I played Front Mission 3 a very long
time ago when I was little; I believe it was around 1999 or 2000 as
that was when it released, but I can't pinpoint the actual date. What
I do remember is that it was one of my first turn based strategy
games ever, and one of the most memorable other than Final Fantasy
Tactics, and of course also that I enjoyed Front Mission 3 immensely.
Bringing us back to the present, it
wasn't too long ago, maybe a year, that I bought my PlayStation
Portable but I only somewhat recently, about a few months ago,
browsed the PlayStation Network Shop, there I saw that it had
PlayStation 1 imports for sale. At first sight I thought that was
interesting, interesting enough to warrant it a look anyways and I
saw plenty of games that I remember just from going to places in like
Hollywood Video or Blockbuster and seeing the rows of PS1 games that
I wanted to try out. However it wasn't too long until I spotted games
that I really remember namely Final Fantasy Tactics again, and Front
Mission 3, along with others that don't come to mind right now (I
believe I saw Wild Arms but I can't say for sure); it didn't have
Vanguard Bandits which is another turned based strategy game that I
never finished but I wanted to, but in any case, the real meat of the
shopping experience for me was Front Mission 3.
After seeing the game I knew I had to
play it again just to see what it was like, but it wasn't until a few
weeks later that I got around to purchasing it. When I did I felt
slightly disappointed because it seemed like I pretty much already
played most of the game even if I didn't beat it, and I generally
don't like replaying games. However again, as soon as I loaded it up
and I saw the title screen I was immediately sucked in, it reminded
me so much of playing the game on a normal TV screen. Speaking of
that, the default perspective for PS1 import games was really
disappointing at first, as it was confined into a small screen to
make it look better even on the PSP's already small screen. Good
thing for me though that after messing around with the buttons on the
PSP I found out an option that had things for the PS1 imports
specifically that I didn't see while playing Persona 3 or Metal Gear
Solid : Peace Walker. It had things like the manual, reset button,
but most important of all, different view settings. So, I was able to
get to play FM3 in a normal view which at first looked kind of
disappointing because of the outdated graphics but I got used to the
wide screen feel and it felt perfectly natural soon afterward.
I've been playing the game now and then
for awhile now and I've gotten about 30 hours on my save file, it was
simply a blast to experience a game from childhood in the now. From
remembering things that happened when I played it the first time, to
almost having it be a completely brand new experience that I had
enough experience and memory of to execute well without having to
explore or fumble around with things, to finally understanding and
exploring more aspects that I found unnecessary or boring when I was
younger; playing the game was not only a trip in memory lane but just
a fun gaming experience in general. So with that said, and like I
said, I haven't ever finished the game completely in my life. I plan
on doing so this time however, and then afterward I still have the
second story I could play for an entire new experience, but in any
case, I will be writing more about Front Mission 3 in the future,
I've just about reached the point where I can't remember proceeding
any farther than I did in the past, so seeing all of those new things
will undoubtedly be exciting.
What I can say is this, if you like
sci-fi with modern industry in it (which I heard some people call
“Hard” Sci-fi, I didn't look it up or know if that's true, but
there's that), as well as a good story, interesting characters, fun
but somewhat difficult combat, and finally of course Mechs, I'm sure
you'll enjoy playing Front Mission 3, and I'll write more about my
experiences playing it soon.
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