"As a tactical grid-based game from the ’90s, the original featured pixelated, steampunk designs that feel genuinely charming today."

If it wasn’t already clear from the mech lying despondent in some rubble on the game’s cover, Front Mission 3 has a thoroughbred industrial aesthetic that screams ’90s (if not late-’80s) anime. The visual tone is surprisingly grounded, it plays like a military technothriller, more geopolitical tension than super-robot spectacle. While mechs are the clear focal point, even they avoid overly fantastical elements, favoring believability over exaggerated spectacle.

As a tactical grid-based game from the ’90s, the original featured pixelated, steampunk designs that feel genuinely charming today. This remake builds on that foundation, and compared to the previous Switch release, several visual upgrades enhance the aesthetic. Most notably, the controversial AI-generated portraits used in the Network have been removed and replaced with original PS1 artwork. In other cases, those Network images have been reworked to look far more natural and cohesive than the AI-generated weirdness that was featured in the Switch release.

That said, the character portraits still have that ‘processed’ look, cleaner, but less textured than the original art. For old-school pixel art fans like myself, a portrait toggle, or better yet, a full graphical toggle, would have been ideal. The new 3D backgrounds are serviceable, but several side-by-side comparisons reveal that some environmental detail has been lost in the transition. Street lamps, traffic cones, and other small flourishes present in the original pixel art are occasionally omitted in the new 3D overhaul.

"While mechs are the clear focal point, even they avoid overly fantastical elements, favoring believability over exaggerated spectacle."

The upside is improved lighting and color contrast. Environments pop more vividly, and mechs often look more imposing as light reflects off their armor. Unfortunately, this comes with a trade-off: some of the mech designs lose their distinctiveness. Several Wanzers (the game’s mechs) that once leaned into cool steampunk-inspired silhouettes have been redesigned into generic industrial forms. These are designs we’ve seen countless times before compared to the unique pixel depictions of the mechs from the original. Because these 3D assets represent such a mixed bag, a graphics toggle between classic and remake visuals (similar to the music options) would have been the best solution.

Speaking of music, the Front Mission 3 soundtrack is all re-orchestrated in faithful, one-to-one arrangements. Even so, many fans will still prefer the punchy, compressed soundfont of the original PS1 release. Thankfully, both soundtracks are included and can be toggled freely in the menu, a feature I wish was available for the graphics, but we’ll take what we can get.

The music in general is pretty dang good. It’s your classic PS1 quality, but still head-bobbing and atmospheric. Some of the battle music can grow repetitive though. Short loops combined with long combat engagements don’t leave much room for variety, and the limited number of tracks becomes noticeable over time.

Unfortunately, there’s no option to revert to the original sound effects. The new effects are noticeably tinny and piercing, not to mention the imbalance in the audio mix that overpowers the music with the tinny effects. While individual volume sliders help mitigate this issue, it’s still a disappointment given how much care was taken with the music itself.

"Smaller map sizes compound visibility issues, especially in tight indoor environments."

All the audiovisual polish in the world wouldn’t matter if the core combat didn’t hold up, and thankfully, it mostly does. Front Mission 3 is a tactical RPG in the same general lineage as Final Fantasy Tactics, though it’s far less complex. Battles play out on grid-based maps with turn-based strategy, but without class systems or meaningful terrain mechanics, the tactical depth is relatively light.

Maps are noticeably smaller than in previous Front Mission titles, which reduces the number of combatants and keeps engagements more focused. While mechanics like damage types, action points, status effects, and skills are present, the true depth lies in the kind of mech customization that can be done. Each pilot’s Wanzer can be assembled from different bodies, arms, shoulders, legs, and weapons, all of which you unlock gradually over the course of the game.

Progression, however, is sluggish in the opening hours. You’ll spend a long stretch using the same limited parts before the game even introduces tutorials for more advanced customization systems. Once it finally opens up, tinkering with Wanzers becomes one of the game’s biggest strengths.

Character growth revolves around Medals, which are earned by destroying individual enemy parts or eliminating them outright. This system encourages targeted combat, one of Front Mission’s signature mechanics. Unfortunately, manual targeting options are limited, and too much relies on RNG-driven targeted attacks rather than deliberate player choice.

