Wild Arms 3 Part 30: You Can Always Go Home Again (and Again)

Giddyap, partner, because today is November 21. The catch phrase of the day is, ‘Beating after death.’ The Ark of Destiny hands out free calendars every year, but it only lists their religious holidays. It makes me want to memorize all of them, so I don’t use them myself.

Previously on Wild Arms 3: We learned of The Ark of Destiny’s history of dendrology, and that apparently happened right around where Virginia used to live.

So let’s check the ol’ homestead for clues.

Fun fact: there is in fact a hill in Boot Hill. Virginia’s family lives up on said hill. They are loaded.

As you may expect, every NPC in town has more personalized dialogue for Virginia.

The rest of the party just gets generic clues that will help them save the world.

Freaking love that Libera the ARMs-smith has to tell Virginia immediately that he couldn’t save the town from gobs back during her intro because he was visiting his girlfriend in Canada that day.

Huh! What a weird coincidence!

Can you only get to Boot Hill if you are on the verge of death? Apparently Roykman, our ever-faithful traveling merchant, was rescued in Boot Hill from a pack of dogs by some mysterious character that is Virginia’s Dad (oops spoilers).

“Today is November 21. The catch phrase of the day is, ‘Beating after death.’ The Ark of Destiny hands out free calendars every year, but it only lists their religious holidays. It makes me want to memorize all of them, so I don’t use them myself.”

I feel like I heard this somewhere before.

“Steer your ship north of the cap where the giant’s statue stands, and you’ll come to a strait that connects the inland sea and the open seaway. This is also the hunting ground of the monster Balal Quo Naga, where many vessels and Sandcraft meet disaster…Balal Quo Naga used to lurk south of Little Twister near the sunken reefs, but…In recent years, it followed its prey to this strait and made this area its new home. This ferocious monster has shut down scores of trade routes and has taken the lives of hundreds of sailors. Somebody must do something so the people can get on with their lives…”

Yet another clue to yet another quest we will undertake in another ten updates or so.

“The human brain does not make use of its full potential. There is another world that can still be tapped from the brain. It is possible to study how the brain works through electric signals. The brain is a sea of electric signals where thoughts, memories, and dreams are all merely electric signals reacting. There may have been extreme cases where the memory media of information possesses a structure similar to the memory storage area of the brain. Therefore, it can be said that dreams are electric signals connecting to the brain, just like projecting an image on screen. Perhaps with further research, it may become possible for the brain to act as the media itself, receiving signals from other external sources. Developing this other world of the brain has just begun. I believe this may open up infinite possibilities.”

And this is a “clue” to the whole of the Wild Arms 3 plot. Remember, kiddies, your brain is a computer!

“Today is just like any other day–sandstorms paint the sky yellow, while the dry wind blows endlessly…It was like this yesterday, a week ago, a month ago, a year ago…Nothing has changed…It’s a world I’m used to, but why is there apprehension in my heart? Why do I feel there is something wrong with this unchanging world? This world before us–is this the Filgaia we know? I don’t know. No one knows. No one can straight out deny or confirm it. As far as I know, this is the way the world is. But maybe this world was changed without me knowing it? They say the barren wasteland is the result of the great war…But something inside me tells me we shouldn’t settle for that answer.”

At least one of Virginia’s dads probably wrote this book.

Check out Ekatrina Maxwell’s tombstone, and…

Like in Virginia’s intro, someone has inexplicably left a tiny flower on the grave.

Virginia, we could still pretend this was a mystery before we actively saw your dad running around. Now you’re just being dense.

Yes. Thank you for asking.

Yo.

“I would have called ahead, but I have a hard time figuring out if our society has phones. I feel like there are hints…”

“We only had, like, two party wipes!”

“My girlfriend has shot me a few times, but she recently started using a bo staff, so everything is healing."

"Living it up" is defined as “finally got used to Jet’s various odors.”

Summon a god, Virginia! Show ’em the ol’ razzle dazzle!

“This is Jet. He was raised by Daddy, too.”
“What?”

