Wild Arms XF coming to American PSPs in Spring 2008 @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on November 30, 2007

News: Wild West-themed RPG touches down on the PSP for the first time.

XSEED Games, friend to the RPG gamer everywhere, has announced they will publish Wild Arms XF (pronounced Crossfire) on the PSP next spring.

Wild Arms XF will take the Wild West-themed RPG series in a new direction by offering tactical strategy gameplay. It is also the first Wild Arms game to appear on a handheld system.

The story has all the hallmarks of the RPG genre: A recent apocalypse, a neverending war, a fiendish and possibly corrupt royal family. Naturally, a plucky group of teenagers will be called on to save the world:

The Story
The 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.

Other features of Wild Arms XF include:

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.

The Japanese version of Wild Arms XF was also able to connect with the PS2's Wild Arms 5 to unlock bonus content. This feature was not mentioned in XSEED's announcement however.

We'll have more on Wild Arms XF soon.