Part 46: Wilderness No Longer... until the next game.

Post LP Note: Linking to Battle VS Lord Blazer last update started an interesting conversation.



Update 41: Wilderness No Longer... until the next game.


Well, Rudy's list is complete...although we still couldn't find him a T-Shirt. The Sheriff Star is going to have to do. Last time, we simply curbstomped Ragu O Ragula, three times to be precise (although one of them was really just for fun), and used Zed to solo the final battles with the Sheriff Star. Really, they didn't stand a chance.

So, what's left? Well, there are a couple things that happen after you beat the final boss. The credits for example. I did this back when I LPed Azure Dreams, and it's something I'd like to continue doing for every LP I do. I'm going to manually transcribe the credits and pay attention to every single name as my personal thank you to the fine men and women who breathed life into this game, and brought it to the states.
And once again, if you happen to recognize any names on this list, let me know. I'd like to credit them for other stuff they've done.

AGETEC, INC.
Localization Team.

Executive Producer: Mark Johnson
Producer: Shinji Iwata
Assistant Producer: Franz Stoppenbach, Nicole Kirk
Marketing Director: Justin Lucas
Editors: Mabel Chung, George Mears
Public Relations: David Silviera, Reverb Communications
Marketing Asistant: Mio Morozumi.

...wait a second, is that it? Is that the entire Agetec team that brought the game over? I thought there would be more people. Huh.
Anyway, I suppose I owe all nine of you a personal apology. Yes, I've been bashing this game for all it's localization goofs, but ultimately, I'm grateful for the job you did. Too many games are developed in Japan and never make it State side. You guys did a good job. Now, you could have done a lot better, but I'm grateful that you at least did it, and for that you have my eternal gratitude.

Also, I'd like to point out that the instruction manual also has it's own credits section. It left out Nicole Kirk as an Assistant Producer, replaced David Silviera with Reverb Communications, but for some reason mentioned the Editors when the game did not. I'm cross-referencing these lists and making sure everyone gets mentioned.

JAPAN STAFF

Lead Game Design: Akifumi Kaneko
System Coordinate: Hideaki Kikuchi
Darkhamsterlord linked to an interesting article about Akifumi Kaneko wanting to do a remake for Wild ARMs 2 as well. However, to my knowledge, he has left Media.Vision for reasons I don't know, and simply put, it is unlikely any future Wild ARMs games will be produced.

Field Plan: Kouichi Shirasaka, Hideaki Kikuchi, Takao Nishiyama, Takayuki Kouno.
Battle Plan: Nobou Nakazawa, Satoshi Fukushima
Event Plan: Hiroki Ishii, Eriko Kudoh, Manabu Izui, Tsunenobu Suzuki.

Lead Programming: Takao Suzuki
VU Programming: Masanori Yamamoto, Mokoto Ochi, Shinji Takeda
Battle Programming: Masanori Yamamoto, Hiroshi Yamaki, Makoto Ochi, Takaaki Sohno
Movie Programming: Muneaki Shimazaki
Field & Event Programming: Muneaki Shimazaki, Yusuke Wakigawa, Ryuji Shito, Satoshi Kodaira, Hiroshi Yamaki, Takaakii Sohno

Visual Chief: Tetsuya Ookubo, Yukihiko Itoh
Character Design: Wakoko Ooba
Sub Character Design: Yuu Hiki, Hidefumi Kataoka
Monster Design: Tetsuya Ookubo, Takayuki Yabubayashi, Hiroki Ishii, Yutaka Kunimoto, Yuu Hiki
Character Modelers: Syu Takenaka, Yutaka Kobayashi, Kazuyuki Kumazoe
Character Textures: Takayuki Yabubayashi, Tetsuya Ookubo, Hidefumi Katoka, Yuu Hiki, Jun Sekine, Naoki Ozaki
Storyboard Art: Tarou Yamazaki, Kiyonori Yoshida, Takeshi Tomiwaki, Yukihiko Itoh, Yuu Hiki, Hiroki Ishii, Erika Osada
Field Modelers Daisuke Miura, Kazuyuki Kumazoe, Shinya Sasahara, Yutaka Kobayashi
Field Textures: Yukihiko Itoh, Takeshi Tomiwaki, Takayuki Yabubayashi, Takeshi Kasano, Toru Saitoh
Character Animation: Hiroki Ishii, Masaya Kobayashi, Kazuyuki Kumazoe, JunSekine, Takeshi Kasano, Daisuke Miura, Masae Hanazawa, Seiji Fujiawara, Yutaka Kobayashi, Naoki Ozaki, Mitsuhiro Omori
Event Scene Art: Hidekazu Iijima, Masaya Kobayashi, Hiroki Ishii
Effect Artist: Yutaka Kunimoto, Yukiyoshi Mori, Syu Takenaka
This section may seem large, but a lot of the names appear under multiple categories.

