front mission parts manufacturer

Aside from WAP parts, they also manufacture pharmaceuticals and military vehicles in the present as per their growing size and scope across the entire series

Type 81 85mm Electromagnetic Railgun (Front Mission Alternative) - according to FM Historica, its supposed to be manufactured by Jade Metal, but in-game, it"s manufactured jointly by Yagisawa Industries and Iguchi

Sakata Industries was a pharmaceutical, design, and wanzer manufacturing corporation. They play a prominent role in Front Mission as a major antagonist, working with Driscoll and colluded with the Republic of Zaftra on the B-Device project. In Front Mission 2089 they are minor antagonists along with the background specifics and lengths of their B-Device research being explored. They supplied wanzers to both the O.C.U and the U.S.N during the 2nd Huffman Conflict; Later being bought out by Iguchi Corporation following the B-Device research being revealed to the public and becoming a scandal.

After the establishment of Sakata Industries, it licensed other companies to largely handle WAP manufacture while designing the WAP parts and rapidly grew as a military-related company. The performance of their computers was highly evaluated. It outsourced the license to manufacture and sell some of it"s Wanzer designs to Iguchi Corp. (maintaining ownership via OEM contracts) as a way to expand and promote its products, lastly it was the only company in OCU to sell weapons to USN. They later formally subcontracted Iguchi to manufacture weapons and new WAP just before the Second Huffman Conflict.

Most Sakata Industries equipment is clarified in later titles surrounding Huffman Island where as in Front Mission First they appear to only be a Wanzer manufacturer.

Front Mission(フロントミッション, Furonto Misshon) is a collection of video games and related media produced by Square, now Square Enix.Toshiro Tsuchida and developed by G-Craft, a studio that was later absorbed by Square and existed within Square Enix as Product Development Division-6. Since the release of the original Front Mission in 1995, the series has gone on to encompass several media, including film, manga, novels, radio dramas, mobile phone applications, and toys. While the series is primarily rooted in the turn-based tactical role-playing genre, it has also ventured into other genres such as side-scrolling shooter, real-time strategy (RTS), massive multiplayer online (MMO), and third-person shooter through its spin-offs. The Front Mission video games have achieved moderate success, selling over 3 million units worldwide since the release of

The main selling point of Front Mission is its storytelling approach. Taking place during the 21st and 22nd centuries, the series revolves around military conflicts and political tension between powerful supranational unions and their member states.Front Mission video games use self-contained, standalone stories, these tie into a greater overarching storyline that encompasses the entire series. In combination with the stories from its other media, the series possesses a level of storytelling depth and continuity comparable to a serial drama.Front Mission is its use of giant mecha called "wanzers" (from the German word Wanderpanzer, or walking tanks) in battle.

Development of the first Front Mission started with discussions between software developers Square and G-Craft.Toshiro Tsuchida presented a proposal for a game called “100 Mission” to Square through his own development company, Solid, on G-Crafts behalf.

There are two types of Front Mission installments: the numbered entries and the non-numbered entries. The numbered Front Mission titles are all structured as tactical role-playing games. All other Front Mission titles that do not have a number assigned to it are genre spin-offs.Front Mission: Gun Hazard is a side-scrolling shooter video game. Front Mission Alternative is a real-time strategy video game. Front Mission: Online is a massively multiplayer online third-person shooter video game. Front Mission Evolved is a third-person shooter video game with rail shooter segments. In an RPGamer interview with Front Mission developer Koichi Sakamoto in 2007, he suggested that the development team is interested in combining real-time and turn-based aspects for future installments.

Since 1995, the Front Mission series has released 15 video games, seven of which are main (numbered) entries and the other five are spin-off entries.WonderSwan Color. A year later, the video game entry received a Sony PlayStation remake under the title Front Mission First on October 23, 2003.Front Mission History was released in Japan on December 11, 2003. The compilation contained the Front Mission First remake, a modified Front Mission First also spawned an enhanced port of the game on March 22, 2007 for the Nintendo DS.Nintendo DS in Japan on May 29, 2008.Nintendo Switch.

While all Front Mission video games have seen releases in Japan, only a few been localized overseas. Front Mission First, which saw a release in North America on October 23, 2007.Front Mission title was localized for the North American region.

Although Front Mission video games venture into multiple genres, each of them contain core elements that are universal to the entire series. In the Front Mission series, players use playable units called wanzers, a term for mecha derived from the German word "Wanderpanzer", or "walking tank". Wanzers differ from the typical combat unit in that it has four modular parts: body, left arm, right arm, and legs. Each part has a specific function and its own health bar.

Wanzers can be customized with a variety of parts, computers, auxiliary backpacks, and weapons.Front Mission titles, computers must also be installed; these improve the accuracy of the weapons equipped on the wanzer. Auxiliary backpacks and weapons are not mandatory equipment to use wanzers, but are crucial in order to progress through the games. Auxiliary backpacks serve to give a wanzer special features during combat. For example, storage backpacks allow the player to carry extra ammunition or armor repair items.

Arena, introduced in Front Mission, allows the player to participate in special fights to earn monetary rewards or new parts. These fights take place in either individual matches, or team battles. This feature is also present in Front Mission 2, Front Mission 5: Scars of the War, Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness, and Front Mission: Online.

Action Points (AP), introduced in Front Mission 2, determines the number of actions that can be taken during a Player and Enemy Phase.Front Mission 3, Front Mission 4, and Front Mission 5: Scars of the War.

Links, introduced in Front Mission 2, allows multiple units to assist each other in battles. A linked unit can provide support to other units offensively and defensively. This feature is also present in Front Mission 4, Front Mission 5: Scars of the War, and Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness.

Network, introduced in Front Mission 2, is a pseudo-Internet that allows players to gain a better understanding of the Front Mission world, its characters, and the storyline through a series of websites. The player can also access online shopping (to purchase new equipment), battle simulations, and check e-mail messages through the Network. This feature is also present in Front Mission 3.

Battle Simulator, introduced in Front Mission 3, allows the player to participate in VR training exercises. These training exercises can be used to increase the fighting proficiencies of the player"s pilots and can be taken as many times as needed. This feature is also present in Front Mission 4, and Front Mission 5: Scars of the War.

Survival Simulator, introduced in Front Mission 5: Scars of the War, is a survival simulation in which the player goes through a set number of floors with one pilot. Along the way, parts and weapons can be collected and brought back for usage in the main game upon the completion of a simulation. This feature is also present in Front Mission 2089-II.

