Front Mission 5 arrived at a strange time in Japan. Slated a week after another major Square Enix franchise, Kingdom Hearts II, FM5 quietly arrived in stores with little press. Yet, this was likely a smart decision on the part of Square Enix. Not that Front Mission 5 is a bad game (actually its a very good game), but rather, as much as Front Mission 5 makes strides to appeal to the mainstream gamer, the game is not likely to entice new fans. Front Mission 5 is a game for FM players, and for that group of a few hundred thousand or so, it's a worthy experience.

If one were to describe Front Mission 5 in a nutshell, the description would read "Front Mission 4 plus more". After the hardcore 100 hour in-depth FM3, some hardcore fans were disappointed with the mainstream feel of Front Mission 4. But, while FM5 is no doubt a better game than FM4, in terms of the length/depth argument, the title isn't going to make the hardcore complaints go away. Rather than attempting to appease the hardcore FM players, with FM5, the development team decided to make a game that was more mainstream, fast-paced, and fun for all.

The biggest change in the transition from FM4 to FM5 is no doubt the graphics. While the battle graphics look pretty similar to FM4 with better mecha designs, the in-game engine cutscenes have made an enormous leap forward. First of all the mecha cutscenes have seen heavy improvements by having vast number of units on screen at once. It's not uncommon to see groups of 20 mechanical "Wanzers" coming over a distant desert hill while an excellent heat distortion effect makes their ever-glowing red eyes even more frightening and deadly. In FM5, all kinds of visual filters and effects such as heat-distortion, motion blur, light trails are used to make cutscenes so visually cinematic that one would almost feel they were CG. But yet one look at the Wanzers in these scenes tells the truth, as each Wanzer is fully decked out with equipment that the player has appointed. Even more impressive than the upgrades to the mechanics are the visual upgrades to the human element. In FM4, humans were never actually shown and were only present as 2d facial portraits during story scenes. Yet, this time around every character is fully rendered in Final Fantasy X level of 3D. The comparison to Final Fantasy becomes even more justified as one watches the excellently directed cutscenes between characters. Everything is presented so well it's similar watching a really good movie. At the same time, since the character designs are all very human and down to earth, FM5 does a great job distancing itself from the fantasy rpgs and creating one of the best real-world rpg experiences out there. Overall FM5's cutscenes are just excellent and the FM team even included a cutscene theater on the main menu so players can watch them over and over (Wanzer equipment can even be changed prior to viewing a cutscene).

Another thing that should be mentioned about the presentation is the audio. Hidenori Iwasaki, who has always provided a great score for the Front Mission games has gone out of his way this time to provide one of the best soundtracks in an SRPG. Ranging from emotional choir songs for important cutscenes to excellent drum and bass tracks used to get players pumped for exciting battles, the soundtrack never lets the player down and does well to present the world.