It's best to look at Wild Arms 4 as it's own game rather than a Wild Arms game
this is the first game in the series to use what the game calls a "Hex system"
In my opinion it's great.... unlike Final Fantasy games(no offense to FF fans i love that series to) there are tons of ways to go about killing pretty much any boss in the game... as where in FF games many boss's require perfect timing and specific attacks/spells to overcome them
i found the battle system very fun to experiment with... combining different characters abilities to create great strategies
this game looks good to
the environment is detailed with interesting backgrounds and all around surroundings with pretty decent graphics to top it all off
they also have a platforming element which i found extremely fun
many Japanese RPG fans may not want platforming in their game but i think that is being way to picky.... when game designers explore new gameplay elements to mix together it's a good thing and i found the platforming in this game to be a very strong point in the gameplay
there is a lot of puzzle solving (most of which being pretty easy but still fun) mixed with platforming in a way making the game somewhat like Zelda but at the same time way way way different
the story is told mostly through comic-like pictures of the characters talking to each other... i thought they were very fun to look at.... the art work is well done but much of these comics were not voice acted which wouldn't be a problem if the story wasn't so text heavy... don't get me wrong i have no problem reading through games.... but when things are uninteresting and unnecessary to be said by characters you don't care about (not main) it gets very boring and leaves you tempted to skip them all together
either way the game offers enough good text and actual cutscenes to leave you caring about the characters.... the story works for what the game is but isn't amazing... it's hard to find games with amazing stories so i think this game has an average RPG story when comparing it to most releases.... all together i thought this was a pretty unique game that is definitely worth checking out