The music of the series includes the soundtracks to the main series, composed of Front Mission through Front Mission 5: Scars of the War, as well as the spin-off games, which include Front Mission Series: Gun Hazard, Front Mission Alternative, Front Mission: Online, Front Mission 2089 and its remake Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness, Front Mission 2089-II, and Front Mission Evolved. The soundtracks of the series" installments have been released in album form in Japan, with the exceptions of 2089, 2089-II, Border of Madness (which reuse music from the other installments) and Evolved, which was published in 2010. The soundtrack to Front Mission was released in 1995 by NTT Publishing, which also published the soundtrack to Front Mission: Gun Hazard in 1996. DigiCube published soundtrack albums for Front Mission 2 and Alternative in 1997 and 3 in 1999. Square Enix published the albums for Front Mission 4 in 2004, and 5 and Online in 2006.

In April 1995, Front Mission"s original release on the Super Famicom was well received. Mega Fun gave the game a Gold for an import game.Fun Generation a 7 out of 10, while Super GamePower gave it a 4.2 out of 5.Greg Kasavin of Hardcore Gaming 101 noted it was not a very deep real time strategy game, but praised its branching stories and variety of endings.GameSpot noted that Front Mission 2.Final Fantasy Tactics, but cited the graphics transitions between overhead play and individual battles as spotty.

Front Mission 4 holds a 75% on both GameRankings and Metacritic.GameSpot gave generally positive feedback for Import RPG of the Year make note of the game"s improvements and excellent execution in design and functionality. The game was also voted the runner-up Strategy RPG of the Year by RPG Fan in their "Games of 2006" awards.

Since 1994, the Front Mission series has spawned numerous products in various media outside of video games.manga and novels that are expanded universe supplements to the stories of the Front Mission video games. Likewise, the series has produced two live-action films directed by Yoshihiko Dai and a ten-episode radio drama directed by Hiroshi Yamaguchi, both of which further expand the Front Mission universe.Banjō Ginga, Hiromi Tsuru, Dax Griffin, Danielle Keaton, and Tina Coté.soundtracks that have been published under the Front Mission brand name.

Pineda, Angelo; Thompson, Kyle; Tam, Wilson. "Hardcore Gaming 101: Front Mission". Gamespy. Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2010-12-07.

Dengeki PlayStation Editorial, LogicGate, ed. (March 2007). Front Mission World Historica – Report of Conflicts 1970–2121 (in Japanese). MediaWorks. ISBN 4-8402-3663-1.

Iino, Fumihiko; Iwasaki, Hideo (July 1995). Front Mission – Front Line Report (in Japanese). LOGOUT Paperback Adventures, Aspect Novels. ISBN 978-4-89366-375-7.

Front Missiontactical role-playing game developed by G-Craft and published by Square, and was released in Japan on February 24, 1995 for the Super Famicom. Front Mission is the first main entry and the first entry overall in the Front Mission is part of a serialized storyline that follows the stories of various characters and their struggles involving mecha known as wanzers.WonderSwan Color in Japan on July 12, 2002.

A port of the game developed by Square Enix Co., Ltd. was released for the PlayStation in Japan on October 23, 2003, titled Front Mission 1st.Nintendo DS with more additional content and was released in Japan on March 22, 2007. Only the Nintendo DS port, renamed as Front Mission, was released in North America on October 23, 2007. This release marked the third time that a Front Mission title was localized and published outside Japan.

Game progression in Front Mission proceeds in a linear manner: watch cut-scene events, complete missions, set up wanzers during intermissions, and sortie for the next mission. The player travels to locations on a point-and-click world map. As the player progresses through the plot, new locations are revealed on the world map. Towns and cities act as intermission points where the player can organize and set up their units for the upcoming mission. Battle zones are where the missions take place, though they become inaccessible upon the completion of a mission.

In Front Mission, players use playable units called wanzers, a term for mecha derived from the German word Wanderpanzer, or "walking tank".modular parts: body, left arm, right arm, and legs. Each part has a specific function and its own health bar.

In the customization aspect of Front Mission, wanzers can be customized with a variety of parts, computers, auxiliary backpacks, and weapons. The player has full control over customizing their wanzers and can do so as long as its total weight value does not exceed its given power output. To field a wanzer in battle, it must have a complete frame of parts: body, left arm, right arm, and legs. Parts with built-in weapons in the body or arm sections can also be equipped on a wanzer. Computers improve the accuracy of the weapons equipped on the wanzer. Auxiliary backpacks and weapons are not mandatory equipment to use wanzers, but are crucial in order to progress through the games. Auxiliary backpacks serve to give a wanzer special features during combat; they allow a wanzer to carry support items such as ammunition reloads and increase the power output of the unit, allowing it to carry heavier gear.

There are four classes of weapons: melee weapons, short-range weapons, long-range weapons, and support fire weapons. Melee weapons are weapons used at melee range and have a tendency to strike the body part of its target. Tonfas and rods are examples of melee weapons. Short-range weapons are weapons used at close range and deal damage to all parts of a target. Machine guns and shotguns are examples of short-range weapons. Long-range weapons are weapons that have long firing ranges and are ideal for avoiding counterattacks. Bazookas are examples of long-range weapons. Support fire weapons are indirect fire weapons; they can never be counterattacked, but have limited ammunition supply and minimum firing ranges. Missile launchers are examples of support fire weapons. Lastly, shields can be equipped on wanzers to absorb some of the damage taken from incoming attacks.

Front Mission has other notable features incorporated into the game. The Arena is a unique feature in which the player can fight AI-controlled enemy combatants to earn monetary rewards. Likewise, Front Mission sports a briefing feature that details basic information about the composition of enemy forces for the upcoming mission. Missions in Front Mission are traditional tactical RPG fare, ranging from destroying all enemy targets or protecting a particular allied target.

Set in 2090, the story of Front Mission takes place on Huffman Island, a fictional Pacific Ocean island roughly the size of Oahu, created by volcanic activity south of Mexico"s west coast in 1995.United Nations control. However, in 2020, the United States of the New Continent (USN), a unification of North American and South American countries, made a bid for control of the island after withdrawing from the United Nations.South Asia, South East Asia and Australia that was created in 2025, dispute this claim when the two superpowers colonized the island in 2065.Huffman Crisis in 2086, when a series of skirmishes across the island causes chaos. Tensions flare up and end in war when the OCU is blamed for inciting the Larcus Incident on June 3, 2090.

