Wild Arms is a role-playing game developed by Media.Vision and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It came out in Japan on 20 December 1996, in North America in 1997 and in Europe in October 1998, where it was translated into French, Spanish, German and Italian.
Akifumi Kaneko designed and wrote the game, Michiko Naruke composed the music, and Madhouse animated the opening. Media.Vision had been founded in 1993 by former Telenet Japan staff, and development took about three years with a core team of roughly ten people. In the United States, Sony had discouraged RPGs until a policy change in 1996; Wild Arms was one of the first games to benefit and is often seen as a forerunner to Final Fantasy VII in the West.
The game sold over 250,000 copies in Japan in its first two weeks. A PlayStation 2 remake, Wild Arms Alter Code: F, followed in Japan in 2003 and in North America in 2005.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Wild ArmsInfobox gives 30 April 1997; the article text says March 1997 | PlayStation | 1997 | Sony Computer Entertainment America | 1 |
| NA | Wild ArmsPlayStation Network | PlayStation 3 | Dec 6, 2007 | — | 1 |
| JP | ワイルドアームズWairudo Āmuzu | PlayStation | Dec 20, 1996 | Sony Computer Entertainment | 1 |
| EU | Wild ArmsAdds French, Spanish, German and Italian | PlayStation | October 1998 | Sony Computer Entertainment | 1 |
| JP | ワイルドアームズBudget reissue | PlayStation | Oct 12, 2001 | Sony Computer Entertainment | 2 |
| JP | ワイルドアームズGame Archives on PlayStation Network; PS3 support after a system update | PSP | Jul 26, 2007 | — | 1 |
| EU | Wild ArmsPlayStation Store | PlayStation 3 | Jan 4, 2012 | — | 1 |
| WW | Wild ArmsPlayStation Plus for PS4 and PS5, with rewind, video filters and trophies | PlayStation 4 | Jun 13, 2022 | — | 1 |
Also known as: ワイルドアームズ JP1
Box art by region
NA Wild Arms 
EU Wild Arms 
JP ワイルドアームズ
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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TextPlayStation (EU)
The European release adds French, Spanish, German and Italian translations.1
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ContentPlayStation (NA)PlayStation (EU)
The overseas versions replace the yakisoba of the Japanese original with a hamburger.2
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CoverPlayStation (NA)
North American copies were rated K-A at launch and E from 1 January 1998, with identical software and the same catalog number.1
Translations
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English Official
Sony Computer Entertainment America1997PlayStation · Japanese versionReleased · complete
To meet a tight deadline, Sony's American branch put seven people on the English translation, nearly twice the team used for Beyond the Beyond.1
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Spanish Official
Sony Computer Entertainment1998PlayStationReleased · complete
The European release was translated into Spanish, French, German and Italian.3
Reception
Wild Arms holds 79% on GameRankings. It sold over 250,000 copies in Japan in its first two weeks, was runner-up for RPG of the Year at Electronic Gaming Monthly and was a finalist for Console RPG of the Year at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, losing to Final Fantasy VII.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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