Front Mission 3

September 2, 1999(27 years ago)·Full Release

Square Product Development Division 6

Publisher: Square Electronic Arts, Squaresoft, Square Enix, Sony Computer Entertainment

★

8.4

31 user ratings

★

8.4

31 critic ratings

★★★★★★★★★★

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VOTES

Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)

Platforms: PS1, PS3, PSP

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Screenshots

Science fictionWarfareSingle playerThird personPEGIESRBCERO BUSK 12ACB PG

Summary

Front Mission 3, known in Japan as Front Mission Third, is a tactical role-playing game created and published by Square for the PlayStation. It launched in Japan in 1999, with Square Electronic Arts handling its North American release and a European and Australian rollout in 2000. Front Mission 3 serves as the third main installment and the fifth overall in the Front Mission series. Like its predecessors, the game continues an ongoing narrative that explores the journeys of multiple characters and their conflicts involving mecha units called wanzers. Front Mission 3 marked the first time a Front Mission game was made available in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Storyline

Yokosuka, Japan, 2112 AD. Kazuki Takemura, a young student and test pilot at Kirishima Industries, a leading manufacturer of military battle wanzers—mechanized walking robots modeled after human movement—has just completed a test run of the new Zeinslev prototype in the lab. As he wraps up his work for the day, his best friend Ryogo asks for help with a delivery to the Japanese Defense Force (JDF) military base. This seemingly minor decision places Kazuki at the center of a growing mystery in Japan. A massive explosion, a stolen wanzer, his sister Alysia being pursued, whispers of a powerful weapon, and accusations from agents of both the OCU and the USN all converge to complicate the situation. Kazuki is thrust into a tangled web of conflicting allegiances and attacked by multiple factions. To survive and uncover the truth, he must gather allies and powerful wanzers to fight and investigate the unfolding crisis. Front Mission 3 features two distinct storylines, both centered on Japanese wanzer test pilots Kazuki Takemura and Ryogo Kusama. A key early decision in the game allows the player to choose between the DHZ scenario or the USN scenario. The DHZ storyline follows Japanese scientist Aliciana "Alisa" Takemura, while the USN storyline focuses on scientist Emir "Emma" Klamsky. Despite their differing characters and plot developments, both storylines share several key events and locations. Due to the game's narrative structure, it remains unclear which scenario is canonically connected to Front Mission 5: Scars of the War. On October 31, Kazuki is conducting a test of a new wanzer prototype at a Kirishima Heavy Industries site near Okinawa. After finishing the test, he is told that several construction wanzers need to be transported to the JDF base in Yokosuka. Ryogo asks Kazuki to join him on the delivery. Choosing to go with him leads to the USN scenario, while declining results in the DHZ scenario. In both cases, Kazuki and Ryogo are eventually assigned to deliver the Kirishima prototypes to the Yokosuka base. As they prepare the wanzers for transport, an explosion forces Kazuki to enter the base. The two pilots are soon forced to flee, but when Kazuki learns that his sister Alisa has recently been stationed there, they return to the base to uncover the truth.