Wild Arms 2

Wild Arms 2
Wild Arms 2
Developer(s)	Media.Vision
Publisher(s)	SCEI ; SCEA
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Release	September 2, 1999 ; April 30, 2000
Genre(s)	Western Steampunk RPG
Mode(s)	Single player

Wild Arms 2, known in Japan as Wild Arms: 2nd Ignition (ワイルドアームズセカンド・イグニッション, Wairudo Āmuzu Sekando Igunisshon), is a Western Steampunk console role-playing game developed by Media.Vision and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and the second installment in the Wild Arms series. It was released in 2000 on the Sony PlayStation video game console.

Story

The story takes place on Filgaia, a planet that resembles the American Wild West; however, Filgaia possesses a mingling of magic and modern technology. When a terrorist organization called Odessa tries to conquer the World, an international antiterrorist group called ARMS is formed to combat them. They recruit several heroes to help them, including Ashley, a gunfighter; Lilka, a teenage sorceress; and Brad, a former war hero.

Overview

Template:Spoiler 1000 years before the events of the game, a great Blaze of Disaster swept the land of Filgaia. The cause was a demon known as Lord Blazer. Many heroes tried to defeat him and failed, until a girl holding the magic sword Argetlahm stepped forth and did battle with him, ultimately managing to defeat him. However, she could not kill him; rather, she exchanged her life in order to seal Lord Blazer away forever. The girl's name was forgotten by time, and she became known as simply the Sword Magess.

Now, 1000 years later, Filgaia is a desolate land, dying steadily. Much of the world has already become desert, and the few areas of greenery left are steadily declining. Ashley Winchester, a member of a military unit near Meria Boule, becomes involved in the fate of the world when his group is involved in a demon summoning experiment. This experiment is conducted by the sinister organization of Odessa in order to resurrect Lord Blazer - or so it seems. After all of his friends and comrades have been possessed by demons, Ashley is finally taken over as well. After killing all of his former comrades, he claims the legendary Argetlahm, which had been brought to the summoning ceremony as a relic. After coming into contact with it, he confronts both the demon inside him, Lord Blazer himself, and the wielder of the sword, the Sword Magess. Managing to repress Lord Blazer for the time being, Ashley escapes back to his home town of Meria.

However, this is not the end of it for Ashley. He soon receives an offer from a mysterious man named Irving to join an elite team of fighters named "ARMS" (Agile Remote Missons Squad)/(Akward Rush and Mission Savers). After accepting, Ashley meets the other two people selected for ARMS - Lilka Eleniak and Brad Evans; one an ex-war hero turned con, one a girl in training to be a Crest Sorceress. Irving reveals his plans to them: he wishes to combat Odessa, which he claims will make its presence known to the world soon. Based on this, the three protagonists engage in a series of events that eventually come to involve the fate of the world of Filgaia itself.

Characters

Below is a brief summary of each playable character in relation to the plot, their tools, and their battle abilities.

Ashley Winchester

Class: Gun Warrior
Age: 19
Height: 5' 8"
Birthplace: Town of Meria
Favorite Hero: Anything Crimson
Weapon: Bayonet

Ashley is the protagonist, or hero (although the latter term comes to have some weighty delimmas attached to it within the game) of Wild Arms 2. Ashley struggles with many different issues along the course of the game. He is possessed by Lord Blazer, one of the main antagonists of the story. After the unit he was reassigned to, called ARMS, is used as the subjects in a demon summoning experiment, Ashley is the lone survivor of the squad, made human again after destroying his demon-mutated comrades, and by making contact with the Argetlahm (the sword the Sword Magess Anastasia used to defeat Lord Blazer ages ago, when his Blaze of Disaster swept across Filgaia). After this incident, Lord Blazer dwells within him for most of the game, barely withheld by Ashley, until the final confrontation with him after the defeat of what is seemingly the final boss. Ashley also struggles with many other issues within the course of the game, the most notable of which being the definition of what a hero really is.