“Is he still alive?”
“Yeah, he was here for dinner yesterday. He brought churros.”

“No, my other daddy. Yes your brother you nitwit.”

“I mean… well… at least something that looked like him. Clive has this theory that everybody is a robot.”
“We can’t rule it out.”

So after Virginia drops that bombshell, there is the implication that time passes. This is conveyed by how Gallows clearly has the look of a man wondering how to politely ask for a chair.

“Everything except this coat of his, which I wear every day.”

“It was small, and I figured I could use it as a coaster.”

Don’t anybody tell Jet there is a book in the house.

Jackpot!

We have seen the name Yggdrasil before, but now we’re going to get a (fake) science lesson.

It is distinctly noted that the Yggdrasil worked as a “reverse tree”, using its roots to revitalize the ground. It also peed on dogs.

“Tree good. Planet need tree.”

Filgaia has some manner of Norse culture confirmed.

“I mean… kinda? I think it’s more of a metaphor…”

“Sure, Virginia. Sure.”

“There is a tree somewhere out there” was our clue for the day.

“Turns out this guy that runs this cult we joined really did see a giant tree.”
“You joined a what?”

“If the Yggdrasil System exists, then that’s where I can find Daddy. I know I don’t know for sure, and I might have said that on a whim, but I want to believe it’s true!”

Let’s… just let Virginia have this one.

Everybody is making a lot of assumptions during this update (“A machine from ten years ago that no one has ever seen might solve the biggest mystery on the planet!”), and I would be more annoyed if they weren’t all completely right.

Gallows just never got to sit down.

If you see Buddha on the road…

“Maybe we could play catch?”

Virginia is still ashamed of her behavior back when they were fighting the murderous machine monster man.

That is an extremely polite way of telling someone to get out.

D’aww.

“Hold your head up high. Also, we turned your room into a walk-in humidor.”

He literally just asked you to hold your head up.

We have a moment here where Virginia is the entirety of the party. May as well talk to the folks while we’re alone.

Guess Shalte wants us to complete all the sidequests…

“Have you had some of our amazing wheat? You look like you haven’t been having enough wheat.”

Anywho, we can check out the rest of the place after we reclaim our boys.

Leaving home keeps getting easier.

Gallows just wants to find the time to wash his sleeping bag while we’re in town.

See? We need to do a lot of laundry here.

So we’re one big happy family again. Want to see what happens when other party members talk to Virginia’s adoptive parents? It isn’t that exciting!

At least we can loot the place. I missed Jet’s radar for the thirty seconds he wasn’t available.

Virginia’s room!

It is not even subtle that Tesla is the richest guy in town.

Good news: this isn’t a Persona game, so none of the men in the party say anything overtly creepy or steal Virginia’s underwear.

And Virginia has a pretty swank balcony. In another life, she could have foregone the gunplay and just hung out here singing to bluebirds.

“A long time ago, the evil serpent Nidhogg lived by the foot of Yggdrasil. Two giants who didn’t get along decided to exterminate this serpent on their own, and each began their journey from two separate directions. Each giant had different reasons for wanting to kill the serpent. The first giant wanted to take the reward all for himself…while the other giant wanted to do the deed for the people. Little did the two giants know that Nidhogg had two heads that worked very well together! So, the two giants ended up inside the serpent’s stomach, regretting not cooperating with each other.”

Yet another clue to that Nidhogg quest that is coming up eventually. At least this useless clue doesn’t require a duplicator.

“After a hundred years of research, an environmental plan to revitalize the planet is about to reach fruition. Many of the businesses that have sponsored this plan have systematically entwined like a tree trunk to form a large tree. It is called the Yggdrasil Project, a plan to replace the guardians as the power that sustains the world in order to bring forth a future. The main engine of the Yggdrasil Project is its powerful generator, which acts as the heart. This is where the planetary energy is produced and distributed through microscopic machines at its roots. The vision of the seven dreamers is about to become reality. We humans must continue to utilize the power of the lost wisdom of Hyades, and bring forth a future for the planet. That is our duty to our children.”

