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If there is a genre I am always here for, it’s the mecha genre. I love the likes of Gundam and Code Geass, but the Front Mission series is one I have, unfortunately, missed. That all changed with Front Mission 2 Remake on Nintendo Switch, a fascinating tactical RPG that marries together grid-based tactical gameplay and rich lore.
Set in the year 2102, this futuristic title picks up 12 years after the first game’s remake, which you can also play on Switch. As my first Front Mission, this remake instantly enveloped me as a fan of tactical RPGs like Triangle Strategy, the Fire Emblem series, and Final Fantasy Tactics.
In each battle, the player controls multiple characters and the mechs they pilot. You customize the mech suits, called Wanzers, and choose the weapons you want to use in combat. These can be machine guns, rockets, and the like, which you can equip on the different arms of the mech.
You then move around a grid, surround enemies, avoid being surrounded yourself, and attack them with the various weapons. The AP system controls how many attacks and skills you can use, and movement varies between each character and their mech. There is a heavy bit of customization and strategy both in and out of the battlefield.
This gives Front Mission 2 Remake such depth when it comes to how you want to approach each battle and story mission. I will admit that there were more than a few times where I narrowly won a battle with only one or two soldiers left on my side, but the thrill of looking at each situation as a puzzle to figure out kept me engaged, even when the story didn’t.
To be clear, I really enjoyed the plot in Front Mission 2 Remake, but it takes way too long to get going. It starts off with a sudden coup in Bangladesh, which leads a small group of soldiers on a trip through the country for survival and their part in the war. It takes quite a bit to get interesting, especially with the main characters, but it works once it gets there.
Part of why I didn’t enjoy the story at first was how little it made clear the details of the coup d’etat and everything else going on in the world. I also didn’t know the characters enough to care about their plight. But this issue resolves itself after a short time, which leads to some rich lore and intriguing war plot.
While it doesn’t go down as one of the best stories in gaming, it still impresses and kept me engaged from start to finish. It also helped that there are a few different key main storylines happening that you jump between later on. This helps keep the pacing better later in the game and I was happy to see it all the way through.
When it comes to the graphics, Front Mission 2 Remake looks pretty darn good, for the most part, as a remake of a PS1 title. The mechs look great in 3D with smoothed out models and battlefields, which feel a bit dim and dark at times, but look solid. The UI is fine, but could certainly use some work to look a bit more modern.
My main issue with the visuals remains the character art. I’m not a fan of the character portraits, which show up during cutscenes. They feel a bit lifeless and lacking in detail. This didn’t hurt the story all that much, but I certainly wish there was some better art to look at when the characters themselves never really show up in the story. It is almost always just some mechs or portraits that the player is looking at during scenes.
In the end, Front Mission 2 Remake feels like a must-try game for mech and strategy fans. If you like Gundam or tactical RPGs with high customization, this is for you. Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of quality-of-life features or gameplay settings for those who might have played this game before, but it still looks and plays great. Even if you’ve never played a Front Mission game before like me, you can still jump in and enjoy. Just know it might take a bit to get going.
Front Mission 2 Remake is available for Nintendo Switch.
