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[Caz]

Anyone remember Front Mission 3 from the old PS1? Customise mechs, blow up other mechs, use missiles. Two campaigns that you unknowingly get locked into from the first seemingly unimportant decision. Fun story. Punch tanks with your giant axe, etc.

I was replaying it lately and got to a mission I'd never seen before. FM3 is a relatively serious game (you are trying to find a superweapon to prevent further international wars ofc) ...until now.


You end up at a farm, when this crazy old guy (who demands everyone to call him 'master') and his family, including kids, uncles, and grandma that all try to kill you using homemade trucks on metal chicken legs called 'methane wanzers' while sheeps are running around. You guessed it, the wanzers are powered by sheep shit. There's a pink knight mech and a butler mech (which can actually fight). The homemade mechs die in one hit and explode violently. You punch grandma with an axe, grandma doesn't even know what button makes the mech go. Bye grandma. It's... wtf.



Not sure how I got to this point. I was semi-convinced I'd broken the same like how you can turn to 'what if mode' on the original Spiderman. But... I found it was because I apparently didn't blow up half of the convoy in previous mission, which branched the game to another choice (and as a side effect you don't get a certain character for another 30 missions or so, wtf?) So I'm guessing the whole thing is basically a 'haha, fuck you' to anyone who partially fails the previous mission. It's weird.

Also, grandma survives btw. I was so worried about this but after the battle in the next cutscene everyone is alive again. ;_; which again, is weird for such a dark game that is full of war, character death, supernukes, torture etc.

If anyone can tell me how to get more than a silver star each mission it would be appreciate. Or any way to reduce pilot ejection chance 'cause that is happening way too much.

[Frumple]

Ngl, last time I played FM3, my "how to avoid ejection" method was "abuse the hell out of savestates", so, uh. Better advice than that or to look up proper guides or somethin' I can't offer

Game definitely had some silly parts, though. Most of the FM series I can recall has a bit of that somewhere in it.

[EuchreJack]

Yeah, I think I recall that mission, but who knows?  I recall the guy being recruited, and his parents wondering why he's not using the Methane Wanzer*.  You pretty much know why now.

*They're called Wanzers, because Mech is copyrighted.

If anyone can tell me how to get more than a silver star each mission it would be appreciate. Or any way to reduce pilot ejection chance 'cause that is happening way too much.

You're supposed to exploit the crap out the simulator, so that you're using the very best parts and overskilled pilots.  Then your pilots routinely dodge everything and kill enemy Wanzers with one or two hits.

If you're not spending more time in the simulator than the missions, then you're doing it wrong. 
...Which is why I've never finished FM4.

As a slightly more serious answer, you are supposed to follow the following cycle whenever new parts appear:
1) New parts appear
2) Jump into the simulator and grind those missions until you can afford to upgrade your Wanzers to the best possible with the new parts.
3) Return to play until new parts appear, making sure after each mission to check for new parts.  Maybe hit the simulators if you need more cash for consumables (they got consumables in FM3, right?)

PS: Thanks for the throwback.  Awesome game, although I think I preferred the other campaign than the one you're on.  The characters were cooler, and the story was less depressing.

[scriver]

Can I

Can I play as the kye

[Caz]

Yeah, I think I recall that mission, but who knows?  I recall the guy being recruited, and his parents wondering why he's not using the Methane Wanzer*.  You pretty much know why now.

*They're called Wanzers, because Mech is copyrighted.

Isn't mech just short for mechanical? Wanzer is german, like 'walking panzer' iirc

If anyone can tell me how to get more than a silver star each mission it would be appreciate. Or any way to reduce pilot ejection chance 'cause that is happening way too much.

You're supposed to exploit the crap out the simulator, so that you're using the very best parts and overskilled pilots.  Then your pilots routinely dodge everything and kill enemy Wanzers with one or two hits.

If you're not spending more time in the simulator than the missions, then you're doing it wrong. 
...Which is why I've never finished FM4.

As a slightly more serious answer, you are supposed to follow the following cycle whenever new parts appear:
1) New parts appear
2) Jump into the simulator and grind those missions until you can afford to upgrade your Wanzers to the best possible with the new parts.
3) Return to play until new parts appear, making sure after each mission to check for new parts.  Maybe hit the simulators if you need more cash for consumables (they got consumables in FM3, right?)

PS: Thanks for the throwback.  Awesome game, although I think I preferred the other campaign than the one you're on.  The characters were cooler, and the story was less depressing.

And yeah I've literally never used the simulator beyond the first mission. It actually give you XP and money? This completely changes the game.

[scriver]

I am never not going to see "wanzer" and not think of "wanker"

Oh, and that was a sheep? I thought it was a cow.

[Dostoevsky]

<points at my current avatar>

If I recall, Wanzer is meant to be short for Wanderung Panzer or the like (i.e. "walking armor"). So use that stage-german 'v' when pronouncing it.

FM3 has several branches in both of the main routes, offering a few different slates of total party options and associated side quests. The combat may have been the most traditional-SRPG alongside more limited much customization and thus in my opinion perhaps mechanically the weakest of the entries, but it's a hugely ambitious set of stories in one game and young-me found it engaging through both endings.

