Front Mission 1st

 Sometimes a great series starts with a humble beginning and Front Mission happens to be one of them. While the series is not a mainstream one and not all of the titles managed to reach the western shore, it is one of the best Original mecha game series that graced upon gaming world aside Armored Core and others. The Main Appeal of Front Mission is always about their delivery of complex storyline with the icing of solid gameplay. Years ago i used to play the first game on NDS but never actually finished the game and then recently picked up Front Mission 3 again on my vita and halfway decided might as well finish the first game.

 As expected from 16 Bit era gaming, Front Mission 1 is rather brutal as enemies easily wreck your units with one wrong move which can put off people sometimes. In this game your stats matters alot as you won't do any significant damage on opponent's wanzer if your weapon stats too low but once your stats maxed up you will start murdering things here and there. In Front Mission 1 Melee is not really viable at all as you get murdered by those missiles and guns before you are able to land a punch, on the other hand Missiles reigns supreme in this game as it is the safest and powerful method of choice of attack. In terms of mecha design, Front Mission 1 aesthetics still feels like something from generic mecha series but i guess by the time of the Front Mission 2 and 3, the Wanzers finally have their own distinct features. Surprisingly for a series that is famed for its complex stories, Front Mission 1 begins rather minimalistic and self contained but nevertheless lays the important foundation that its sequel follows. I wished i had followed the series when it was still alive but at least i still can appreciate the legacy that this great series left behind. But definitely i will see this series until its end which officially conclude by Front Mission V: Scars of Wars.

From this point on i would like to briefly discuss what sets Front Mission series apart from other mecha series in particular from the point of storytelling which will be spoilerific in nature so tread on your own risk.

 Personally i find Front Mission has really amazing world-building. On top of that, the series able to deliver a convoluted yet coherent storyline encompassing Global Politics based on our Real World which is really a feat for a mecha series. In the Front Mission universe not far from our future, there are two reigning world Superpower OCU and USN who often fight each other for supremacy in particular for an island called Huffman Island. While each title of the series are not directly with each other, their storyline are interconnected through the conflict between OCU and USN, Started from Front Mission 1st, the series tend to incorporate story elements with Causality nature such as Government Conspiracy with Sinister Puppetmaster pulling the strings, Ambiguous Morality, Corporate Greed that leads to unethical Scientific research, The futility of war and how it changes people who went through it also not the to mention WMDs and  Colossal Superweapons! Blending them to make really wonderful drama by utilizing Mecha to create a bigger picture. So far Front Mission is one of the few series apart from Metal Gear that are capable of pulling of this feat properly.

 As for the front mission 1 story, the main protagonist Roid/Lloyd Clive is a wonderful example of a man whose life drastically affected by war. Starting as a normal soldier for OCU he slowly descends to madness as he pursues revenge for his lover becoming mercenary to chase down the villain who killed her. While 1st game end in rather positive note, apparently Roid eventually succumbs to the vicious cycle of war where he brings misery to other people just like the Villain that murdered his lover. I really look forward to see his transformation in the second game which he is featured as one of the antagonist. For now this is the end of the discussion but one day probably i will try to write a mechatalk topic for Front Mission series once i get good source materials.