Current Events > Wild Arms 3 Playthrough

(+) Yeah! (+)

I bought a bunch of PS2 JRPGs I missed on this week's mid-year sale. Among those was Wild Arms 3. I have to say I'm really enjoying this a lot. It's always conveniently the perfect game to remote play with my Vita.

I just got finished beating Janus Trio for the second time and I'm back in Jolly Roger city. I really love the dungeon crawling aspect of it, but the overworld map isn't so great. It's growing on me a little, but they could have done it a lot better.

Overworld is kinda barren to reflect the Western inspiration the series has.

I am excited to see how you like it. I love this game in the series in particular.
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I remember really liking the beginning of the game and the whole Western theme and everything, but completely hating it by the end. I don't remember specifically why though.
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Tag
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I just got to Claiborne and took a break. I did get 3 nametags, which is the most interesting concept for an item lol.

Whenever you enter a town for the first time, look for the little dark haired girl.

She pops up in lots of places, in the background of scenes or in out of reach areas, which she'll disappear from when you can reach them. Never anywhere you can approach and talk.

Remember her.
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Oh, and read all the books on bookshelves. They help build the world and can flesh out the story, as well as containing tips necessary to progressing. Claiborne has a book that reveals how to cripple the defense on an upcoming boss, not in the dungeon you're about to head to but the one after.

Some books are sealed by magic, never waste a Duplicator on them, with one exception - you'll enter a dungeon later in the game called Leyline Observatory. Open the "Adult Mag" book with a Duplicator. It's useless at first, but come back to read it when your Migrant Level is 18+ for an item needed for a sidequest.

Which reminds me, remember the dungeons you visit. Remember areas you couldn't reach in them. As you find new Tools for your party, many areas can be reached in old dungeons using those new Tools for some pretty nice stuff. Backtracking to those dungeons gets easier later in the game as you aquire additional means of transportation if you don't wanna hoof it all the way.
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I bought some horses in Claiborne. Not sure how useful they'll be, but it seemed like something I'd need eventually.

Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

Overworld is kinda barren to reflect the Western inspiration the series has.

Also, there's a recurring theme with the world of Filgaia slowly decaying.
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ThatMuttGuy posted...

I bought some horses in Claiborne. Not sure how useful they'll be, but it seemed like something I'd need eventually.

You'll need them to jump ravines and advance the story. Ravines block some very useful secret areas, like the ravine between Baskar Colony and Jolly Roger. You can backtrack there now but the monsters there will beat the snot out of you at this point. Completing a quest there will allow you to grow and harvest healing items like Berries, which you can't buy anywhere. You'll want to be at least Lv25, preferably higher, and have started getting more Mediums. Hardest part if you seek out this sidequest is after beating the dungeon boss, you need to backtrack to the entrance... and your entire party has only 1 HP each until you get out. At Lv25 you can at least spam Force Abilities to try and end battles on the first round.

You'll eventually reach an area where an 'optional' (and very weak) boss will only attack you on horseback, killing him nets you a pile of Dragon Fossils which you'll also need to procure new transportation and advance the story.

Always have a few Call Whistles, you'll need them to summon your Horses when you leave them behind somewhere.

Don't use horses if you don't have to - starting in the area you're in, enemies will sometimes leave a trapped chest after battling on foot. Aside from the usual fare of Berries and status curing items, some have Gear you can equip to your Mediums for extra effects like status immunities and other passive benefits.
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VectorChaos posted...

ThatMuttGuy posted...

I bought some horses in Claiborne. Not sure how useful they'll be, but it seemed like something I'd need eventually.

You'll need them to jump ravines and advance the story. Ravines block some very useful secret areas, like the ravine between Baskar Colony and Jolly Roger. You can backtrack there now but the monsters there will beat the snot out of you at this point. Completing a quest there will allow you to grow and harvest healing items like Berries, which you can't buy anywhere. You'll want to be at least Lv25, preferably higher, and have started getting more Mediums. Hardest part if you seek out this sidequest is after beating the dungeon boss, you need to backtrack to the entrance... and your entire party has only 1 HP each until you get out. At Lv25 you can at least spam Force Abilities to try and end battles on the first round.

You'll eventually reach an area where an 'optional' (and very weak) boss will only attack you on horseback, killing him nets you a pile of Dragon Fossils which you'll also need to procure new transportation and advance the story.

Always have a few Call Whistles, you'll need them to summon your Horses when you leave them behind somewhere.

I just had some fights on horseback. Man, this game is fucking rad.

I just fought some trees that used an attack called Silent Fury. They were pretty strong. I guess I should grind a bit before continuing.

Fun fact: those trees are one of many enemies that can be "activated" by certain elements. Oak hit with water magic gains a paralyzing punch.

