Dec 072016
2016 is the 20th anniversary of the Wild Arms series.
Fans of this lesser-known (but fantastic) JRPG series wondered if we might finally get a new Wild Arms game after all this time.
The last game was released in 2007 (localized in 2008), and the series has been quiet ever since.
Today, Sony finally announced a new Wild Arms.
…except instead of the full console RPG fans have hoped for, it’s a mobile game.
According to the translation from Gematsu, it will be developed by Wright Flyer Studios, but the original Wild Arms staff is going to work on it. It features a new story and is a reboot of the series.
I’m not sure how you reboot a series of standalone games set in separate worlds, especially if it has an all-new story instead of retelling one of the originals… but let’s take a look at the trailer.
The trailer begins with the upcoming mobile reboot of Arc the Lad, which was announced at the same time. Wild Arms begins at 1:01 in the video.
Anyone who has played the first Wild Arms will recognize its intro at the start of the teaser. However, it also shows characters from other games in the series. Is the image of all these Wild Arms characters together just an homage to its history, or could this mobile game be some sort of crossover?
Mobile games are not necessarily bad. Full games have been created for mobile devices, such as the Chaos Rings series, from what I’ve heard.
However, many mobile RPGs fall far short of console and handheld titles. They might still have stories (even if those stories are spread across a large number of missions), but a lot have a stronger focus on collecting characters to fight enemies with simplistic gameplay.
(They also have a tendency to require Internet connections, although this frustration isn’t limited to mobile games.)
We have no idea what this Wild Arms game will be like. It could be a traditional RPG with an all-new storyline and cast of characters, just released for mobile devices. It doesn’t have to be a microtransaction-fueled gacha grindfest.
But for a fanbase that’s been waiting years for a new mainline entry, this isn’t the news we wanted to hear.
Still, at least it proves they haven’t forgotten about Wild Arms. Maybe this mobile game is just the first step toward a full revival of the Wild Arms series. What do you think?
I think there’s no point having hope.
We had such high hopes for the 20th anniversary of the series, too… especially since they teased a couple times that Wild Arms might return. Could this really be all they meant?