The plot of Front Mission revolves around OCU captain Royd Clive. An OCU reconnaissance platoon led by Royd is assigned to investigate a USN munitions plant in the Larcus District, located on eastern Huffman Island. Upon reaching the premises, the platoon is ambushed by USN wanzers led by an officer named Driscoll. He quickly ambushes Karen Meure, Royd"s fiancée, and destroys her wanzer. As the two forces engage in battle, Driscoll detonates explosives inside the plant and escapes. The USN accuses the OCU of the attack, later known as the Larcus Incident, but the OCU insists that the incident was a set-up. Both sides soon declare war, setting off the 2nd Huffman Conflict. The OCU pins the blame of the incident on Royd"s platoon, discharging them from the military indefinitely. One year later, OCU colonel Guri B. Olson seeks him out at a wanzer fighting arena in the town of Barinden. Dangling the prospect of killing the person responsible for Karen"s death, he manages to recruit Clive to the Canyon Crows mercenary outfit. With the Canyon Crows, Royd is assigned to help the OCU military reverse its fortunes and win the war.

In the PlayStation and Nintendo DS version Front Mission 1st, the player can also play a second scenario revolving around USN officer Kevin Greenfield. Months before the Larcus Incident, Kevin and his teammates in the Black Hounds special forces unit are participating in an operation against a terrorist organization known as "The Star of Freedom". Upon finding out the location of their headquarters in the Andes Mountains, the Black Hounds execute an operation to eliminate the group. A grave mistake on Kevin"s part gets him fired from the unit and arrested by USN MPs. In a last-ditch effort to remain in service, Greenfield accepts a post to the USN special weapons research division known as the "Nirvana Institute". He is then deployed to the Nirvana branch on Huffman Island, which is led by Driscoll. After a few operations with the division, the 2nd Huffman Conflict breaks out and Kevin is recalled to active duty. As the new leader of the Silver Lynx strike force, he aids the USN offensive to defeat the OCU and help end the war quickly.

Understanding Front Mission in its entirety requires playing through both the OCU and USN campaigns. They each have their own unique events and mysteries, the latter of which is fully explained only by playing the other scenario. The two scenarios also have a plot connection when a link between the Larcus Incident and the Nirvana Institute is established.

Development of the first Front Mission started with discussions between software developers Square and G-Craft.Toshiro Tsuchida presented a proposal for a game called “100 Mission” to Square through his own development company, Solid, on G-Crafts behalf.

Square and G-Craft worked together making the title, including aspects like the games graphics and sound.Yoshitaka Amano painted an illustration for the game, and it was intended to be used as the front cover of the cartridges packaging, but it was too “imposing” and only a portion was used.

A direct port of the game was released for the WonderSwan Color in Japan on July 12, 2002. Front Mission was ported to the PlayStation on November 23, 2003 with the title Front Mission 1st. This port included new content and offered a new USN scenario to play through.Front Mission 1st also included new characters that would later be seen in Nintendo DS port, which was released in Japan on March 22, 2007, and in North America (as Front Mission) on October 23, 2007. The PlayStation version was re-released as a PSOne Classic on the PlayStation Network in Japan on November 12, 2008.

The Nintendo DS version features battle sequences that make use of the console"s dual screen setup for an easy view of the action.Front Mission titles were added to the game"s storyline, such as Griff Burnam and Glen Duval. New parts and weapons from other Front Mission entries were added. This version also boasted nine secret missions that further expanded the storyline.

Front Mission"s soundtrack was composed by the joint team of Noriko Matsueda and Yoko Shimomura. Shimomura"s work on the soundtrack was requested by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the vice-president of Square, due to the need for a more experienced composer to work on the project along with Matsueda. While Shimomura intended to turn down this request due to her preoccupation with the Hidenori Iwasaki for the PlayStation and DS remakes.Front Mission 1st Special BGM Selection, arranged by Isawaki, was released in 2003.Front Mission, Take the Offensive and Manifold Irons, were orchestrated for the

Dengeki PlayStation Editorial, LogicGate, ed. (March 2007). Front Mission World Historica - Report of Conflicts 1970-2121 (in Japanese). Mediaworks. ISBN 978-4-8402-3663-8. 2020, The United States and Canada took the advantage of Latin America"s bid for unification, and have proclaimed the birth of "The United States of the New Continent" (USN). The new nation works toward eliminating the wealth gap between its people, while guaranteeing basic human rights for its citizens. In the same year, the USN withdrew from the United Nations and submitted a motion to the UN, OCU and the "European Community" (EC) proposing that Huffman Island be treated as USN territory.

Dengeki PlayStation Editorial, LogicGate, ed. (March 2007). Front Mission World Historica - Report of Conflicts 1970-2121 (in Japanese). Mediaworks. ISBN 978-4-8402-3663-8. In 2019, Australia joins the Bangkok Economic Alliance. Later at a summit, leaders of the alliance voted to change the name to "Oceania Cooperative Union" (OCU). The new name reflecting the intention of the nations to work towards establishing a union framework for the coalition, originally formed in 2005.

Iino, Fumihiko; Iwasaki, Hideo (1995-07-22). Front Mission - Front Line Report (in Japanese). LOGOUT Paperback Adventures, Aspect Novels. ISBN 978-4-89366-375-7.

Front Mission is Square’s first true turn-based strategy role-playing game (RPG) series, and is currently handled by Square Enix Product Development Division 6 (PDD6). Created in 1993 by series visionary, Toshiro Tsuchida (the current head of PDD6), the series made its debut on the Super Famicom in 1995 with Front Mission. Ever since then, the series has enjoyed the release of many other titles as well as a large stock of merchandise in Japan. While not as popular as Square’s other flagships like Final Fantasy, the series has earned a very loyal audience that supports it unquestionably. This success however has not transferred overseas and it is partially due to Square USA’s poor handling of the series. Only four installments have seen release in the West: Front Mission 1st, 3, 4 and Evolved. As a result, many outside of Japan will never be able to truly appreciate the series in its entirety.

Inspired by Intelligent Designs’ Fire Emblem series, Front Mission plays out in turn-based strategy, though several spin-offs have been created throughout its 15 year history. What makes it different, however, is its usage of mecha (called “wanderpanzer” or “wanzer,” German for “walking tank”) and how it affects game mechanics. Wanzers are modeled after the “real robot” mecha archetype, being a versatile war machine that is used alongside other military weapons. One of the biggest draws is the customization aspect. The player is able to customize a wanzer from its parts, auxiliary backpacks, weapons, and even paint schemes. The incredible amount of customization can be addictive, but also daunting to those who are not into micromanaging their games. It’s very comparable to From Software’s Armored Core series in this sense so those who have played those games will feel right at home with Front Mission.

