I started with armored core 1, and I’m rather surprised it became one of my favorite games of all time. The atmosphere, the music, the gameplay, and so much more are so deeply engrained into my head and I would totally wipe my memory to play it again
What stood out form me in Last Raven and I don't recall it being in other titles (Not as prominently at least) is that both you and your enemies can damage and destroy different parts of your AC, so imagine you have your head part with built-in radar functionality, but the enemy destroys it; you loose that functionality for the rest of the mission and have to buy that head part again.
@@SilverGlintI definitely like all these armored core games I haven't played the o.g. one yet but when I get a PC I'll be able to play that also as a bonus in that game I might even go for the two powerful weapons in original Armored core are those two lipids are the moonlight and the karasw and once I get to 100% on the game I might even go for a 9-ball I'll take him down personally since he's an evil AI That's trying to take over the world then after that I'll even go for the all the other games Plus going for the newest armor cord there is today on PlayStation 5 that last one basically AC6 fires of Rubicon
Its something they took from Frame Gride which is honestly an interesting take if not annoying as it basically cheapens out your leg selection to "standard"
@@QuantumTelephone It depends on the hitbox and your playstyle. When I use hoover-legs, because I'm mostly flying, the projectiles concentrate on the leg-parts, so they tend to break more than any other. When I use a more grounded style with treds or legs, its the core that breaks the most. And when I use inverted legs to jump over obstacles and pick enemies that way, it is the head that breaks because it gets more exposed when jumping up and down behind cover.
If asked this same question, I think I would answer "Silent Line, For Answer or Verdict Day. Each represents a generation well." I would say Last Raven, but the difficulty there is off-putting to anyone but a souls fan (who will get that recommendation instead of Silent Line.) Yes, I know Silent Line is pre dual stick controls, but throwing new players into Last Raven would be wrong and Nexus... just doesn't represent that well. Yeah, it's okay, and I'd tell them "If you can't stand Silent Line's controls, Nexus." but ultimately the pinnacle of each generation was Last Raven, For Answer and Verdict Day. Because Gen 1-3.5 were iterations on the same formula. Edit: Honestly, you make a really solid point for starting with AC 1, brutal learning cliff that it is, ancient design and all.
Yeah I think Last Raven is the best 3rd gen game in almost all metrics, but maybe it loses a bit the creepy and sometimes unsettling atmosphere 3 and SL have! LR feels like a more humane saga, it's about the human struggle, SL is about uncovering the unknown and the dangers of technology. Tough choice for me, but I think people would be overwhelmed with LR!
Found this after blowing through last raven to 100% completion in 4 days, and just wanted to say your script here is really good. I wasn't expecting much of the robo voice but the writing is excellent. Subbed!
Thank you! I'm trying to do something different, and hopefully make good use of these kinds of tools. It's not easy but with the right amount of editing, cadence and script manipulation I think it can be quite enjoyable :)
The OST's of the 1rst generation of Armored Core are still the best overall in the series. The other generation have some really good ones but their OSTs overall are not that memorable. But that may be just me misguided by nostalgia.
You can tell I'm new to this channel when it's so jarring to hear the TTS used by Zentreya arguing back with your voice explaining everything. But this is really well put-together, thanks for this!
While I absolutely love For Answer and find it better than 4 in almost every aspect, Joshua’s fight to me is much more memorable than any of FA’s final bosses. The 5v1 at the end of the genocide route is definitely notorious though.
I'm new to the series, started with 3, played it a bit and reaaally liked it. Midway through the campaign I started Last Raven (adhd moment) and have done 3 endings already. REALLY liking this one, and didn't find it as hard as people make it to be. This video was super useful because of the "play 4 before For Answer" thing, cause I was definetely going to play For Answer and leave 4 alone lol So I'll at least try 4, so as to get used to the faster controls (should be fine since I only played lightweight meele-only on 3 and LR) Nice video
Honestly dude don't feel bad, silent line was my favorite as well. You are right I do believe that if new players want to give the older ones a try, number one definitely has to be on that list. It's where it all started it was ahead of its time.
Fuck yeah, HAvent finished the video, but recommending to start at the very beginning is a MUST, specially for the newcomers. You have to understand where we come from, where it all started, in all of its clunky unforgiving glory; and give thanks that you can upscale the resolutions and the loading times, while present, are much MUCH SHORTER than in the actual hardware. If you don't play at least 15 minute of the original AC title, you won't be able to appreciate where we are TODAY.
RIP AC newcomers when they have to get to grips with gen 1 control schemes Jokes aside, I really like the fact that the AC franchise is getting so many new fans. Hopefully that’ll cause fromsoft to make more AC games. (Just imagine fromsoft releasing modernized versions of gen 1-3 or a modernized formula front on console🙏🏾)
That it took until Nexus to allow dual stick control is not excusable. The PS1 games get the logical pass of 'The controller didn't have sticks.' but AC 2 and beyond does not. That AC 3 didn't have it truly went beyond the pale. But yeah, the gen 1 control scheme is so much muscle memory I couldn't tell you which button was look up vs look down because I don't think to do that, it just happens.
I started with Nexus 😬Then 4A became my favorite, now I'm not sure whether AC1, 3 or LR is my favorite. I can't wait to see where 6 fits in with the rest
@@Artorias.2210 let's gooo! My personal favorite run is AC3 -> SL, you're in for a greaaat time! Let me know when you finish it by leaving a comment somewhere, and if it was worth it
I am very much enjoying my time with Armored Core as I play through the games for the first time in prep for Armored Core 6, and was kinda blown away by the first one out of the gate. No tutorial, no hand-holding. Just fight or die. I only found one secret part (the generator on the skyscraper) and went and grabbed the moonlight after first completion. 9-ball is a bastard. I think AC1 and MoA are fantastic. Phantasma is a bit too short but holy hell do the last 10 opponents in the arena kick my ass. Currently on AC3, and boy is it good.
Yeah the first one is way ahead of it's time for sure! I personally find 3 and Silent Lines are my favorite of the bunch so you're in for a treat. Mostly every generation has it's ups and downs, glad you gave it a chance :)
My general recommendations AC3-SL-LR, AC4-ACfA, ACV-ACVD these games should give you a macro look at AC in general, and then play AC1-MoA, AC2-ACAA, AC:FF-ACNB and Nexus and see what they were doing with a magnifying glass PS there has been no AC game thats a semi direct reference to MoA in a narrative sense where your missions will depend on how far you progressed in the arena and how your arena content is blocked by the schenanigans happening in the story. And I firmly believe that Nexus was first and foremost remaking the OG trilogy missions in 3rd gen engine hence why the heat mechanics are so off balance when it comes to playing Nexus like a 3rd gen title as it forces you to pace 3rd gen back into gen 1 which is an idea fulfilled by overheating yourself through boosting
I love your AC:N theory, I can't see any other reason why it was so off other than genuine oversight and time constraints while attempting a pretty ambitious "port".
@@SilverGlint its also a good way to show case how widely different AC base performance was in Gen 1 and Gen 3 since most of the time the real way to move in Gen 1 was walking and not boosting besides bunny hopping
I god damn Love AC4. It may actually be one of my favorite entries entirely because of the narrative of Anatolia's fall, and how it leads into 4A. It also just straight up has the best OST across the franchise. I miss you, Joshua.
Thank you for the solid overview and your optimistic outlook on the new wave of AC players coming with Rubicon. Hopefully I can beat Gen 4 by the time I get my hands on Rubicon.
fantastic video, i agree with just about everything you said here. i personally always recommend ac3 as the ideal entry point. last raven is easily my favorite but you are correct that it is NOT the place to start, lol.