In terms of statistics, Ashley is a well-balanced character. He uses a rifle as his ARM; a bayonet is mounted at the tip of the rifle for use as his standard attacking weapon. He also has the capability of becoming KnightBlazer when his force gauge reaches max, which results in Ashley morphing into a dark knight in black and red armor, an increase of his stats and use of highly powerful attacks.

Brad Evans

Class: Prisoner No. 666
Age: 32
Height: 6' 6"
Birthplace: Slayheim
Favorite Insect: Beetle
Weapon: Might Glove

Brad is one of the more complex characters on the whole in Wild Arms 2. A military genius in a war ten years ago, he is now hunted as a criminal due to events beyond his control. What's more, he seems to have a connection to the sinister Odessa organization that is the main source of grief throughout the game. His truly noble intentions are not proved until he reveals himself after being presumed dead with an impressive show of firepower against Odessa's forces, saving the entire team in the process.

Brad has the highest HP, defense, and strength ratings in the game. Although he is typically out-damaged by Ashley's KnightBlazer form, Brad generally has the widest variety of heavy-hitting physical attacks. Additionally, despite his low MGR (Magic Defense), his high HP often allows him to survive attacks that the other party members cannot.

Lilka Eleniak

Class: Crest Sorceress
Age: 14
Height: 5'
Birthplace: Sielje Region
Favorite Food: Jelly Rolls
Weapon: Umbrella

Lilka, a Crest Sorceress in training, is one of the less serious characters in Wild Arms 2. Aside from a few scenes involving her sister, her character is largely carefree and humorous. She is among the first two characters to join Ashley in the group ARMS, and remains in your party for longer than any other character, thus lending perhaps the most support to the group in times of need.

In terms of gameplay, Lilka is essential throughout the first part of the game, as she is the only character that can heal without using items until you acquire Tim. Once you acquire Tim, the only other magic user, however, her usefulness is debated. Many prefer her over Tim for solely personal reasons, however, as Tim is regarded as a weak character in the plot. Tim is also rather slow, and most of Lilka's proponents state her speed (the second-highest in the game) as their main reason for using her over Tim.

Tim Rhymeless

Class: Zoa Priest
Age: 12
Height: 5'
Birthplace: Baskar Village
Weapon: Staff

Tim is a young summoner and mediator of guardians. Although he does provide a useful means for the other characters to communicate with the guardians upon their journey, he has little impact on the plot by himself. This lack of significance, coupled with what most believe to be subpar battle skills, tends to make people find Tim the least popular character. However, when Tim acquires all of his abilities he is quite the accomplished spell caster, though he is slower than Lilka. Some would say he is a stronger spell caster than Lilka, since he can acquire elemental spells (Dark and Light elements) and other magic that Lilka can't.

Battlewise, Tim possesses unique skills as opposed to other characters. Instead of learning skills by finding them, he learns skills by equipping mediums and killing enemies with them equipped. After killing a certain number of enemies with that medium equipped, he gains a permanent skill that remains even if you equip another medium. He also allows other characters to use their "Combine" Force Power.

Kanon

Class: Bounty Hunter
Age: Unknown
Height: 5' 6"
Birthplace: Unknown
Weapon: Dagger

Aisha Bernadette, a.k.a. Kanon

Kanon (real name: Aisha Bernadette) yearns to fulfill her destiny as a descendant of the Sword Magess of old, she replaces most of her body with bionic implants in order to vastly increase her body's capability. However, this is only her surface explanation. The real reason she chose this body is because her mother and sister were killed when their home town was destroyed. She received bionic implants in order to be able to fight those who would seek to perpetrate evil in the world.

Kanon's true power lies in her speed. Though her attacks aren't as strong as Ashley's KnightBlazer abilities, nor as strong as Brad's pure physical hits, she has the highest RES ( Speed ) rating in the game, and thusly, the highest PRY ( Evasion ) rate. Her ability to act first in battle and avoid taking the majority of physical damage allow for her to dispatch random enemies quickly and efficiently.