In battle, the uniqueness of the wanzer is also displayed; a wanzer’s performance is dictated by its four parts: a body, two arms, and the legs. Destroyed parts reduce a wanzer’s ability to fight; blow off its legs and it can’t move or evade attacks. A lost arm means that it can’t use any weapons it has equipped. Take out the body and the wanzer is destroyed. Combat is similar to other genre offerings in that it takes place on isometric 2D (in Front Mission) or 3D grid maps. When a battle initiates, the action zooms into a close-up of the map that shows the wanzers fighting. While battles were modeled initially after Fire Emblem, it has evolved dramatically since the first game. Action Points (AP) were introduced and dictate how many actions a unit can do on their turn. Melee, ranged, and artillery weapons that acted in a rock-paper-scissors manner became true melee, ranged, and artillery weapons with their own unique qualities. Eventually, squad-based combat and friendly fire made its way into the series, giving it a tremendous amount of strategic depth and variety.

Game mechanics aside, Front Mission‘s true strength comes from its design and story elements. The biggest design influence is the series’ grounded realism; the setting is based off of near-future trends of how our world will evolve. For example, the technology of the series has real-life applications. Front Mission‘s cast of characters come from all over the world, from Venezuela to Korea to even Iceland. In terms of game design, each game differs in how it’s meant to be played and these result from the atmosphere and story direction. For example, the player is thrown into all-out wars in Front Mission 2 as it takes place during a coup d’etat. Its art and music direction are gritty and depressing, fitting for the game’s storyline. A notable trend in terms of art and music is that artists and composers differ amongst the games. Artists and composers of the series include Yoshitaka Amano, Yusuke Naora, Yoko Shimomura, and Hidenori Iwasaki. Despite the lack of a true representative in art and music (Naora and Iwasaki could be considered such for art and music, respectively), all elements in each game come together to form a greater cohesive whole.

In terms of story, Front Mission is modeled after serial dramas, much like the TV serials 24 and Lost. While each game has a self-contained story, they also interconnect with the other entries. Newcomers can jump into any game due to the self-contained story, but will miss out on the bigger picture. The interconnected stories also exist to provide a cause-and-effect relationship for major events; what happened in one Front Mission affects events from another. Accompanying these events is a large recurring cast of characters, adding considerable depth to the stories. While the video games’ storytelling focus is more world-driven, the expanded universe supplements’ (detailed further in the article) character-driven focus balances this out. So like any serial drama, only those who stick with Front Missionfrom the start will get the most out of its storyline.

Developed by G-Craft (Arc the Lad), the company Tsuchida and his colleagues founded after leaving NCS/Masaya (Assault Suits Valken, aka Cybernator in Konami’s English release), the original Front Mission was published by Square for the Nintendo Super Famicom in 1995.

The art direction, done by Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame, is an odd choice for Front Mission. While the character art does seem out of place in the near-future settings of the game, it provides a good contrast with Kow Yokoyama’s (Maschinen Krieger) art direction for the wanzers. In fact, players of the earlier Final Fantasies might get certain vibes from the character design. The rest of the graphics is good and portray the settings well, even if they could use a tune-up. The battles are more detailed than the rest, especially the combat sequences. The music composed by Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts) and Noriko Matsueda (The Bouncer) provides an intriguing contrast of styles, from Shimomura’s catchy tunes such as “Manifold Irons” and Matsueda’s atmospheric tracks, like “Ominous”. The sound effects are nothing special, but the “bopping” sound of the wanzers moving is worth noting.

Being inspired by Fire Emblem, the original Front Mission plays very similar. The player gets a large cast of characters to use in battles, which are played out with a rock-paper-scissors system similar to the game it’s influenced by. Melee weapons excel at destroying wanzers, but are beat out by ranged firearms, which have attack priority and hit first. Long-range artillery like missiles has the range advantage, but possesses finite ammo and cannot be used up close. Each character gains proficiency based on the type of weapon they’re using, which is used to unlock skills such as the ability to manually target enemy parts. Apart from this, there are items that help wanzers in fighting their enemies. (Chaff reduces missile accuracy) The player can also use a supply truck, which provides support to ally units. Briefings, which show data about upcoming missions (albeit in a rather bland screen), also exist to aid players.

The original Front Mission is an excellent game, but it has a number of flaws that hamper the overall experience. Game balance is lacking in a lot of ways, especially in weapon balance. Despite the rock-paper-scissors setup, ranged firearms and artillery dominate the game. Ranged firearms, with skills, can decimate any enemy in one attack. Long-range artillery is essentially free damage and can be relied upon thanks to the supply truck. As a result, melee weapons and specialists are not really worth using. Front Mission has an uneven difficulty curve; there is no tutorial system and the first few missions can frustrate those not used to the genre. In addition, the game doesn’t offer much in the way of playability; aside from the Arena (where players can make money), it’s all missions. Skills also can’t be removed, which limits a character’s roles. The interface also takes some time to get used to as well.

The Super Famicom version is Japan-only, even though Square had planned on bringing it to the West, alongside other titles like Bahamut Lagoon. However, a team of series fans developed an unofficial English localization on 2001, thus making it playable in English. This unofficial localization was also brought up at E3 2007 during the presentation of Front Mission 1st on the DS (detailed further in this article) to producer Koichiro Sakamoto. Sakamoto acknowledged the work and commented that he would like to give something back to the fans as a result. On a final note, Front Mission was also ported to Bandai’s Wonderswan in 2002. This is a complete port with no additions or changes made to the game. It actually looks pretty good, even though the viewable screen area is much smaller, and the background turns entirely black when you try to move. The music has been obviously downgraded a bit too, but still sounds pretty decent.

In 2003, a port of the original Front Mission was made for the Sony PlayStation, titled Front Mission 1st, as part of the new Front Mission Project line. The defining feature of this remake is the inclusion of a second scenario for the USN side. This new scenario explored unresolved plot elements from the OCU scenario and thereby explaining what really happened during the 2nd Huffman Conflict. The new scenario was also used to bridge the gap between Front Missionand Front Mission 4, the latter of which is a continuation of on-going stories from the former.

