Wild Arms 3 first Impressions

I\'ll give my overall impression first, since it is the easiest to give:
........... That\'s about it.  So far I really don\'t have much of a good impression about the game, and I\'m really hoping that everything will pick up as the game progresses.

Graphics:
Stellar! Stunning! Beautiful!!!! are definitely 3 words you wouldn\'t use to describe the graphics of this game.  The cell shading they used on the 3d characters look weird because they only outlined the outside of the characters, instead of the chin, eyes, nose, clothes, etc.  Cell shading wise, Jet Set Radio looks a lot better and more natural to the eye.
Media Vision uses some sort of filtering on the screen which looks really weird to me.  I\'m not sure what it is, but they added a layer in front of everything that has these weird patterns on it, so I guess its supposed to make it look more western, but it kind of gets annoying like those spots in your eyes which kinda blur your vision at times.  It might have something to do with the \'screen saver\' option, which I have not yet played with yet, so I\'d have to get back on that one.
The character models are really cheezy, in a sense.  Well maybe not entirely the character model, but more so the fluidity of action really isn\'t there.  The characters move like robots, and are look really stiff.
So basically, on graphics alone, the game pretty much looks like Wild Arms 1 and 2, just with a litttle more details, some outlines, and a little better texture map.

Gameplay:
I\'ve pretty much only played 1 hour of the game so far, and its basically Wild Arms...  Nothing spectacularly new. So far, the game has proved way toooo easy, hopefully things change.

Sound:
I popped the dvd in, and I thought ...... welp, its Wild Arms.  In other words, it sounds the same as before.  To tell you the truth, I don\'t really remember exactly what Wild Arms sounded like, but when I hear the music and sounds on Wild Arms 3, I basically think Wild Arms.

Overall once again:
.......... I dunno.  I\'m going to have to give this one some time before I can really judge on how good the game is.  So far it hasn\'t really been stunning our outstanding.  I just remember playing the original Wild Arms and thinking how good a game it was, and how fun it was to play and stuff.  I remember just sitting there glued to the screen playing the game and really getting into it.  However this version just doesn\'t seem to have the same effect.  Perhaps its because I just finished playing Xenosaga, I don\'t know.

I\'ll post some more impressions once I finish the game.

Drat...and I was looking forward to it. It seems to me there is really a lack of good turn based on RPG on the PS2 currently(except FFX which is good, but still nowhere as good as the previous FF games).

I sure hope this syndrome don\'t continue...or I might have to buy an X-Box to play...err...is there any japanese turn based RPG on that thing??

The PSX was the king of the RPGs and I think the PS2 is having a hard time to catch up to that status....

Well, if the Gameplay is "basically just Wild Arms" sign me up!!
I mean... Isn\'t that the point?

Don\'t get all bummed and rush to judgement Paul. This is EARLY impressions by ONE GUY.

Turn based battle with interactive environments through character tools and techniques has always been the big attraction for me.

Smashing crates, lighting torches to open doors, doing backflips to access high walkways, etc, etc. That\'s what seperates WA from the rest of the turn-based genre.

There is a new Mpeg movie showing gameplay. Check it out!!
HERE IT IS!! It\'s huge, but good.

I\'ve posted my second impressions of the game on a separate thread.  Paul, sorry for the negativity in my first impressions.  The game isn\'t really that bad.  Its actually fun, challenging, and its definitely Wild Arms, so if you liked the others, you\'ll probably like this too.

mmm it sounds like you are not impressed...but ive heard lots of very good reviews of it from here