actually PS rpgs never really failed to disappoint. So much this, i havent played a bad RPG on PS or PS2. PS3 however...13-2...And on that note, the except for PS2 is X-2. What are some other good PS2 rpg's? I was thinking of playing the wild arms 1 code F (remade of wild arms 1) or going to wild arms 4. Don't know of many other good PS2 rpg's but if there are others that are as good as wild arms would be awesome to get so I can play it after I finish this one :D
Star Ocean 3: Till The End of Time is alright, though i can see some people not enjoying it.
How about give Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga a try?
In fact, most Shin Megami Tensei games are good, though stuff like Persona is a little more.. niche.
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One of the best RPGs i ever played (kinda) was kamidori alchemy meister. It's an H-game (read porn game) but outside this fact, there is a great, great, great story and RPGs mechanics. I did the game like 10 times already and can't seem to completely beat it. Each time you choose something different, you get new items, new quests, new characters to add to your team. This game is the beast.
Never heard of Wild Arms tho, might want to test it out someday!
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On October 21 2012 16:47 Kazahk wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2012 07:19 Antylamon wrote:
For a second I thought you meant that WoW is the greatest RPG of all time.
That title is a bit misleading... that would be an "MMORPG"
Still an RPG.
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Earthbound (SNES), Star Ocean 2nd story (for PS1), Super Mario Rpg (SNES), and etc. list goes on. Plenty of outstanding RPGs out there.
I think Earthbound was my first RPG that was soooooo good though. It was kind of realistic: the main heroes were kids around the same age as me back in the day, they used baseball bats, frying pans, home made rocket guns, instead of the cliche swords and shields. The enemies were classic and new. Fighting friggin bears, bats, hippies, shark kids (arcade gang), and etc.
It was a badass game.
Anyways on topic about Wild Arms, I've seen some reviews, but I never had the chance to play it. It looks interesting though
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EPT
