While it won't make every gamer's top ten, Wild Arms 3 stands out as a unique, innovative western-style RPG.
Althought the setting is quite different from most RPGs, the game mechanics of Wild Arms 3 are in fact, not so different. Towns, world map, random battles, and magic (called 'arcana') all are still present in Wild Arms, but the devil's in the details, and that's where the similarities end. Towns in Wild Arms don't simply appear on the world map. Instead, you must actively search for these towns with the square button, while walking around, guided only by the directions given to you by civilians in the past town. While this feature sets it apart from most RPGs, it quickly becomes a tedious task, especially when riding a horse. You will frequently find yourself frustrated because you have been plodding through a certain section of land for hours, constantly searching for the next town, only to find that you've been looking in the wrong place. One of the better features that sets it apart from other RPGs is that you are actually able to skip over some random battles. Basically, you have a meter which indicates your ability to skip a few battles. Whenever you activate the function, the meter goes down a number dependent on the supposed difficulty of the skipped encounter. While it doesn't always work (since the meter does deplete), the it is a welcome feature that saves players from having to battle the same weak enemies over and over again.
Battles in Wild Arms 3 are very similar to battles in other RPGs. Combat is turn-based, and players with higher initiative values will go first (nothing new there). In your turn, you can shoot, use arcana (magic), use special abilities, or reload (which also serves as a 'defend' option). Using your firearm will consume ammunition, and when you run out, you are forced to either use a close combat attack with your firearm (pistol whip anyone) or reload. The use of both arcana and special abilities requires force points. The difference between the two is that while arcana will consume your force points, special abilities do not, and only require that you have a minimum amount of force points in your resevoir.
The graphics are cel-shaded (obviously), with the thick black outlines of each character, and are, actually, not that bad. Of course, they are a little lacking when comparing to some other RPGs (*cough* Xenosaga *cough* FFX*cough*) but overall, they're nice and detailed, and with the exception of the wasteland that is the world map, easy on the eyes.
The opening theme of Wild Arms 3 is quite nice, typical for an anime based game, but the in-game music gets kind of annoying. It's kind of like a hybrid between wild west music plus techno-trance-ish stuff, which, while is *almost* perfectly suitable, kind of annoying.
Overall, while flawed, Wild Arms 3 is a great game and should be tried by all RPG gamers. It's a nice game to plough through, and it's innovative style should impress everyone.