Squeenix Front Mission series worth playing?

[VonHoffenHeimer]

Agreed, great pacing on FM3 and (i think) a fun story. Buildijg out the mech is fun without being overly complicated.

 

[flyingjohn]

The fake internet in 3 is one of the most crazy extras in any game i have ever seen.
And for anybody interested there is the ds japan only exclusive borders of madness.You have several guides on gamefaq to help you.

 

[Kem0sabe]

The fake internet in 3 is one of the most crazy extras in any game i have ever seen.
And for anybody interested there is the ds japan only exclusive borders of madness.You have several guides on gamefaq to hep you.

Yeah, the amount of detail they put into the ingame internet is crazy, for something that was mostly optional.

Games back then, even AAA releases like Front mission, took more risks with crazy features like that, than we see in current mass market releases.

 

[Van-d-all]

FM1 is a fine SNES title, quite fun.
FM3 is an absolute classic with 70 missions. One of the best in the genre really.
FM4 isn't all THAT bad. The European part of the plot is "90s anime cliche", but the South American part with 3 guys running with former dictator's gold was decent enough.

 

[spekkio]

Nobody ITT except me played FM2?



IMO it's the second best FM after 3. Just skip like half of the "upgrades" (there are way too many "+1" ones) and you'll be fine.

 

[lightbane]

I played it briefly to check if it works, but the fact the dialogues are not fully translated is a pain. I intend to complete it someday, I hope. Front Mission 5 also had an equivalent to the Internet, and so does the 2nd game, but I never touched these much.
FM5 is better than FM3 IMO in all except plot, which goes full anime... But, to be fair, the plot of FM3 is also unintentionally hilarious and crazy, such as starting a fight with mecha in the middle of the American Parliament during peace talks. Or helping the in-universe Chinese tyrant in one of the routes. Or even better: Aid the rebels against said tyrant, then ditch them at the moment they needed your help the most, because the protagonist is laser-focused on protecting his sister no matter what.

 

[Duraframe300]

With the recent focus on PS1 translations I'm hoping someone takes another look at FM2.

Ace Combat 3 for example is getting a new translation soon. (The original release missed all the story and the first fan-translation was *incomplete* too)

 

[Kem0sabe]

I played it briefly to check if it works, but the fact the dialogues are not fully translated is a pain. I intend to complete it someday, I hope. Front Mission 5 also had an equivalent to the Internet, and so does the 2nd game, but I never touched these much.
FM5 is better than FM3 IMO in all except plot, which goes full anime... But, to be fair, the plot of FM3 is also unintentionally hilarious and crazy, such as starting a fight with mecha in the middle of the American Parliament during peace talks. Or helping the in-universe Chinese tyrant in one of the routes. Or even better: Aid the rebels against said tyrant, then ditch them at the moment they needed your help the most, because the protagonist is laser-focused on protecting his sister no matter what.

Out of all my favorite tactics RPGs I don't think any plot comes close to Tactics ogre, FFT started incredibly strong but fell apart towards the end.

It's a shame RPGs don't go heavy on politics drama these days. It makes for excellent characters, strong villains, great betrayals.

 

[Ash]

So...I have nothing to play after decades of hardcore gaming, or so it feels like but there's always something. May take the plunge with FM3. 90s Squaresoft rarely disappoint, please don't let me down bros.

 

[Ash]

I'm about 12 hours in to Front Mission 3. I unfortunately have to conclude the codex lied to me, again, and will be dropping it here. It's a shame because this game had so much potential. The presentation is top-notch, those trademark Squaresoft cutting-edge late 90s FMVs and pre-rendered backgrounds, just peak video game visual appeal. Turn-based tactics RPG in a grounded world with mechs, geopolitics, near-future military tech & skirmishes. All this potential in the presentation and premise largely ruined by retarded gameplay. This has about 1/4 the depth of actual good TBT/SRPGs, such as Final Fantasy Tactics or XCOM. The level design/terrain is almost redundant in battle. The customization there's some but for the most part progression is linear and there is little strategy to it. There's no mechanics or tactical nuances beyond positioning and attack choice (from the 1-3 types of attack you can even wield per character, 2 on average). 12 hours in and haven't died once. No classes, nor classless depth. No AoE attacks (maybe grenade, haven't bothered with it yet). Abilities there's some but random chance to activate under certain conditions, unlocking them is a complete crapshoot and they don't result in interesting choice or strategy. There's a decent inventory system provided but the game difficulty doesn't demand its use. You can only have an active party of 4, further simplifying the combat by comparison to other SRPGs. There's a few status effects (stunned, confused, surrender, ejected) but these have no strategy to them and just activate to RNG out of nowhere, you have zero influence over it happening in any shape or form. Battle encounters almost always play out the same, it's not often the devs create unique scenarios beyond sometimes having the grace to place explosive barrels, or an escort mission with some scientists. Of the 35 something battles out I've had out of 70 total, only about 5 of them threw curveballs or tried something unique. Also no secondary objectives or anything to that effect.
It's a dumb game. Not all bad, I survived 12 hours which is more than I give most RPGs with low effort gameplay, but it didn't have to be this way and that's a damn shame. Yet another RPG with so much potential squandered by terrible low effort game design.