She also makes an appearance in the anime Wild Arms: Twilight Venom in episode 17, though she is portrayed very differently, being fully flesh and blood and having a much more up-beat personality.

Marivel Armitage

Class: Crimson Noble
Age: Unknown; Very old
Height: 4'9"
Birthplace: Crimson Castle
Weapon: Hob&Nob (A pair of small robots)

Marivel Armitage

Marivel (originally Mariabelle in the Japanese version, probably shortened because of name length constraints) is an optional character, and hence she is not important to the storyline. If you venture to the optional dungeon Crimson Castle in disc 2, you can recruit Marivel for your team. Her tools are primarily used in order to unlock secret items, enemies, and locations. Note that Marivel also makes an appearance in Wild Arms 3, albeit in non-playable form.

Marivel uses a magic style similar to Blue Magic in the Final Fantasy series. This style is called Red Power. If she uses her Skil [sic] Drain ability on an enemy, she will learn its skill. This allows her to have a wider variety of skills than any other character. Her Force Powers are all mecha-based power strikes on all opponents.

Anastasia Valeria

Anastasia Valeria, the Sword Magess

Class: Sword Saint
Age: 16 years old when she died, 1000 years before the events of Wild Arms 2
Height: 5' 4"
Birthplace: Unknown
Weapon: Argetlahm

Anastasia is the Sword Magess who banished Lord Blazer behind a black hole, giving her life in the process.

Anastasia can only be used for a short time in the game and has no Tools like other characters. In battle, most of her attacks seem to be centered around healing HP and adverse effects, though her stats make her a very able physical fighter. Her original power is "Argetlahm", which makes use of the legendary sword "Argetlahm".

Anastasia is also mentioned in Wild Arms 3, in the same respect that Marivel is. Both character appear in a sidequest where a story is read to a child.

Lucied

Lucied, the Guardian of Desire

Class: Guardian
Age: Unknown; As old as the planet itself.
Weapon: Fangs

Lucied is the Guardian of Desire in the form of a blue wolf and Anastasia's faithful companion.

Lucied, like Anastasia, is only usable for a short time and has no Tools. In battles he is the fastest character in the game and is pretty sturdy stat-wise. Lucied's techniques are all centered around doing damage, very quickly. His original power is called "Ruination".

Other Characters

Odessa

Odessa is the terrorist organization and are the main antagonists of Wild ARMs 2.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Wild Arms 2 is a bit of a departure from the RPGs of its time period. Instead of featuring an ATB or free-roaming system, it features a classic, turn-based battle system. However, it does have some unique elements in its equipment system. Two of the characters, Ashley and Brad, have unique weapons known as ARMs in lieu of traditional special attacks. Each ARM is found in a different location and can be upgraded in three different ways: Attack power, accuracy, and bullets. Each kind of upgrade offers differing advantages, and can be used either to remedy each ARM user's inherent weaknesses or to enhance their respective strengths. Other characters, such as Lilka and Tim, possess magical attacks that can inflict devastating damage to enemies with elemental weaknesses.

Encounter System

Another new gameplay element in this installment of the Wild Arms series is a cancellable random battle system. Instead of being thrust into random battles without player input, you are instead presented with an exclamation point inside a bubble of varied color above your character's head when a battle is imminent. If the bubble is green or white, you may cancel the battle with the O button with no penalties. However, a green bubble indicates a monster that you have not previously encountered, something which is useful for players who wish to complete the entire checklist of monster encounters. If you do not cancel, you will be sent into battle within five seconds, with a chance of a surprise attack, wherein you gain one turn on the enemy. A red bubble forces you into a battle immediately, however, with no chance to cancel. This can occur if the enemies are significantly stronger than you, or because you are caught in a surprise attack (the monsters get a free turn first), a solo attack (one of your party has to fight alone for a few turns), or a back attack (your rear party has to fight for a few turns). You fight with three characters at a time, although the other three may be switched in at will as you enter commands for the active party.

