Front Mission 2: Remake

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Note: This review has been directly sponsored by a kind donation from Jamie and His Cats. Thanks again for your generous contribution!

(Note: Included in Front Mission Remake Trilogy along with Front Mission 1st: Remake and Front Mission 3: Remake.)

The Front Mission series of mech-centric Tactics-style Turn-Based Strategy-RPGs dates back to the series’ first game on the Super Famicom in 1995, with its first mainline sequel, alternately referred to as Front Mission 2 and Front Mission Second, released on the PlayStation in Japan in 1997. Unlike the first game, Front Mission 2 wouldn’t receive any remakes or Western release until this remake of the game on Nintendo Switch in 2023 and on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2024.

This lack of revisions to this game might help to explain why this remake is so severely lacking in features compared to Front Mission 1st: Remake – there’s no second campaign like the previous game had, nor has this game received any post-release content like the prior game had, and in turn no challenge missions or multiplayer.

At the very least, being a later game in the series means that Front Mission 2 does have some enhancements over the first game – players now acquire new abilities earlier, and at a faster pace. And this game marks the start of a simulated “network” containing news and other information, though this feature isn’t as fleshed-out as we would see in later games in the series. This game also adds new elements like Action Points and “links” to assist nearby friendly units, gameplay mechanics that add new complexity to combat.

However, there are also new problems here too. The difficulty curve is much steeper than the first game pretty early on, in part because it takes a while before you gain access to healing items this time, and you’re now on the hook for the cost of all mech repairs and not just the repairs of mechs that were totaled in combat. In addition, menu navigation and even simply moving around feels a lot clunkier this time.

All of this is in addition to returning problems the first game had, and for the full details you can check out that review. However, in short, randomness and luck play an overly-strong part of your success or failure in battle here, with luck determining not only whether or not you or your enemies land their hits in combat, but also whether that hit damages vital systems on the mech or merely grazes less-important ones.

As with the prior release, the other major change here is the presentation, and there are some nice elements here, though it’s not quite as impressive as what we saw in the first game. However, there’s still a good amount of detail in the 3D visuals depicting the mechs and the locations they fight in, and I do appreciate that this time when you destroy a limb on a mech, it doesn’t just go dark and limp, but you actually see it blow off, leaving wiring and pieces of the metal joint in its place. This release also features a remade soundtrack as well, though purists can always opt to swap to the original. Sadly, there’s no voice acting for this story-heavy game’s huge amount of dialogue.

On that note, the story this time around follows a group of members of the Asia-centric O.C.U. military who find themselves suddenly behind enemy lines when the allied nation of Alordesh has a sudden military coup that seeks to undo that alliance and expel the O.C.U. from their country by force. It’s a story that I think has much more potential than what we saw in the first game, though that doesn’t make up for the aforementioned gameplay issues.

Overall, Front Mission 2: Remake feels like a step down from its predecessor, which was a game that already had its share of issues. Front Mission 2 adds to those issues with fewer features, a clunky interface, and a steeper difficulty curve. Fans of the series may still want to check this game out, but everyone else is better off sticking with the first Front Mission remake, or just getting another Strategy-RPG entirely.

tl;dr – Front Mission 2: Remake is a remake of a classic mech-focused Turn-Based Strategy-RPG with loads of customization, and a nice presentation, but this remake doesn’t seem nearly as extensive as what the first game received, and the lack of content, interface issues, and steep difficulty curve compared to the first game make this a pretty disappointing follow-up. Series fans may want to check this out, but everyone else is better off going with another game in the genre.

Grade: C-

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