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Post by Discoalucard on Jul 30, 2006 22:41:20 GMT -5
Anyone else a fan of these? I went on a big spree back in college after playing a whole ton of Front Mission 3 (which I loved and still love) but haven't touched them again until recently. I'm not a huge mech fan, but tweaking and customizing them can be pretty fun.
The first one for the Super Famicom is pretty good. Great soundtrack too. The second one bogs the game down with some annoying issues, the worst of which are INSANELY LONG LOAD TIMES. It really makes the game unplayable.
The third game drastically mixes up all of the systems and change the balance. The result is a game that's much easier, faster and far more user friendly. This is by far my favorite of the series, but most hardcore fans seem to loathe it for the same reasons I dig it.
The fourth and fifth game returns to its roots a bit more, and focuses strategy on constructing links (getting multiple characters to attack in the same turn.) I need to replay FM4 again but I never quite wrapped by head around this to begin with. FM5 is much the same but fixes/tweaks some stuff, including the "bonus" of watching out for friendly fire, which infuriates me to no end. FM5 also has no current plans for localization, which strikes me as pretty weird. I think FM4 flopped big time, but they're willing to chance crap like Romancing Saga so I don't know why they'd pass this over.
There'll be an article on these once I sort them all out - probably won't be for a few weeks though.
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Post by Neo Rasa on Jul 30, 2006 23:00:51 GMT -5
Front Mission 4 was a flop of epic proportions. It dropped down to $14.99 faster than you could say "Localize Front Mission 5."
I really wish they would localize Front Mission 5. I mean I have all the other games, it would be cool to have more than two of them be in English.
They brought over stuff like Drakengard 2 which no one at all gives a damn about in any way, Romacing Saga as you said, etc. What a waste. Especially now that Chromehounds is out with insanely positive word of mouth despite scathing and blisteringly incompetent reviews (the mechs move slowly it must suck boo hoo hoo).
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Post by Brand on Jul 30, 2006 23:35:04 GMT -5
I liked 3 a lot but was dissapointed in 4 it was just boring. I didn't care about the dude with the mullet at all.
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Post by Discoalucard on Jul 30, 2006 23:39:53 GMT -5
They brought over stuff like Drakengard 2 which no one at all gives a damn about in any way Actually Square skipped on Drakengard 2, which led to me believe they're being a bit more cautious about what they bring out. Ubisoft localized it and it already dropped to $20 after a few months. Still, Front Mission actually kinda sorta has SOME semblance of a fan base. Can't say that about Drakengard. Maybe someone else will grab it. It ties nicely into FM4 and apparently weaves together the plots of all of the games. I REALLY like the look and feel of FM5, even though the difficulty is currently annoying me. And Brand, yeah, FM3 moves a LOT faster than all of the others. Most matches take like 10-15 minutes, whereas in the other games, you're looking at a half hour to an hour per level, even in the beginning stages. More if you're dealing with the loading times.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2006 23:51:49 GMT -5
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Post by EXMaster on Jul 31, 2006 0:00:23 GMT -5
I too loved FM3, and I'm glad I took a chance on it when I got it years ago at a Toys R' Us as kind of an impulse buy. Nothing's more fun than getting multiple Rate of Fire ability chains with a shotgun equipped mech and watching them absolutely mutilate an opponent. I also really liked the two different scenarios, giving you a very solid reason to play through the game more than once, since one gives you an almost completely different experience from the other.
FM4 was alright at best. But my expectations were raised from FM3, and sadly FM4 did not reach them.
I never played the first two, is it worth it to go back and play them?
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Post by Discoalucard on Jul 31, 2006 0:18:25 GMT -5
Not really a mech fan, no. Never got into Mechwarrior. I know of Armored Core, only because my brother bought the first one back when we bought a Playstation. I love all of the customization, I just don't like the slow paced action. I never played the first two, is it worth it to go back and play them? First one, yes, definitely. Second one, not so much - would be a cool game but the loading really kills it. The first two are a little bit stranger because they put emphasis on close range combat. With the exception of missiles (for the most part), the main arsenal requires you to be directly next to your opponent in order to attack. FM3 and beyond actually gave you more range, which I prefer greatly. I should also mention the two spinoffs. Gun Hazard is pretty similar to Cybernator/Assault Suits, except with worse graphics/level designs, but with a lot of cool customization and RPG elements. It's kinda mediocre IMO but it has a following. It does have a damn nice soundtrack composed by Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda, it's great to here them doing something other than RPGs. I couldn't figure out Front Mission Alternative for the life of me. I think all you did was equip your mech, give them waypoints, and then watch them walk. I think it's more of a real time strat sim but you don't have too much control over much of anything. I have to play it again, it's been years.
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Post by Weasel on Jul 31, 2006 0:40:17 GMT -5
I've got FM's 1, 3, 4, and Gun Hazard. I loved 3, but 4 doesn't quite live up to it. The one thing I didn't like about 3, though, was how slow it was - to the point where a cinema would take three times longer than it should have because of all the slowdown.
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Post by Discoalucard on Jul 31, 2006 1:15:51 GMT -5
I've got FM's 1, 3, 4, and Gun Hazard. I loved 3, but 4 doesn't quite live up to it. The one thing I didn't like about 3, though, was how slow it was - to the point where a cinema would take three times longer than it should have because of all the slowdown. You can shut them off though. But yeah, that game definitely taxed the PSOne a lot. There's a lot of stuff going on, and they had to use pretty low res textures and ignore any perspective correction, so the game looks like a mess.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2006 1:50:37 GMT -5
Not really a mech fan, no. Hehe, oops, I misread that part of your text. Forget that I even asked that. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2006 7:12:56 GMT -5
Heh... urm... I don't know the first thing about FM. There IS an article in the works that can educate the uninformed such as me, correct?
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Post by Shellshock on Jul 31, 2006 7:51:23 GMT -5
I remember when FM 2 came out for the Super Famicom, it looked unbelievably great. I got tired of waiting for an english version, plus I was about to buy Final Fantasy 6. I loved FM 3 for playstation, specially the art and the whole going surfing online, going to bbs's and hacking. I would spend hours just doing this and getting all the secrets, you guys remember how to get that huge laser for your mechs towards the end of the game?? Great game.
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Post by Brand on Jul 31, 2006 8:59:33 GMT -5
Really it wasn't how long the battles took it was the back and forth story line. The chick's was fairly intresting but the mullet dude's bored me to death.
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Post by zzz on Jul 31, 2006 9:26:53 GMT -5
I am quite fond of this series. The first game and Gun Hazard are among my all time favorite rpgs.
Speaking of mech games does anybody here play the Assault Suits series? My all time favorite 2-D action series. Or how about those Mechwarrior games for SNES and Genesis?
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Post by Shinigami on Jul 31, 2006 14:27:40 GMT -5
I also loved FM3. I spent 151 hours in that game, not counting the times when I played and didn't save. I I liked it so much I bought FM4 without reading any reviews and was sorely dissapointed. I managed to play through the whole thing, but I wouldn't want to do it again. And the way everyone's mouths move makes them look like puppets.
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