From heaven to hell.

Front Mission sucks!

Front Mission 3 was a mid game that I think I ultimately liked. Gun Hazard was a ton of fun that I know I enjoyed. I’d rather play Lufia than game one.

Full disclosure, I only played about a quarter of the way through the game before I had to tap out. And the biggest reason why is the patron devil of video game mechanics, RNGesus. The biggest annoyance I had with FM3 began in game one. There are four separate health bars on a wanzer: nody, arms, and both legs. Each has a similar chance of being hit in battle. Remember what usually happens in this situation? 

The difficulty is also frustrating. Battles five and six contain so many missile launchers that it felt unfair, especially if you’re trying to keep everyone alive. I lost a potential party member because he was AI controlled, and enemy AI isn’t stupid. Paul ran in and got killed. Cool, now I’m at an even bigger disadvantage for future missions. Okay, fine, I can sacrifice one or two characters. But don’t let Lloyd die, or it’s game over. And Lloyd is always on the verge of death! 

The music is just there. It’s not exciting, nor is it memorable. One of the songs is a must mute track, though, and you hear it pretty often. Front Mission was composed by Yoko Shimomura, the same composer for Live a Live. So what the hell happened?!

It’s a beautiful game, so it’s got that going for it. Most wanzer parts look different, all the weapons are unique, and there are plenty of head portraits to look at. The portraits even move! The art team popped off, but it was all for naught because…

The story goes nowhere. As I said, I only played about seven missions, less than a quarter of the game, but I spoiled myself and saw what was coming. It’s pretty damn interesting, actually! However, it takes so long to get there. Seventy percent of the game is just you being a mercenary. Why Lloyd is the field leader of a preexisting merc group is beyond me, but whatever. It takes forever to get there. And unlike FM3, it doesn’t have the backdrop of you being active participants in a war. 

I’m somewhere between bored and angry with Front Mission. I hate it, and it’s tedious, so I’m done. I’ve got nearly twenty five games to get through. This game is better sacrificed, so that I can move on. 13/50. Maybe it can reach 17, but who cares?