It makes my day knowing you enjoyed it, still trying to figure out my own style... Yeah I love LR, and even though I prefer SL, I would definitely recommend it if it weren't for the fact it has a mountain to climb when it comes to onboarding!
I'd just like to say, Armored Core: The Last Raven was my first AC game as a kid, and I sucked at it. At my very best, I could _barely_ defeat the simulator AC, so I was always softlocked whenever I got to a point in the game where the only available missions had me fighting another AC. And you know what? I _loved_ it. Not the getting stuck part, but I loved the game, atmosphere, the design of the ACs and the freedom of building your own (seriously I spent HOURS building many different ACs just for fun) the music was pretty good and I have a positive opinion of the franchise even though I never beat it and didn't play another game in the series. (Unless you count some dabbling with AC 4 which I couldn't get the hang of at the time) That is, until AC 6. When it was announced, I was casually intrigued. When it finally released, and people were speaking positively about it, I thought to myself "Maybe it's time to get back in the saddle." And bought it, and I'm glad I did. It's been a blast through and through, and now that I'm much older I'm able to actually progress and beat the game (though I'm pretty sure 6 is easier than last Raven but I digress) I'm glad I started with LR because even though I wasn't good at it, it gave me an appreciation for the Mech genre (that and Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf) and I was able to appreciate the name "Raven" being my callsign.
My suggestion for anyone to start playing any of the games is to start at the beginning of any of the generations such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and V before 6 comes out. Because it's hard to play any of the extension such as another age, silent line, project phantasm, for answer and verdict day . Play the game without the title and just the number since the extensions is best played after you beat the numbered games to have the extensions easy by importing the previous games's saves into the extension. And yes you can transfer saves to the next game and it will help you play the other games. Nexus has graphical overhaul so neat that game first, transfer it's data to ninebreak and then last raven. Formula Front is a stand alone game so you can play that any time you want
AC1 will probably be the most accessible Raven Era game in terms of actually buying the blasted thing, if you happen to have a PS3. You can get it digitally for $10. The prices for the other games are absolutely exploding right now, and functioning PS2s aren't exactly growing out of the ground. If you're lucky enough to have a collection of these games, PLEASE do your best to keep them.
@@SilverGlint Well, Nexus and Last Raven are going for prices so high that I can safely call them terrifying, and the others are slowly heading that way as well. We need a re-release, and I'd say we need one quickly. Hopefully AC6 will push Fromsoft to consider it.
@@NineNovem I'd love the idea of an AC HD collection with some QOL updates, ported to all platforms. Sadly I don't think we will get that, not even for specific titles
AC1 through AC2:AA all emulate well (I'm literally using parts nearly a decade old) 3 and on have some slowdown though... at least on the main stable release of PCSX2.
I´m commenting very late on this video, but if you decide to try an AC before 6, then my rundown of AC as a whole is: BEGINNER ENTRIES: 4th Gen, AC4 and F.A - The 1st reinvention of the wheel, the most accesible, fastest and most flashy games of the series, excellent storyline although with some rough edges, and an incredible customization in For Answer. 3rd Gen, AC3 and S.L - Only putting the beginning games of the 3rd gen saga, mostly because they have an incredible atmosphere that was eventually lost in consequent entries, but also they reinvented some concepts story wise from the 1st gen in a genious way, and they´re the last games to have the old tanky controls, but still more polished than gens 1 and 2. IF the mentioned games somehow didn´t capture you the way you were hoping for, then wait for AC6, since this generation is going to be a much more impactful generational jump than the 4th and 5th gens, since not only it reawakened the AC series from lethargy, but also once again, totally reinvented the wheel in terms of gameplay and visuals while remaining faithful to the original formulas of beloved gens like 3th, 4th, with some elements of 5th, and for the icing on the cake, the storyline will likely have the potential to reach the heights of LR and FA but better since modern FromSoft excells at storytelling and lore. EXPERIENCED PLAYER ENTRIES: 3rd Gen, Nexus and L.R - The hardest AC games IMO, not only for the colossal expansion in the customization front, but also for the new mechanics like heat management, a harder debt system but not like the insanity of 1st gen, unfair AI at times, and unpredictability of some battle outcomes in general, however all of this pain is worth it (again IMO) since it gives the classic generations of Armored Core a closure, specially Last Raven with the sense of finality of being literally, the LAST of all the Ravens. 5th Gen, AC5 and V.D - One hell of an underrated generational jump, the second reinvention of the wheel, which unfortunatley was not well received mostly back in it´s hayday, however, is has mostly to do with the shifting focus from single player to multiplayer, making the campaign of AC5 quite lackluster as a result (at least in the west) but the true shock comes from the realistic war concepts that were incorporated into the games´s overall feel, gameplay, design of the mechs and generally, the ideas of the japanese of how the west imagines mechs as actual replacements for IRL war machines like tanks, bombardiers, etc. (speculations say Chromehounds influenced the shit out of the 5th gen, but probably it was all of the shooter war themed games at the time), to finish this, 5th gen is worth a try for Verdict Day alone, specially for customization and the very ending of the game. 1st and 2nd gens, AC1, P.P, MoA/AC2, A.A - Where it all started, the now recognized cult classic 1st generation, not only for this specific IP, but also for being the best contributor to the mecha genre in videogames, one of many treasures the PS1 era of gaming, and the genesis of FromSoftware alongside King´s Field. The passing of time didn´t help these poor gems, as they´re the most unpolished iterations of the tanky controls, and the very first control schemes for the Armored Cores, but having said that, if you´re willing to put off a fight against the controls, then you´ll be surprised at how much depth these little mecha games had for the time they were released, in a console full of hardware limitations, and nailing the fantasy of being a mercenary for hire by ruthless corporations for gaining a profit doing the dirty work for them, introducing the magnificent concept of the arena, and having one of Mecha´s most iconic villains, Nineball Seraph/Hustler One. EXPERIMENTAL ENTRIES: From different generations, F.F, N.B and the mobile games - Games with interesting proposals for gameplay regarding stuff like the arena combat, weird management of some parts of your AC, and the novelty of them, although, the existance for these titles is sort of a mystery, since they served no purpose for the main sagas, and stood out like a sore thumb, specially Nine Breaker since it didn´t bother incorporating a campaign lol.
Still remember the demo disc with Armored Core and Red Alert. Yet the first full version of Armored Core i played was AC2 and i loved it, then got AC:Nexus and loved that too. That was the end if my AC journey since nowhere was any AC title sold in my country. PS3 online store with it's only PSP version of The Last Raven could eat a dick (No PSP, no fun) It wasn't until earlier this year i got my hands on a good psx emulator and played all of AC1, Project Phantasm and Master of Arena. All i can say is this: If after a week of not playing AC, you jump into a arena fight (no map with celling) and can in 2 seconds remember how to (L)ift and Lowe(R) your targeting cube AND keep it on target while said target is offscreen? Congrats, you're a Raven now
damn, im glad i started with armored core 3 on psp then. what i found funny the most is that if you get op-intensify in 3 and then transfer your save over to SL, your op-intensify is fully upgraded. i mainly play Armored core for the upcomming 6, which is why i kinda abused that.
It's totally valid, not unlike going through a Dark Souls NG+ fully decked out! You earned that op intensify- And to some degree I think the game expects you to carry over your progress, since SL is noticeably harder than 3 from the get go!!