The writing is also quite bad, but this is not something that bothers me at all, especially when the subject matter and premise is nonetheless interesting. Still, many scenes are cringey and the protagonist is one of the worst I've seen in media in a while.

The music is fairly nice and fitting, distinctly Japanese music of the era which I love, but sadly also overall does not match up to late 90s legendary standards.

I give the game a regretful 6/10. Such a shame. Squaresoft did not deliver this time.

Edit: Oh, the menus/UI design also leave something to be desired (why does "upgrade" need to be a separate menu? Why are "shop" and "setup" not simply one and the same since they share the same interface anyway?), and the "network" was not a clever idea in conjunction with those loading times. Not to mention it's largely redundant anyway. Still, credit where it is due, this is still cool shit on paper and the game does have a lot to love, but sadly the ball was dropped.

 

[lightbane]

Front Mission 3 is quite clunky yes, but it's a 90s game. I'm not sure if FM 3 or 4 are the weakest, but they can be tied. FM3 at least has two separate storylines and lots of battles, waay too many IMO, and you get the flamethrower weapon waay too late be relevant. FM5 is the peak, supposedly, I still have to play FM2 remake.

 

[Ash]

90s has all the best games. I don't mind a little clunky - dumb shallow gameplay is the problem here.

 

[Silva]

How is FM2 btw? I hear it has the most complex system. Does that actually translate to deep gameplay as Ash says above? More importantly, how sandboxy/open-ended is FM2's overall campaign and the individual mission maps?

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Regarding FM3, I think you get a few more customization options later on(flamethrowers and long range artillery, mobility vs defense), but that will just compound the human advantage, since the AI behaves just the same regardless of enemy numbers and stats. I remember trying new setups just for the hell of it. The game is notable for having an early branching option(I only found about it later, when reading about it), which is supposed to impact story content and missions substantially. I also barely touched the surface of the whole internet puzzle exploration thing--I thought it was interesting, but the heavy loading times drain all the enjoyment you could have, specially if you play on the original hardware, like I did.

All in all, I enjoyed it, but the novelty factor was probably decisive, as I'd never played a mech based tactical RPG before. The concept and aesthetics are fantastic, but it's way too long for what it offers.

 

[KeAShizuku]

I'm a huge fan of anime- especially from the 90s.

I don't find any of it more cringe than capeshit.

 

[lightbane]

which is supposed to impact story content and missions substantially.

It does. It gives you one of two routes, the secondary one not being canon and longer and harder. Although the choice is one you're barely able to parse and you have little to work (go to 'x' place or don't, the second is the harder route). FM3 looks cool, but it's very limited compared to other games. It works as an entry-level to the series... Which is how I came to learn about FM. FM3 also has a batshit insane plot, with a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist cast in a world full of assholes, psychos, and incompetent idiots (or all three at once!). The MC's actions paint him as a schizo war-criminal in both routes, and you're not even punished for it, top kek! I wonder how the OG script is compared to the translation.*

There are also mutually exclusive missions, and some that don't work outright, although that might be emulation issues.
FM4 has you playing with 4-6 mechs, sometimes more, but battles take way too long.
FM5 has you playing with 5 mechs and usually a 6th supporter, but it feels too short instead. And the story goes full anime, for good and bad.
Shame that the mobile games similar to FM1 are still untranslated. Or the experimental game for the PS1 played in real time instead of turns.

*I like how you can support the equivalent of evil China and get away with it. Or ditch the resistance when they need you the most, condemning them to a painful death on the other route. Or starting a battle with mechs inside a public space full of civilians with little space to maneuver, ensuring maximum carnage, all to convince the reunited world leaders to stop a war.