Front Mission 1st Remake

Small preamble to this review: While the Switch does not meet my definition of a “Retro” console, it has several games that are “new ports” of retro games. Lots of these ports manage to do small updates without butchering the core gameplay of the original (like Bayonetta or DKC Returns). I was hoping Front Mission would be like that, but it isn’t… exactly…

• I got the digital version of this on a huge sale for 49 cents. Before I start doing all the coping and seething for the whole rest of this review, I would like to say that it is worth the 49 cents. Not sure I’d go much higher, but I can’t say it’s a bad value.
• That out of the way, this particular Switch release has to be the worst possible way to play this game.
• The good is that it is essentially just a coat of paint on the SNES original (which I believe was never officially translated to English). But, instead of bringing tiny modern improvements around the edges, it brings modern problems, constantly.
• Allegedly, the Nintendo DS version is also just a coat of paint on the SNES version. I have never attempted the DS version
• All tactics-style games are hit or miss when it comes to the difficulty. The “too easy” side would be any North American release of Fire Emblem, or Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The “harsh but fair” side is something like Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together. Front Mission 1st sits much closer to the “too easy” side of the spectrum
• Once you learn how to abuse the Arena, there isn’t really much “gameplay” left to do. And yes, I’m sure you could set up a challenge run where you decide not to abuse the arena for EXP, but then you’ll still need to do it for money (to get parts upgrades) and the EXP will come along with that.
• Like most tactics games, Front Mission has a terrain system. The way this one works, changing the feet on your Wanzer lets you move across different terrain, go to different heights to traverse different areas etc. This is all very cool. The part which is not cool is that as a player, you have no idea how you’ll need to outfit your robots before you go into the mission. In Front Mission, this can be a death sentence because there are certain configurations who can’t even access entire swathes of the map (especially in the late game missions)
• So, if you go in blind instead of using a guide, you’re meant to just save scum it. Drop into a map, look around at what you’ll need, reload an earlier save and configure your Wanzers accordingly. THERE IS NO WAY THE ORIGINAL GAME BEHAVED THIS WAY (somebody write me if I’m wrong)
• Therefore, I am going to assume this is a “feature” added for this modern version, it’s very much like a PC game in that way. Zero restrictions on saves means zero risk which makes it feel like you can never lose. Bad game design
• Speaking of which, on the Switch, this game crashed 3 separate times during my run. I get that’s just kinda what modern games are, but the SNES or DS would not do this to you. Guess all the crashes are another excuse why you need this dumbass save system.
• But underneath all these problems, there is a really fun gameplay loop. I love customizing the Wanzers and thinking through Skill sets and planning out upgrades
• I also really like how even if you go to the arena and get over-leveled, the missions don’t necessarily become a cake walk. You still have to think about unit placement and terrain and item loadouts and such. That is cool, that is a real ass tactics game
• The characters and story are also really great, though I don’t appreciate the info dump that rolls after the credits. If there was that much more story to be told, they should have put it into the game
• As an addendum, after I completed a run on Normal I started NG+ with the difficulty cranked up to the maximum, and while it’s been kinda fun blowing through early mission enemies with late game gear, it doesn’t really seem like that difficulty slider is doing much at this point.
• Bottom line: if you play this, get an English patch of the original or just go for the DS version. There exists a really great system under this terrible port.