By Lloyd Coombes
The PlayStation 1 was a special console for so many reasons. For many (myself included) it was a first introduction to gaming as a medium, while for others, it was all about the games. Final Fantasy 7 , Metal Gear Solid , Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped, Tekken 3 and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night are all up there, but there’s one that captured my attention at a young age more than many others: Front Mission 3. It’s the game that got me into turn-based tactical RPGs, and I think it had a big role to play in my love of giant robots that was only strengthened by the likes of Evangelion and Armored Core. With publisher Forever Entertainment releasing remakes of the first two games in recent years, I held my breath in hopes that the third entry (and the only one I’d played fully) would be next. It was, but.. It’s complicated. I take you on this trip down memory lane because I think it’s important to stress that I love Front Mission 3, and that my praise and criticism of this remake comes from a very personal place. So much of what I absolutely adored about this game when I was around 11-years-old was is still here. Players take control of Kazuki, a skilled pilot with a temper and a dutiful attitude towards protecting his step-sister, and throughout the course of two storylines, you’ll be dragged into something of a geopolitical mess involving a new cold war fought by Wanzers – highly customisable mechs. These are what separates Front Mission 3 from the likes of other tactical RPGs, with the option to do damage to mech parts to damage foes in the game’s turn-based combat and even eject when the going gets tough. Sadly, as with the original game, there’s no way to specifically aim at an opponent’s legs to reduce movement speed, or to disable their weapon – it’s a little too focused on random chance, and something that 2018’s made much more malleable. Still, Wanzer customisation remains fantastic, and being able to load up on a whole host of weapons and parts scratches an itch that Armored Core 6 didn’t quite get to for me. I even love the sound effects, which take me back to a time when I was playing the game on an old CRT TV at the house I grew up in. In fact, Front Mission 3 Remake holds up pretty well for the most part – until you peer a little closer. Generative AI is nothing new in gaming (sadly), but it’s clear its usage here was seemingly to save development time and, potentially, costs. Many of the game’s story moments play out against static backdrops with sprites in the foreground, and it’s clear that whatever tools were used have smoothed the pixel images out to the point where there is simply less style. It’s less an homage to the original game and more awkwardly painting over some of its more charming parts. The same can be said about the in-game ‘Network’. The original Front Mission 3 launched around the advent of the internet era, and features a hokey vision for what the World Wide Web would look like in 2112. It was charming, even at the time, but the AI tools used appear to have contorted and twisted so much of it beyond recognition. Sure, it’s a small thing, and you may not notice as you play through, but it’s undeniably left what should have been the crowning glory of a remake trilogy that (to this point) had been done brilliantly, feeling like the worst of the three. I love Front Mission 3, but I can’t quite say the same about the remake. It’s one thing to respectfully bring its gameplay (minor issues and all) into 2025, but its use of AI assets puts a damper on what should have been a slam-dunk ending for the remake trilogy. Reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 via backwards compatibility. Review code provided by the publisher. For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .