Lightning Knight fucked around with this message at 10:31 on Oct 21, 2019

Lightning Knight fucked around with this message at 10:27 on Oct 21, 2019

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 08:55 on Oct 21, 2019

1. Armored Core Silent Line: Definitely on the side of many that finds this to be the best of the series, definitely the high point of the entire 3rd generation. A lot of its more unique features I still appreciate, even if some of them aren't as vital to the whole experience (An actual cockpit mode is a neat novelty, and the organic AI training program is cool). But for me, SL sets the gold standard for what mission design in the AC series should be. Many of the missions throw a multitude of surprises at you that aren't accounted for in the briefings, and they convey a sense of greater stakes in the overall conflict.
   
   
2. Armored Core Last Raven: The second best, though depending on what day it is I might put this at #1 for personal favorite. It's hard as hell, no two ways about it. But it refines a lot of the mechanics introduced in Nexus to their best while adding new things of its own like booster acceleration stats and locational damage on your AC. But I think what made it so memorable to me is the plot and atmosphere. As the final chapter in the storyline spanning the entire 3rd generation, it's nothing short of tense, the world bracing for one final war between the Ravens and mega corporation, on top of a race of self evolving machines called the Pulverizers. Everything takes place in the span of 24 hours, you get a by hour update on where things are at in the world, and it is the one game to have the most intensely terrifying end bosses of the series, be they Pulverizers or Ravens that just really, REALLY want you dead. It's not for beginners, but if you played through this game after besting all the ones before it, it provides a sense of satisfaction like no other.
   
   
3. Armored Core Master of Arena: A game that used to be #1 for me years and years ago, but is now relegated to the bottom of the top 3. It still holds up magnificently as a cap stone for the first generation of AC, with a ton of Arena challenges and cementing the legacy of everyone's "favorite" red and black mech, Nine-Ball. It's definitely got the least regular missions out of all the PS1 games, but that's made up for by the general quality of them. But for real, Nine-Ball cannot be stated enough. It was already tough fighting two of them back at the end of AC1, but the final battle with its ultimate form set a standard by which future AC end bosses would be based on. Very few would be able to feel as overpowering and intense as Nine-Ball Seraph would.
   
   
4. Armored Core 3: This game is fairly close in quality to Silent Line (makes sense, considering its the direct predecessor), though lacking in a ton of unique features, what it does do is provide the foundation for what the story of the 3rd generation games would be. As it was the start of a new continuity, a lot of familiar concepts that were seen in AC1 were present. But the way the game subtly turned them around on you made it clear that the game was not going to end in the exact same way as its predecessors. Great setting, music, mission design, part variety, technical performance, all around if people aren't interested in starting at the very beginning of the series then AC3 is like the second best place to start.
   
   
5. Armored Core Verdict Day: I'm more positive on 5th generation than most people are, and Verdict Day shows the potential that was established in V being fully realized. The game has a better paced and structured campaign than ACV did, but in addition the game provided the most in depth AI customization feature to date, allowing you to invest in and create UNACs that can accompany you on missions in place of human allies in co op or competitive. The means of unlocking parts via its ranking system I found pretty ingenious as it was based around on completing each mission with the best ranking and all objectives, rather than simply grinding out an EXP meter. And Hardcore Mode gave the series back something it had somewhat lost near the end of the PS2 days, and that was making it so that you had to keep playing each mission that comes along, regardless of how much money you made or lost with each one. The core gameplay may not feel like classic AC, but the amount of thought and care put into it is evident.
   
   
6. Armored Core Nexus: The first game of the series to introduce a control scheme with dual analog support, and it's a change I still appreciated even after becoming accustomed to the old control scheme. That said, the game is very much stuck in the middle for me, though I'm generally on the side that was welcome to a lot of the changes made with Nexus. Solid mission design, and an entire second disc comprising of remakes of 1st gen AC missions was a great trip down memory lane (you could even get parts based on Stinger's AC from Project Phantasma). That said, there is definitely a sense with some of the mechanical change and re balancing that there needed to be more time figuring out how to make them work their best, something that was eventually solved by the time of Last Raven.
   
   
7. Armored Core: The game that started it all. It may not have the features that even the other PS1 games have, but it's still one of the best entry points to go with for the series. The longest campaign of all the PS1 games, its focus was put on you influencing the war between the two mega corps Chrome and Murakumo Millennium, with different missions taking place based on whose side you end up helping. It's definitely tough if you're going in not prepared for how this game controls or how its systems work (hell, the same applies for all the other games), but considering this is the least mechanically complex of the classic AC games, the part where I say this is one of the best entry points still rings true.
   
   
8. Armored Core Project Phantasma: This one is still pretty fun, though I feel it makes sense to say this is probably the weakest of the 1st gen games. It introduced quite a number of concepts that would be continued on in future games, like the emphasis on a female operator assisting you during missions, and the Arena mode. However, with those introductions, a lot of exploiting the game's progression was thrown into the mix. The game's Arena mode let you fight against 49 unique ACs one by one, but there was nothing to gate your progress aside from skill. Meaning you could simply due the Arena before ever touching the campaign, getting an obscene amount of credits, and unlocking some delightfully broken weapons that would get heavily toned down in Master of Arena. It is still worth playing as part of the 1st generation, but I would suggest going all the way and going straight to MoA once you've gotten absolutely everything you can out of PP.
   