It's kinda funny that as a newbie to AC, I also would consider MoA to be my favorite of the PS1 and 3/SL to be my favorite PS2 entry. I still haven't gotten to the PS3 entries but I'm eagerly anticipating them. I also want to thank you for not immediately writing off the PS1/2 games for being "clunky and dated" and recognizing them as still having gameplay merits. I don't think it's fair for people to ignore some legit great games on the virtue that they aren't intuitive or look dated because underneath the roughness, you can see how the franchise evolves, what the devs wanted to experiment with, and how they ultimately shaped the direction of newer entries. With AC6 coming out soon, I'm reminded of another franchise with the initials "AC": Ace Combat. While I started with 7, I loved it so much that I went back and played every past game starting from 1. From there, I discovered my favorite entry in the series (Zero) and I gained a greater appreciation for the older games and what they did do better than 7 as well as how those older games influenced 7 to make it the game it turned out to be. All in all, it's still worth it to play the old games because they still offer something to the player despite newer entries seeming more appealing due to modern controls/settings and graphics.
Yeah absolutely, some things you can only appreciate if you play older titles, when it comes to MoA though, it has to be the best integration of Arena mode to this day still! AC3/ACSL have the best atmosphere / gravitas and og mech design, if it weren't for LRs ridiculously more expansive customization and better controls they would take the cake any day, as it stands they are the best at some things but not everything! 4th gen is deeply flawed in some regards like mission structure but the actual moment to moment gameplay is stellar; And 5th gen is hard to get into but features an approach to tactical gameplay that wasn't really there before; What's cool about this series is each game brings something unique to the table for the most part, you can't just say the sequels are the same but better, usually they are the same but different, save a few exceptions (ninebreaker lol).
Funny you would mention Master of Arena difficulty lol, that was my first besides the demo disc for the original. The two fights that stood out to me was the human plus guy and the final fight against Epyon/Zeta/Wing Gundam. Had to spam the “Large Missile” on him
Gonna start with AC 1 I think, god help me trying to master the controls and stay sane. Ps, that outro song is a banger, if that's from the AC series then that's a good sign
been playing through the series chronologically, I'm currently almost done with AC3. I've avoided guides and even videos about the games I havent played yet because I want to enjoy the unspoiled freshness of the games, and so far that's making it really fun :) also side note, are Formula Front and Nine Breaker worth playing? People seem to exclude/hate on them for some reason? idk if I should include them (especially considering I probably won't be able to beat all the games before AC6 comes out)
As a complete noob, 4 was fantastic. Short missions kind of easy but a real blast and very easy to emulate. For Answer is almost as difficult as hardmode in 4 it feels like. And it has some graphical glitches when emulated, they can be fixed but at a performance cost. Highly recommend starting with 4.
I’ve been oggling ACFA since 2017. Ironically my favorite part of darksouls 3’s aesthetic is the lifeless wide deserts and something about filling lifeless deserts with lifeless machines is kind of my favorite. Odd preferences I know but setpieces and characters are the best part of games for me, I am a sucker for story but ACFA setting is carried by the setpieces
Coming here after playing AC6, it’s goated. Now. Do I still need to play 4 before trying 4A? Or is my AC6 experience enough to get me going? (I’m not doing the older games you can take my thumbsticks from my cold dead hands).
Silent Line is not just your favorite game, to most 3rd gen players , SIlent Line was the best game in that generation. Nexus went and fucked up the balance so hard that Ninebreaker was made to essentially correct all of the fuck ups Nexus did.
hehe, i literally got into this because of the music (i think from AC4) literally a week ago (i presume because of 6 geting viral) and now i found out that the game absolutly rocks. It somehow reminds me of metal gear on the design of the mechs and stuff. Welp, wish me luck while i download AC1
Knowing Zentrya is an AC fan made me think she was talking lol. Fuck i cant wait for AC6 Id say the best starter is ether Gen 4 or Gen 3. Gen 2 is my baby, but Gen 3 improves on many aspects
I started with 4, assuming it was a good entry point pretty much for the reasons outlined here. And yeah, I would certainly suggest coming to grips with what the series expects, as it tells you LITERALLY nothing after the tutorial is over. And I had a great time. But I kept seeing people play AC1, many in a quest to play the whole series before VI. Josh Strife Hayes, Vaati, Writing on Games, and I just felt the itch, I had to try it. And... my god... Start with 1. Seriously. I know the controls are wonky as fuck, just rebind where you need to and give it a genuine try. Even 26 years later, there is something genuinely magical about this title if you can meet it on its terms.
Yeah, starting with 1 will make you feel a special way towards the series I think. Going back through the entries will make you appreciate the earlier ones less, going forward will make you appreciate everything more.
I glad i did Play Armored Core 4 and For answer. Those 2 are my First Armored Core Games. I did play them while i have my ps3 long time ago but It Gone or Broken. So Yeah. I also play Armored Core On PS Vita. They were Fun Except the one that Ultimate zinaida Killed me too many times!
I started with nexus, just because of the controls, enjoyed it and was surprised that some didn't, then arena in nine breaker and finally last raven, where I was met with an interesting problem, camera movement somehow become much more stiff, borderline unplayable, especially when fcs locks onto something it's really hard to get it unstuck and giving the fact that all the ac encounters in this game love to jump and change directions all the time itg became even more of a problem
Im starting with Verdict Day because its the only one i have immediate access to, and i forgot i even had it. Also i have an old save file of AC 5 before i traded the game in years ago. I don't remember what kind of parts and weapons i bought, but I'm pretty sure i had quite a lot.
I'm very new, but I was wondering if ACIII would be on the list. I loved playing AC1 for a while, but the very low framerate and stuttery strafing made it a bit of a chore, personally. Visually I liked it but it runs at something like 24fps most of the time and that made it that much worse to get used to the controls. Sucks because the story was just getting interesting. So I figured I'd jump to the PS2 and I realized that AC3 is basically a reboot that lasted all the way until the end of oldgen, and, yeah. It's fun. As a new player, on hard mode at least, I think there's still some significant pressure on your cash in AC3. I won't end up in debt but it's hard enough to keep my AC up with the missions getting tossed at me. Maybe I just suck. I actually think Arena Mode fixes an issue with the first game: There was a clear way to play efficiently. Fast AF to avoid damage, energy weapons. Get that cash. With Arena Mode as a secondary way of making (less) money focused around 1v1 duels, it encourages me to actually try different strategies.
When i discovered the franchise a few months ago my brother got AC6 so i could try it... Damm, i enjoyed every second of it, now I'm planning to get 4 and then For answer and after that i'l go for 5 and Veredict Day
@@SilverGlint it's literally the kind of Game that i've been wanting to play since i have memories, i'l update this comment when I finish each game :0!
Start with AC2. AC2 and Another age were by far my favorites. If you go to the PS1 titles you have to take into account that those games were pre-dual shock controllers and the controls were pretty hard to get into. Also, the controls of the first generation do not transfer to any other generation.
...I just played AC1, I'm playing 3 now, and I'm a bit confused by this. The controls are pretty much the same, you're just also using a few more buttons. Still can't use the sticks.
@@easy6427 I'm literally playing AC3 right now. The sticks do not work. You still used the bumpers or re-bound them. Maybe there was a way to use the analogue stick but even if you did it'd still be digital turning. Proper analogue stick control was introduced in Nexus.
Last Raven is the only PS2game where you can’t beat using cheat codes, as the game is intentionally made to freeze up when using certain cheat codes, whether it’s from Game Shark or Replay MAX.
Jajaja, tenía descargado el 1 de PS1 para comenzar la saga y anunciaron el 6 a la semana Me pasé el AC 1, PP, MoA y el 2. Quería comenzar el AA con la partida del 2 pero me dice que no hay datos de AC2 😐
Roughly using google translate: Glad that you went through the classics, hope you liked them! You can mostly skip AA it's pretty much non important to the story even though it has a ton of missions.
