Front Mission 2 Remake

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.

The tough thing about Front Mission 2: Remake is that it doesn’t present itself well upfront. Ultimately, those who push through will be rewarded, but it takes a lot of patience to get there. In the end, despite my complaints, I enjoyed my time with this game. Much like Front Mission 2: Remake’s global release, in the areas that matter, it eventually comes around, even if it takes a long time to get there.

I wanted to praise Front Mission 2: Remake for being the superior sequel to Front Mission 1st: Remake that it ought to have been. Instead, I’m left with a game that, due in large part to its dry, flavorless, and commonly confusing wordage, trades in some of the boring simplicities of that adventure for moments of head-scratching bewilderment.

I don’t think Front Mission 2: Remake is a spectacular remake of the original game, but it’s not a bad one either. It’s on the good side of that line. The game itself is very enjoyable for those with the right mindset, though it hasn’t seen any mechanical changes here and feels very much its age as a result. The biggest fly in the ointment is the iffy English localization, which takes a game with an outstanding story and almost mulches its challenging plot. Still, it’s nice to have this game officially available in English at all, and the technical improvements over the original are very much appreciated.

Front Mission 2: Remake holds up better than the original game, and while it still occasionally remains an exercise in frustration, it's a compelling and genuinely entertaining experience.

Like its predecessor, Front Mission 2: Remake is rather of museum interest. The remake is performed at a level unworthy of the original.

A lot of Front Mission 2: Remake's shortcomings lie in a mixture of a sloppy transition to becoming a more modern game, including low budget and some of the old design choices from its source material. Many of the best aspects of the original still shine through and the remake's staff did make some legitimate improvements like the options to speed up gameplay aspects of the gamepla. With a bit more time, perhaps a better translation will get patched in and maybe a port for the more powerful consoles will iron out its technical shortcomings. Anyone who desires a demanding and complex strategy mecha game with political intrigue and a plot that predicts the dangers of globalism will get their money's worth with Front Mission 2: Remake.

In some ways, Front Mission 2: Remake is an improvement on the first game’s remake. It looks better, and the gameplay has a bit more depth and complexity, even if it isn’t a significant upgrade. In the end, though, I actually had more fun with that original title, thanks to a more compelling story and far better localization. It’s nice that Front Mission 2 is finally officially available in English, but this is still much more a remaster than a remake.

Front Mission 2: Remake is, unsurprisingly, a remake of Front Mission 2. If you enjoyed the original, you’ll likely appreciate the remake. However, there isn’t much else to justify this release. The story is intriguing, but even the most dedicated fans of clunky, slow-paced video games may struggle to endure the RNG-heavy combat. This is especially concerning, considering it’s supposed to be the second of three Front Mission remakes. After the quality of the first two, there’s skepticism about whether the remake of Front Mission 3 will retain its essence.

The combat kept us from enjoying Front Mission 2: Remake due to its over-reliance on dice-roll luck to succeed, but the plot has some decent story beats if you aren’t bothered by obvious localisation errors. We did enjoy the customisation options of the Wanzers, but battles felt slow and dull when the RNG gods weren’t on our side. Just like with the first game, this one will service longtime fans of the series and its combat adequately if they can overlook this remake's rough edges.