Tesla? Are you sure you didn’t keep any of Werner’s other books?

“Thank you for your continued patronage. Listed below is my travel route for this fiscal year. Little Rock, Baskar Colony, Boot Hill, Humphrey’s Peak, Claiborne, Ballack Rise…Jolly Roger, Laxisland, Little Twister, and finally, Gunner’s Heaven. Please be advised that I may be travelling back and forth from the following six locations: Baskar Colony, Boot Hill, Humphrey’s Peak, Jolly Roger, Laxisland and Gunner’s Heaven.”

A lot of people do not observe that Roykman, the only merchant on Filgaia, will sometimes not be in town. He technically follows a set pattern around the world, and if you repeatedly leave and re-enter the same town, he is likely to be gone. Also, if you remember that Clive’s intro took place in Ballack Rise, you will notice that there are only two locations here we have not seen: Laxisland and Gunner’s Heaven. We are running out of towns…

Okay, we are looking for a giant tree. We don’t have any distinct directions, but I am sure we will figure something…

Everybody brake!

Bum bum buuuuuum!

“I have been your neighbor for the last fifteen years, you self-centered little..”

“Oh, you live here? Neat. Anyway, I’ve been stalking you.”

Don’t you dare hurt that lady that keeps coming up with weird facts about holidays!

“I mean, right now, at least.”

Buh?

Clive is so smart.

He’s not wrong.

Play along with the maniac.

The last one? Man, we ran out of gods quick.

Shake harder, boy!

Is it a whole new, evolved planet? We know. They have told us, like, a billion times.

Janus: about as loyal as a hyena.

“Hey, weird question. Do you and the Prophets live in a giant tree?”

… Does Filgaia have baseball? Or just baseball metaphors?

Such a power move to walk through the party when you can just teleport.

“Um? Directions?”

Haven’t we already confirmed that the guy named for a Roman two-faced god might be a bit duplicitous?

And that is the last thing you say before teleporting away.

Drop the mic if you’ve got it.

“So Janus didn’t mark anything on our map. Gallows?”

Dammit.

At least put in a token effort, Gallows.

“I might not have enough smarts to actually help, but I’m going to try!”

The math on that might be difficult, as the Guardians are literally being drained of their physical essence. What would be a thousand times worse than that?

So Gallows doesn’t know where to go, but Granny might. Let’s visit two different hometowns this update.

Shoot some gobs on the way out for old time’s sake.

As one of the NPCs notes, there is a train station near Boot Hill.

Poorly named. This is not only not a farm, but north and south barely mean anything on Wild Arms 3’s goofy map.

This is the train station from the end of Virginia’s prologue/start of the “group” prologue. That is likely the only reason it looks significantly different from other train stations. Having to appear in a cutscene really inflates the budget!

Good to hear he is doing well!

See this nonsense? If “Southfarm” was a little more south, it would be at the North Pole. Stupid map…

This is going on your performance review, Tony.

Anywho, the fastest way back to Baskar is via train. You may want to take the Sandcraft back, though, as you will need it parked there soon enough…

While you’re in the area, be sure to check on how your garden grows. If you are following the general flow of the plot, this may be the first time you’re back in the area since setting off from Jolly Roger.

And then it’s just a quick gallop back to Gallows’s home.

So cutesy.

No shouting at the holy site!

Do teachers ever have students just show up and start shouting questions for stuff they should have learned, like, years ago?

And we have been to four. For those keeping track, there is the shrine from the intro/Guardian fights, the one by Clive’s house/wedding, the spot where we fought Malik by Little Twister, and that totally dead shrine by the lab.

And our last shrine belongs to the Guardian of Time.

“Everything in this world moves forward according to the cog the cat spins, only to succumb to the fate of falling down. If you listen closely to the cat and cog, the sound is that of paradise.”

Is… that supposed to be helpful? Do we… need to collect more cats in Chrono Trigger or something?