Wild Arms 4, known in Japan as Wild Arms the 4th Detonator (Japanese:ワイルドアームズ ザ フォースデトネイター)[1], is the fifth game in the Wild Arms series, with the actual fourth game having been Wild Arms Alter Code: F preceding it. It was released in Japan in 2005, with Western releases following in 2006.
Official Story[]
Jude Maverick has grown up in an isolated town called Ciel, which is completely enclosed in a large sphere floating thousands of feet above the surface of Filgaia. His sheltered world changes forever when he sees the sky "tear" and ships enter his homeland. Upon inspecting the campsite set up by the intruders, he sees something else that he has never seen before: a girl.
The girl's name is Yulie and she is being held captive by the intruders after being captured by a "Drifter" for hire, Arnaud G. Vasquez. After the invading army attacks Ciel and brings the sphere crashing down, Jude, Yulie and Arnaud join forces to find the army's true intention behind Yulie's abduction. With the help of another Drifter, Raquel, these four idealistic teens travel the war-torn land of Filgaia in search of truth, their own identities, and their separate paths to adulthood.
Prologue[]
Jude Maverick is in the woods near his home of Ciel, playing truant from his fencing lessons when he sees the sky "break" and ships enter. He finds soldiers have set up a camp deeper into what is now a Ravaged Forest and witnesses an older boy -- Arnaud Vasquez -- get hit by Commander Tony. Jude further infiltrates their carrier and finds a girl near his age locked in a room, and promises to set her free. While searching for the key, he finds a sword to defend himself with, as well as Arnaud's cell, and ends up hiding out in there from the soldiers. They introduce themselves and talk for awhile until Jude remembers the young girl, but she is not in her cell when the two return, and Arnaud deduces that the soldiers have taken her back to the village. They have to fight their way through the Sunlit Path Jude back through as the soldiers have left Scouters to eliminate any stragglers. The two teenagers finally make it to the village to find the civilians, including Jude's mother Ethelda Maverick, have been taken hostage at gunpoint. The soldiers bring out a large box and present it to the girl they have captive. Jude is restless and agitated to help when a soldier flushes him and Arnaud out of hiding and the Commander has his men shoot at the boys to coerce Yulie into cooperating. As Jude runs from the gunfire he trips over the box and silver sand spills out around him, reacting to his determination and transforming into an ARM, the "Shapeshifter", and he is able to defeat the soldiers and the Commandering piloting Land Gear with Arnaud's help. When the battle ends, however, he is unable to control the ARM. The young girl, who finally introduces herself as Yulie Ahtreide, uses her power to help Jude calm the ARM, but not before its discharge hits the generator keeping Ciel afloat and it begins to fall. The soldiers retreat and the villagers evacuate in escape pods, with the three kids getting separated from the rest of the adults and their landing in the middle of the ocean, with Jude separated from his mother and adrift in an unfamiliar world.
Post-prologue[]
Characters[]
Protagonists[]
- Jude Maverick: The main character of the game and its chief protagonist. At first a sheltered reckless young boy who grows through the struggles of his adventures. He is also a natural born "Gene Driver", making him able to use an ARM.
- Yulie Ahtreide: Though at first shy and in-confident girl, Yulie is actually an artificial "Gene Driver" that has the ability to enhance the power of other Gene Drivers. She is sought after by Brionac in order to use the legendary ARM, the "Divine Weapon".
- Arnaud Vasquez: A brilliant drifter who is "confident in everything from the neck up". Though initially working for the Congressional Knights, he joins Jude upon seeing the treatment inflicted on the town of Ciel.
- Raquel Applegate: A powerful swordswoman that wishes to see the beauty which remains in Filgaia. A sole survivor from her town, she's slowly dying from an incurable disease.
Brionac Forces[]
The Brionac is an elite fighting force of the Congressional Knights, and was initially formed during the war against the Global Union. They were reformed after the war by a new captain, Lambda Zellweger, and are now known as "Lambda's Elite". The group is composed of members with super-human abilities, and each member of the Brionac is equivalent to an entire battalion.
- Lambda Zellweger: An iron willed soldier with the ability to "see" the future.
- Kresnik Ahtreide: Yulie's older brother and the "lance" of Lambda. A knight that is never far from his heroic "steed", the Javelin.
- Farmel Arianrhod: The "shield" of Lambda as well as his lover. A powerful defender with absolute faith in her love.
- Jeremy Non: A Brionac lieutenant fueled by rage and destruction. A psychotic that would rather kill Yulie and her group rather than capture them.
- Enil Aidem: A model soldier and specialist in psychological attacks. Harsh on herself and has difficulty relating to others, even within Brionac.
- Hugo Hewitt: A powerful warrior skilled with the bow and swords. Uses a rare "System Chronos" ability which makes him move with physics-defying speed.
- Balgaine Ales: A daunting physical cyborg fighter that longs for an honorable death on the battlefield. Wields the weaponized chainsaw "Nighogg".
- Augst Henriksen: A former scientist that now functions as Lambda's chief tactician and strategist. Creator of the "Marduk" weapon system.
- Scythe Riebauer: Believes himself to be a Crimson Noble, but is really a hemophiliac. Can warp space and time with limited powers, but is a dangerous foes nonetheless.
- Heath Exon: The creator of Fiore and Asia, but was killed for using his invisibility powers for perverted thrills against Brionac's female members.
- Gawn Brawdia: Lambda's "trump card" usually used as a last resort. Honorable and affable and even serves as a caring mentor to Jude Maverick.
- Belial: Not a formal member of Brionac, but is kept by Scythe as his lover. In truth she's an extremely powerful and dangerous Crimson Noble. Devoted to her lover and keeps up his charade out of genuine affection.
- Fiore and Asia: A pair of magical clockwork dolls brought to life by their former master, Heath. Without him they are somewhat despondent and fatalistic.
Gameplay[]
On the field map, Jude is the only character that is playable to navigate the world of Filgaia, even with other members of his party present. Jude is able to jump and double-jump, crouch, slide, and stomp around the different locations. Also, Jude's Accelerator ability, allows him to manipulate time and collect Gella, and the game will occasionally rely on Accelerator during timed events to advance the story. The game's dungeons are often puzzle-based, requiring Jude to interact with tools and switches throughout. Where the previous game had an ECN gauge for avoiding battles, 4th Detonator requires the player to activate a "Break Point" by either defeating an enemy or solving a puzzle, at which point the player can turn random encoutners on/off by hitting R2.
"HEX" system[]
This game introduces a new battle system known as the HEX (Hyper Evolve X-fire sequence)[2] system, consisting of 7 hexagons. Characters can move in and out of a HEX that is either empty or has an ally in the HEX, but cannot move into a HEX occupied by an enemy. Attacks and items used in a HEX affect all occupants of the HEX. As the HEXes are area-based rather than character-based, status ailments such as Poison or Misery are conferred to a single or multiple HEX as opposed to a character or characters. Characters can be cured by items, dispelling the HEX, or simply moving out of the HEX.
The hex system returned in Wild Arms' next installment, Wild Arms 5, with certain mechanics improved, such as the ability to execute a turn after moving between HEXes (only Raquel is able to do this in the previous game).
Merchandise[]
Game Guides[]

