## 2025-05-04 What a strange and silly and interesting and weird game. **Wild Arms 2** is a game so clearly cut down by its own terrible translation that it makes me want to finally learn Japanese just so I can understand what it was trying to say. Like, I *think* I get it, but goddamn what a fumble. I think if this game’s translation wasn’t so bad it’d be one of the [[PlayStation]] greats. As it stands, though, it ends up being a deeply flawed but engaging piece of art that I will probably never stop thinking about. What is a hero? That’s the question at the heart of **WA2**, and it takes the game to some absolutely staggering places. It was written by Akifumi Kaneko of Symphogear fame, who is constantly meditating on the concept of heroism, and this game feels like him taking the weighted training clothes off. By the end of the game I was given 5000 different concepts of what a hero can be, including but not limited to: - Heroism is performed - Heroism is lineage - Heroism is sacrifice - A heroic reputation means nothing without the support of others - A hero is the person you look up to most - A hero can’t exist without something to fight against - A hero is someone who doesn’t want to ever be a hero - You shouldn’t need a hero, only be one The game doesn’t really take a stance on any of these potential philosophies barring maybe one, instead presenting them from the perspectives of the different characters and asking you the player to decide what a hero and the concept of heroism to you. …I *think*. Again, this is me pulling from the threads of the game’s awful translation. But I pride myself on my ability to read through the lines of a bad TL after being forged in the trenches of 90s anime and video games. >[!Warning]- I have to talk about the ending now I’m sorry > The game ends with the party fighting against a sentient universe that is attempting to consume their planet, and the planet fighting back after being inspired by the party to recognize that everyone must be heroic for themselves and each other. This is after the realization that the last time this sentient universe tried to destroy the planet, a lone girl fought it back and sacrificed herself in the process. Everyone on Filgaia idolized her, but the truth is that she was just a scared young girl who died saving the world because no one was there to support her, and the fact that she never wanted to be a hero in the first place. > > It’s *unbelievably fucking heavy*. When I really stop and think about it, it’s unreal how good this game’s story could be if it wasn’t held back by it’s translation. Like, it’s digestible in its current form, but it could be a real masterpiece with a retouch. I’ve heard rumblings of an updated fan-translation that I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on in the future. Anyways I loved **Wild Arms 2**. It swings for the fences and then some with it’s wild[^1] plot, and it has some gorgeous music and visuals to back it up. It is a hard game to take in, but if you are like me and believe that the most beautiful games are the ones that are deeply flawed but have the guts to go for it, then there’s a lot to love here. Also I have nothing to say about the game’s gameplay. It is [[JRPG]] 101. The interesting aspect is that usual lite-puzzle **Wild Arms** good-good. [^1]: heh