“Wanzers,” “The Huffman Conflict,” “The People’s Republic of Alordesh,” this is the kind of ’90s/’00s anime bullshit I crave, and the Front Mission series seems to have it in droves. Described as “Final Fantasy Tactics with mechs” by PCG editor-in-chief Evan Lahti, the second game in the series is coming to PC for the first time via Steam on April 30.
Front Mission battles take place on a grid over a 3D map, with a zoom in to a cinematic view for individual attacks—think XCOM or Fire Emblem and you’re basically there. Our primary warfighting platform in this particular dark future is the, ahem, Wanzer, a portmanteau of “Wandering Panzer.” They’re mechs, basically, and unfortunate fantasy naming convention aside, giant robot guys with tacticool weapons will always be sick. Front Mission 2 initially released on the PlayStation all the way back in 1997 as a Japan exclusive, with Squaresoft (sans-Enix at this point) not caring to invest in a Western localization.
Story-wise, I’m reminded of how games like Valkyria Chronicles or Ace Combat have these vaguely-European alternate universes with semi-realistic, industrial military tech in fake countries—it makes for such a heightened, surreal vibe I associate with this turn of the millennium era for anime and Japanese games. Your Wanzers fight on behalf of the People’s Republic of Alordesh against the Oceania Cooperative Union, with presumably much mischief and mayhem being the result.
Publisher Forever Entertainment has been bringing the Front Mission series into the 21st century on a staggered cadence that favors the Nintendo Switch, with Front Mission 2: Remake initially releasing last October on Nintendo’s aging hybrid handheld. Despite the “Remake” title, I’d definitely classify these more as “remasters”: you get a graphics bump to a more PS2-PS3 cusp, HD resolution, and, of course, the first official English translation of the games. It won’t come cheap though, if Front Mission 2: Remake’s $35 Switch price tag is anything to go by.
Front Mission 2: Remake is set to release April 30 on Steam, but you can already wishlist it and check out a free demo to see if you’re feeling the Wanzer life.
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