Wild Arms 5
Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Wild Arms series, Wild Arms 5 introduces a new story in the classic world of Filgaia with cameos of characters from previous games alongside a brand new journey.
It all started with Dean and a small screw. Dean Stark, while exploring with friend Rebecca Streisand, came across a bright light. Approaching the light, Dean finds a small screw. This small screw, he is told, is part of a golem, a living machine.
Flash forward over a decade and Dean is now more restless than ever. He has been spending his time digging in the local ruins and even throughout the town for golem parts. He is determined to find all he can and bring them to Tony, the local golem engineer. However, even this simple local exploring is not enough for him. He wants to see the wild, wide world. Asking Rebecca to come with him, he climbs up to Celestial Peak in order to tell her about his plans to leave the town he has known since childhood. Before they can say their goodbyes however, a giant golem arm flies from the heavens and crashes nearby.
Approaching the crash site via a cave, they find the arm laying on a ledge within the cave. This discovery excites Dean who runs right up to the arm and proclaims his love for it. Before he can make any plans for it, the hand opens revealing a girl clutching a pair of ARMs, ancient machinery that resemble guns. While both Rebecca and Dean stare at the girl, the ground begins to shake. Picking up the girl, Dean and Rebecca run out of the cave just in time to escape the ground falling from beneath them. They then begin their way home.
They do not make it far before they are attacked by a giant beast. Knowing they cannot win against it, they begin to run away and in the process The Girl From the Sky drops the pair of ARMs she was holding tightly. Knowing the importance of these items to The Girl From the Sky, Dean attacks the beast and picks up the left behind ARMs. In the process of picking them up, he uses them to block an attack of the beast showing his instant proficiently with them. Forced to now fight the beast, they vanquish it and begin again to return home with The Girl From the Sky. Before they leave the mountain however, Dean asks her name. She tells them her name is Avril. That is all she remembers, her name, that and “Johnny Appleseed” .
Dean and Rebecca return home with Avril. After talking with Tony, they all decide to strike out into the world to discover where Avril came from and what exactly “Johnny Appleseed” is and why it is important. On their journey are many dangers as well as allies who have their own pasts and present obstacles as they search for their own truths in the world.
Notes:
- The acronym ARM was not expressly defined during the time I played, although it seems to any object that resemble weaponry and are of ancient origin.
- Playing this game reminded me of Skies of Arcadia. They both share excitable explorers as main characters with two other people of the early party in the game consisting of girls, with one of those girls being a long-time friend of the protagonist. They also share the fact that the protagonist only decides to leave his home after another girl crashes from the sky and prompts him to adventure to find out the truth about the world.
Screenshots:
LocoRoco
This game is one of the most charming and challenging games I have played in a long time. Rating right up there with the original Katamari Damacy game with its strange yet simple gameplay and graphics, I have had fun, and a bit of frustration, playing this game.
Mojas, creatures of possible cthulhian ancestry, have invaded a peaceful world. The inhabitants of this world, the LocoRoco and their friends, have known peace for so long that they are no threat to this invasion and are easily subdued. The world itself however mounts a stand and by turning itself slightly left or right can direct the LocoRoco to defeat the Mojas and recover the Mui Mui, friends of the LocoRoco, who have been scattered around the world.
Aiding in fight against the Moja are berries which help the LocoRoco grow. With each berry collected, a LocoRoco will grow bigger. This size comes at a cost however, as some areas are too small for a single, berry-filled LocoRoco to fit. In order to let the LocoRoco pass, you must strike them with a lightening bolt which breaks them into pieces which can each pass through one at a time and rejoin on the other side.
Planets are big places. In your journey across the world, fighting Mojas and avoiding dangers, you may just come across more friends. These friends are other races of LocoRoco which each have their own color, characteristics and song. Fellow animals lurk in the world as well, animals which are massively bigger than even the biggest berry-filled LocoRoco. These animals are not always bad however, some will help you in unexpected ways.
Notes:
- This game is fun. This game can also be one of the more frustrating games you have ever played. It all depends on your own degree of obsessive-compulsiveness. Most of the levels are fairly easy, requiring little in the way of strategy. Trying to get every Berry, Mui Mui, and Pickori can easily become frustrating fast as you try to tilt the screen and jump at just the right time. Making that simple task all the more complex is the fact that many levels do not allow backtracking . They often have moving parts including walls and ceilings as well.
- As you play the LocoRoco’s mouths move along with the music as if singing. With each race of LocoRoco discovered and used to play, the background song changes along with the color of the current LocoRoco.
Screenshots:
I do things.
Hello. I'm Dan. I write things.
Contact:
dan.cox [at] videlais.com
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Nightmare Mode.
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