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Front Mission Evolved: How it became the game you probably don't want
- Thread starter Xater
- Start date
NovemberMike
Member
K.Jack said:
Er, mech and mecha are the same thing. In Japan it refers to any mechanical vehicles (tanks, walking tanks, the weird scorpion in FF7) and in the west it refers to walking tanks.
Hypereides
Member
Back when Sakaguchi left Square, I never believed they would be on their way to destroy everything they've established. Wada is the depiction of the japanese kotick.
Fuck, I miss Square's passionate years. Fucking horseshit Wada.
Fuck, I miss Square's passionate years. Fucking horseshit Wada.
LiveFromKyoto
Member
Host Samurai said:
I think this shows they're exactly in touch with what people want, and it's not SRPGs. Why should they care about Front Mission's microscopic fanbase?
major_killjoy
Member
TheSeks said:What about Parasite Ev--oh...
(Though, I did like 2)
The only way SE can redeem themselves is if they rebooted this bad girl. But, they'd probably f' it up by making it a FPS. *worse-case-yet-plausible-scenario*
Dr. Kitty Muffins
Member
I'm not going to write the game off. It could be fun. But Sqaure should make another SRPG Front Mission and step it up to next gen standards.
Alex Connolly
Member
chespace said:
Amen. I think this is a great way to get the lumbering series back onto the menu, and as they've said, the possibility of another TBS game is not off the cards. I'm certainly looking forward to it.
Lost Planet 2 certainly has its fair share of terrific mechs, and it's rapidly becoming my go-to multiplayer simply due to this fact. I hope FME can achieve the same level of heft, weight and firepower. Even if it sidesteps the older Armored Cores and goes for a more deliberately paced Mech Assaults, I am there.
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
Would anyone else like an iPhone version of a Front Mission? I'd certainly dig it.
Rahxephon91
Banned
I guess Square is reademing themselves then?major_killjoy said:
And people act like Square never made a action FM game before.
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
Xater said:
That's what I fear yeah, even though FM3 should be fully doable if they put their backs behind it.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
batbeg said:
The FM series dead and buried?
I'm just worried, that when this bombs (and it will, if not even the core FM fanbase is interested), that S-E won't ever bring any more SRPG FMs to America.
Really sick of Japanese developers outsourcing their properties to 3rd rate western devs too, like someone said above...
Really sick of Japanese developers outsourcing their properties to 3rd rate western devs too, like someone said above...
mjemirzian
Banned
djtiesto said:
I don't see this as a problem. Anyone serious about SRPGs has been importing and learning Japanese for years now (you don't need to be able to read plot/character dialogue to get down some basic stuff that's repeated in a lot of RPGs), or playing PC wargames with strategic complexity that makes most console SRPGs look like tic tac toe.
Screw the haters. The last time Square outsourced an action-based Front Mission, it was pure unadulterated awesome. Even if it's not likely for that lightning to strike in the same place, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and at least wait until the final game comes out.
Let Square have their spin-off folks. It might actually *gasp* be good.
I've been noticing more and more that we "hardcore gaming nerds" still have ourselves convinced that WE are THE gaming demographic. Not only is that not the case now, but it has never been the case.LiveFromKyoto said:
Let Square have their spin-off folks. It might actually *gasp* be good.
Tylahedras
Banned
Looks fine to me, maybe if there were a glut of good mech action games around I'd be more old school upset but I hate AC so I'm happy to see someone else give it a go.
MiniBossBattle
Member
Why didn't they just slap some normal maps, updated particle effects and full voice work to the previous engine and call it a day?
That said, I reserve judgement until I see more. Fingers crossed for an awesome title.
That said, I reserve judgement until I see more. Fingers crossed for an awesome title.
FateBreaker
Member
djtiesto said:
Sorry to choose your post, since I know a lot of people say this, but that's absolute bullshit. Western developers are just as capable as many Japanese developers. I think that the real problem is that they want new directions. I think it's really more of S-E's fault than it is Double Helix's. I mean, Silent Hill was just fine for one of their first games...better than The Room.
sixteen-bit
Member
Speaking of Phantom Crash, did they ever fix the visual glitches when running it in BC on a 360?Hawkian said:Yes! Phantom Crash! Thanks.
I know BC hasn't been updated in forever, but I last tried PC on 360 so long ago.
I have the say, the game looks a lot better than I expected.
I certainly would not have picked Double Helix to make this, but it doesn't look incompetent by any means. It probably has a pretty large budget compared to what Double Helix usually gets for its games, too?
The real reason this game got made at all, though, is because Hashimoto was producer on the original games, and he's now in the company's upper echelons. I think it's more of a vanity project than anything.
