It is a prequel set way, way before the first FM, and was the only game in the series to attempt real-time strategy. I’ll only make a sidenote of FRONT MISSION ALTERNATIVE. Just make sure to get the History or Ultimate Hits reprints, as they let you skip the very slow battle scenes. Mix in beautiful artwork by Wizardry's Jun Suemi and a moody soundtrack by Noriko Matsueda, and you have a winning combination that won over fans and critics alike. Battles are played out on a larger scale than before and success is dependent on planning ahead, leaving players with a sense of accomplishment. The game mechanics are also beefed up, with subsystems like Honor coming into play. The plot eventually brings to light revelations about the nature of the coup, tying in to the large-scale narrative of the series and coming into play later in FM5. Characters from FM1 make an appearance in a hidden stage, and Front Mission 5’s cast is heavily implied to be involved as well. Other initial key players include a group of OCU survivors led by Thomas Norland, and Saribash Labra, the CEO of Burg Transportation. The game features an ensemble cast, rather than a singular main hero, and switches viewpoints between a group of OCU soldiers led by ethnic Alordeshi Ash Faruk (who looks like a young, shaven Freddy Mercury - the wife loves that) and an OCU detatchment led by Lisa Stanley. Front Mission 5 in particular is told solely from the viewpoint of a USN soldier, experiencing the entire series timeline from his eyes, tying up all unresolved plot threads and showing us the big picture after a decade’s worth of storytelling. There are two sides of the story, and at various points in the series you play as the USN and see their side of things.
But, as with any good war tale, it’s not really “good versus bad” in this scenario, but rather two nations with their own interests and security in mind. Other key players include the European Community, the People's Republic of Da Han Zhong (a reunited China and Taiwan) Zaftra (Russia) a collection of African blocs and the Republic of Ravnui.Įarly on in the series, the Japanese and Australian soldiers of the OCU are often cast as the playable side and the USN as the enemy. The most prominent two nations in the series are the United States of the New Continent or USN (the United States + rest of North and South America) and the Oceania Cooperative Union or the OCU (Japan, Australia, Asian Pacific), who are typically at odds but not always at war. Nations have combined into super-nations by this time, for economical and military reasons.
Though they are used throughout the series, wanzers are rarely a factor in the plot, instead focusing almost entirely on characters and politics. Wanderung Panzers - meaning “walking tanks” and often shortened to Wanzers (pronounced “vawn-zars” are a staple of war alongside traditional planes, tanks and troops. There are no psychic powers or space battles - it’s a world that is recognizable as our own. The technology is all fairly low-key, making it more of a hard sci-fi setting than what is usually seen in video games. The mainline Front Mission games take place in the real world, but in the future, specifically spanning the years 2034-2121.
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Much like how a serial drama handles its expanded universe material, all of these mediums would come together to tell the full story. These included books, film, and even radio itself. Not content with telling the story through video games alone, Tsuchida intended to have Front Mission told through various media. While it would be another year before the game was officially released on the SNES, Tsuchida and his writers began to plot out the series piece by piece. Heavily inspired by the real world itself, as well as other works ranging from Ghost in the Shell, Full Metal Jacket, and Rashomon, he set out to create "a realistic impression of the world's future." And so, in early 1994, Front Mission was born. Eventually he broke away, forming the company G-Craft to create his ambitious new project - Front Mission. His career started with Masaya, and he had a hand in popular classics like Assault Suits Valken and Langrisser as a producer. Tsuchida is the mastermind and the main driving force behind the Front Mission series (excluding Evolved).