42 replies to this topic

[NY_TimeBombTimmy]

Played quite a bit of the original AC on PS1. Clunky controls, simple graphics, but once you got into it you'd spend hours on it. So much fun! Never finished it, but got damn close. Had some fun with the multiplayer split screen and even got a few rounds of system link in! Sword only fights FTW! Eventually played AC2 or 3 on PS2, but got so frustrated on the first few missions I gave up. Was not the experience I remembered.

[skatcat31]

Machine guns save lives in AC2 missions.

[Bewitched]

And in the Armored Core 3 games. Well, barring Last Raven, perhaps.

I guess you could call me a born-again Raven. I missed the AC4 and ACV gravy trains and I play the games available for the PSP. Silent Line is my favorite-I roll out with a lightweight biped with the ammo dual back unit, the highest-capacity machine gun and a solid shield. I had to completely reconfigure the controls for it to work though-the default PSP configuration makes it so hard to use left arm devices on the go and makes things as reflex-dependent as blading a chore.

If there's, like, a mount for a ballistic shield or something in it I might see how well that works in Hawken...

[Zeether]

I like how the earlier games had the Human+ bonuses if you decided to put yourself in insane amounts of debt.

[Pyroka]

Played AC1 loved it.
Played AC2 wanted to marry it.

Every game after that just wasn't up to scratch IMO. Was not a fan of the nextgen (Literally the NEXT mechs and the nextgen consoles) controls and handling. WHERES MY AIMING BOX DAMNNIT_

[Cacophanus]

Played the Armored Core games since 1997, won a few tournaments in Japan too (though that was about 10-ish years ago now).

[Pyroka]

Cacophanus, on September 21 2012 - 05:11 AM, said:

Played the Armored Core games since 1997, won a few tournaments in Japan too (though that was about 10-ish years ago now).

There were tournaments for the AC games_ Care to expand on that or provide some insight_

[Cacophanus]

Pyroka, on September 21 2012 - 06:37 AM, said:

There were tournaments for the AC games_ Care to expand on that or provide some insight_

In Japan, From Software used to hold tournaments at various locations for pretty much all the games. When I lived there (2001-2004) I used to take part in them. I won a few regional tournaments, one for Armored Core 3 and then for Armored Core 3 Silent Line (I also got to the national final on the latter). I also won a few Virtual On tournaments too but that's another story

Don't really play competitively any more, mainly because I have a fulltime job as a designer and also the games changed quite a bit with Armored Core 4 onwards.

[BDVS]

I own every PS2 and PS3 AC game. Still working on AC5. I don't have as much time to play as I did when I was a kid :/

[BDVS]

Cacophanus, on September 21 2012 - 07:04 AM, said:

Pyroka, on September 21 2012 - 06:37 AM, said:

There were tournaments for the AC games_ Care to expand on that or provide some insight_

In Japan, From Software used to hold tournaments at various locations for pretty much all the games. When I lived there (2001-2004) I used to take part in them. I won a few regional tournaments, one for Armored Core 3 and then for Armored Core 3 Silent Line (I also got to the national final on the latter). I also won a few Virtual On tournaments too but that's another story

Don't really play competitively any more, mainly because I have a fulltime job as a designer and also the games changed quite a bit with Armored Core 4 onwards.

Yeah, Armored core 4 and 5 took me awhile to get used to after playing the PS2 games for many years. Hell, I'm still not used to AC5 with all the drones and what not.

[Cacophanus]

BDVS, on September 21 2012 - 07:50 PM, said:

Yeah, Armored core 4 and 5 took me awhile to get used to after playing the PS2 games for many years. Hell, I'm still not used to AC5 with all the drones and what not.

I think what makes ACV especially interesting is how not only the radar has gone (replaced by line-of-sight scanning) but also that you have to use the environment to moved around (as you're so much smaller now). The game feels a lot like Metal Wolf Chaos in places because of that.

http://youtu.be/g5MGGZZwmCg

[Phobotech]

Howdy! Veteran Raven on deck.

-First ever introduction to the game was AC: Project Phantasm on PS1. Owned it, beat it, friends of mine battled on it after middle school, and there was much rejoicing!
-Back-tracked to the first ever Armored Core, owned it, beat it.
-Never got around to Masters of Arena. I hope to make up for this soon, however; after downloading "Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operations" on the Playstation Network, I discovered (by blindly and clumsily trial-and-erroring through the JPSN Store) that ALL THREE original Playstation Armored Core's are for sale. For really cheap, I'm going to buy a digital copy of Masters of Arena and play it from my hard drive. Yeeeee nostalgia and newness at once!


-Playstation 2, got Armored Core 2, but had the hardest time with some of the final bosses. Never got around to beating it, eventually sold it to a friend who needed a good game. But it was around this time I started getting active enough to have a stable online moniker, and the setting of Phobos on one of the stages eventually lead to my using the name "Phobotech."
-Never got interested enough to try Armored Core 2: Another Age for some reason. Probably because my memory was still fresh and frustrated over some of the B.S. final bosses of it's predecessor, lol
-Owned Armored Core 3 and played it sooo much. At that point, was the most fun with the series I had, even though I don't remember beating the final bosses or anything. Still, friends of mine returned to split-screen battling here like we used to with Project Phantasma, so many positive memories were etched.
-Nexus looked interesting to me, but I've never played it. Formula Front and Nine Breaker completely slipped underneath my radar. If I remember correctly this was around the time my first Playstation 2 died. When I bought a used slim PS2, I returned back to it with Last Raven. That game was crazy difficult and somewhat depressing in it's overall tone, but I trudged through it and beat two different endings.