   
9. Armored Core V: ACV establishes a lot of solid mecha design and mechanics that actually take their inspiration from an earlier From Soft title called Metal Wolf Chaos. The small size, weapon conveyor belts, and limited vertical mobility are the big ones, but it even adds things like more complex boosting controls and wall jumping into the mix, along with three defense types to create a more indepth dynamic on which weapons to bring for each sortie. However, the game's biggest failing is its campaign structure. The actual story itself is quite engaging, with one of the most gleefully psychotic antagonists featured in the series (especially in Japanese, seriously, just find some footage on Nico Nico or something of Keiji Fujiwara hamming it up like no other), but the missions themselves are far too few. Following that are the Order missions, small side ops of which there are 88 of and they are far too samey for their own good. Combined with the multiplayer focus, it's understandable why some of the design decisions turned off many, but that's ignoring a lot of the thought put into the mechanics and gameplay, and Verdict Day essentially fixing a lot of those lingering problems.
   
   
10. Armored Core Ninebreaker: Yes, I liked the game that was essentially one large training mode. You fight an updated Nine-Ball at the end, you get his head, and you do get a sense near the end that you have refined your AC skills even if you were confident in them after playing all the previous games.
    
    
11. Armored Core 2: 2nd generation AC as a whole is something that I've found myself feeling less fond of over time due to all the other games in the series. A lot of the AC 1 fundamentals are still in 2, but the new mechanics combined with sloppy technical performance leaves a game that I felt was noticeably slower and more sluggish than its predecessors. That said, AC 2 is the only game in the series to take place outside of Earth, and setting the events on Mars made things feel fresh enough. It also was the game that established the term Ninebreaker in regards to Ravens of exceptional skill (those strong enough to become #1 in the Arena/defeat Nine-Ball), and even the antagonist Leos Klein was actually the protagonist of Master of Arena. It's an interesting plot in the context of the 1st generation timeline, but it's not the best in regards to playability.
    
    
12. Armored Core For Answer: 4th generation AC on the whole is something I greatly dislike, though For Answer is considerably better than AC4 I don't find it strong enough to get even into the top 10. Probably the most positive aspects I can highlight are the fight with Spirit of Motherwill, and the entirety of the third ending in which you commit genocide on the human race. Most AC games generally have the Great Destruction or similar calamity take place in the events prior to them. In this case, you are the Great Destruction. Also White Glint's only cool aspect is that it was designed by Shoji Kawamori, the fight itself is not nearly as tough as everyone in universe would lead you to believe.
    
    
13. Armored Core 2 Another Age: The one AC game in which I played through it once and have felt no desire to do another full playthrough. Despite having multiple attempts. It still carries on the same mechanics and technical performance of AC2, but the lack of features like mail or the Arena leaves you with 100 missions that don't provide much of an interesting plot or development for most of it. The most exciting thing that can be said is that there's a mission where you help a terrorist hijack a space elevator, and then you accept a mission from the government asking you to dispose of said terrorist, not knowing you helped him in the first place. Gotta love playing both sides.
    
    
14. Armored Core 4: A game I feel confident in calling the absolute worst of the series, not counting the gimped PSP ports of 3, SL, and LR. I went into this and For Answer expecting a game that, while surely not AC like, is probably good enough in its own right. With 4 in particular, I did not get that feeling. The stripping of all the mechanics and complexity that were built up through Last Raven still hurt me the hardest, and so many of the missions devolved into carrying the most powerful one shot weapons while tuning your EN Output to max to be the ultimate glass cannon, ensuring S ranks almost every time. Not to mention the amount of awful bloom and post processing effects smeared all over the screen because of it being the PS3/360. The few things that I considered positives in For Answer this game still did not have. It and For Answer both are not Armored Core games, but even if taken on their own terms, I feel there have been plenty of mecha games based around zipping at high speeds that were better put together and thought out than this.
    

field balm fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Oct 24, 2019

Reach -50,000 credits 1st time  1- Long range grid radar with or with out radar equipped head or back radar.
Reach -50,000 credits 2nd time.	2- Missile and elevation indicators added to radar.
Reach -50,000 credits 3rd time.	3- Slight increase in turning speed.
Reach -50,000 credits 4th time.	4- Slight increase in moving speed.
Reach -50,000 credits 5th time.	5- Increased Energy capacity.
Reach -50,000 credits 6th time.	6- Reduced booster consumption.
Reach -50,000 credits 7th time.	7- Fire back weapon while moving.
Reach -50,000 credits 8th time	8- Fire energy wave from laser blade when dashing forward.

bradzilla fucked around with this message at 13:19 on Oct 24, 2019