Now while you're unlikely to hit them with water, you'll encounter them in another area grouped with an enemy that fills the battlefield with water, which will power up any of those Oaks alive with paralyzing punches. Always Analyze enemies and check their Active elements. You can recall the info by holding Triangle while targeting enemies of the same type. Analyze an enemy once and you can view the info on them in every battle after.

Oh, those Oaks drop Gear that makes you immune to Paralysis if you farm them. But you have to fight them on foot like I said above.
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That's good to know.

This game kind of reminds me a bit of Golden Sun. Not sure if that's been said a lot in the past, but some of the tunes, the guardian system, etc.

Also, I love that talking to people around town is actually important, unlike a lot of more modern JRPGs. And the innkeeper keeps charging more as I level. Smh.

I love this fucking game if you couldn't tell.

Janus Cascade is best villain. You're gonna learn to love to hate him.

The animated sequence that plays every time you load your game will change slightly, featuring new characters as you advance the story, generally at the end of a chapter. The first change is coming up at the end of that second dungeon I told you about the upcoming boss in that a book reveals a weakness for.
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great game
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If the name is Trask or something, then I saw a book about hitting him with water then fire or fire then water.

And yeah, I can tell you're really into Wild Arms lol! It seems like a great game and I'm having a blast so far. I didn't know that about the animated sequence thing. That's cool.

This game makes me hope for more Wild Arms games brought over.

ThatMuttGuy posted...

That's good to know.

This game kind of reminds me a bit of Golden Sun. Not sure if that's been said a lot in the past, but some of the tunes, the guardian system, etc.

Also, I love that talking to people around town is actually important, unlike a lot of more modern JRPGs. And the innkeeper keeps charging more as I level. Smh.

Make sure you change your active character depending on who you're talking to, you can get different responses sometimes. For example, in Claiborne right now if you look around you can find someone Jet knows from his intro who'll have different dialogue for Jet
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VectorChaos posted...

ThatMuttGuy posted...

That's good to know.

This game kind of reminds me a bit of Golden Sun. Not sure if that's been said a lot in the past, but some of the tunes, the guardian system, etc.

Also, I love that talking to people around town is actually important, unlike a lot of more modern JRPGs. And the innkeeper keeps charging more as I level. Smh.

Make sure you change your active character depending on who you're talking to, you can get different responses sometimes. For example, in Claiborne right now if you look around you can find someone Jet knows from his intro who'll have different dialogue for Jet

So should I just talk to every character with all 4 people? It's not a huge deal because there's not too many people in town.

Usually it's only 1 of the party that'll get unique dialogue, and it's usually obvious the characters know each other.

Sometimes objects that you can investigate repeatedly will do the same, and you can run through all the characters and get all their responses to whatever you're looking at.
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And yes, it's Trask. Do what the book says, heat his ass up then apply some ice, his Defense drops to roughly that of a wet paper bag.
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Never forget the GOAT town theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WVqKTCx7Ug" data-time="
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Shotgunnova posted...

Never forget the GOAT town theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WVqKTCx7Ug" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4uR39jNeGE" data-time="
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I love the music, the Janus fights have one of my favourites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNVQK3tuqsc" data-time="

Also one of the dungeon tracks, Leyline Observatory is where you'll first hear it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udmWG0rNYkg" data-time="
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One of my favorite PS2 games. Love the boss battle theme.

Nothing like powering up Jet and having him unload a barrage of 6 machine gun shots into a boss.

I'm going through the next dungeon. Expected to run into Janus, but I ran into a new group of Drifters. I also found a migrant seal so that's cool.

holy shit this blonde chick is fucking with me super hard.

HAHA, I froze the lever into place. Take that blondie.

I beat Maya and her team (Afro guy was annoying) and now I'm at the mask and Janus showed up. I might be kicking his ass again.

Did you use fire on Afro?
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This was among my first PS2 games and I also have it on PS4, loved it but never got around to finishing it though: (
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Shotgunnova posted...

Did you use fire on Afro?

No, but I did use water on Cat.

Also the battle ended when I beat everyone but the kid.

Maybe it was just my copy but I remember that game not counting cut scenes as part of the game time so it felt like I played the game for less hours then I actually did. But maybe that was just me.

Loved the game.
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creativerealms posted...

Maybe it was just my copy but I remember that game not counting cut scenes as part of the game time so it felt like I played the game for less hours then I actually did. But maybe that was just me.

Loved the game.

Yeah, my playtime is higher than the game has counted it.

I guess I'm about to fight Janus and them again. I just fought Trask and used a Gella Card on him for some ez money.

That is my second favorite Wild Arms, part 2 take the cake. I enjoyed the entire thing, but I will say this, "Finest Arts" totally breaks the game.
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ThatMuttGuy posted...

Shotgunnova posted...

Did you use fire on Afro?

No, but I did use water on Cat.

Also the battle ended when I beat everyone but the kid.

You'll fight them again. As soon as 'afro' eats fire magic he takes burn damage every round. You want to take him out first most times you take them on.