Battle Mechanics

The mechanics of battle, as stated above, are strictly turn-based. After inputting character commands, the game checks the speed of each character and enemy. The character or enemy with the highest speed goes first, the second-highest goes second, and so on. Note that Ashley can circumvent this with his Accelerator skill. In battle, you do not have a traditional MP stat. Rather, each character gains FP, or Force Points, as they attack the enemy. These FP are needed to use ARMs, magic, or special attacks. Using an ARM, spell, or special attack will not deplete FP; you merely need to have the amount listed in order to use it. However, each character also possesses four Force Powers. Each sequential level uses more FP than the last; level 1 costs 25 FP, level 2 costs 50, level 3 costs 75, and level 4 costs 100 (the maximum amount that can be attained). These Force Powers are generally very powerful attacks that can easily turn the tides of battle in the player's favor - however, they actually deplete the amount of FP a character possesses by the amount required to use them, so one must act with caution, as a character with no FP will not be able to do anything except attack and use items.

Elements, Statistics, and Status Effects

As with most RPGs, Wild Arms 2 possesses statistics, status effects, and elemental weaknesses and resistances. Opposite elements will do 200% damage, and the same element will do 50-0% damage.

Below are some charts explaining these factors.

Statistics

STR: Physical strength. Combined with weapon strength to get ATP.
VIT: Physical vitality. Combined with armor rating to determine DEF.
SOR: Sorcery power. Determines how powerful magic cast by a character will be.
RES: Responsiveness. Determines the order in which fighters act in battle. This value divided by 10 is the PRY value.
ATP: Physical attack power. Increases physical damage caused by attacks.
DEF: Physical defense power. Decreases physical damage received from attacks.
MGR: Magic resistance. Reduces damage received from magic.
PRY: Parry rate. Rate at which a character can dodge attacks.
LCK: Luck. Affects critical hit ratio, chance to escape, chance an enemy will drop an item, Chapapanga's Summon, and activation rate of various PS Skills.

Status Effects

Poison: Character will lose some HP at the end of each battle round. Remains after the battle is ended, and will keep damaging the character for each step taken in the field.
Vile Poison: Same as above, but the damage received each turn is greatly increased.
Disease: Character cannot be healed or gain HP by any means.
Confusion: Character will attack a random target each turn.
Paralysis: Character is unable to move.
Petrification: Character is turned to stone and cannot move.
Forgetfulness: Character gains no experience points after battles.
Downhearted: Character can only gain 1 FP at a time.
Ability Block: Character is unable to use force powers or original powers.
Sleep: Character is asleep, unable to move for a number of turns, curable with Level 1 spell:Rise n' Shine
Nightmare: same as above, except damage is received

Elements

Fire - Opposite is water
Water - Opposite is fire
Wind - Opposite is earth
Earth - Opposite is wind
Ice - Opposite is lightning
Lightning - Opposite is ice
Light - Opposite is dark
Dark - Opposite is light

Guardians and Mediums

As with many other RPGs, Wild Arms 2 has a summon system. The summons, called guardians in-game, are bound to specialized pieces of equipment, called mediums. Each medium can be equipped to a character, boosting stats and granting them a special ability. When a character (other than Kanon and Marivel, who do not have the Combine ability) has reached 50 FP and Tim is also in the party, the player may use the Combine ability in order to summon the guardian to do their special elemental damage attack, which is generally very powerful. Later on, it is possible to power up the mediums - the enhanced mediums increase stats by a larger amount and do even greater damage when summoned. This installment in the series contains a total of sixteen Guardians, many recurring from Wild Arms while others were new and continued to be used in other games in the series.

Odoryuk: Guardian of Life

Summon Name: Live Horn

Odoryuk leaps into the air disappears in a blast of light, which rains down on the party. All fallen allies are awakened and the party is healed.