Short Story: Eriko Kudoh
Shorty Story Illustration: Kinta
Well...I guess now we know who wrote Four Witches...

Graphic PD: DIGITAL ZERO Inc.
CG Movie PD: ANIMA Inc.

Sound Composer: Michiko Naruke


Recording Director: Yoshiaki Matsuda
Sound Director: Junko Sano
Sound Effect: Junko Sano, Masao Kumura, Kaori Ooshima, Yu Ogata, EYESEARS Inc
Animation PD: Mad House Inc.
Package Illustration: Wakako Ooba, Emi Takahashi

Director, Business Development: Naoko Kino
Product Managers, Localization: Yuri Kato, Yuko Namba
My apology extends to you two as well.

Legal: Yumi Chihara
Special Thanks: Aya Sugawara, Kanae Wada
Assistant Director: Harumi Umezawa
Director: Nobukazu Satoh
Assistant Producer: Kentaro Motomura
Producer: Takashi Kukushima, Yasuhide Kobayashi
Executive Producer: Akira Satoh, Fumiya Takeno, Masatuska Saeki, Tomikazu Kirita

Developed by: Media.Vision Entertaint Inc.
Presented By: Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Published by: Agetec, Inc.
Hey, why do Sony get a capital B for "By?" Fuck Up Count:, eh, fuck it.

Alright, since this is the end of the credits, I'm going to put my own bit here.
Thanks to Geri_khan and Darkhamsterlord for LPing Wild ARMs 3 and 5 respectively. The WA3 LP was actually one of the reasons I registered on this site (after reading it for a while unregistered), and I was super excited when WA5 was LPed. It's been nice having you two in the thread just talking how the series has changed in little and big ways.
Polsy for just being fucking awesome, for not only providing lots of tools for all the other LPers to work with (despite never doing an LP himself?), but transcribing the three Japanese songs into English so I could translate them myself and sing them. Oh, and you found the collection for A Saying A Day.
Google Translate for actually doing most of the translation for me, all I had to do was make it somehow comprehensible, easier said than done, but a task made possible because of this.
Szurumbur for being my "editor" and pointing out a good portion of my Fuck Ups. My English professors appreciate it.
Glazius...is there a single thread you DON'T post in?
ATM Machine for buying me Platinum Upgrade and letting me PM Azure and Polsy for stuff.
All the rest of you guys who kept posting in the thread. I know I'm not the most interesting LPer in the world, but I really appreciate you guys posting and at the very least keeping too many updates from taking over a page. Glad to know at least someone out there is reading and hopefully enjoying this.

And Azure_Horizon. Thanks for doing this with me, man. Sorry I couldn't keep up with your pace (seriously? Three LPs in the time it took me to do this?), but I don't think my LP would have been as interesting without your LP showing what happened before.



This song, despite being called Bonus Track, implying that it's unique to the OST, is actually a medley of songs from the game and plays here in the secret ending. To reach this secret ending, you have to just have a full six-member party. Right now, the song is playing a simple piano version of Footprints.


This area is supposed to be where Ka Dingel stood. Presumably the explosion flattened the area and turned the shallow water surrounding the tower into a barren crater. Well, it's barren no longer.


Asgard just can't seem to keep track of his arms...


And to prove that I'm just not using the same screenshots from before, here's Mariel's textbox showing her name. The Footprints melody is dropped and replaced with a new melody I don't recognize. It sounds like there are more instruments, and a little drums.


