Left Alive Takes Place In The Same World As Front Mission With A Focus On Survival Action

Left Alive is a new game Square Enix revealed that involves Metal Gear artist Yoji Shinkawa and the likes of Toshifumi Nabeshima who worked on the Armored Core series. We also learned that the game takes place in the same world as Front Mission, and the game’s key creators shared more in this week’s issue of Famitsu magazine. [Thanks, Hachima.]

The key visual shown above features the three protagonists of the game. The three are isolated in a city that is the setting of the game, and we’ll get to see how they act on their own in order to survive.

The first keyword is “Day 1 Happening.” The game is set in a city located in Russia, where a certain happening happens in a day. A war takes place in the city, and the protagonists inevitably find themselves getting involved.

Since the game is set in the same world as the Front Mission series, the giant walking mechas known as “Wanzers” will appear in the game. They’ll more often appear as enemies, but you’ll also get to steal them from enemies and go on a rampage.

The Front Mission games were known for being tactical RPGs, but Left Alive is a survival action game with the primary objective of survival. You’ll run across various elements such as traps on the battlefield. There’s also a crafting element that lets you make items from materials you’ve gathered.

As far as story progression, the route will be up to the player. For example, if you go straight to the objective you might run into many enemies but taking paths that are out of their sight might make things easier. You can also just take a big detour to get around the area, so there are many options based on your every situation.

Toshifumi Nabeshima, the director of the game, said “Since we’re putting a lot of focus on the sense of accomplishment, I don’t think it it will be that easy [laughs].”

“The ideas are there but maybe we’ll make it after the game releases and performs well?” he added when asked about DLC.

Here are some more highlights from an interview with producer Shinji Hashimoto, director Toshifumi Nabeshima, and character designer Yoji Shinkawa:

• The desire to make Left Alive came from wanting to make a new Front Mission world with a new lineup.

• The reason Square Enix didn’t go with a Front Mission sequel was because they wanted to show Front Mission from a different perspective, and not something mecha-based.

• The genre is a third-person shooter as far as style goes. There are some shooting elements but it will be difficult to clear with just that. There are some actions that involve riding Wanzers as well as some stealth elements.

• You won’t always be fighting while riding Wanzers.

• Maps come with limited space, but they’re being made so that there’s plenty of space on the route to your objectives.

• The stage is set in the year 2127. That puts it between Front Mission 5 and Front Mission Evolved, chronologically speaking.

• (On character designs) When starting the Left Alive project, Square Enix consulted and got the consent from Hideo Kojima, Kenichiro Imaizumi, and Yoji Shinkawa.

• Left Alive won’t have multiple endings but there are some replayability elements. For example, depending on how you go through the game you’ll see different character endings. One choice might give a character a happy ending while another might lead to an unhappy one for them, you may or may not learn about some mysteries, and so on.

• These choices will appear as conversation selections, whether you choose to help or abandon an NPC, etc.

• The game system is stage-based.

• There won’t be any Wanzer customization options.

• Square Enix says it’s not that Left Alive won’t have any online elements but they’re considering adding extras.

• (On Nabeshima joining Square Enix) After Nabeshima left From Software, he was recruited to join after being invited to do something together.

Left Alive releases in 2018 for PlayStation 4 and PC. Its development is 50% complete.