Wild Arms: Alter Code F

Wild Arms: Alter Code F is a complete reworking of the first Wild Arms game from 1996, made for the series' tenth anniversary. It tells the same story of three wanderers searching for ancient technology in a desolate, western-flavored world, but does so with an entirely new graphical style featuring three-dimensional environments and reworked, fully animated characters in place of the original combination of 2D sprites and pre-rendered backgrounds. The turn-based battle system remains intact, as does the emphasis on puzzles hidden in dungeons, which the player solves using the special tools of individual characters.

Compared to the original on PlayStation, this isn't a mere graphical reskin - Alter Code F changes the battle structure, adds new characters, reworked dungeons, and additional scenes that expand and in places rewrite the relationships between the heroes. The crafting and character development system was also reworked, so the game connects more smoothly to later entries in the series. The result is a version that differs from the original enough that both developers and fans view it as a distinct work standing alongside the original, rather than a mere remastered variant of it.

The dungeons were enlarged compared to the original and supplemented with new sections and puzzles absent from the original, so even players who know the 1996 story by heart will encounter previously unseen content. The game is now also accompanied by voiced dialogue and a reworked musical score built on new arrangements of the original soundtrack - elements the written, text-driven version from the original PlayStation never had at all. These changes make Alter Code F more of a hybrid of remake and expanded edition than a simple port of an old game to new hardware.

Why play it: A good choice for players who want to experience the roots of the Wild Arms series without having to tolerate the archaic graphics and controls of the first PlayStation game - the desert western atmosphere and the honest JRPG core remain, just in a much more accessible package.