You know, I don't think I've seen Magdalen pull out a real pocket watch all game. Or at least one that was modeled.


I don't care what Deceitful Penguin says. Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable!


: Look, someone's coming! Speak of the devil... You know, that's a dumb saying.
Girl, you've clearly never had a conversation with Armengard.


Oh Bartholomew, acting like people care about you.





But those are the three we care about. The song switches to a melody that was played in The Prologue Beginning From Here.


I still really like this moment, it shows Jane taking a couple deep breaths before running to greet Rudy. It's a subtle but very very human thing to do.


Sorry Bartholomew, she only used you for your boat.


And yet, Jane can't run less than half the distance Bartholomew did.


It's interesting how early they show Rudy's Guardian Blade/Gauntlet-thingie, yet it looks so natural so you don't think of it.


Mariel's faicial expression isn't that well modeled, like the faces, but considering how quiet and depressed she is most of the time, it's really cute to see her with one.


Fade to black.


But wait! There's more!


As we fade from black, Rudy just smiles and nods as Jane gets up. A few strings take over with a piano, though they really aren't playing much of a melody right now.


: We promised to reunite when Mariel's flowers finally blossomed.


Interesting that they are using Cecilia's princess dress here, despite her wearing the traveling outfit before. The music picks up a little bit here.
: We swore to Asgard that we would take care of Filgaia. (That was the most important promise. Which we will keep forever. You're finally sleeping peacefully now; I don't want to have to wake you.)
No, we'll just build Golems with Asgard's name for nearly every single game in the future now.
: (I came to tell you what I had realized... Why I want to take care of Filgaia... It is...)


And Zed's theme (from the original game?) takes over. He's standing on Asgard's head.
: They say if your friends give you the cold shoulder, or you feel left out, it means they must be planning for your birthday. And what do you know, I was excluded. And they're all here.


Speaking of surprises, a rock comes out of nowhere and hits Zed straight in the forehead.


He lands headfirst on the ground. I would feel sorry, but this is Zed we're talking about.


Jane's theme takes over here.


: Why'd you get to live for so long? You're not immortal anymore, and I'm going to figure out exactly how much life you have left, right now...


Jane's theme begins to fade away as Rudy and Magdalen hold back Jane, while Jack and Bartholomew hold back Zed.


Another melody from The Prologue Beginning From Here starts to play, like a music box.
: (It is, isn't it. Human, Elw, demon, sprite...)
Wait, is that what Zed is? A sprite?


Aww, Jane and Zed get along so well...Mariel can't stand to watch though.


Rudy notices Cecilia is looking, and smiles.




The teardrop begins to shrine as several strings flourish.


Lights from the Teardrop start spreading all over the place.


Enough to make Jane and Zed give pause.


The game shows everyone's face one by one as the music begins to intensify for some reason.


















And then the music fades to a music box.














































It's this again. Well, here we go, my 100% save. There is something about 100% completing a game that completely changes your viewpoint on it. You have done literally everything there is to do. Well, I guess I can complete the monster book if I wanted, but fuck that shit.


The game advertised more than 60 hours of game play. That's a fair statement.


I mean, look at this. It's complete...well, I guess there is only one thing left to do.


Something at the beginning of the game that I forgot to do.


...nah, I can't bring myself to do it. It'll stay as Rudy. So, what stays between an Ex New Game?


Well, for starters, none of your items, although you do keep your Gella.


Except the Sheriff Star. That transfers between Ex New Games. You can have six or 99 if you REALLY wanted to waste that much time.


Everyone's level remains the same, though ARM Upgrades, Cartridges, Spells and Fast Draw Mastery will reset. This REALLY sucks for Jack, as now he's level 100 and can only get 1 use for his Fast Draw. It takes several hundred to master Laser Silhouette.


However, it means that no enemy in the game can stand a decent challenge against you. Level 100, with the Sheriff Star...hell, this was a basic attack (that criticaled, but still).


Although, since I am level 100, I'll get everyone's Lv 100 Ex File Keys really fast now.


