Whenever people talk about Front Mission games, a lot of people don't like FM2. They even say that it's the worst in the series. To some extent I can understand that. The game is quite difficult and punishing and you have to min-max even on Normal difficulty. I personally didn't like how the weight system affected movement.
But if we look aside from the flaws in its gameplay, everything else about it is quite good. Arguably the best in the series IMO. I've played 1-4 now.
The story is the best in the series. It's the most mature and deep one and I enjoyed seeing all the distinct characters. The characters in FM1 felt like they were just sorta there, for the most part. I also enjoyed the soundtrack of FM2.
I also enjoyed the characters in FM2 a lot more than 1 and 3. The characters were more memorable and I liked the atmosphere
Granted, I haven't played FM5 yet. But overall, FM 2 is my favorite in the series, followed by FM4. If you can look past its gameplay flaws, everything else about FM2 is solid
I used to play Front Mission 2 back in the old days on PSX. It was a slow loading game but the big robot strategy game with big guns really appealed a lot to me. The battle themes are not bad at all. I wished for the game to receive English translation one day. Good thing we now have remake. I don't have to go to Gamefaqs and check every word they say in the game.
You've got next level dedication. I only played the remake
Oh I didn't finish at all at that time. I was playing at my cousin's house and i didn't have a psx console back then.
I did try to emulate years later but my PC broke down not long after, so I never touched it again.
Bad?
BAD?
Who says Front Mission 2 is bad???
it's probably the best/most revolutionary in the franchise.
The characters, the locations, the musics.
I MAY HAVE some complains about the remake, but FM2 is ALMOST a masterpiece.
That being said... I'm stuck in Mission 15.
The gas flammable pipe.
I'm simply stuck and I can't move forward ahah
Yeah I don't think anyone calls it bad, just that it had a ton of growing pains. The first game becomes almost trivial in difficulty as it goes on and the second game swings super hard in the opposite direction, overly hard to the point of frustration sometimes. If they didn't have extremely limited ammo on standard weapons I think that would go a long way towards making it flow more evenly. Still I think that FM3 hit that middle ground (maybe a touch too easy at times) hence what makes it a fan favorite.
For Mission 15, send one unit to go hit the pipe asap. The rest need to sort of tank up in high Geo % areas (there are some as high as 40% near the starting area). Let the enemies come to you, amd save liberally in case you get bad RNG on a turn (i.e. barely any abilities trigger, or you lose a wanzer to bad luck).
I'll try this.
So high Geo areas will go in my favour, during combat?
Yeah, near walls, trees, etc, will lower enemy acc significantly. Force them to get in range while you're between those two trees near the start, for instance.
Gosh, I realize I don't know shit about this game ahah
I tried that mission twice, they simply own me, I have too few movements.
Am I supposed to kill ALL of them, with or without blowing the gas pipe?
Can't I just... kill the commander?
Sadly ya gotta kill everyone that isn't blocked on the other side of the pipe.
Oook so... I'm screwed ahahaha
But realistically, how am/was I supposed to even level up THAT MUCH to beat this level?
It isn't leveling, it's gear. If you're geared appropriately you can make it work, the hardest part is, the game doesn't tell you what pilots have what specialties without a guide. So Maylan for instance is great with Melee, Lisa is a Long specialist, Sayuri is a Short specialist, etc.
But there's no way to know that without knowing it, lol.
Do you have Shop or Coliseum access at that level? I'm guessing not...
Also don't overload with gear, you need a certain amount of power left over to increase your mobility. You'll notice in Setup if you go nuts with adding Long Range, Short, and Items, your Weight will be high and your mobility zero. I like to equip only my Long specialists with Backpacks with Items (extra ammo, restore-1, etc), and the rest with Backpacks that enhance Power (for extra movement).
I see... so... there is no point in equipping ALL my characters with the same weapons.
Also, the heavier they are, the less squares of movement they have?
Really?
I thought the squares were only related to legs parts.
Yeah, watch how the "mobility" stat changes in Setup when you equip various things.
You could equip everyone the same, but by endgame it'll be good to specialize, mainly because each pilot learns a skill unique to them within their specialty. Like Thomas, for instance, is the only one that learns the incredibly damaging 2Level 1 Atk skill, that does 20X your level in damage for a single punch.
Its the honor points that annoys me a lot, the one you get when destroy enemy parts.
On my third run, in the remake. Probably my second favorite after front mission 3.
I wish Jun Suemi would've stayed on as the artist for the rest of the series. It may be blasphemous of me to say it, but Amano's art style just isn't a good fit for the franchise. Jun's art style fits the series perfectly
I've checked the reviews on both steam and some in reddit regarding FM2 remake since i want to buy while waiting for FM3
The usual comments are indeed FM2 has the best story.
However, the remake port to steam is not that good. While its not a bad thing for me if visually its not upgraded, the issue(and a red flag for me) are apparently the soft locks and the battles are very very slow
And indeed I tried the demo and the battle sequence is slow...additionally the interface is not optimized and it shows as it is also confusing for me in the demo.
Which is a real shame, they emphasize FM2 has the best stories and I want to check since personally FM3 story is good to me
I prefer 2 to 3.
Fm2 is awesome and always has been but its so hard compared to the first so many people walk away pist when they get slapped and made to feel dumb
Honestly, mechanically speaking, it's the best.
I am the minority though in that part of why mech sims are my favorite genre of video games is due to the amount of tinkering and optimization that it entails. It's another form of skill expression essentially.
I also enjoy the challenge, but can recognize that simplification is often an appeal for a broader audience.
I enjoyed it more than 5, and in some ways more than 4. Just not a fan of everything revolving around the link system, 2's is similar but feels better. Although I'm not a fan of some firearms being melee range only.
Multiple missions of 'move a dozen units a handful of turns before doing anything else' makes me not share your opinion in almost all respects. I do agree about the mature story, and liked that aspect of it.
I've only played the remake but I liked it a lot. Better than the first game but not as great as 4. Haven't played 3 yet but I will when they port it to PS5.
https://www.reddit.com/r/frontmission/s/lm8XqqaoZK
I listed 7 reasons why Front Mission 2 is easily my least favorite entry.
what about FM alternative? I have yet to hear anyone with their experiences with that game given it's only for JDM. moreover the English translation patch is sort of ok, doesn't translate everything into english
You have to kill everyone that makes it to your side of the pipe unfortunately. The ones locked out by the fire won't count against you.
The only bad thing is no global release and the translation is not even half done
I've played 1-4, and it's my least favorite so far. I wasn't a huge fan of 1R either, but it's not bad. The range makes no sense at all in 1-2, like why would a rifle or MG have the same range as a melee attack? total nonsense
I own 75% of all front Mission Games. The 2nd one is the best Japanese version. Reason being you can eject your pilot and take over a dead pilots mech. Cool idea, I get why people get squamish about it, but it's just a video game not real life. The concept is bad ass.