Battles themselves are engaging and fun for tactical fans, but their pacing can feel glacial. Sitting through the sluggish mech travel speeds and attack animations can put you to sleep pretty quick. While “Fast Battle” and “Fast Movement” options exist in the settings menu to skip these slow animations, there’s no satisfying middle ground. Fast Battle hits the skip button on everything, including the info you actually need. No animations, no mech-part or pilot damage indicators. Fast Movement skips travel animations completely, which is nice. But a simple ‘skip’ button for animations, or a fast-forward toggle would’ve been the ideal solution here.

"You need to enter a separate top-down view mode to check enemy attack squares."

Situational awareness also suffers during battles. You can’t easily check enemy movement spaces or attack ranges during standard play, instead needing to enter a separate top-down view mode. Transitioning between that view and the normal camera is a chore, making it difficult to remember which specific tiles are safe and whatnot. The game would’ve benefited by having persistent tile overlays showcasing enemy unit actions, especially given the increased button count that modern controllers provide, allowing these kinds of toggles to be possible. You also need to enter the top-down menu to see the mission objective for each map, which is just bizarre.

Smaller map sizes further compound visibility issues, especially in tight indoor environments. Awkward camera angles, wall clipping, and obstructed paths are common. While unit transparency can be toggled, there’s no universal option to make walls and environmental objects transparent.

Lastly, there’s some fairly good replay value here thanks to the game’s two branching campaigns. Early on, players choose between following Alisa, the protagonist’s sister, or Emma, a mysterious covert agent. Each route offers different dialogue, stages, and enemies, though the game does a poor job of signaling how important this choice actually is. I didn’t even realize I had made a branching decision on my first playthrough. While the two routes aren’t drastically different, the incentive to replay remains attractive.

"The plot won’t blow anyone away, but it’s a solid slice of late-’90s mecha storytelling."

But is Front Mission 3 worth playing for the story? Well, yes and no. I absolutely love the lore in this installment, but the main plot is just serviceable when you discount the cool mecha aesthetic. And outside of the Emma/Alisa split, the story is linear and delivered through brief cutscenes and textbox dialogue.

Front Mission 3 continues the series’ tradition of grounded war narratives and industrial themes. Inspired by mecha anime classics like Evangelion, it largely avoids supernatural elements in favor of political intrigue and military conspiracies. The plot won’t blow anyone away, but it’s a solid slice of late-’90s mecha storytelling that I think genre fans will appreciate. What truly elevates the narrative is the Network; an in-game simulation of the internet that functions as a massive lore database. As the story progresses, new webpages unlock offering news articles, character profiles, military reports, and hidden content tied to character interactions.

As a relative newcomer to the series, the Network impressed me more than any other aspect of the game. It’s dense, immersive, and structured like an actual web browser, complete with interconnected links and discoverable secrets.

"As the story progresses, new webpages unlock offering news articles, character profiles, military reports, and hidden content."

Navigation, however, is clunky. Manually scrolling to exit tabs and dealing with slow page transitions can be frustrating. Still, customization options like unlockable desktop backgrounds are welcome touches.

Front Mission 3 Remake is a slight improvement over the Switch version, especially in its handling of artwork and presentation. It’s also an upgrade over the original with its suite of options and modern control scheme. The inclusion of multiple soundtrack options, enhanced lighting, and general 3D overhaul leans in the remake category, while the rest of the game feels like it mostly did on the PS1. The remake still struggles with uneven pacing, awkward visibility, limited tactical depth, and a frustrating lack of toggles letting playes choose between classic and modern elements.

Despite its shortcomings, the game’s strong mech customization and distinctive tone make it easy to recommend to fans of tactical RPGs and grounded mecha fiction. It may not be the definitive version longtime fans dreamed of, but hey, it’s still a worthy way to experience one of the genre’s most interesting cult classics.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

While Square Enix returns to the Front Mission universe in Left Alive (releasing in March worldwide), the original team behind the tactical mech combat title on SNES has something else coming. Publisher Kadokawa Games announced on Twitter that Project Stella, a spiritual successor to Front Mission, will be out this year. A more concrete release date wasn’t provided.

