Finished Front Mission! SRPG suggestions?

[MrPopo]

Surprisingly, I've never played a Front Mission game. What game is the stand-out title, and what iteration of the first game is the best? I already know to avoid this new one (since it's not an SRPG I guess). What's the battle system comparable to?

I'd say either FM3 or FM5 is the standout title (haven't played 5 yet, but I've heard very good things). FM1 was fairly basic compared to the rest of the series, while FM3 had the AP system, skills, different damage types, and two completely separate storylines. As for the definitive version of FM1, get the DS release. It's essentially a port of the SFC version with a second shorter campaign.

[Xeogred]

Isn't FM2 the only one that's not been translated or anything?

FM3 is one of those games I've owned for awhile and keep wanting to get further than an hour or two in, I was going to play it after beating Tactics Ogre a month or two ago but I don't think I could do SRPG's back to back, haha. I think it will be my next choice though. The bits I've played seemed great and it has a pretty strong fanbase.

[MrPopo]

Being translated:

http://frontmission.info/wiki/pmwiki.ph ... anslations

[Xeogred]

Nice! Looks amazing.

I've tried getting into the first game but I dunno, the constant camera/music changing in battles seemed very disorienting to me, or something. But maybe you get used to it after awhile.

[Sideroller]

Yeah you get used to it, but it can get rather repetitive after you've played it for a while.

Glad to see they're translating other entries into the title!

Isn't FM2 the only one that's not been translated or anything?

FM3 is one of those games I've owned for awhile and keep wanting to get further than an hour or two in, I was going to play it after beating Tactics Ogre a month or two ago but I don't think I could do SRPG's back to back, haha. I think it will be my next choice though. The bits I've played seemed great and it has a pretty strong fanbase.

Have you done the Hell's Gate quest in Tactics Ogre? I've only been through it completely once - it's just brutal. xD After that I definitely had to take a break from SRPGs for a while.

[Xeogred]

Have you done the Hell's Gate quest in Tactics Ogre? I've only been through it completely once - it's just brutal. xD After that I definitely had to take a break from SRPGs for a while.

I made it to floor 50 or around that I think and just gave up after that, haha. By then I had gotten enough cool new skills, magic, and equipment so it was still worth it in the end, after leaving the place I dominated the rest of the game.

The funny part though, is that somewhere down the line here I never noticed that my main character was hit by some attacks that dropped his HP a lot, permanently. And it was way too late for me to go back to earlier saves. lol, it sucked for awhile but I just made sure to give him more cards and the best equipment I had.

But yeah, TO was seriously probably the longest SNES RPG I've ever played. Usually most of them only take me like ~30 hours, FFVI, SoM/SD3, Chrono Trigger, but TO took me about 65 hours I think, and damn was it worth it. Definitely one of the best stories I've ever seen in a JRPG, and the game was so brutal early on it was so rewarding to finish.

[Sideroller]

Most definitely! Hell's Gate almost turns your party into a walking nuke.

I feel like part of the reason the game is so long is just getting your party to level up. I would just have the computer battle itself in Training Mode while I read a book or something. haha.

[J T]

A few lesser known ones to look out for are Eternal Poison and Sakura Wars: So Long My Love.

Eternal Poison doesn't really have anything that makes it stand out as particularly special, but there's something about the feel of it that worked for me. I like the gothic anime look and the strange world of maijin.

Trailer:


Sakura Wars: So Long My Love I recommend only if you really like anime cut scenes because there are A LOT of cutscenes, and not necessarily animated. Mostly it is voicework and reading with pictures. It's almost interactive fiction in the first few hours of the game, but as you progress the SRPG elements come into focus, and there's actually a considerable amount of depth to the gameplay. It's just takes a long time to get there. I think I was 2 or 3 hours into the game before the first tutorial battle... not even joking. But it's a great game, the story is entertaining, and there's a dating sim aspect to it that is layered on top of the SRPG battles. It's not a game for everyone, but if you think it might be your kind of game and you can devote some time to it, then you will probably love it.

Trailer:

[SplashChick]

Front Mission 4, of course. IMO the best of the series by a significant margin.

[NiGHTYNiGHTS]

I'm going to say that my favorite SRPG franchises (so far) are Shining Force, Sakura Taisen and Fire Emblem. If you want a really challenging game Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn has got you covered. Even the easy mode is hard and will make you restart a lot. lol You should probably play Path of Radiance first however. I played FE:RD first because I require an RPG when I buy a new system.