ThatMuttGuy posted...

creativerealms posted...

Maybe it was just my copy but I remember that game not counting cut scenes as part of the game time so it felt like I played the game for less hours then I actually did. But maybe that was just me.

Loved the game.

Yeah, my playtime is higher than the game has counted it.

I guess I'm about to fight Janus and them again. I just fought Trask and used a Gella Card on him for some ez money.

At this point every boss you meet should be auto Gella Card + Virginia Mystic/Lucky Card on your party. I don't want to spoil anything, but there are fights you will lose in the future. Update your progress here and one of us should be able to warn you to not waste these precious items for nothing.
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Alright cool. I just beat Janus for the third time and he either got killed or it was a fakeout.

So it looks like this next bit might focus on Clive (sniper guy? I named all of them different names).

Should I have found any more migrant seals since the first one I found already?

Oh he turned into a half fish dude lol

I'm going to stop here for the night. I made it to Tiny Twister or whatever the town is called. I had to pay the Saloon lady 500 Gella to get the location of some ruins nearby. So I'm pretty much broke lol.

MACisBack posted...

That is my second favorite Wild Arms, part 2 take the cake. I enjoyed the entire thing, but I will say this, "Finest Arts" totally breaks the game.

Why is 2 your fav?
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Kill enemies with magic for more money when grinding. The elemental gems they drop when killed with magic sell for 100 gella each.

I think you shoulda found 1 or 2 migrant seals at this point. There's a lot, some in your path, some take diligence to find.

The town you're in is Little Twister. Clive is sniper dude.

New fun fact: IIRC in the original Japanese version this town is called Titty Twister >_>
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Lmao! So the gems aren't that useful in battle? I have a bunch of gems from battles that I can see. I didn't think to sell them.

My instinct in JRPGS is to never sell stuff lol.

Tag
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Sell them all day. I only ever found one use for having a few on hand: the sidequest to grow berries I mentioned earlier. Since you have to leave the dungeon with 1 HP and Virginia's REF is high, she can Mystic a gem on her first turn as long as she's at least Lv25 and usually kill the enemies right away. They tend to be slow enemies so Gallows can finish them off with Extension magic before they act if they survive.

You can always farm gems when you need them for that. Treat them as a source of income otherwise. Analyze enemies and exploit weaknesses for magic kills to harvest gems. Summons are pretty good for group wipeouts, which will give you gems like any other elemental magic kill.
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Thanks! I just found out about personal skills lol. Some are very useful.

Ok and one question. My FP goes to like 1 or 2 at the most. But I see the bar can go to 5. Is that just higher level stuff? Not sure how to make it go up quicker.

Your FP will be equal to your current level at the beginning of the fight. Being hit gains you 1 FP, landing physical attacks and dodging enemy attacks give more, 5 or 6 IIRC. The damage you deal/receive is also boosted/reduced the higher your FP gets. Anytime it reaches 100 during a battle, that character gets automatic Condition Green, nullifying any status ailment they may have had on them.
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Ok sorry, I meant the little red bar under your health and FP. What does that mean?

And I just got to some new ruins. I don't trust this Claudia chick.

ThatMuttGuy posted...

Ok sorry, I meant the little red bar under your health and FP. What does that mean?

And I just got to some new ruins. I don't trust this Claudia chick.

its your fp meter. 1 bar for every 25 point.
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Oh I see, thanks!

And I just beat that ruin. Had to fight the robed lady and then Janus-Demon. I knew something was up with Claudia.

Lunatic Garden should be next, followed by Sand Canal. In Sand Canal you'll have several fights with the Bargain Bin Power Rangers, and then another fight with Janus at the exit.

Do not waste a Lucky Card or Gella Card on that Janus battle. Keep your HP high and use the buff that boosts your Magic Resistance on your weaker party members.

Maybe use a Lucky Card on the third fight with the Bargain Bin Power Rangers. IIRC the EXP from them isn't really that great.
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Just got to Lunatic Garden. We'll see how this all goes.

The first boss fight there can get rough. You'll have two options, IIRC

Enemy starts evading all physical attacks. You can chip away at him with magic and he won't trouble you too much with his offense.

If you Decelerate him, youll be able to hit him with physical attacks, but he becomes much more aggressive and starts using status attacks. I think he inflicts three with one hit, and two of those are Confusion and Amnesia. You'll be able to drop him faster this way especially if you hit him with Fragile, but he can get lucky and swamp you with status effects unless you've been farming Gear from enemies, you can have everyone resisting many statuses by now if you are.

Make sure you have Toy Hammers, if a character is still under Amnesia at the end of a battle they gain no EXP.

Don't forget on the battle menu you can mess with your Mediums mid-fight, swapping them between chars and changing your Personal Skill setups as the situation demands. Comes in handy when a boss starts throwing status effects around to check if you could be resisting/immune instead of just dealing with it.
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