Front Mission 4

Front Mission 4 from 2004 is a tactical RPG by Square Enix, in which battles take place in the cockpits of giant combat robots called wanzers, each piloted by an individual soldier with their own stats, abilities, and specializations. For the first time in the series, the game tells its story in parallel from two sides of the conflict — from the perspective of the USN unit and the NEUDeutschland army — and the player switches between campaigns, piecing together a more complete picture of the war than a single linear story told from just one side could offer.

Battles take place on a square grid in turn-based mode, where damage to individual wanzer parts matters — arms carrying weaponry, legs affecting mobility, and the torso, whose destruction means the immediate end of the unit regardless of the rest of the machine's condition. Between missions, the player customizes weapons, armor, and pilots in a fairly deep garage of parts and spares, leaving room for tailored tactical builds suited to a given playstyle. Compared to previous entries, Front Mission 4 brought fully voiced dialogue and more elaborate 3D scenes, noticeably raising the production value and cinematic feel of the whole narrative.

The game was well received as a return to the series' tactical roots after the more experimental Front Mission 3, with particular praise for the depth of its combat system and the balance between strategy and mech customization. For fans of turn-based tactics on the PS2, it remains a solid fixture of the library to this day, showing how well mech themes could blend with well-thought-out strategic gameplay and a war narrative without clear-cut heroes and villains on either side of the conflict. The music and the sounds of wanzers in motion give the PS2 battles an unusual weight and mechanical authenticity, appreciated especially by long-time fans of the mech genre. Side missions and bonus weaponry further motivate players to replay the campaign for both warring nations.

Why play it: For fans of turn-based tactics who appreciate depth of combat and a balance between strategy and mech customization, with a war narrative that avoids clear-cut heroes and villains.