Despite the addition of a new scenario, Front Mission 1st is largely the same as the original game. Yoshitaka Amano returns to supply new artwork for the USN scenario, but Yusuke Naora (Unlimited SaGa) makes his debut with the USN scenario. In contrast to Amano’s fantasy-based style, Naora’s realistic artwork is a stronger fit for the scenario and the game as a whole. The backgrounds are also redrawn and look more visually detailed than the original. Hidenori Iwasaki also makes his debut as the composer for Front Mission 1st. Iwasaki’s work here involved arrangements of the original tracks, as well as new compositions for the USN scenario. The arrangements are a welcome change; most of the original tracks sound a lot better than before.

Art and music aside, the USN scenario takes its inspiration from the games that came after the original Front Mission. The end result is a better, balanced and engaging campaign. Story and character development are major improvements from the OCU scenario; it’s well written, the pacing is good, and most importantly, it has character development. Whereas only Roid and a few others had character development in the OCU scenario, everyone on the USN side gets a fair share of treatment. Game balance is also better, with less abrupt difficulty spikes than the OCU scenario. There are new parts and weapons, such as repair backpacks, but these are minor additions. This PlayStation version of Front Mission has neither received an official nor an unofficial English localization.

Using leftover funding from the Front Mission Project, Front Mission 1st was ported to the Nintendo DS in 2007. Aside from touch screen functionality, the game is largely the same as its PlayStation counterpart. This version does, however, have a number of additions that make it the definitive version of the original Front Mission. The most notable of these additions are new missions on both scenarios, and retroactively-added recurring characters from other episodes to better tie-in the series’ on-going stories. Other additions include new parts, weapons, and difficulty settings. The touch screen controls are passable, but the small menu options make it hard to use at times. This version was released in both Japan and North America, making it the only version of Front Mission 1st to receive an official English localization.

Peewie is one of the most bizarre-looking characters to appear in a video game, especially one as series as Front Mission. He’s meant to be the comic relief (obviously), apparently always has one eye closed and barely has a neck, but he also serves an invaluable purpose – he drives the supply truck that appears in many missions, which is vital to restocking and repairing your wanzers. And since his truck is almost defenseless save for some weak machine guns, you’ll need to do your best to protect him. Sure, he’s pretty atypical of your usual RPG pretty boy, but fat sweaty truck drivers need your respect too!

A: Front Mission is a single-player strategy series with RPG elements(not exactly a true strategy RPG) that takes place in modern-day settings. Starting back in 1995, series visionary Toshiro Tsuchida worked with G-Craft to create the first Front Mission. Ever since then, Front Mission has earned its place among the Japanese audience and has spawned numerous installments. Only Front Mission 3 and 4 have been released outside of Japan.

A: Not exactly, Front Mission for the DS is a remake of the PS1 remake of the SNES Front Mission titled "Front Mission 1st". As such, the DS version retains the additions and changes seen in the 1st version of Front Mission. For the North American release, it will simply be titled as "Front Mission".

A: Front Mission often revolves around the facets of war and unsurprisingly delves into issues in relation to it. This Front Mission stars two main leads, one for the Oceanic Community Union(O.C.U.) and the other for the United States of the New Continent, U.S.N.(United Continental States, U.S.C. for the NA version). The U.S.N./U.S.C. side was a new addition to the PS1 remake of the original game.

A: Yes, there is a cameo by a Front Mission 5 character and there are new missions. The statement is misleading though as there are only 9 new missions and more cameos made by other Front Mission characters. The following characters make appearances:

A: Front Mission plays out like a typical turn-based strategy game, with the player and enemy alternating between turns. The player makes their actions on the Player Phase and the AI does so for the Enemy Phase. One full turn consists of a Player and Enemy Phase. The player commands wanzers, Front Mission-speak for mecha, to destroy the enemy forces in a mission. What makes this different from similar offerings is the concept of having multiple parts.

By this, a wanzer is created from a Body, Right Arm, Left Arm, and Legs. Each has its own separate life bar and have different functions. The Legs enable mobility and evasion, Arms handle arm and shoulder weapons, and the Body keeps the wanzer operating. Destruction of the Body will destroy the wanzer, but destroying the Arms or Legs are equally beneficial. Removing the Arms destroys any weapons equipped on it and in this Front Mission, destruction of Legs cuts Movement(MV) in half. Each wanzer part also has a Defense stat, which is used to reduce damage,

Wanzers attack with weapons under three categories in this Front Mission. Melee weapons are single-hit and consist of various Rods and the Arms of wanzers themselves. Melee weapons go last usually but are quite powerful and now targets the Body more often in the DS version.

Short weapons are either single or multi-hit. Single-hit Short weapons include Rifles, Shotguns, and Flamethrowers. Multi-hit Short weapons include Machine Guns. Single-hit Short weapons are similar to Melee weapons but have higher priority in that they will be used before a Melee weapon is used. Machine Guns are weaker, but fire multiple rounds at wanzer parts randomly.

Apart from weapons, items act as support during the battles. Repair items can be used to recover single damaged parts, although they cannot restore destroyed parts. Various grenades and bombs can neutralize the enemy threat through means such as Stun or lowered Defense. Lastly, land mines can be placed on the map that damage wanzers stepping on them.

Special in this Front Mission is the use of a supply truck. The supply truck is a controlled unit that acts purely for support, although it is armed with a Machine Gun. Wanzers adjacent(1 square away) to the supply truck can equip or switch items and weapons with any spare items and weapons. Also, Missile and Rocket Launcher ammunition can be reloaded with the supply truck. Another function the supply truck offers is the ability to restore destroyed parts in battle. This is possible by placing a wanzer adjacent to the supply truck.

Missions are relatively simple destroy-all-enemies affairs. There are some exceptions, but this is the general flow of missions in Front Mission. Items and parts can be salvaged from destroying enemy units in missions. At the end of a mission, the player is rewarded with monetary funds from commission and enemy destruction rewards. Funds are deducted however for every ally pilot killed in the mission.

Outside of missions, the player spends time in towns. These act as intermissions to prepare for upcoming missions. The player can go to the Bar to gain game tips or talk with people to learn more about the game"s backstory. The player can go to the Colosseum to fight various combatants to gain additonal funding. At the Military Office, a mission briefing sometimes appears to help the player prepare for the upcoming mission.

As stated earlier, a wanzer is created from a Body, Arms, and Legs. The ability to create a wanzer is dependent on a Body part"s power output. The Weight-Power ratio is shown for players based on percent and as long as the percent value does not exceed 100, the wanzer can be equipped with various parts. A weapon can be equipped on each arm and the shoulder of that arm, giving a wanzer a total of up to 4 weapons to use.