@@SilverGlint Not sure, I think AC6 is more like a faster 3. Energy has been confirmed to rapidly deplete and you need conserve like old gens, there is no infinite flight and more interior levels.
@@ixfirebrandxi yeah definitely but keep in mind AC 4 is actually not that lenient in energy for most builds, unless you're skilled and build for constant flight you're gonna be quite grounded! And there's a bunch of (bad) interior levels too; Ac4A is where you actually can always pretty much fly!
i only wanted to start with the ps2 titles so i started with Last Raven, big mistake. it was mostly because i didnt want to use the weird controls that the games before nexus had. i could've played nexus but apparently it pretty bad, same thing for ninebreaker, and formula front is japanese only(also very different)
I think the controls difficulty is a bit overblown to be frank! It's *different* but it's not necessarily horrible! The way the games are balanced (except LR) don't really force you to go full blast pilot's license to enjoy it! Give 3 and Silent Line a try, I think you'll definitely appreciate those!
AC4 and 4A are the worst armored core games. This is coming from someone who played and S ranked almost all the games. I was also very good at online muliplayer and have to say that AC4 and 4A are more appealing to people who like FPS games, not Armored Core games. Armored core was about your AC build and strategy of the build and how/when to use your weapons. 4 and 4A didn't need much strategy as long as you had the better twitch reflexes. I was highly competitive with the starter weapons because I tended to be better at reflexes. I loved AC4A, but it wasn't true "Armored Core". It was just a fun mech game. ACV was disliked by so many, but it was definitely true to armored core in that strategy of your builds was important again. So the AC4A fans usually hate ACV because they wanted more twitch-based shooter/speed and less strategy but thats what Armored Core always was. ACV was flawed, but it was going back in the right direction. It also had the best level design of all the AC games. They were detailed, had many obstacles for cover, much better voice acting, much longer missions and the most satisfying garage menu in AC since you could choose your garage background and animate your AC. And much more. I would say that AC3 is the best to start, then go to ACV, then go to AC4 if you want to play Armored Core: Supersayain 😂
Great insight. 4th Gen I feel falls under the super robot genre much more than the sim feel the others were trying to accomplish. My personal favorite of the bunch is Silent Line, I like V but I have a severe lack of understanding of its systems so I can not judge them well. For Answer is an amazing experience and a great game but it is absolutely busted balance wise and definitely a departure in it's own right
If you want to play AC6 straight up then I recommend the following warmup: start with Daemon X Machina to have a basic idea on AC customization . . . then move to Zone of the Enders to practice your hard lock mechanics and dodging . . . then move to the Armored Core 4A. Edit: If you want to the dark souls experience in Armored Core ignore all I said and play Armored Core Last Raven as your first game.
Although I'm not a huge Gundam game fan, you should add Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon and Gundam Extreme vs. Maxiboost On because they introduced a new energy management mechanic. FromCheng's Interview ruclips.net/video/_TjWLSTg8ZQ/видео.html "Whenever you use a quick boost or Assault Boost, it drains your energy, and then it doesn't recover until you basically hit the ground again." That feature is also in Gundam Extreme VS Maxiboost On. ruclips.net/video/kOQbV0FcX0k/видео.html
@@inixi8ocelot Yeah I have played quite a bit of Maxiboost so I can understand the mechanics of not regenerating energy until you touch the ground or maybe free fall. I played federation vs Zeon but it has been son long that I barely remember the battle mechanics.
If you don't like what you see be wary because 6 is very likely going to be a bundling of all these ideas alongside 5's, from what we got so far that's pretty much how it goes!
@@SilverGlint thanks for the insight. Based on what I've seen this far from the trailers, it looks great. Amazing graphics , good gameplay, hopefully a great story. The older titles looked very outdated, and extremely basic. Boring environments as well. I trust and I hope 6 is a bit more immersive in terms of its visuals and level design.
@@purenstinctxi visually I'm sure it's going to be stunning, level design seems amazing too so far, but although you might look at previous games and find them outdated, which is fair enough, don't underestimate just how mechanically complex they are, this is something that I'm still on the fence about 6, so much so we are hoping to not see downgrades!
My favorite thing to say to people who ask "which one to play?" is "whichever one you think looks the coolest"
The answer is frequently FA though lol
Ikr, whichever cover art speaks to you the best, except ninebreaker :)
@@SilverGlint Kinda want to try Ninebreaker for the arena mode alone. Considering I quite liked Formula Front International. Maybe it won't be so bad?
@@SilverGlint Nine Breaker was my first AC lol. Thought it looked cool at GameStop years ago.
@Confettimaker11 at least you got to learn piloting the easy way.
I started with armored core 1, and I’m rather surprised it became one of my favorite games of all time. The atmosphere, the music, the gameplay, and so much more are so deeply engrained into my head and I would totally wipe my memory to play it again
What stood out form me in Last Raven and I don't recall it being in other titles (Not as prominently at least) is that both you and your enemies can damage and destroy different parts of your AC, so imagine you have your head part with built-in radar functionality, but the enemy destroys it; you loose that functionality for the rest of the mission and have to buy that head part again.
This is an awesome function yeah! Maybe we could see something back in the future...
@@SilverGlintI definitely like all these armored core games I haven't played the o.g. one yet but when I get a PC I'll be able to play that also as a bonus in that game I might even go for the two powerful weapons in original Armored core are those two lipids are the moonlight and the karasw and once I get to 100% on the game I might even go for a 9-ball I'll take him down personally since he's an evil AI That's trying to take over the world then after that I'll even go for the all the other games Plus going for the newest armor cord there is today on PlayStation 5 that last one basically AC6 fires of Rubicon
Its something they took from Frame Gride which is honestly an interesting take if not annoying as it basically cheapens out your leg selection to "standard"
I hate that because you have no control over what parts get damaged
@@QuantumTelephone It depends on the hitbox and your playstyle. When I use hoover-legs, because I'm mostly flying, the projectiles concentrate on the leg-parts, so they tend to break more than any other. When I use a more grounded style with treds or legs, its the core that breaks the most. And when I use inverted legs to jump over obstacles and pick enemies that way, it is the head that breaks because it gets more exposed when jumping up and down behind cover.
If asked this same question, I think I would answer "Silent Line, For Answer or Verdict Day. Each represents a generation well." I would say Last Raven, but the difficulty there is off-putting to anyone but a souls fan (who will get that recommendation instead of Silent Line.) Yes, I know Silent Line is pre dual stick controls, but throwing new players into Last Raven would be wrong and Nexus... just doesn't represent that well. Yeah, it's okay, and I'd tell them "If you can't stand Silent Line's controls, Nexus." but ultimately the pinnacle of each generation was Last Raven, For Answer and Verdict Day. Because Gen 1-3.5 were iterations on the same formula.
Edit: Honestly, you make a really solid point for starting with AC 1, brutal learning cliff that it is, ancient design and all.
Yeah I think Last Raven is the best 3rd gen game in almost all metrics, but maybe it loses a bit the creepy and sometimes unsettling atmosphere 3 and SL have!
LR feels like a more humane saga, it's about the human struggle, SL is about uncovering the unknown and the dangers of technology.
Tough choice for me, but I think people would be overwhelmed with LR!
I just recently started with AC1, going through the series in chronological order :)
This is the franchise I never knew I needed. It's so much fun
Glad to have you onboard Raven!
Say hi to Zenaida for us when you reach her! 😊
Found this after blowing through last raven to 100% completion in 4 days, and just wanted to say your script here is really good. I wasn't expecting much of the robo voice but the writing is excellent. Subbed!
Thank you! I'm trying to do something different, and hopefully make good use of these kinds of tools.