The reason why Double Helix got this is really due to the fact that Japanese publishers clearly aren't ready to pay for what they want out of a game. They want to compete in the Western markets without paying what Western development costs. This is the same thing that sunk Capcom's western-developed games and will likely sink this one, too. Japanese development, for a variety of reasons, is much cheaper at the moment, even though it's not yielding the returns of AAA western development yet.
I certainly would not have picked Double Helix to make this, but it doesn't look incompetent by any means. It probably has a pretty large budget compared to what Double Helix usually gets for its games, too?
The real reason this game got made at all, though, is because Hashimoto was producer on the original games, and he's now in the company's upper echelons. I think it's more of a vanity project than anything.
The reason why Double Helix got this is really due to the fact that Japanese publishers clearly aren't ready to pay for what they want out of a game. They want to compete in the Western markets without paying what Western development costs. This is the same thing that sunk Capcom's western-developed games and will likely sink this one, too. Japanese development, for a variety of reasons, is much cheaper at the moment, even though it's not yielding the returns of AAA western development yet.
TheFLYINGManga_Ka
Member
I wish it was a SRPG. But I understand why they would change it because it's so niche.
This could either be good or a disaster.
I know one thing for sure though. If it was a SRPG, it'd be 30-40 hours long. Since it's a action game, I expect a 6 hour long game, LOL!
They could make up for this IF they release Front Mission 3 on PSN! Than all will be forgiven!
This could either be good or a disaster.
I know one thing for sure though. If it was a SRPG, it'd be 30-40 hours long. Since it's a action game, I expect a 6 hour long game, LOL!
They could make up for this IF they release Front Mission 3 on PSN! Than all will be forgiven!
mjemirzian said:
You don't see how learning an extremely complicated and challenging language to play certain games would be a problem? And yes I have taken a few Japanese courses in college... mostly to meet the language requirement.
Also about those PC wargames - I myself aren't into them because not only do they lack a lot of the charm/presentation/music/art/etc stuff I like about SRPGs and other RPGs... but because I program and design military simulations for a living - playing these games would remind me too much of work
If Japanese companies are interested so badly in penetrating the western market, wouldn't it be better for them to hire a few contract people who are more well-versed in the market (sort of like Team Kojima did with Ryan Payton), and still develop in Japan, instead of going all the way and hiring a whole western team?
mjemirzian
Banned
djtiesto said:You don't see how learning an extremely complicated and challenging language to play certain games would be a problem? And yes I have taken a few Japanese courses in college... mostly to meet the language requirement.
Also about those PC wargames - I myself aren't into them because not only do they lack a lot of the charm/presentation/music/art/etc stuff I like about SRPGs and other RPGs... but because I program and design military simulations for a living - playing these games would remind me too much of work
You don't need to learn a lot of Japanese to be able to to read menus, status screens, and descriptions, which is enough to play a game. Most of the time those are in katakana so they require minimal translation. Most Japanese instruction manuals have hiragana above the kanji which makes them easier to decipher as well.
If all you want out of games is the JRPG/anime style and presentation then you don't even need to play SRPGs. If you're not playing for the strategic difficulty/challenge just play an RPG instead.
mjemirzian
Banned
Quixzlizx said:
A game is a test of skill that is complete without the need for plot or characters. If Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea were traditional JRPGs and combat didn't take place on a grid, most players would probably be just as entertained by them, and there wouldn't be much strategy lost in the process.
Autistic insults are so classy. But you forgot to add tactical level TBS games in there as well.
mjemirzian
Banned
Quixzlizx said:
Chess is a wonderful game, thanks for mentioning it.
I'm just trying to put the melodrama about the SRPG genre increasingly becoming Japan-exclusive or extinct into perspective (see Front Mission). For the majority of players, they aren't interested much in the 'strategy' portion of SRPG anyway, so they'll still have boatloads of traditional RPGs to choose from to get their interactive anime plot/character fix.
People certainly can enjoy an RPG and grid combat at the same time. The level of strategy that most people enjoy can easily be found in a traditional RPG anyway (at least going by how popular the easy SRPGs are compared to the more complex and difficult ones), so it won't be much of a difference for them either way.
Urban Scholar
Member
Fully customizable wanzers: weapons, paints, etc. Series tired and true arena feature (I think? I hope it makes an appearance) . A story that's going to fit within the Front Mission (I'm a fan of socio-political fuled games, more relateable) lore and some seemingly ok online. I weight this in my mind and it all sounds like a mech action I'd want to play. Honestly how many do we even see in the West? My only concern with this game is the on-foot sections, everything else can stay the course.