Master Guide
On April 4th, 2005, Dengeki Playstation published the Japanese-language Master Guide for Wild Arms the 4th Detonator, with 288 pages.[3]

Complete Guide depicting Kresnik and Yulie
Enterbrain published a Japanese-language game guide for Wild Arms the 4th Detonator known as the Complete Edition on July 19, 2005, with 685 pages.[4]

Prima Games publication
On January 10th, 2006, Prima Games published the English-language game guide for Wild Arms 4 with a 176 page count.
Soundtrack[]
The Wild Arms the 4th Detonator Original Score was released on June 22, 2005 in Japan. It contains 4 Discs but is missing a single track from the game, thus making it incomplete.
Light novels[]
There were two light novels written by Hiromi Hosoe and published by Famitsu Bunko, with illustration by Wakako Ooba. The first volume was released on June 20th, 2005, and the second volume was released August 29th, 2005. There was another pair of novels written by Saya Amou and published by Dengeki Bunko. However, the second volume was never released. [5]
Manga[]
One manga (3 volumes) and five anthologies were released for Wild Arms 4.
Art book[]

A collectible book of conceptual art, character turnarounds, level design and the like called Wild Arms the 4th Detonator Official Creation Collection was released in Japan after the game.
Radio play[]

A 7-track radio play, WILD ARMS the 4th Detonator: Official Creation Collection Special CD was packaged with the above concept art book, containing a radio drama starring the four heroes' voice actors from the game.
Trivia[]
- In the Western versions two monsters (Dalawa Bunny and Accident Rabbit) were taken out of the game, which made it impossible to complete the Monster Book. It made Ex. Key 07 impossible to acquire through normal means, and, consequently, Ex. Files A and F can't be accessed.
- When played in 50 Hz PAL mode, the Great Stairway dungeon and Yulie's Material ability can potentially crash the game. The latter problem can be worked around by disabling battle movies in the game's options.
- The back cover of the NA version of the game erroneously states the series' name as "Wild ARMS", despite all previous entries using normal capitalization. This error is not present in the EU version.
- At one point in its production it was known as Wild Arms Another Code: F[6] due to being developed at the same time as Wild Arms Alter Code: F, which ended up being released before the 4th Detonator.
References[]
- ↑ ワイルドアームズ ザ フォースデトネイター (Japanese)
- ↑ Wikipedia - Wild Arms 4 (Japanese)
- ↑ [1] (Japanese)
- ↑ [2] (Japanese)
- ↑ WA4関連商品情報 (Japanese, archived)
- ↑ IGN - New Wild Arms Game for PS2
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