It's not easy but with the right amount of editing, cadence and script manipulation I think it can be quite enjoyable :)
Gameplay and music caught my eye and gonna try the newest entry and would love to play the ps2 ones like nexus and silent line
Armored Core, Project Phantasma and Master of Arena music is so good ❤️
Honestly every single one of these games have outstanding soundtracks 😎
The OST's of the 1rst generation of Armored Core are still the best overall in the series. The other generation have some really good ones but their OSTs overall are not that memorable. But that may be just me misguided by nostalgia.
You can tell I'm new to this channel when it's so jarring to hear the TTS used by Zentreya arguing back with your voice explaining everything.
But this is really well put-together, thanks for this!
Thank you, that means a lot to me, glad you like my format!
I won't lie, Last Raven was my first entry into the series as a whole and man was it a gut puncher of shenanigans yet shear awesomeness
Last Raven is amazing, but yeah definitely a gut punch
While I absolutely love For Answer and find it better than 4 in almost every aspect, Joshua’s fight to me is much more memorable than any of FA’s final bosses. The 5v1 at the end of the genocide route is definitely notorious though.
I'm new to the series, started with 3, played it a bit and reaaally liked it. Midway through the campaign I started Last Raven (adhd moment) and have done 3 endings already. REALLY liking this one, and didn't find it as hard as people make it to be.
This video was super useful because of the "play 4 before For Answer" thing, cause I was definetely going to play For Answer and leave 4 alone lol
So I'll at least try 4, so as to get used to the faster controls (should be fine since I only played lightweight meele-only on 3 and LR)
Nice video
Honestly the argument for doing 4 before For Answer is really solid in this video. It's force me to reconsider my views on the matter.
@@Sorain1Playing 4 first before FA really helps you appreciate FA that much more too.
Honestly dude don't feel bad, silent line was my favorite as well. You are right I do believe that if new players want to give the older ones a try, number one definitely has to be on that list. It's where it all started it was ahead of its time.
Fuck yeah, HAvent finished the video, but recommending to start at the very beginning is a MUST, specially for the newcomers. You have to understand where we come from, where it all started, in all of its clunky unforgiving glory; and give thanks that you can upscale the resolutions and the loading times, while present, are much MUCH SHORTER than in the actual hardware.
If you don't play at least 15 minute of the original AC title, you won't be able to appreciate where we are TODAY.
Yeah I think it's important to understand how it started, obviously it's not for everyone though!
RIP AC newcomers when they have to get to grips with gen 1 control schemes
Jokes aside, I really like the fact that the AC franchise is getting so many new fans. Hopefully that’ll cause fromsoft to make more AC games.
(Just imagine fromsoft releasing modernized versions of gen 1-3 or a modernized formula front on console🙏🏾)
A moment of silence for ac grip ahaah
@@SilverGlint AC stands for
Armored
Carpaltunnelsyndrome
AC6 is a modernized version of gen 1-3, well all gen actually
I mean Gen 1 control scheme is still relevant up until AC3-SL
That it took until Nexus to allow dual stick control is not excusable. The PS1 games get the logical pass of 'The controller didn't have sticks.' but AC 2 and beyond does not. That AC 3 didn't have it truly went beyond the pale.
But yeah, the gen 1 control scheme is so much muscle memory I couldn't tell you which button was look up vs look down because I don't think to do that, it just happens.
I started with Nexus 😬Then 4A became my favorite, now I'm not sure whether AC1, 3 or LR is my favorite. I can't wait to see where 6 fits in with the rest
Very interesting path!
Thank you for this video. It really helped me to decide which AC to play first
Amazing, that's the end goal, love to hear that feedback! Which one did you end up choosing?
@@SilverGlintAC3 it is! PS2 era games used to be my favorite.
@@Artorias.2210 let's gooo! My personal favorite run is AC3 -> SL, you're in for a greaaat time! Let me know when you finish it by leaving a comment somewhere, and if it was worth it
I am very much enjoying my time with Armored Core as I play through the games for the first time in prep for Armored Core 6, and was kinda blown away by the first one out of the gate. No tutorial, no hand-holding. Just fight or die. I only found one secret part (the generator on the skyscraper) and went and grabbed the moonlight after first completion. 9-ball is a bastard. I think AC1 and MoA are fantastic. Phantasma is a bit too short but holy hell do the last 10 opponents in the arena kick my ass. Currently on AC3, and boy is it good.
Yeah the first one is way ahead of it's time for sure! I personally find 3 and Silent Lines are my favorite of the bunch so you're in for a treat. Mostly every generation has it's ups and downs, glad you gave it a chance :)
My general recommendations
AC3-SL-LR, AC4-ACfA, ACV-ACVD these games should give you a macro look at AC in general, and then play AC1-MoA, AC2-ACAA, AC:FF-ACNB and Nexus and see what they were doing with a magnifying glass
PS there has been no AC game thats a semi direct reference to MoA in a narrative sense where your missions will depend on how far you progressed in the arena and how your arena content is blocked by the schenanigans happening in the story.
And I firmly believe that Nexus was first and foremost remaking the OG trilogy missions in 3rd gen engine hence why the heat mechanics are so off balance when it comes to playing Nexus like a 3rd gen title as it forces you to pace 3rd gen back into gen 1 which is an idea fulfilled by overheating yourself through boosting
I love your AC:N theory, I can't see any other reason why it was so off other than genuine oversight and time constraints while attempting a pretty ambitious "port".
@@SilverGlint its also a good way to show case how widely different AC base performance was in Gen 1 and Gen 3 since most of the time the real way to move in Gen 1 was walking and not boosting besides bunny hopping
I'd say AC3, 4A, Silent line and Last raven
What a legend ! Awesome video, see you on Rubicon fellow Raven !
Can't wait!
Start with armored core 6. If you love it go back
But that would mean you'd have to wait 2 months 😢
I god damn Love AC4. It may actually be one of my favorite entries entirely because of the narrative of Anatolia's fall, and how it leads into 4A. It also just straight up has the best OST across the franchise.
I miss you, Joshua.
Great to see some love for AC4, yeah especially towards the end I think it really picks up pace!
Fall is my single favorite track ever.
See you on Rubicon, Ravens!
Thank you for the solid overview and your optimistic outlook on the new wave of AC players coming with Rubicon.
Hopefully I can beat Gen 4 by the time I get my hands on Rubicon.
Good luck Raven, you still have a month so you should be able to!
Mannn I missed Apple Boy.
Also Silent Line is everyone favourite game!
It's just that good
fantastic video, i agree with just about everything you said here. i personally always recommend ac3 as the ideal entry point. last raven is easily my favorite but you are correct that it is NOT the place to start, lol.
It makes my day knowing you enjoyed it, still trying to figure out my own style...
Yeah I love LR, and even though I prefer SL, I would definitely recommend it if it weren't for the fact it has a mountain to climb when it comes to onboarding!
Thumbnail has AC1, 3, and 4
Video recommends AC1, 3, and 4
Thx for no clickbait👍
I'd just like to say, Armored Core: The Last Raven was my first AC game as a kid, and I sucked at it. At my very best, I could _barely_ defeat the simulator AC, so I was always softlocked whenever I got to a point in the game where the only available missions had me fighting another AC.
