Front Mission

[sun0wl]

Saw an earlier thread about FM3 but thought the series deserved a general thread...I've been playing the FM3 remake and while yes, the use of AI to upscale some art is dumb and they left out the fast forward feature from the FM1/2 remake, it's a really fun game you can pick up and play in little bites here and there. I'm having a blast and have been going back down the FM rabbit hole lately as a result.

Any other big fans? Fave games? Best wanzer design? Anyone remember Evolved? Thoughts about the recent remakes?

FM4 on PS2 was my gateway game and still my fave. Neat story and great localization, non-annoying characters (looking at you Ryogo lol), good maps, and awesome PS2 era aesthetics with the UI design and music and everything. Fun gameplay in general for those who like the whole mecha building system and SRPGs.

I brought FM5 back home from studying in Japan...Then never played it lmao. I should get around to it one day.

When it comes to the spin-offs and gaidens: Gun Hazard was one of the first games I emulated and pretty fun IIRC. But shoutout to Front Mission Evolved for being an awful game everyone hated but that I unironically loved lol

I think my fave thing about FM is how it feels like a really cohesive and consistent series in terms of design, aesthetic, the whole package. It feels timeless. That and the whole wanzer parts system.

Also love how it plays everything pretty straight instead of going off into very "anime" territory like a lot of mecha media. Yeah, you have silly antics from characters like Ryogo and weird one-off plots like the methane mechas that moo in FM3, but overall it keeps a serious, muted, mature tone that matches its overall aesthetic.

The worldbuilding is pretty cool, too...I mean, several of the plotlines and situations come off as pretty unrealistic or contrived (especially if you've been anywhere near the military or government service lol) and are certainly not as well thought out or researched as things in the MGS universe, but it's like Ace Combat in that it gets an E for effort.

I also think that because it doesn't use real platforms like Ace Combat does (Lockheed F-16, etc.), the attention to detail it gives to the whole military industrial complex is second to none, particularly with the industries surrounding the wanzers and all the different part manufacturers and names. (My longtime username, sunowl, is based off the wanzer series of the same name. Forgot if it's from FM4 or 2.) Not sure why but I love this shit but that's why I love Front Mission. Thank you for coming to my TED thread.

 

[Bonkers225]

I've often said Front Mission 3 was one of the top 3 best games Square has ever done. Worst thing about the remake is that they got rid of the extremely satisfying sound effects of the original.

 

[Stare best girl]

I only played Front Mission and Gun Hazard which Front Mission 1 was very good while Gun Hazard is easily one of the best SNES games, I want to play Front Mission 2 but sadly the translation has many issues like the fact that is incomplete or that has more bugs and glitches than the untranslated game and the remake has a very awful translation...

 

[ShadowsofCreationAga]

I only played Front Mission and Gun Hazard which Front Mission 1 was very good while Gun Hazard is easily one of the best SNES games, I want to play Front Mission 2 but sadly the translation has many issues like the fact that is incomplete or that has more bugs and glitches than the untranslated game and the remake has a very awful translation...

Supposedly the 3nd games remake had it's translation completely overhauled in a patch around the time the PC release came out.

Post automatically merged: Today at 1:20 AM

That is supposed to say 2nd, not '3nd' whatever the heck that means! lol

 

[csanjuro]

RoF UP!

 

[sun0wl]

RoF UP!

God yes lol the FM3 skill learning system is so satisfying for some reason. It's like the FFIX system with equipping things to learn skills except instead of accumulating AP to permanently learn them, your attacks are like a slot machine arm pull lmao. The dopamine I get from this intermittent/variable ratio reinforcement ("Skinner box") game mechanic is unreal, well done game designers.

 

[freebie#47]

Whoa...almost thought that was a real game preview of nice looking wanzer....We definitely need a new Front Mission game that is NOT a freaking metal gear solid ripoff

 

[Razorgirl1984]

Just started playing Front Mission a while back. Still stuck on Front Mission 1st but that's more due to procrastination. Very eager to get into rest of the series.

Post automatically merged: Today at 2:54 AM

I only played Front Mission and Gun Hazard which Front Mission 1 was very good while Gun Hazard is easily one of the best SNES games, I want to play Front Mission 2 but sadly the translation has many issues like the fact that is incomplete or that has more bugs and glitches than the untranslated game and the remake has a very awful translation...

This is what really irks me so much about FM2. Like my options are the fan translation that is 75 percent complete of the original PS1 or that awful translation by Storm Trident's remake to the point that people thought it was machine translated (just good old fashioned human error). Which is why I've taken to learning Japanese for that particular entry.

Glad FM 1, 3, and 4 were localized. Saves me a headache.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

FM3 is my favorite though I really love the series in general.

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

I played the shit out of Front Mission 3, even tho I never finished it.

I tried to get Front Mission 5, but between the issues of burning the translated version on a DVD that rarely worked for me, I barely play it.

I do have the (last) remake of Front Mission 1. I plan to get the second and third once they got their physical releases.

 

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

I've been a fan ever since I bought FM3 back in the day. I own Front Mission on the DS and have played all of the mainline games except 2. Still hoping for a complete fan localization of FM2 to finish the saga.

I hear the Square Enix remakes of the front mission games are sloppy and budget, so I haven't bothered with them. Kind of dissapointing to hear but I'm used to Square Enix being cheap.

Front Mission 5: Scars of War is by far my favorite Front Mission game. Feels like they finally perfected the FM formula and added enough depth to the strategy to make it compelling. Too bad that was the send-off to the whole series and they wouldn't make another game.

 

[Cantarella]

played 1/2/5 and gun hazard. so ya I like these games.

y'know I'm a big fan of any games where you can just kind of, visually survey the destruction. whether that's terrain being burnt away in bahamut lagoon, traitors disappearing from your party lineup in lost dimension, or wanzer arms being blown off. IDK, something about that activates the pleasure centers of my brain.

Royd/Roid/Lloyd/Loid/Moid was always a character I enjoyed. pretty... brutal story. FM, I always appreciated that it doesn't really descend into torture porn or anything dumb like that for the sake of being 'gritty,' but it doesn't pull its punches either. Stuff just logically plays out, with respect to the characters at least. I'm sure a lot of the logistics gets wacky. But, so it is with Royd. He just progressively gets more and more consumed with rage and mentally unwell and that is taken to its logical conclusion.

FAVORITE... WANZER... idk I really like hell's wall. they're tough. So I like the Frost. Always liked how the wanzers are just built like fridges and it is the fridgiest.


I remembered while writing this. A long, long, LONG time ago autumn sacura drew for me what may be the only piece of front mission/vanguard bandits fanart in existence

also I think sunowl isn't a wanzer line, is it? I thought it was just the missile launchers. I remember equipping sunowls in fm1