Ge Ramtos: Guardian of Death

Summon Name: Ge Maximum

Ge Ramtos fires a beam of light into the sky, raining meteors of light down on the enemy party. Any target who is hit will suffer instant death.

Grudiev: Guardian of Earth (mistranslation of Gurdijeff from Wild ARMs)

Summon Name: Magnetron Bomb

Grudiev appears, breaking through the ground. All enemies are engulfed in a white light. The targets are hit with large Earth damage.

Schturdark: Guardian of Water (mistranslation of Stoldark from Wild ARMs)

Summon Name: Assault Tide

Schturdark sucks the targets into a swirling vortex of water, hitting them with a large amount of Water damage.

Moor Gault: Guardian of Fire (mistranslation of Moa Gault from Wild ARMs)

Summon Name: Vapor Blast

A star appears, launching a massive fireball at the enemies. The fireball explodes on impact, releasing Moor Gault. Enemies are seared with Fire damage.

Fengalon: Guardian of Wind

Summon Name: Molecular Break

Fengalon appears on the field, striking the ground and creating a massive vortex of wind, sucking in all enemies. The enemy party is hit with large Wind damage.

Nova Shax: Guardian of Lightning

Summon Name: Dash Corrida

Nova Shax hits all enemies with a massive lightning storm. The enemy party is hit with Lightning damage.

Aru Sularto: Guardian of Ice

Summon Name: Ice Coffin

Aru Sulato hits all opponents with ice pillars that spring up from the ground. Targets are hit big with Ice damage.

Leita Salk: Guardian of Darkness (new to this game)

Summon Name: Negative Zone

All enemies are pulled into a zone of darkness, which Leitea Salk crushes in its hand. All enemies are hit with Dark damage.

Stare Roe: Guardian of Light

Summon Name: Soul Deleter

Rigdobrite: Guardian of the Stars

Summon Name: Operation Meteo

Rigdobrite smashes into all enemies from orbit. All enemies are hit with massive non-elemental damage.

Chapapanga: Guardian of Luck (new to this game)

Summon Name: Lucky Shot

Dan Dairam: Guardian of Spacetime

Summon Name: System Chronos

Raftina: Guardian of Love

Summon Name: Seraphim Goat

Justine: Guardian of Courage

Summon Name: Justine Attack

Zephyr: Guardian of Hope

Summon Name: Terra Faust

Zephyr hits all enemies with an omni-elemental supernova. All elemental weaknesses are exploited. Massive damage to all enemies.

Miscellanious

Another innovative gameplay element is the usage of tools for each character. Each character obtains three tools over the course of the game, which are used for a variety of functions, but mostly solving puzzles. More details on the tools can be found under each character's description above.

Outside of battle, the player may occasionally find healing gems laying around in dungeons. Although small ones are not generally useful after the beginning of the game, large gems can be quite helpful, due to the fact that it is not possible to buy healing items until the second disc.

