Its art and music direction are gritty and depressing, fitting for the game’s storyline. For example, the player is thrown into all-out wars in Front Mission 2 as it takes place during a coup d’etat.
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. Front Mission‘s cast of characters come from all over the world, from Venezuela to Korea to even Iceland.
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For example, the technology of the series has real-life applications. The biggest design influence is the series’ grounded realism the setting is based off of near-future trends of how our world will evolve. Game mechanics aside, Front Mission‘s true strength comes from its design and story elements. Eventually, squad-based combat and friendly fire made its way into the series, giving it a tremendous amount of strategic depth and variety. 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.
Action Points (AP) were introduced and dictate how many actions a unit can do on their turn. While battles were modeled initially after Fire Emblem, it has evolved dramatically since the first game. When a battle initiates, the action zooms into a close-up of the map that shows the wanzers fighting. Combat is similar to other genre offerings in that it takes place on isometric 2D (in Front Mission) or 3D grid maps. Take out the body and the wanzer is destroyed. A lost arm means that it can’t use any weapons it has equipped. Destroyed parts reduce a wanzer’s ability to fight blow off its legs and it can’t move or evade attacks. 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. 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. The incredible amount of customization can be addictive, but also daunting to those who are not into micromanaging their games. The player is able to customize a wanzer from its parts, auxiliary backpacks, weapons, and even paint schemes. One of the biggest draws is the customization aspect. Wanzers are modeled after the “real robot” mecha archetype, being a versatile war machine that is used alongside other military weapons. What makes it different, however, is its usage of mecha (called “wanderpanzer” or “wanzer,” German for “walking tank”) and how it affects game mechanics. 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. As a result, many outside of Japan will never be able to truly appreciate the series in its entirety. Only four installments have seen release in the West: Front Mission 1st, 3, 4 and Evolved. This success however has not transferred overseas and it is partially due to Square USA’s poor handling of the series. While not as popular as Square’s other flagships like Final Fantasy, the series has earned a very loyal audience that supports it unquestionably. Ever since then, the series has enjoyed the release of many other titles as well as a large stock of merchandise in Japan. 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. 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).
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