Armored Core series

[CrimHead]

I just finished the PS1 line of games, so I downloaded a ps2 emulator and armored core 2, but apparently my PC lacks the capacity to play PS2 games at a reasonable frame rate.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Cheesiest weapons in the game since they were added are, btw, the energy shotgun arms. Throw on the optional parts for extra damage and firing rate, the biggest capacity generator you can get, and plow into some poor fucker at point blank and vapourize him faster than a blade would.

Not very useful for missions due to low ammo and range, but for arena matches or missions vs only one or two tough targets, holy fuck are they broken.

 

[MaskedMartyr]

use railguns. railguns shoot the fastest projectiles in the game, you do the math.

 

[kingcomrade]

I think the AC game I have is AC 2, for the PS2. Maybe it's 3, I don't remember. I actually don't think I even have it any more.

 

[Matador]

I'm playing AC: For Answer and having a blast.

+ The shooter skill and tactical gameplay is fantastic, great animations, a lot of dodging ballistic projectiles, trying to get in your ideal ranges for your loadout, outmaneuvering the enemy and positioning and using obstacles to your advantage because you are almost always outnumbered,etc

+ Making strategic decisions in your weapon selection for each mission depending on the objectives.

+ Resource management in the missions. You have usually to be careful with the ammunition because of money cost and limited amount, encouraging good habits.

+ Same with S Rank. You get rewards for not getting a lot of damage and no wasting too much ammo. I know am searching it for almost every mission.

+ Complex and deep customization with good menus. The amount of tuning and variety you can configure your mech with is crazy, lots of decisions and trade offs to make. It's overwhelming in the beginning, but when you start to understand how the basic things work and affect performance it starts to get very rewarding and fun. I suppose there is great depth, but I feel like you can progress and do well with the basic stuff.

+ Sense of scale. Big maps and the gigantic armored fortresses are impressing.

+ Good variety in the missions. I'm only interested in SP and the game is very old, so it's nice that the campaign is well fleshed out.

+ Interesting setting and story premise. The game is focused on gameplay but the light story and world building is good enough for immerse the player deeper in the game. There is even plot branches and different missions and endings for each path depending of your choices.

- Bad framerate. Specially with some visual effects on the screen, this is not good for a fast paced combat game.

- All the scenarios are very empty and the objects lack detail. A shame because the mechs look fantastic.

- Lack of explanation for all the mech stats and mechanics. If you don't mind to learn by yourself through the good tooltips in the game and searching online, it's not so bad.

Overall, it's the game I remember that would benefit most from a PC version. It's obvious that hardware limitations constrains the action part of the game greatly. I think a greater budget could also help the game achieve the polish it deserves, with better detailed maps.

I put it this game in my top 3 From Software Games along Dark Souls and Demon's Souls. I hope From is making another AC game in this vein, because I think they could make a great success giving their loyal fanbase, popularity and how this kind of game could succeed greatly on PC.


9/10 unpolished gem.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

From what Miyazaki and Ogura have said, they have tried to get a new AC rolling for years now, it's simply that there is no publisher interest.

 

[Matador]

That sucks. I have seen Daemon X machina (made by a former AC producer I think) did it well on the Switch, and had good reviews. Maybe that and FROM reputation encourages somebody to publish a new AC game.

Fuck those Nintendo exclusives, respect for them publishing that game, but I'm not gonna buy a console only for it, even for a game that looks so good as Daemon X Machina.

 

[Beastro]

I always ended up making super-heavy mechs with the heavy chasses and heavy-hitting weapons. I did not understand the value of light mechs who were fast because it seemed like fast mechs still got hit plenty.

In AC1 I found the perfect dueling core was one with the fast light 4 hover legs and no weapons but the machine gun you get from completing Phantasma: https://armoredcore.fandom.com/wiki/WA-FINGER

With that I beat my brother no matter what weapon combination he tried. I was so damn fast he couldn't hit me and once I got into weapons range I ripped him apart. Was glorious beating him a dozen times until he threw his controller at the TV screen in rage. I'd never beat him in any other game before, much less over and over again like that.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I've wanted to come back to AC and the last game I played was probably AC4 on the 360 when it came out like 15 years ago. For Answer is a pretty safe bet, right? Does RPCS3 emulate it properly?

 

[Matador]

I've wanted to come back to AC and the last game I played was probably AC4 on the 360 when it came out like 15 years ago. For Answer is a pretty safe bet, right? Does RPCS3 emulate it properly?

For Answer is great. Those fortress missions are a sight to behold.

And the customisation is one of the best I've played in any game; deep, fun, and relatively easy to use.

I don't know about RPCS3 though. I own it on PS3.

 

[Great Deceiver]

It works on RPCS3, but the mech textures are glitched. There's a workaround by enabling read/write color buffers but then it crashes the game when you're on certain missions.

Unfortunate.

 

[Melmoth]

It works on RPCS3, but the mech textures are glitched. There's a workaround by enabling read/write color buffers but then it crashes the game when you're on certain missions.

Just make sure you save beforehand, and you can toggle it for the few missions that need it. Both AC4 and For Answer can be completed through RPCS3 this way. I think it's too soon for AC5 and Verdict Day though