What's new
Frozen in Carbonite

Welcome to FiC! Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Front Mission: LEFT ALIVE; Metal Gear Solid meets Front Mission

Aaron Fox

SB's Minor Junker Descendant and Hunter of Nazis
Author



Ever since FM4 had made most RTT-RPG Front Mission titles only available for Japan thanks to creator decree, we haven't seen much of Front Mission. Now Square Enix has gotten top men from Armored Core and Metal Gear Solid to produce Left Alive... set in the time between FM3 and Front Mission Evolved. Preorders are available and it's slated for a release in March of 2019...
 
Now, for those that are asking "Hey Aaron, why are they doing a TPS instead of a Tactical RPG like the majority of the games?" Well, from what I can tell, the IP owner (Square doesn't own the IP) is so up his ass that he would simply literally/metephorically torch it before he lets go of it. The main series was horrific in terms of continuity lockout that it was a liability... and the man won't budge on it.
 
Yeah theyre definitely gunning down for that MGSV feeling.
 
Yeah theyre definitely gunning down for that MGSV feeling.
That's not bad actually, given that MSG5 has been rather grounded outside of the actual Metal Gear related bits. Hell, they got the 'skating' motive function of the Wanzers right, which is far more impressive than most can give credit for. If you looked at the gameplay of FM2 and FM5, you see that combat in Front Mission is very mobile and involves practically skating around to get into a good position. This is also shown in the various manga of the franchise, but I can't link them because of NSFW content.
 
Extended Developer Gameplay!
Extended developer gameplay!


I am seriously liking all the EU stuff that they have been putting into the game, like the AIs (in a manga taking place during the 2nd Haffman Conflict, a soldier had an AI implanted into him and was heavily cyberized) and warcrimes a plenty.
 
Last edited:
From what I can understand, it never really hit it with the Japanese audience, that is partially why Evolved went with mecha-action instead of the series' traditional Tactical RPG mechanics.
Or, you know, the players' feedback are about graphics, controls, design, where the game appears to fuck up hard.
 
Or, you know, the players' feedback are about graphics, controls, design, where the game appears to fuck up hard.
Then again, not everything can be Ace Combat 7... or the fact that there is some historical basis in a franchise (like Nintendo's Metroid and Advanced Wars franchises being a poor seller in Japan but selling like hot cakes in the West).
 
I'll give the pirated game a try and see how. Promising concept, but it's all in the execution.

I mean, people were pooh-poohing the idea of clouds as a mechanic in Ace Combat. Now everyone's using them.
 
From what I'm seeing in the walkthroughs I've seen, it isn't bad... problem is sadly the entire situation around the IP and the fact that this is clearly not a Triple-A title, likely a Double or Single A title at best. I mean, you can't have every return to the franchise go the way of Ace Combat 7...

... and it also doesn't help that the fanbase has this hate-boner to end all hate-boners on any spinoff the franchise had outside of Alternative. I mean they are almost as bad as those assholes of Fallout, the 'No Mutants Allowed' group.
 
Our biggest gaming website gave it 6/20, calling the game a horrible accident to avoid. Awful and counterintuitive control scheme, lack of fluidity, complete lack of many essential features of infiltration games, etc.
 
Funnily enough Famitsu rated it a 31/40, which is not spectacular but not terrible either. Different strokes, different folks?
 
Back
Top Bottom