Notes and Trivia

Marivel's first Force Ability, Qubely, is probably a reference to the AMX-004 Qubeley from the Gundam Universe.
Her third ability, Lucifer, may be a reference to the Golem from Wild ARMs by the same name. It could easily be argued that they are the same machine.
Like Lucifer, her second and fourth abilities, Asgard and Asgard2 are most likely a reference to the Golem from Wild ARMs by the same name. They are very similar in appearance.
Pooka, Tim's familiar, is derived from a shapeshifting creature from Celtic foklore. ^{[citation needed]}
There's also an EMMA motor in this game, thought to be a reference to the scientist from the original Wild ARMs, but in game you discover that EMMA stands for "Electromagnectics". (In said cutscene, the characters are told "Don't think it's named after someone!")
Two characters from the anime/manga series Trigun make cameos in the game as paintings. A portrait of Vash the Stampede appears in Marina's bedroom above Meria Boule's bakery, and a portrait of Kuroneko-sama appears in one of the guestrooms of Valeria Chateau.
Particularly among gamers in the United States, Brad Evans is widely believed to be gay, and is even considered a minor gay icon among gay gamers. However, the quality of the game's English localization is not high (mistranslations of proper names or cultural contexts are abundant), and according to the Japanese version, Brad's sexuality is not confirmed either way. Among most players who have come to regard Brad as gay, the impressions have been shaped largely from the common wisdom of the audience and from a handful of scenes that suggest a very intimate emotional attachment between Brad and Billy. While Brad may or may not actually be gay, the facts notwithstanding are ultimately inconclusive. It should be noted that reasons people believe Brad to be gay can easily be misinterpreted. Billy is Brad's only friend left alive, and more importantly was an old war buddy that saved his life at least once. The Justine scene is also used by believers that he has gay but it should be remembered Justine stands for Courage and was most likely awakened because of Billy's courage to sacrifice himself for his squad.
Golgotha Prison, the prison that was once used in the game to house death row prisioners, is translated from Hebrew to mean "Place of the Skulls" in the Bible it is on a hill called Golgotha where Jesus Christ is crucified. ^{[citation needed]}
Filgaia, the setting of the game (romanized as "Fargaia" in the original Japanese) includes the word Gaia, a word also used in the game for the Community of Guardians. In the 1960's British scientist James Lovelock proposed a theory, called the Gaia hypothesis, that stated the world was one single living organism, like the Irving's Vessal Idea in Disk Two. ^{[citation needed]}
In Damzen City you will find a saloon named Gunners Heaven, named after Media.Vision's first game called "Gunners Heaven" in Japan or in the EU "Rapid Reload". The bartender, Axel, and his sister Luka (Ruka in the Japanese game), are the main characters in the games. Unfortunately Media. Vision never released an American game.
Mana, a substance believed to be Filgaia's lifeblood, could possibly be a biblical refrence. In Exodus it is a food called mana (also spelled Manna, or Mannah) which is said to have miraculously rained down on the Isrealites in order to save them from starvation in the dessert. Also "Mana" could be a refrence to an oceanic concept simplified to: "the stuff of which magic is formed". The wikipedia article entitled "Mana" also states that: "Modern fantasy fiction, computer and role-playing games, have adopted mana as a term for magic points—an expendable resource out of which magic users form their magical spells."
Urartu, the mostly uninhabited region in the northwest, is a reference to Urartu, an ancient country of eastern Anatolia, also known in the Bible as Ararat, the traditional place in Abrahamic tradition where Noah's ark landed and humanity repopulated the earth. The Urartu in the game was also once an important center of civilization and the home of the Crimson Noble race, before the region was almost completely destroyed 1000 years prior during the Blaze of Disaster. Urartu/Ararat has also long been associated with Armenia, and the sudden destruction of Crimson Noble civilization may also allude to the Armenian genocide. ^{[citation needed]}
Guild Galad's name resembles (and may be a pun of) Gil-galad, the last High-King of the Noldorin Elves in J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction. This is fitting, because just like the Noldor, the people of Guild Galad are skilled in preserving and documenting technology and in crafting goods, machines and weapons. ^{[citation needed]}
In the 16th episode "Fatal Goddess" of the anime Wild Arms: Twilight Venom, Irving Valeria makes an appearance along with Lucied. Likewise, Kanon makes an appearance in episode 17 "Child at Heart".
In the Odessa heirarchy namely Caina, Antenora, Ptolomea, and Judecca there names are also found and listed in The Divine Comedy wherein "The giant Antaeus lowers Dante and Virgil into the pit that forms the ninth circle of Hell".Zone 1: Caïna, Zone 2: Antenora, Zone 3: Ptolomæa, Zone 4: Judecca.

External links

Wild Arms 2 at IGN
Template:GameFAQs
Wild Arms 2nd Ignition OST ⚠ "mbid" is missing! at MusicBrainz

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