The ejection / pilot / ground troops features were pretty neat, but I didn't really miss them in the later entries.

Spoiler: indirect ending spoilers (click to show/hide)

I always found it interesting that one of the main paths led to 'saving the girl' and 'getting the bad guy', but not really dealing with the larger problems, while the other had a better overarching ending while robbing the protagonist of his personal objectives. At least that's how I remembered it.

Also if I recall, a few of the simulator missions even give parts? That may have been one of the other entries, though. It's a pity they're not randomized, making the grind rather less pleasant than it could be. Arena mode is lacking in 3 compared to the other entries as well, though the internet + hacking 'minigame' offers some alternate revenue options (and a few well-hidden superthings).

The fifth entry was never localized, but does have a very good fan translation available. I highly recommend it, though its plot is best understood having played at least some of the prior entries - it kind of runs alongside the plots of the other games for a good portion of its story.

[EuchreJack]

I think you get the Laser Beam from the following the random messages the player gets in the game.  But since it's a one-off weapon with its own skill, the only way anyone is actually going to be good at it is grinding the simulators.

[Caz]

<points at my current avatar>

Spoiler: indirect ending spoilers (click to show/hide)

I always found it interesting that one of the main paths led to 'saving the girl' and 'getting the bad guy', but not really dealing with the larger problems, while the other had a better overarching ending while robbing the protagonist of his personal objectives. At least that's how I remembered it.

avatar!

Yeahh it's kinda like the 'good end' and the 'true end'. I'm still playing through the Emma route atm.

I am never not going to see "wanzer" and not think of "wanker"

Oh, and that was a sheep? I thought it was a cow.

Muahaha! It's impossible to run from my methane wankers!

[Caz]

I think you get the Laser Beam from the following the random messages the player gets in the game.  But since it's a one-off weapon with its own skill, the only way anyone is actually going to be good at it is grinding the simulators.

In the web pages thing? I found that whole part really tedious. Lots of time reading info that led to nothing. Kinda nice to flesh out the world but... a lot of it wasn't even interesting.

[EuchreJack]

I think you get the Laser Beam from the following the random messages the player gets in the game.  But since it's a one-off weapon with its own skill, the only way anyone is actually going to be good at it is grinding the simulators.

In the web pages thing? I found that whole part really tedious. Lots of time reading info that led to nothing. Kinda nice to flesh out the world but... a lot of it wasn't even interesting.

Yeah, the web pages thing. I'm sure most people just ignored it until GameFaqs or wherever they were reading about the game told them that they had to dive in and follow the trail to the Beam weapon.

[Mephansteras]

Man, haven't thought about that game in years!

[Dostoevsky]

In the web pages thing? I found that whole part really tedious. Lots of time reading info that led to nothing. Kinda nice to flesh out the world but... a lot of it wasn't even interesting.

Yeah, the web pages thing. I'm sure most people just ignored it until GameFaqs or wherever they were reading about the game told them that they had to dive in and follow the trail to the Beam weapon.

Young me never got the beam weapon or the like, but I did honestly enjoy trawling through the faux-web and taking in the information & setting. I even liked browsing through the various product pages and being able to take in the nice mech models they had developed.

I'm still playing through the Emma route atm.

I preferred the Emma route, personally, though that's partly for Jose (optional character) and partly the protagonist's at times creepy-anime relationship with his sister. Both routes have their own high points and low points.

(I also did the Emma route first, which meant I was meta-gaming / breaking the systems more on the Alisa route.)

[EuchreJack]

I definitely preferred the Alisa route, where the main characters are just better and more fleshed out.  In the Emma campaign, the cooler characters are the ones you don't get to play.

I can't really explain why I prefer the Alisa campaign without spoiling both campaigns, so I'll just leave it at that.

[Dostoevsky]

I'd be curious for your take (properly put behind spoiler tags). It's been well over a decade since I've played the game so my memory is likely pretty shaky, but

Spoiler: vaguely described and remembered campaign spoilers (click to show/hide)

I felt Emma's route had more interesting characters in Emma, Dennis and Jose. In Alisa's route Hei Fong Liu and Miho are interesting, the rest are 'eh'. But generally speaking the more it involved Kazuki the less I liked it, since I feel he's kind of a terrible protagonist. (I also really wasn't a fan of Pham, and they're more present than Linny.) Emma's route felt a little more grounded, so to speak, especially as it approached and reached the ending, while Alisa's was a little more personal and 'anime' for good and ill. Young me quite liked the more depressing storyline in Emma's route - this game and Final Fantasy Tactics left strong impressions on young me as to what a video game narrative could be.

Oh, and a few minor tips I haven't seen mentioned yet. Combo'ing combat skills can quickly break the game with a bit of luck. Getting a whole bunch of ROFUP I skills in one attack is a lot better than one ROFUP III, for example. Shields can be boring, but they are very very useful. Make sure to bring enough items - keeping each mech focused on a single role reduces the need for power backpacks.

(Most of the other Front Mission games have a dedicated, reuseable repair backpack option - the lack of it in this one is kind of a pain.)