Wild Arms XF (2007)

Developer: Media.Vision
Publisher: 505 Games, XSEED Games, Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy
Where to get it: Website

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A grid-based tactical RPG likened to chess that feels methodical and strategically deliberate.

tacticalstrategicslow-burnfantasticalmethodical

About

Wild Arms XF is a 2D turn-based tactical role-playing game, creating a gameplay experience somewhere between Dungeons & Dragons and chess. Players are given control of a small squad of characters (six or less) and placed on a grid-based map resembling a geographical location (a swamp, a town, a river), upon which they fight battles to progress through the game. As with most T/RPGs, positional advantage can be critical to victory, and players are encouraged to outmaneuver their enemies as well as outgun them. The game emphasizes positioning and maneuvering by the inclusion of "Formation Arts," which increase attack damage when an enemy is surrounded by your characters in a line, a triangle or a circle. Wild Arms XF is a member of the small subsection of T/RPGs whose battlefields are based around hexagonal tiles instead of squares. "Combination Arts" return from previous Wild ARMs titles, allowing characters to target an enemy in a waiting state and then deliver their attacks simultaneously with the next ally to attack their target. If the player succeeds in executing an uninterrupted series of commands, the damage inflicted upon enemies will increase significantly. On the other hand, the enemy gets the same advantage.

Screenshots

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More by Media.Vision

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.