And you know what? I _loved_ it. Not the getting stuck part, but I loved the game, atmosphere, the design of the ACs and the freedom of building your own (seriously I spent HOURS building many different ACs just for fun) the music was pretty good and I have a positive opinion of the franchise even though I never beat it and didn't play another game in the series. (Unless you count some dabbling with AC 4 which I couldn't get the hang of at the time)
That is, until AC 6. When it was announced, I was casually intrigued. When it finally released, and people were speaking positively about it, I thought to myself "Maybe it's time to get back in the saddle." And bought it, and I'm glad I did. It's been a blast through and through, and now that I'm much older I'm able to actually progress and beat the game (though I'm pretty sure 6 is easier than last Raven but I digress)
I'm glad I started with LR because even though I wasn't good at it, it gave me an appreciation for the Mech genre (that and Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf) and I was able to appreciate the name "Raven" being my callsign.
My suggestion for anyone to start playing any of the games is to start at the beginning of any of the generations such as
1, 2, 3, 4, and V before 6 comes out.
Because it's hard to play any of the extension such as another age, silent line, project phantasm, for answer and verdict day . Play the game without the title and just the number since the extensions is best played after you beat the numbered games to have the extensions easy by importing the previous games's saves into the extension.
And yes you can transfer saves to the next game and it will help you play the other games.
Nexus has graphical overhaul so neat that game first, transfer it's data to ninebreak and then last raven.
Formula Front is a stand alone game so you can play that any time you want
This was a good analysis and advisement video for newcomers. A.B.I.I. should be very proud of the product you produced! ^
There is a good reason to convince new players to complete AC3 before entering ACSL: Human+ must inherit from AC3's save
Right I could've mentioned that as one of the reasons!
AC1 will probably be the most accessible Raven Era game in terms of actually buying the blasted thing, if you happen to have a PS3.
You can get it digitally for $10. The prices for the other games are absolutely exploding right now, and functioning PS2s aren't exactly growing out of the ground. If you're lucky enough to have a collection of these games, PLEASE do your best to keep them.
I'm going to keep my physical copies as a collectors item, can only imagine how much it's going to shoot up in value in a few years...
@@SilverGlint Well, Nexus and Last Raven are going for prices so high that I can safely call them terrifying, and the others are slowly heading that way as well. We need a re-release, and I'd say we need one quickly. Hopefully AC6 will push Fromsoft to consider it.
@@NineNovem I'd love the idea of an AC HD collection with some QOL updates, ported to all platforms.
Sadly I don't think we will get that, not even for specific titles
@@SilverGlint Yeah, the odds are almost zero. All the more reason to take care of what we have. And use emulation! LOL
AC1 through AC2:AA all emulate well (I'm literally using parts nearly a decade old) 3 and on have some slowdown though... at least on the main stable release of PCSX2.
I´m commenting very late on this video, but if you decide to try an AC before 6, then my rundown of AC as a whole is:
BEGINNER ENTRIES:
4th Gen, AC4 and F.A - The 1st reinvention of the wheel, the most accesible, fastest and most flashy games of the series, excellent storyline although with some rough edges, and an incredible customization in For Answer.
3rd Gen, AC3 and S.L - Only putting the beginning games of the 3rd gen saga, mostly because they have an incredible atmosphere that was eventually lost in consequent entries, but also they reinvented some concepts story wise from the 1st gen in a genious way, and they´re the last games to have the old tanky controls, but still more polished than gens 1 and 2.
IF the mentioned games somehow didn´t capture you the way you were hoping for, then wait for AC6, since this generation is going to be a much more impactful generational jump than the 4th and 5th gens, since not only it reawakened the AC series from lethargy, but also once again, totally reinvented the wheel in terms of gameplay and visuals while remaining faithful to the original formulas of beloved gens like 3th, 4th, with some elements of 5th, and for the icing on the cake, the storyline will likely have the potential to reach the heights of LR and FA but better since modern FromSoft excells at storytelling and lore.
EXPERIENCED PLAYER ENTRIES:
3rd Gen, Nexus and L.R - The hardest AC games IMO, not only for the colossal expansion in the customization front, but also for the new mechanics like heat management, a harder debt system but not like the insanity of 1st gen, unfair AI at times, and unpredictability of some battle outcomes in general, however all of this pain is worth it (again IMO) since it gives the classic generations of Armored Core a closure, specially Last Raven with the sense of finality of being literally, the LAST of all the Ravens.
5th Gen, AC5 and V.D - One hell of an underrated generational jump, the second reinvention of the wheel, which unfortunatley was not well received mostly back in it´s hayday, however, is has mostly to do with the shifting focus from single player to multiplayer, making the campaign of AC5 quite lackluster as a result (at least in the west) but the true shock comes from the realistic war concepts that were incorporated into the games´s overall feel, gameplay, design of the mechs and generally, the ideas of the japanese of how the west imagines mechs as actual replacements for IRL war machines like tanks, bombardiers, etc. (speculations say Chromehounds influenced the shit out of the 5th gen, but probably it was all of the shooter war themed games at the time), to finish this, 5th gen is worth a try for Verdict Day alone, specially for customization and the very ending of the game.
1st and 2nd gens, AC1, P.P, MoA/AC2, A.A - Where it all started, the now recognized cult classic 1st generation, not only for this specific IP, but also for being the best contributor to the mecha genre in videogames, one of many treasures the PS1 era of gaming, and the genesis of FromSoftware alongside King´s Field. The passing of time didn´t help these poor gems, as they´re the most unpolished iterations of the tanky controls, and the very first control schemes for the Armored Cores, but having said that, if you´re willing to put off a fight against the controls, then you´ll be surprised at how much depth these little mecha games had for the time they were released, in a console full of hardware limitations, and nailing the fantasy of being a mercenary for hire by ruthless corporations for gaining a profit doing the dirty work for them, introducing the magnificent concept of the arena, and having one of Mecha´s most iconic villains, Nineball Seraph/Hustler One.
EXPERIMENTAL ENTRIES:
From different generations, F.F, N.B and the mobile games - Games with interesting proposals for gameplay regarding stuff like the arena combat, weird management of some parts of your AC, and the novelty of them, although, the existance for these titles is sort of a mystery, since they served no purpose for the main sagas, and stood out like a sore thumb, specially Nine Breaker since it didn´t bother incorporating a campaign lol.
Still remember the demo disc with Armored Core and Red Alert.
Yet the first full version of Armored Core i played was AC2 and i loved it, then got AC:Nexus and loved that too.
That was the end if my AC journey since nowhere was any AC title sold in my country.
PS3 online store with it's only PSP version of The Last Raven could eat a dick (No PSP, no fun)
It wasn't until earlier this year i got my hands on a good psx emulator and played all of AC1, Project Phantasm and Master of Arena.
All i can say is this:
If after a week of not playing AC, you jump into a arena fight (no map with celling) and can in 2 seconds remember how to (L)ift and Lowe(R) your targeting cube AND keep it on target while said target is offscreen?
Congrats, you're a Raven now
Agreed, if your desire to kit out your A.C. is superior to upholding your morals, you are a Raven too. 😎
damn, im glad i started with armored core 3 on psp then. what i found funny the most is that if you get op-intensify in 3 and then transfer your save over to SL, your op-intensify is fully upgraded. i mainly play Armored core for the upcomming 6, which is why i kinda abused that.
It's totally valid, not unlike going through a Dark Souls NG+ fully decked out!
You earned that op intensify-
And to some degree I think the game expects you to carry over your progress, since SL is noticeably harder than 3 from the get go!!
It's kinda funny that as a newbie to AC, I also would consider MoA to be my favorite of the PS1 and 3/SL to be my favorite PS2 entry. I still haven't gotten to the PS3 entries but I'm eagerly anticipating them. I also want to thank you for not immediately writing off the PS1/2 games for being "clunky and dated" and recognizing them as still having gameplay merits. I don't think it's fair for people to ignore some legit great games on the virtue that they aren't intuitive or look dated because underneath the roughness, you can see how the franchise evolves, what the devs wanted to experiment with, and how they ultimately shaped the direction of newer entries.