In certain parts, weapons are already built-in the Arms. This means that no other weapon can be equipped on that weapon Arm. Legs obviously dictate movement, but there are various types of Legs suitable for different environments. Also, several Leg types can increase output as well. A Backpack can be equipped to increase output and item capacity.

The soundtrack is remixed by Hidenori Iwasaki, the composer of the recent Front Mission installments. The actual arrangements remain largely untouched, but the musical quality has significantly improved from the SNES version. Iwasaki has also contributed several new tracks, mostly from the PS1 version and for the U.S.N./U.S.C. side. Sound effects are also upgraded and sound more realistic.

Gameplay(Wanzers) - New wanzers and weapons from other Front Missions, including Online and 5. Some weapons that were previously unavailable normally can be obtained, such as the Dragon Hands. The biggest change is the ability to use large-sized mobile weapons and wanzers in the game. Mobile weapons on either side can be used after meeting certain requirements. New mobile weapons are also included for play.

A: From the RPG Gamer interview, Koichiro Sakamoto stated that the localization became a reality when a passionate developer made a case for localization. The main reasons were that Front Mission 3 and 4 proved there is a fanbase in North America and the DS is currently very popular. Amazing what one voice can do right?

A: I can"t really answer this since no one except Square Enix and Toshiro Tsuchida knows what is happening with Front Mission. Given the seemingly simple means of how Front Mission for the DS was localized, and Sakamoto"s note on how developers should be translating their work, who knows? There is still a chance, but don"t count on it. However, Sakamoto did openly state that he wanted to reward Front Mission fans who worked and spread word about the fan translation so it could happen.

A: Actually, it was likely a good thing that Square Enix sent this over instead of Front Mission 5. As someone who has played virtually every Front Mission game(save Online, 2089, 2089-II), it is a good call to test the waters of the North American market first. Front Mission 4 didn"t exactly impress the crowd and it definitely did not fare as well as Front Mission 3 in terms of sales. As the DS is doing incredibly well, Front Mission for the DS has a chance to convince Square Enix that a market still exists for Front Mission. So go out and buy those copies!

On a different note, Front Mission 5 spoils what happens in the other Front Missions, particularly this Front Mission. Likewise, that Front Mission demands the player have played the other four main Front Missions, specifically this one. That"s the only way to truly understand what goes on in Front Mission 5 and appreciate the depth of its narrative. Sure, the game does its best to explain some of the details, but it is better to play the previous ones before going to Front Mission 5. In the event Front Mission 5 does indeed come over, at least the only thing you would miss is Front Mission 2"s relevance(provided you played 3 and 4).

well it creates loads on continuity errors with front mission 3...being that its still called usn in that not only that but there are references to past titles in it

Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: The original SFC/WS version of 1st lets player sell items for 75% of their actual values, whereas the remake has you selling them for... only 25%. This leads you to a miserly scenario in which you simply cannot afford new equipment for every single unit you have, as the parts salvaged in missions are generally inferior to what you may already be using, and the only other ways to earn money are completing missions or competing in arena battles.

Disc-One Nuke: You can begin farming for free EXP in a mission that has an enemy force with at least one supply truck and a character that has either the Duel or Guide skill. The trick is to use the Duel and Guide skills to target and break the legs and arms of an enemy wanzer and then allow them to move next to a supply truck which will restore their broken parts. This is because every time you break a part on an enemy wanzer, you get a significant EXP bonus. And by using the Duel and Guide skills to avoid hitting the body, which would result in the enemy wanzer being destroyed and ending the trick prematurely, you can collect an infinite amount of EXP in the early part of a story and effectively set yourself up for absolute success later on.

Early-Installment Weirdness: In the original SNES version, EXP from the normal missions is plentiful but hard limited; battling in the Arena provided an infinite source of EXP but only at a very slow trickle. Because of this, you had to make some hard choices on who would go during the missions or else they would become underlevled near the end of the game, leaving you with an unbalanced roster. The DS remake resolves this issue with "New Game +" which allows all acquired experience and equipment to be carried through on a new playthrough.This is still the first and only game where you could deploy the most characters in battle (18 characters). Later games after Front Mission 2 (which allowed 12 characters in battle) reduced the player"s party size to make it feel less awkward on the logistics of both the story and gameplay.

Half-Truth: The Pilot Status screen is rather confusing and hard to understand due to a discrepancy between the one you see during battle, the one you can only access during the intermissions, and the one you see in the arena battles.

The Scapegoat: The lead protagonists of both stories are forced to suffer the ignominy of being discredited for an incident in which they neither had control nor responsibility for the outcome.Lloyd is disavowed for a covert reconnaissance mission that went horribly awry and resulted in the start of the Second Huffman War. As it turns out, Lloyd was completely set up from the get-go.

During the mission to destroy the Star of Freedom Headquarters in the Andes Mountains, Captain Maria Paredes gets hung up for some reason during her infiltration of the base interior. This delay proves to be very costly as it allows the resistance leadership to avoid the orbital strike which then spurs the Star of Freedom to continue their efforts against the UCS. Although Maria is clearly at fault for the embarrassing failure, Kevin Greenfield takes the blame instead as Maria is too important to be removed from the Black Hounds.

Shout-Out: In the DS remake of 1st, one of the OCU missions has you detonating a trio of charges under a number of bridges to destroy a supply train. The codenames for each are those of the female protagonists of

Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Glaringly obvious in 1st, when you realize that the USN has had some of the best parts in the game just sitting in stores in their capital city, while you"re stuck with your oh-so-impressive Zenith.

Front Mission is a Squaresoft strategy/RPG for the SNES, it came out in Japan in 1995. In September of 2001, this game was fan translated to English by the rom hackers/translators known as F.H. and Akujin. Front Mission is like a combination of Shining Force and Final Fantasy Tactics. The battlefield is a 3/4 view field of decorated tiles, and the battles take place in a separate animated sequence. Each character pilots a war machine called a Wanzer. Strategy and excitement await you with Front Mission!

There were two Front Mission games on the SNES. The first Front Mission was popular enough that Square made a spin-off game: Front Mission Gun Hazard. It was released in Japan in February 1996. They changed the genre from strategy RPG to action RPG. For the most part, it"s a platformer that plays similar to Metal Warriors. In August of 2004, Aeon Genesis translations released the fan-based translation of Gun Hazard, allowing us to finally be able to play it in English. You can learn more about this game in my Front Mission Gun Hazard shrine.