Though it’s a spin-off of a Kadokawa mobile title (Starly Girls: Episode Starsia), Project Stella is a proper strategy RPG. While the publisher didn’t share more information on the consoles it would be releasing for, it wouldn’t be remiss to expect a PS4 release. Even a Steam launch seems reasonable enough, but we’ll have to wait for more confirmation.

Also, it seems Kadokawa president Yoshimi Yasuda is overseeing Project Stella. If the screenshot released on Twitter, the game’s first thus far, is any indication, then a more Front Mission-style strategy mech experience is on the cards. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.

https://twitter.com/starly_girls/status/1079755689340203008

Square Enix’s new project Left Alive was recently announced at the Playstation Press Conference in Japan. What has gamers excited are the people working on the game, as it will be directed by Toshifumi Nabeshima who had joint Square Enix back in 2015 (he had previously worked on the Armored Core series at From Software) and the character designs will be handled by the Metal Gear series’ Yoji Shinkawa. Takayuki Anase, having worked on the mech design for Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Xenoblade Chronicles X, will be working on the design of the mechas in the game known as Wanzers.

The game will play out as a third person shooter with its main emphasis on survival and will follow three different protagonists at different times. The game will be set in the same world as the Front Mission Series and will take place in the year 2127, which chronologically places it in between the events of Front Mission 5 and Front Mission Evolved. The setting of the game is a city in Russia that is in the middle of a war, and which inevitably affects the lives of the protagonists.

Left Alive will feature replayability elements and will also allow players to progress in whatever direction they choose. However, the game will not feature multiple endings, although character arcs can be affected depending on how they are played out through the course of the game.

While Wanzers cannot be customized, players will be able to make use of crafting to enhance their abilities.  Moreover, players won’t be spending all their times in the Wanzers and will mainly encounter them as enemies which they can then steal and use as their own.

As of now, the game will be mainly focused on offline gameplay, and it is unknown what form multiplayer gameplay may take. The team said, “We’re not saying there aren’t any online elements, but they’ll be a bonus if we have them.” All in all, the game seems ready to change up the formula of the Front Mission series in significant ways. This is why the team didn’t want to simply make a sequel, as the new game allows them to look at the world of the Front Mission series through a different perspective.

The game is currently said be half-completed and is set to release for the PC and Playstation 4 in 2018.

Sources: 1, 2.

Update: Left Alive has been described as a “survival action shooter” that will also be coming to PC.

Original Story:

A strange new game was announced by Square Enix at Sony’s TGS presser – it’s called Left Alive and judging by the teaser released, it seems to take place in a post-apocalyptic setting with huge mechs.

It actually reminds us of the company’s vaunted Front Mission series. So when you hear that the director is Toshifumi Nabeshima, who produced the Armored Core games for From Software along with directing the first game and writing the script for Dark Souls 2, things get interesting. Producer Shinji Hashimoto is also on board as is Yoji Shinkawa, the man known for his legendary character designs in the Metal Gear and Zones of the Enders franchises.

Left Alive doesn’t have any more information apart from this but it will be exclusive to the PS4 and release sometime in 2018 for Japan. Details on a Western release are still pending. Perhaps more updates and gameplay could be offered on September 21st when the Tokyo Game Show begins? Here’s hoping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1i1sGyS7U0

Square Enix may be reviving yet another popular series from its catalog, as it appears as though they are currently in the midst of developing a new Front Mission game. According to Siliconera, the game is being developed by Square Enix Japan along with former Armored Core producer Toshifumi Nabeshima. Nabeshima previously worked with From Software, where he created Chromehounds for Sega and Armored Core V.

That experience may yet come in handy- while Front Mission started out as a science fiction saga, the newest entries saw it veer more and more into the kind of mech action that defined Chromehounds and Armored Core. Whether or not that experience translates properly into delivering a proper Front Mission game to fans remains to be seen.

As of right now, nothing more is known about this title. While it is tempting to think that it may be unveiled at E3, the best bet is probably TGS later this year. Stay tuned for more coverage.

Stay tuned with GB for a full preview and a review of the game soon.