With AC6 coming out soon, I'm reminded of another franchise with the initials "AC": Ace Combat. While I started with 7, I loved it so much that I went back and played every past game starting from 1. From there, I discovered my favorite entry in the series (Zero) and I gained a greater appreciation for the older games and what they did do better than 7 as well as how those older games influenced 7 to make it the game it turned out to be. All in all, it's still worth it to play the old games because they still offer something to the player despite newer entries seeming more appealing due to modern controls/settings and graphics.
Yeah absolutely, some things you can only appreciate if you play older titles, when it comes to MoA though, it has to be the best integration of Arena mode to this day still!
AC3/ACSL have the best atmosphere / gravitas and og mech design, if it weren't for LRs ridiculously more expansive customization and better controls they would take the cake any day, as it stands they are the best at some things but not everything!
4th gen is deeply flawed in some regards like mission structure but the actual moment to moment gameplay is stellar;
And 5th gen is hard to get into but features an approach to tactical gameplay that wasn't really there before;
What's cool about this series is each game brings something unique to the table for the most part, you can't just say the sequels are the same but better, usually they are the same but different, save a few exceptions (ninebreaker lol).
Funny you would mention Master of Arena difficulty lol, that was my first besides the demo disc for the original. The two fights that stood out to me was the human plus guy and the final fight against Epyon/Zeta/Wing Gundam. Had to spam the “Large Missile” on him
Ninebreaker, forgiving and is just the arena but slightly expanded. It still has the complexity of AC3-ish.
Gonna start with AC 1 I think, god help me trying to master the controls and stay sane. Ps, that outro song is a banger, if that's from the AC series then that's a good sign
Godspeed, Indeed it's one of the most unanimously loved songs in the series: Fall - Armored Core 4
been playing through the series chronologically, I'm currently almost done with AC3. I've avoided guides and even videos about the games I havent played yet because I want to enjoy the unspoiled freshness of the games, and so far that's making it really fun :)
also side note, are Formula Front and Nine Breaker worth playing? People seem to exclude/hate on them for some reason? idk if I should include them (especially considering I probably won't be able to beat all the games before AC6 comes out)
Welcome aboard, Raven! I think you should give Formula Front a try but skip Ninebreaker!
@@SilverGlint Thanks for the advice! Hope your channel blows up when AC6 arrives!
As a complete noob, 4 was fantastic. Short missions kind of easy but a real blast and very easy to emulate.
For Answer is almost as difficult as hardmode in 4 it feels like. And it has some graphical glitches when emulated, they can be fixed but at a performance cost.
Highly recommend starting with 4.
I’ve been oggling ACFA since 2017. Ironically my favorite part of darksouls 3’s aesthetic is the lifeless wide deserts and something about filling lifeless deserts with lifeless machines is kind of my favorite. Odd preferences I know but setpieces and characters are the best part of games for me, I am a sucker for story but ACFA setting is carried by the setpieces
"A Next? Next time, get some B*tch*s!" - MT and Normal Gang.
Based MT gang
btw, fun fact, my first ac game was Last Raven. It changes how you experience gen 3 a lot XD
It really does, it's brutal!
I started with master of arena and it was great
Great video for newcommers!!
Coming here after playing AC6, it’s goated. Now.
Do I still need to play 4 before trying 4A? Or is my AC6 experience enough to get me going? (I’m not doing the older games you can take my thumbsticks from my cold dead hands).
I'd still recommend 4 If you care about narrative and want to understand what's going on.
@@SilverGlint I’ll still give it a shot then!
Silent Line is not just your favorite game, to most 3rd gen players , SIlent Line was the best game in that generation. Nexus went and fucked up the balance so hard that Ninebreaker was made to essentially correct all of the fuck ups Nexus did.
And Last Raven broke the balance omce again, but alas, it was with a purpose, to fight as THE Last Raven.
hehe, i literally got into this because of the music (i think from AC4) literally a week ago (i presume because of 6 geting viral) and now i found out that the game absolutly rocks.
It somehow reminds me of metal gear on the design of the mechs and stuff.
Welp, wish me luck while i download AC1
You're about to have a great time!
I clicked because of 2 things, AC In the title & I heard Zen in the beginning
Ahaha, the Collab we didn't know we needed 👀
good video, now im the suscriptor n°1000
Awesome! Thanks for being the 1000th Raven joining us!
Knowing Zentrya is an AC fan made me think she was talking lol. Fuck i cant wait for AC6
Id say the best starter is ether Gen 4 or Gen 3.
Gen 2 is my baby, but Gen 3 improves on many aspects
I should ask Zentreya for a Collab and make her talk to Abi, see if they get along lol
That would be a fun idea!
I started with 4, assuming it was a good entry point pretty much for the reasons outlined here. And yeah, I would certainly suggest coming to grips with what the series expects, as it tells you LITERALLY nothing after the tutorial is over. And I had a great time. But I kept seeing people play AC1, many in a quest to play the whole series before VI. Josh Strife Hayes, Vaati, Writing on Games, and I just felt the itch, I had to try it. And... my god...
Start with 1. Seriously. I know the controls are wonky as fuck, just rebind where you need to and give it a genuine try. Even 26 years later, there is something genuinely magical about this title if you can meet it on its terms.
Yeah, starting with 1 will make you feel a special way towards the series I think.
Going back through the entries will make you appreciate the earlier ones less, going forward will make you appreciate everything more.
I glad i did Play Armored Core 4 and For answer. Those 2 are my First Armored Core Games. I did play them while i have my ps3 long time ago but It Gone or Broken. So Yeah. I also play Armored Core On PS Vita. They were Fun Except the one that Ultimate zinaida Killed me too many times!
Zinaida is a super hard fight!
Hopefully you'll be able to get 6
Where to start?
Yes.
I started with nexus, just because of the controls, enjoyed it and was surprised that some didn't, then arena in nine breaker and finally last raven, where I was met with an interesting problem, camera movement somehow become much more stiff, borderline unplayable, especially when fcs locks onto something it's really hard to get it unstuck and giving the fact that all the ac encounters in this game love to jump and change directions all the time itg became even more of a problem
Im starting with Verdict Day because its the only one i have immediate access to, and i forgot i even had it. Also i have an old save file of AC 5 before i traded the game in years ago. I don't remember what kind of parts and weapons i bought, but I'm pretty sure i had quite a lot.
I'm very new, but I was wondering if ACIII would be on the list.
I loved playing AC1 for a while, but the very low framerate and stuttery strafing made it a bit of a chore, personally. Visually I liked it but it runs at something like 24fps most of the time and that made it that much worse to get used to the controls. Sucks because the story was just getting interesting.
So I figured I'd jump to the PS2 and I realized that AC3 is basically a reboot that lasted all the way until the end of oldgen, and, yeah. It's fun.
As a new player, on hard mode at least, I think there's still some significant pressure on your cash in AC3. I won't end up in debt but it's hard enough to keep my AC up with the missions getting tossed at me. Maybe I just suck.
I actually think Arena Mode fixes an issue with the first game: There was a clear way to play efficiently. Fast AF to avoid damage, energy weapons. Get that cash. With Arena Mode as a secondary way of making (less) money focused around 1v1 duels, it encourages me to actually try different strategies.
When i discovered the franchise a few months ago my brother got AC6 so i could try it... Damm, i enjoyed every second of it, now I'm planning to get 4 and then For answer and after that i'l go for 5 and Veredict Day
Glad it clicked for you, let me know what you think once you finish the other titles
@@SilverGlint it's literally the kind of Game that i've been wanting to play since i have memories, i'l update this comment when I finish each game :0!
