Zachalmighty's Epic RPG Reveiw Thread

[Zachalmighty]

I am currently playing Front Mission 1st DS, Front Mission 3, and Front Mission 4. I will be playing all of them and giving my impression of which one is the best in the series.

If you have another series you want me to review or a game that needs reviewing don't hesitate to ask!

Systems I own:
Sega Genesis
Nintendo 64
Playstation One
Playstation 2
Wii
Xbox360
PSP
DS
GBA
PC (Very High end, Witcher style son)

[Mistatee]

Play Lunar. Tell me if you think it is genius.
Recommended Version: Ps1

[Zachalmighty]

Originally Posted by Mistatee

Play Lunar. Tell me if you think it is genius.
Recommended Version: Ps1

Silver Star Story, right?

[Seraph]

Make sure to play Eternal Blue as well, great sequel. Both of them might be hard to track down though.

[Rubeus]

You should try Jeanne d' ARc for PSP, it is one of the best tactical RPG around, and the first I beated in a long time since Shining Force III for Saturn.

[Joe Redifer]

Play Shining Force 1 and 2 for the Genesis if you have them. They will make you want to buy a Sega CD and play through Shining Force CD, for sure.

[Zachalmighty]

Progress:
FM3: Finished
FM1 DS: Finished (Both Campaigns)
FM4: 70% (Wagner you bitch!!!!)
Persona 3: 60%
SMT: Nocturne: 20%
SMT: Devil Summoner: 10%

I might play Shining force, given my ability to acquire it in any form.

[Zachalmighty]

Front Mission 1st for the DS Reveiw
SRPG

Scores
Story: 8.5
Battle System: 7
Graphics: 6
Music: 9
Replay Value: 9

My Appeal
-I love strategy games!
-I love RPG's
-I like a good story
-I like hand drawn characters!

Pros:
The game has a good story for an SNES game
Customizing Wanzers is cool, everything up to the color of the mech
Two campaigns to play through
Ties into newer FM games

Cons:
Way to easy, even in New game+ mode
Not enough skills
There really isn't any strategy here
Final Boss of UCS and OCU went out like punk bitches

Reveiw: Front Mission is one of the premiere mech games outside of japan. Rivaling games like Armored Core and Super Robot Taisen in terms of storyline and Craaaaazy mech action. But the Front Mission series holds a special place in my heart. Seeing as I'm a whore for everything Sqenix. The first game in the series released on the Snes (or NES donno) and was remade later in 2001 for the PS1 with a second campaign that perceived the side of the story from the opposing factions vantage point.

Story: The story starts off with your team of chibi mechs on a flat playing board. The game explains that your on an island (oh boy!) called Huffman split in half by two major world powers, one being the OCU, or Ossies and the other being the UCS, or AMERICANS. Yes America is once again kicking ass and taking names 89 years into the future. The long standing cease fire is violated, blah blah blah, lover dies, blah, typical sqeenix crap.
I'm not saying the story is crap, it was written 16 years ago when it had'nt been rehashed billions of times in FF games. There is a pretty enemy named Driscoll, too old to be a Bishi though.

Battle System: This is normally why we buy games isn't it? The battle system is fairly simple in this game. You get to field up to 16 mechs against double or more that on the enemies team. But the enemy just tries to overwhelm you over and over again instead of using superior tactics to make you think. Most battles end up with it just being who can use the repair care the best. Not too fun. Later in the game your guys actually get skills which make the game a total breeze. Stuff like one attack kills are frequent! The battle system is average!

Graphics: What can you expect from a game that debuted on the original nintendo systems? Nothing. It looks just like a Final Fantasy game, no not like FF 6 but more like 4. The wierd art still exists with males looking semi feminine. The only saving grace of this game is that all the characters where hand drawn including the backgrounds to places like towns.

Music: The music is good. 8 bit glory good-ness. Later in the game it does become repetitive though but since I am a very patient man I couldn't get too angry. (Kept expecting one winged angel epicness)

Replay Value: This is where the game shines. If you like replaying a game for customization and items that is. The game offers you a separate campaign that you can play through detailing more of the story surrounding the Huffman conflict. The second part is hard, especially if you were expecting the ease of the first campaign. After you beat that and save the clear data you can replay either side again in new game+ mode. This mode basically adds more parts to the shops and weapons and gives you the choice to change enemy damage/lvl modifier. I put it on 2.0 and that was easy, but the cool parts and customization kept me in it.

Conclusion: If your a mech fan this game is a definite buy. If your a strategy RPG fan you might want to pass it up for how easy it is. If you just have a strange fascination with customization you probably already have alot of tattoos and should stay away from this game anyway.

[Chronos]

I second Lunar: Silver Star Story (complete) and Eternal Blue. I haven't touched either since the ps1...so they may have aged poorly but from what I remember they were both awesome and should still be worthy. Gotta love the epic anime cutscenes.

[Zachalmighty]

Originally Posted by Chronos

I second Lunar: Silver Star Story (complete) and Eternal Blue. I haven't touched either since the ps1...so they may have aged poorly but from what I remember they were both awesome and should still be worthy. Gotta love the epic anime style cutscenes.

The game has aged poorly. Is it just me or was the game a little hard at the first cave thing? I found myself losing one party member every fight. Am i doing something terribly wrong?

[Chronos]

That first part is definetly extra hard since your characters are fresh. I remember it...once you encounter _____ and get out you can plevel on some easier forrest fodder, at least that's what I did, until level 10 or so when you get some addtl powers.

[Zachalmighty]

Originally Posted by Chronos

That first part is definetly extra hard since your characters are fresh. I remember it...once you encounter _____ and get out you can plevel on some easier forrest fodder, at least that's what I did, until level 10 or so when you get some addtl powers.

Ok, I will go and try it again.

[Sinful Sam]

I been wanting to play this game. I loved Front Mission 3 on the PS1. I was disappointed with 4.

[Zachalmighty]

Originally Posted by Sinful Sam

I been wanting to play this game. I loved Front Mission 3 on the PS1. I was disappointed with 4.

Play it for the piece of the story, they do introduce Renges and Darril in the end of the second campaign. Front Mission 3 is the best FM so far. Also FM Border of Madness 2089 details the first Huffman conflict is coming out on the DS within the next year.

[Mistatee]

Originally Posted by Zachalmighty

Ok, I will go and try it again.

The game is easier than the Sega CD counter-parts.
Don't be afraid to use the defend command. Only RPG I can name where defend is incredibly useful. Also the first cave pretty much assumes you will go into town after killing a few monsters and update your equipment. Probably a poor design for a beginning of a game, but its worth it in the end, trust me.