Wild Arms XF (Crossfire) officially announced for North America

[mxpowar]

Just got an e-mail from XSeed (I subscribe to their newsletter) that they are releasing Wild Arms XF for PSP in America in "Spring '08". I'm a huge Wild Arms fan so this was a big deal for me. Here's an excerpt from the e-mail:


http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gifTHE NEWEST INSTALLMENT IN THE WILD ARMS SERIES (http://us.f607.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=2676_290348_8936_1826_6524_0_1918 8_27029_2908592636&Idx=0&YY=64905&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=25&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Trash#article1) STORY (http://us.f607.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=2676_290348_8936_1826_6524_0_1918 8_27029_2908592636&Idx=0&YY=64905&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=25&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Trash#article2) KEY FEATURES (http://us.f607.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=2676_290348_8936_1826_6524_0_1918 8_27029_2908592636&Idx=0&YY=64905&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=25&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Trash#article3)

Are you ready to carry around the fate of a dying planet in your hands? It is with great pleasure to announce that XSEED Games today announced that it has acquired North American publishing rights for WILD ARMS® XF, a deep and challenging turn-based strategy RPG for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, scheduled for release in Spring 2008.


http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gifhttp://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gif (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/)http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gif
An original title created specifically for the PSP system and developed by Media.Vision, Wild ARMs XF (pronounced "Crossfire") is the newest installment in the long-running role-playing series which marks a couple firsts for the franchise; the first one containing tactical strategy gameplay, as well as the first Wild ARMs game to appear on a handheld system.
Wild ARMs XF offers a unique strategy role-playing experience with a hex-based grid system producing more tactical positioning options, a large number of job classes allowing vast party customization, and a wide range of mission objectives making it one of the deepest strategy games on the PSP® system. Wild ARMs XF features an all-new cast in an epic story of death, betrayal and redemption played out against the backdrop of the dying world of Filgaia.


http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gif

http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gifhttp://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gifhttp://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gif (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/)http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gifThe once vibrant world of Filgaia is slowly dying, a result of some cataclysmic event lost in the dim, misty reaches of the past. The few pathetic remnants of once mighty nations are caught up in an endless cycle of war, fighting over Filgaia's ever-dwindling natural resources. Amidst the carnage and slow decay, there is one kingdom that has until recently managed to avoid the chaos and suffering plaguing its neighbors; the kingdom of Elesius.
However, the kingdom is slowly descending into anarchy with the king inflicted with a mysterious illness that has kept him bed-ridden, intensifying the future uncertainty as the heir-apparent disappeared a year earlier and is presumed dead. An opportunistic senate has formed its own police force and is gradually usurping power from the royal family.
It is against this backdrop of political intrigue and social decay that the main character Clarissa Arwin, accompanied by her half-brother and protector, Felius, enter Elesius hot on the trail of Rupert Dandridge, the man who murdered her mother. What started out as a personal vendetta soon turns into an epic battle to not only keep a kingdom from falling, but to save the world of Filgaia from being turned into an uninhabitable wasteland.


http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gif

http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gifhttp://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gifhttp://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/spacer.gif (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/)Innovative hex-based battle grid system allows more tactical positioning options, such as Formation Arts and Combination Arts, as opposed to the traditional square-based battle grid.

One of the deepest strategy games on the PSP system with over 60 stages containing a wide array of mission objectives, as well as numerous optional battles.
Almost endless party customization with over 20 unique job classes to choose from such as Berserker, Elementalist, Grappler, Geomancer and Sacred Slayer.
Extensive material creation options to create more powerful weapons, spell books and armor by combining rare materials obtained by sending out hired mercenaries to scavenge throughout the world of Filgaia.
US-exclusive inclusion of a Music Library containing 20 select tracks from the game accessible any time from the game menu.WILD ARMS XF is scheduled for release in Spring 2008. The ESRB rating and suggested retail price will be announced at a later date.
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[Kayden]

That sucks. I haven't even opened WA4 or 5.

[62t]

nice, you can unlock some extra by connecting it with a WA5 game save

[Kayden]

How do you do that? WA5 was PS2 and this is PSP.

[rodeojones903]

Awesome news!

[Ryukahn]

This game looks really good, can't wait.

[mxpowar]

How do you do that? WA5 was PS2 and this is PSP.
Well, it may work differently if you have the save on a PS3. Also, the PS2 does have USB ports so theoretically, you could hook up a PSP to a PS2, but I'm not really sure how it would work. If anyone knows, please educate us. :)

[The Mana Knight]

Here are some images:
http://www.rpgland.com/content/?p=3197

Boxart
http://www.rpgland.com/content/media/2008/01/wildarmsxfenglish20.jpg

The game is looking pretty cool and I can't wait for it. :D

[Ryukahn]

I really like the box art. March is even more crowded now with Brawl being pushed back. I'm still not sure if I will get this on release day due to an overflow of games and not enough time, but I'm a little worried about it becoming rare, especially since it will probably be over-shadowed by Crisis Core.

[Ryukahn]

IGN updated their site with about 20 or so new images (http://media.psp.ign.com/media/851/851723/imgs_1.html).

[VanillaGorilla]

This game was recently discussed on 1UP Yours as one of the most underhyped games of 2008. Apparently, some of their staffers have good things to say about it.

[The Mana Knight]

Official site is now up:
http://www.wildarmsxf.com/

[Ryukahn]

Thanks for the heads up about the site being up

[snowsquirrel]

Champions League for PS2, and PSP had transferable save games. For example, you could play campaign mode on ps2, then transfer save, and pick up where you left off, on psp. It was the game itself that did the transferring. i.e., while you had the game running on ps2, you plugged in psp, running the cl-umd, and it would swap the save game. Went other way too. I assumed that many games did this.

~S

[Ryukahn]

I was pretty excited about getting this game, but now I'm not nearly as hyped as I once was. Maybe it's because I'm playing through FFT again, and it's so obvious that Disgaea is a better game. I'm worried that Wild Arms is going to give a similar feeling and I won't really like it since Disgaea has spoiled me. The only reason I haven't canceled my preorder is because Wal-Mart had it for $30 and now it's up to $40, so I'm saving $10 if I do want it.

[The Mana Knight]

Did anyone pick this up? I sure did, but haven't played.

PSPFanboy gave the game a 9.0:
http://www.pspfanboy.com/2008/03/11/psp-fanboy-review-wild-arms-xf/

[62t]

also this game Has English and Japanese voice. Nice to see Xseed finally includes the option

[Ryukahn]

Did anyone pick this up? I sure did, but haven't played.

PSPFanboy gave the game a 9.0:
http://www.pspfanboy.com/2008/03/11/psp-fanboy-review-wild-arms-xf/

I canceled my order and got Tales of the World instead. Between playing a bunch of TotW and reading that review, I think I made a good decision. That review made it sound like it's not my kind of strategy game.