@@elrobotman9856 I'll be waiting! I won't forget
Start with AC2. AC2 and Another age were by far my favorites. If you go to the PS1 titles you have to take into account that those games were pre-dual shock controllers and the controls were pretty hard to get into. Also, the controls of the first generation do not transfer to any other generation.
...I just played AC1, I'm playing 3 now, and I'm a bit confused by this. The controls are pretty much the same, you're just also using a few more buttons. Still can't use the sticks.
@colbyboucher6391 you definitely use the sticks(at least the left stick) when playing starting with AC2
@@easy6427 I'm literally playing AC3 right now. The sticks do not work. You still used the bumpers or re-bound them. Maybe there was a way to use the analogue stick but even if you did it'd still be digital turning. Proper analogue stick control was introduced in Nexus.
Very based recommending playing 4 before FA
I got you chief
Last Raven is the only PS2game where you can’t beat using cheat codes, as the game is intentionally made to freeze up when using certain cheat codes, whether it’s from Game Shark or Replay MAX.
Lmao that's amazing. "This is the last one, do it properly, otherwise fuck you"
I want you to become a Chad Corporation CEO
Absolutely appreciate it, you're the Chad
If you were born in the 2010s you’ll probably feel most comfortable with 4th gen
Play them all in release order, skip Ninebreaker, enjoy your new addiction
Jajaja, tenía descargado el 1 de PS1 para comenzar la saga y anunciaron el 6 a la semana
Me pasé el AC 1, PP, MoA y el 2. Quería comenzar el AA con la partida del 2 pero me dice que no hay datos de AC2 😐
Roughly using google translate: Glad that you went through the classics, hope you liked them! You can mostly skip AA it's pretty much non important to the story even though it has a ton of missions.
I know it's popular, but I don't think gen 4 is a good place to start considering just how different it is from the rest of the series.
Yeah that's fair, but at the same time, it's definitely where it seems AC6 is heading towards the most!
@@SilverGlint Not sure, I think AC6 is more like a faster 3. Energy has been confirmed to rapidly deplete and you need conserve like old gens, there is no infinite flight and more interior levels.
@@ixfirebrandxi yeah definitely but keep in mind AC 4 is actually not that lenient in energy for most builds, unless you're skilled and build for constant flight you're gonna be quite grounded!
And there's a bunch of (bad) interior levels too;
Ac4A is where you actually can always pretty much fly!
All i do is to wait for my copy of 4a to arrive
I still have my ps3 so that was a no brainer
Should arrive in a week
I hope you managed to get it for a reasonable price, fun times ahead, enjoy it Raven!
@@SilverGlint 60€ is ok
I've started with 3. Didn't like 2 much except the music. 3 is 2 but everything better.
It's a shame that none of the older entries are on the newer xbox's
i only wanted to start with the ps2 titles so i started with Last Raven, big mistake.
it was mostly because i didnt want to use the weird controls that the games before nexus had.
i could've played nexus but apparently it pretty bad, same thing for ninebreaker, and formula front is japanese only(also very different)
I think the controls difficulty is a bit overblown to be frank!
It's *different* but it's not necessarily horrible!
The way the games are balanced (except LR) don't really force you to go full blast pilot's license to enjoy it!
Give 3 and Silent Line a try, I think you'll definitely appreciate those!
@@SilverGlint i technically did start with silent line, but the controls were so offputting to me and i couldnt play more than 15 minutes
@@draydra ahh that's pretty unfortunate, maybe you'll be able to go back to it sometime in the future!
@@SilverGlint perhaps, i am now playing 4answer and look foward to verdict day, after those i could try again silent line
AC4 and 4A are the worst armored core games. This is coming from someone who played and S ranked almost all the games. I was also very good at online muliplayer and have to say that AC4 and 4A are more appealing to people who like FPS games, not Armored Core games. Armored core was about your AC build and strategy of the build and how/when to use your weapons. 4 and 4A didn't need much strategy as long as you had the better twitch reflexes. I was highly competitive with the starter weapons because I tended to be better at reflexes.
I loved AC4A, but it wasn't true "Armored Core". It was just a fun mech game. ACV was disliked by so many, but it was definitely true to armored core in that strategy of your builds was important again. So the AC4A fans usually hate ACV because they wanted more twitch-based shooter/speed and less strategy but thats what Armored Core always was.
ACV was flawed, but it was going back in the right direction. It also had the best level design of all the AC games. They were detailed, had many obstacles for cover, much better voice acting, much longer missions and the most satisfying garage menu in AC since you could choose your garage background and animate your AC. And much more. I would say that AC3 is the best to start, then go to ACV, then go to AC4 if you want to play Armored Core: Supersayain 😂
Great insight. 4th Gen I feel falls under the super robot genre much more than the sim feel the others were trying to accomplish.
My personal favorite of the bunch is Silent Line, I like V but I have a severe lack of understanding of its systems so I can not judge them well.
For Answer is an amazing experience and a great game but it is absolutely busted balance wise and definitely a departure in it's own right
Wait, AC4 had hard mode? I hope one day AC6 have hard mode too.
Yep!
If you want to play AC6 straight up then I recommend the following warmup: start with Daemon X Machina to have a basic idea on AC customization . . . then move to Zone of the Enders to practice your hard lock mechanics and dodging . . . then move to the Armored Core 4A.
Edit: If you want to the dark souls experience in Armored Core ignore all I said and play Armored Core Last Raven as your first game.
Pretty interesting rotation, I actually never tried Zone of The Enders.
Although I'm not a huge Gundam game fan, you should add Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon and Gundam Extreme vs. Maxiboost On because they introduced a new energy management mechanic.
FromCheng's Interview
ruclips.net/video/_TjWLSTg8ZQ/видео.html
"Whenever you use a quick boost or Assault Boost, it drains your energy, and then it doesn't recover until you basically hit the ground again."
That feature is also in Gundam Extreme VS Maxiboost On.
ruclips.net/video/kOQbV0FcX0k/видео.html
@@inixi8ocelot Yeah I have played quite a bit of Maxiboost so I can understand the mechanics of not regenerating energy until you touch the ground or maybe free fall. I played federation vs Zeon but it has been son long that I barely remember the battle mechanics.
So you're telling people to skip real AC games and play 3 casual arcade shooters instead?
Okay so armored core 6. Thanks . Perfect entry. These old games look so blah.
If you don't like what you see be wary because 6 is very likely going to be a bundling of all these ideas alongside 5's, from what we got so far that's pretty much how it goes!
@@SilverGlint thanks for the insight. Based on what I've seen this far from the trailers, it looks great. Amazing graphics , good gameplay, hopefully a great story. The older titles looked very outdated, and extremely basic. Boring environments as well. I trust and I hope 6 is a bit more immersive in terms of its visuals and level design.
@@purenstinctxi visually I'm sure it's going to be stunning, level design seems amazing too so far, but although you might look at previous games and find them outdated, which is fair enough, don't underestimate just how mechanically complex they are, this is something that I'm still on the fence about 6, so much so we are hoping to not see downgrades!
just start with ac6, it's this simple
Soon enough
lmao i thought the video said how to get into an armored core 🤣
LOL, hey If that were the case it would've been pretty amazing
in future please don't use this tts voice, it's so overused it's very offputting and cheap feeling
Sorry about that, unfortunately my content might not be for you as I intend to keep this as a staple going forward, thanks for the criticism though
@@SilverGlint i feel bad giving criticism without praise so i will say the video was well written and informative, so keep up with that
I really really don’t like text to speech voice over videos.
It's fine, different strokes for different folks!