Front Mission (フロントミッション, Furonto Misshon) is a series of tactical role-playing video games published by Square, now Square Enix. The first game of the series was published in 1995 and was developed by G-Craft, a studio that was later absorbed by Square as Product Development Division-6. G-Craft or Division-6 has produced every Front Mission game since, with the exceptions of Front Mission Series: Gun Hazard (Omiya Soft), Front Mission Evolved (Double Helix Games), and Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness (h.a.n.d.). Since the release of the original game, the series has gone on to encompass several media, including films, manga, novels, radio dramas, and toys. The video games in the series have also ventured into other genres besides tactical role-playing, such as side-scrolling shooter, real-time strategy, third-person shooter, and massively multiplayer online games. The main storyline of the series encompasses seven different games. In addition to these, five spin-off titles have been produced, set both in the same universe as the main games and in alternate worlds.
The initial selling point of Front Mission was its storytelling approach. Taking place during the 21st and 22nd centuries, the series revolves around military conflicts and political tension between powerful supranational unions and their member states.[1] Although the Front Mission video games use self-contained, standalone stories, these tie into a greater overarching storyline that encompasses the entire series. In combination with the stories from its other media, the series possesses a level of storytelling depth and continuity comparable to a serial drama.[2]