Years and years later, had a couple of buddies with an Xbox 360 who were looking to try a new game. I don't know how, but I convinced them to try out Armored Core 4. It was fun for a good while...it blew my mind considering the pace and gameplay I was used to, but they smugly dug it. We upgraded to Armored Core: For Answer not long after that, and we were hooked. Split-screen battling for hours each time we hung out. At one point, we simply set up the lightest cores we could with dual beam sabers and made a drinking game out of the fast matches. Some of the battles we had were just crazy, heart-pounding intense. I drenched my controller in sweat sometimes. AC4A was some of the most fun I've had in an AC game to be perfectly honest.

I have a Playstation 3, and the first game I got for it was Armored Core 5. Buddies of mine and I collaborate on the team Jolly Company. I'm a bit disappointed in how Namco Bandai has been handling things with that game...I know a great deal of it's faults aren't on From Software's hands, and I'm givin' NamBand the stink-eye over it. One of these days I'll write a lengthy review about what I love and hate about AC5. Overall, TONS of great ideas for the franchise, and lots of risky and interesting changes to it...some of which I'd like to see stick around...for the most part, I really like the game. I just kinda wish it was a lot more popular over here in the states.

Perhaps I underestimate it's popularity though...I seem to remember a chapter of Tips & Tricks magazine that had a Raven's Garage section, where readers would submit their very own designed Cores to be showcased. I thought that was so awesome, and I kinda miss that.

[Cacophanus]

Phobotech, on September 23 2012 - 06:39 AM, said:

-Never got around to Masters of Arena. I hope to make up for this soon, however; after downloading "Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operations" on the Playstation Network, I discovered (by blindly and clumsily trial-and-erroring through the JPSN Store) that ALL THREE original Playstation Armored Core's are for sale. For really cheap, I'm going to buy a digital copy of Masters of Arena and play it from my hard drive. Yeeeee nostalgia and newness at once!

The PSN releases are great and totally worth getting. Due to the controls they are only available on PS3 but they're still great.

Personally, I think Master of Arena and Silent Line are probably the best in the series thus far. You should definitely check them out!

[BDVS]

Cacophanus, on September 23 2012 - 04:11 AM, said:

BDVS, on September 21 2012 - 07:50 PM, said:

Yeah, Armored core 4 and 5 took me awhile to get used to after playing the PS2 games for many years. Hell, I'm still not used to AC5 with all the drones and what not.

I think what makes ACV especially interesting is how not only the radar has gone (replaced by line-of-sight scanning) but also that you have to use the environment to moved around (as you're so much smaller now). The game feels a lot like Metal Wolf Chaos in places because of that.

I'm going to have to check out that metal wolf game. I've never heard of it (probably because I've never been an xbox player). I wonder if it'll be worth playing with that clunky controller :/

Edited by BDVS, September 24 2012 - 12:15 AM.

[Cacophanus]

BDVS, on September 24 2012 - 12:15 AM, said:

I'm going to have to check out that metal wolf game. I've never heard of it (probably because I've never been an xbox player). I wonder if it'll be worth playing with that clunky controller :/

It's worth checking out, the narrative is also a bit bonkers too. I wrote a review a while back if you're at all curious.

[Raijinken]

Absolutely miserable at it, but Last Raven is pretty great.  Another Century's Episode, I'm much better at. It's basically Armored Core meets Super Robot Wars.

[JakatoX]

Raijinken, on September 24 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

Absolutely miserable at it, but Last Raven is pretty great.  Another Century's Episode, I'm much better at. It's basically Armored Core meets Super Robot Wars.

Ah! Another ACE/SRW Fan! That's great

Just curious what's your favorite ACE Game_

[Raijinken]

JakatoX, on September 24 2012 - 11:44 AM, said:

Raijinken, on September 24 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

Absolutely miserable at it, but Last Raven is pretty great.  Another Century's Episode, I'm much better at. It's basically Armored Core meets Super Robot Wars.

Ah! Another ACE/SRW Fan! That's great

Just curious what's your favorite ACE Game_

For ACE, probably 2 since it's the one I can get to run best on my computer (importing is out of my budget range).  Though I like the series selection more in 3 and R.

[Pyroka]

So what are your guys thoughts on AC5 based on trailers_

I think the support they are implementing for multiplayer is great, however Im still not a fan of the newer style of play and the "NEXT" mechs which seem to have spare parts stuck to every single gap on the bodywork. (In the AC5 trailer I saw a mech seemed to have a radar or large shield on its kneecaps.)

Trailer I watched

Link to all AC5 trailers on gametrailers.com

[Predator459]

I loved last raven and nexus, I thought AC 4 and for answer as guilty pleasure seeing how most people showed how flawed they were, for some reason, I just didnt like AC5, I can't even explain it I just plain didn't like it.