However, this is my goal.


We're going to see what happens if you do this.




The door opens like you'd expect.
: … … … If it opened with my name as the password, it must be totally random... If that were true, we could try anything...
: … … … ...By any chance... Are you thinking of something?
: Maybe. It's a ruin with a random device. We can probably enter whatever we want.
Jack leans forward to start inputting random stuff.
: ...Hold on! That's not right! That just doesn't make any sense!
Yeah, it'd be like someone locking a door but letting it open to ANY password, what kind of moron would do that?
Oh right, Zed.


However, it just skips (somewhat abruptly) to the earthquake and the trap triggering. This makes it seem more like the earthquake caused the trap.


But remember, there are two names for Fulcani, right? Let's see what Keeper does.


Not surprisingly, it actually skips to the "An Earthquake?" part.
Welp, that's it everyone. Hope you enjoyed it.



End of update LP status:
This is the Ex File Status that I have (not much, really)

Number of encounters canceled: 1,512
Number of battles fought: 1,271
Number of continues used: 22
Total monsters defeated: 2,504
Max damage to an enemy 387,228
Number of saves: 139

And just because, I'll also go into just what this completed file will give a new game in Wild ARMs 4.
Level Bonus: +1 Starting Level for each party member (1 for each Sheriff Star)
Gella Bonus: 2,365 (Monsters Killed minus Saves)
Item Bonus: 12 Heal Berries, 8 Revive Fruit, 6 Potion Berries, 4 Nectars, 2 Mega Berries, 1 Vibhuti, 1 Holy Berry , and 6 Extra Challenges. (based on Mariel's level, which was 24, the Extra Challenges are used for a sidequest, and you get six just for completing AC:F)
Badge Bonus: Convert Badge added to inventory, which will replace Jude's ARM with Rudy's ARM parameters. (+114% ATK, +7 Bullets; also requires a completed save.)
Bonus Treasure Chests: 13 chests will become visible without Detector. 3 of which will carry Familiar Tale (a sidequest item), and 10 will contain 38722 gella each. (Max Damage divided by 10.)
Improved Weapons: Lombardia's ATP is increased by 1271 (Battles Fought), Fafnir increased by 1512 (Battles Canceled).
Improved Lock-On: The character with Lock-On will get it improved to Lock-On Active (because I chose that Force Ability.)
EXP Drop Increased: The Black Box will drop 603040 EXP. (Some formula based on the average party level; mine was 100, obviously.)
Gella Drop Increased: Charybdis will drop 144,927 additional Gella. (Current Amount of Gella +1 divided by Playtime Hours +1; max Gella and 68 hours)

The next game I LP will most likely be Wild ARMs 4, and yes, I will use this save file. If someone wants to go ahead and LP Wild ARMs 4, all the power to you and I will read it. I probably won't LP another game until the semester ends to keep my workload light.

Version Differences:
The secret ending here is completely original, and gives Zed one last moment to steal the spotlight.
Fulcani's name and title each give different dialog from Jack if you use those instead of any other name.

Official Strategy Guide:
Can't quite find a better spot to put these. The strategy guide for this game included a few comics from Penny Arcade, and I'd like to include them here. I already checked Slowbeef for permission, he said it was fine.





A Saying A Day
: (November 2nd) Today's saying is, 'truth is a daughter of time.' If this saying is true, and if the saying, 'time is money,' is true, then truth must be the daughter of money. So if you have money, you can make truth. Now I feel kind of sad............
: (November 3rd) Today's saying is, 'know the real thrill of life.' The real thrill is like the taste of cheese. So, a wanderer saying that the real thrill of life is adventure means an adventure tastes like cheese. I have no idea what it tastes like. You only find out if you go on an adventure.

: Hey! You! Yes, you! I know you can see this text! If you want to read more Sayings a Day, just click this link! Just click on the month then scroll down to the day!




And with that all said and done, I am finally no longer Alone in the World Wilderness.

…ah, what the hell. One more song. I've also added the Karaoke versions of Funeral March, Windward Birds and Footprints to the OP.



Post LP Note: One more thing! I got a new avatar.