In December of 2001, Front Mission was released for the (Japan-only) Wonderswan Color system (WSC for short). They didn"t add anything new for it, it"s just a port. Like with SNES ports to Gameboy Advance, the top and bottom of Front Mission"s screen have been cropped for the Wonderswan Color. Click here for a few screenies.

In December of 2003, Front Mission was released for the Sony Playstation in Japan with the title, Front Mission 1st. Many things have been added and improved for it. There are new missions, new characters, new battle backgrounds, new parts/weapons, new songs, improved soundtrack, improved Wanzer graphics during shopping mode, and more! Click here for a few screenies.

In October of 2007, Front Mission was released in North America on the Nintendo DS. It has a bunch of new features. It includes several characters from "Front Mission 5: Scars of the War". Battle sequences are being tuned to use the DS"s dual-screen setup for an easy view of the action.

• The ability to access and utilize large mobile weapons previously seen as boss-type units in the SNES Front Mission and PS1 Front Mission 1st. Upon meeting specific requirements, the player can control mobile weapons such as the Seaking, Clinton Type, or a prototype version of the Bogomol I seen at the end of Front Mission 4.

• The ability to control Front Mission characters from other installments such as Darril Traubel and Glen Duval. This feature is only limited to a select number of missions, however.

• New additions to parts and weapons, some from other Front Mission installments like the Numsekar from Front Mission 5. The infamous Dragon Hand part, which could only be obtained by cheat devices, can now be obtained normally in the game.

• New secret missions and areas that expand both sides further. Numerous bonuses await upon the completion of these secret missions, such as new mobile weapons or wanzers for usage.

On February 9, 2022, Nintendo announced in their Nintendo Direct that a 3D Remake of Front Mission will be released in Summer 2022 for Nintendo Switch. On November 30, 2022, the remake was released worldwide only for the Nintendo Switch. Check out these screenshots. They speak for themselves - this is a true remake. It carries all of the features that were added in the PlayStation and Nintendo DS releases.

The story of Front Mission is one of loss, betrayal, and intrigue. Lloyd becomes the fall guy in a complex struggle for tiny Huffman Island, located in the neutral zone between the near-future superpowers, the Oceana Community Union (OCU), and the United States of the New Continent (USN). Sent on an illegal mission to scout a USN factory, Lloyd watches helplessly as his fiance, Karen, is captured in an ambush set up by Driscoll, the sinister USN commander. Driscoll destroys the factory and disappears with Karen, leaving Lloyd to take the blame. A year later, the disgraced Lloyd is recruited by Olson, the shadowy leader of OCU"s "Carrion Crows" mercenary unit. Along with a ragtag band of Wanzer pilots, Lloyd takes on mission after mission and slowly unravels the secret of Karen"s disappearance and Driscoll"s true plans.

Front Mission carries characteristics from Final Fantasy Tactics and Shining Force. The battles take place on an imitation 3D battlefield, and battle encounters take place in a separate animated sequence. The Wanzer bodies consist of two hand weapons, two shoulder components (missile launchers, shields), and 7 body components (2 legs, 2 arms, body, computer, and backpack). I talk more about them in Tips & Strategy.

After you win a battle, you"ll almost always enter a new town afterward. Browsing towns is entirely menu-based. In them, you can go to the coliseum to wage battle for money, shop for new weapons/parts/items, manage your wanzers, save, and enter the local pub to talk with the townspeople.

Front Mission is so so good! If you"re a fan of strategy/RPG"s, then it is a requirement for you to play this game. The graphics are beautifully detailed and crisp. The storyline is as serious as it is exciting. The soundtrack has a few great tracks that I still listen to today.

It"s a mecha strategy game with a big difference: The ability to customize your mecha ("Wanzers") in between each mission, with better parts and more powerful weapons and accessories. Battles are carried out on 2.5D isometric grid maps that have terrain features standing out (rather than just being a singular flat map like in Banpresto"s Super Robot Wars). You can see the amount of effort put into the game whenever somebody attacks: the mechs and weaponry are smoothly animated, and each piece of weaponry/defense has its own unique appearance and animation, both in battle and in the mech construction interface.

First of all, Front Mission, as a game from Squaresoft, should exceed all expectations. No Company delivered more amazing and challenging RPGs to us, so we are eager to know.

you with dragoons and sorcerers, ogres, or mana. Instead, you as the mean character are thrown into a desperate war that segregates an island, the Huff Islands. Each character owns his Wanzer, a Mecha Robot, and from map to map you can equip more advanced and more powerful items, weapons, or armor. Unfortunately, you cannot buy new Mechas models. This is somehow constricting. But every character can advance as he gains experience for destroying enemy Wanzers, not only in his skills, they also gain special abilities. The Storyline keeps you somehow tangled, characters join and interact with the scenarios as they come. Disappointing is the fact that there are no secret missions all over, so the replay value is much less as it could be. 7.5/10.

• Gameplay: Gameplay is the most important attribute a strategy RPG must-have. But, there are some flaws. The most annoying one is how you have to equip your Wanzers, each one by one. This can get boring because the graphics aren"t this detailed that one gun might look very different from another. So you can"t get much out of the Equipment part. Also, the main locations have always the same places to visit: shop, military office, bar, coliseum and set up. Only the maps differ a lot, which is most important to me. This is the part, where FM does catch up. If you like the mecha fighting to be the most important part of strategy RPGs, you should play this game. The maps, the fighting areas, are well balanced and vary, other boss Wanzers are to be detected, some missions have a time limit and a special assignment. At least, another little con, the AI. It could be better, a lot better, so FM isn"t this hard and challenging as you might wish. Allover 7/10.

RPGamer interviewed Koichiro Sakamoto, the producer of Front Mission DS. Check out this interesting blurb from it. This is the first time I"ve heard such a big-name person in the industry acknowledge and praise a fan translation.

“When asked what made Square Enix decide to take a chance on bringing Front Mission to the US again (the fifth game in the series was notably skipped), the response was that there was one member of the team that was very passionate about the game, and wanted to give players in the United States the chance to experience. He felt that Front Mission 3 and 4 proved that there is a userbase, and since the DS is currently very popular, the thinking went, "Why not give it a try?" On a similar note, we told Mr. Sakamoto that a fan translation had been done some years ago for Front Mission 1, and asked how he felt about such efforts. The producer replied that he found them very encouraging -- it"s something the developers should be doing, but because they"re not, the fans are doing it instead. He stated that he"d like to be able to give something back to the fans, and would like to thank personally each of the fans that worked on the translation.”

Aside from WAP parts, they also manufacture pharmaceuticals and military vehicles in the present as per their growing size and scope across the entire series

Type 81 85mm Electromagnetic Railgun (Front Mission Alternative) - according to FM Historica, its supposed to be manufactured by Jade Metal, but in-game, it"s manufactured jointly by Yagisawa Industries and Iguchi

Front Mission 1st: Remake anchors itself as a remake of strategy RPG Front Mission, initially released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and subsequently on the PlayStation and Nintendo DS. Players take on the role of protagonist Lloyd Clive, a captain within the Oceania Cooperative Union (O.C.U.), as he navigates the threads of geopolitical conflict upon Huffman Island alongside a cast of dozens of characters.

Rather than the pen and paper of politics, players will battle against threats myriad with Wanzers—massive humanoid mechs. Conflicts are turn-based, where players will use strategy and tactics to position Wanzers across battlefields to line up shots that seek to disable weapons, mobility, or endurance through targeting specific body parts on enemy Wanzers.

As seen in the trailer, Nintendo and Square Enix announced that Front Mission 1st: Remake. This is perhaps even more notable, given that Front Mission 2 has never left Japan since its 1997 release.

As it stands, it’s spectacular that some of the foundational games of the strategy JRPG genre are coming to modern consoles, and as someone who has heard of the legacy that Front Missionholds, I cannot be more excited to try it when it releases later in the year. Stay tuned to RPGFan for all news Front Mission 1st Remakeand RPG!

Over the span of its 4 previous releases, Square’s Front Mission series has established itself as one of the top strategy RPG franchises ever to hit home console gaming. However, up until now, the stellar series had been completely confined to Japan, as the US branch of Square elected not to take a chance on any of the previous Front Mission games. Front Mission 3, the inaugural installment to hit American shores, isn’t the series’ finest game, but it does provide solid strategy RPG gaming to fans of the genre.

Taking place in 2112, 10 years after the events surrounding Front Mission 2nd transpired, Front Mission 3 revolves around a civilian college student named Kazuki Takemura. Kazuki, a straight-laced individual, works as a Wanzer test pilot for a private sector manufacturer called Kirishima Heavy Industries (in the Front Mission world, mechs are called “Wanzers”). As the game begins, Kazuki and his free-spirited buddy Ryogo Kusama are assigned to deliver a pair of Kirishima’s newest Wanzers to a base in Yokosuka. As they are dropping the war machines off, however, a huge explosion rocks the base.

Front Mission 3 actually has 2 separate but related possible storylines for Kazuki and Ryogo to experience, and a decision near the beginning of the game determines which one the player will get to see. The storyline chosen determines your allies, your enemies, and many of the individual events that occur in the game. The diverging plots help give Front Mission 3 much more replay value than the average game.

However, Front Mission 3’s storyline has many problems, the least of which is an uptight, petulant protagonist who this reviewer found excessively difficult to relate to. Character development is present to a small extent, but it’s really weak for nearly all of the characters in the game. The plot fails to impress from an event-based standpoint, too, seeming less like a cohesive storyline progression and more like a series of preposterous military events that could have been prevented if anyone in the Front Mission world had the common sense to do a reasonable job of planning.

Front Mission 3 also doesn’t help itself with its translation quality. Although the dialogue does a pretty good job of avoiding spelling errors and blatant grammatical problems, the majority of it is worded in the most confusing way possible. Not surprisingly, the dialogue flow is terrible, and many of the characters’ responses don’t match up at all with the statement or question that they are responding to.

Like Front Mission 2nd, Front Mission 3 is a turn-based strategy game, with AP determining the extent of actions that your Wanzer can perform in a round. Different weapons have varying ranges of attack and cost different amounts of AP to use. The battles occur in distinct player/enemy phases, and, like in Front Mission 2nd, skills can be used to augment your characters’ combat abilities. Experience is gained through combat and is specific to the weapon used.

Also noteworthy is the fact that there is some freedom of action (through menu-based commands) between battles. Between scenarios, players can replenish supplies, customize their Wanzers’ parts and weapons, talk to NPCs, and even go on the Front Mission world’s internet. On the internet, players can receive background story info on the Front Mission world, exchange emails with NPCs, and learn about the products of the numerous manufacturers that exist. Although this network option has little impact on the outcome of the game, it proves to be an enjoyable diversion.

The most noticeable improvement about Front Mission 3 is that it corrects its prequel’s biggest flaw. The gameplay executes much more quickly than that of Front Mission 2nd. The long load times required to enter battle in FM2 are pretty much completely absent in FM3. When you choose to fight in FM3, the camera just zooms in, and the battle begins. In addition, the lengthy posturing between the mechs during the battle scenes in FM2 is gone. The mechs just go straight at it once combat is initiated, saving a lot of time in battles.

All of these improvements in gameplay speed during the individual battle scenarios cause Front Mission 3’s loading time between scenarios to be very frequent and very lengthy. Although this isn’t exactly desirable, it’s preferable to having to wait 8-10 seconds every time you attack an enemy or vice versa.

In spite of its many new features and refinements, Front Mission 3 actually doesn’t play quite as well as FM2 did. This is due to the fact a lot of Front Mission 3’s features greatly reduce the amount of strategy that it holds. First of all, you can only send 4 units into combat at a time in FM3, whereas you could send all 12 of your playable units into combat in FM2. As a result, you don’t have to face as many enemies per battle. Second, the scenario maps are significantly smaller in FM3. Finally, changes were made to the AP system that take away a lot of its strategy.

In Front Mission 3, your characters receive more AP than they did in FM2. In addition, the effect of surrounding or being surrounded by your enemies has been greatly weakened. In FM2, surrounding your enemies was the key focus of gameplay, because you could render an enemy virtually helpless by surrounding him. In FM3, however, you can pretty much run around doing whatever you want, because being surrounded by enemies isn’t something you truly fear, and because the overall difficulty of the game is low.

Front Mission 3’s numerous flaws prevent it from being considered among the elite strategy RPGs, but it certainly is a solid effort and a worthy continuation of the series. Strangely enough, I did find myself a bit more addicted to the game than I expected to be, so all strategy RPG fans out there are encouraged to at least give this one a try.