As a MGTOW Munk. Unless a woman grapes me. I will never have extra mouths to feed. I just want money & power for my own happiness, and to defend my own happiness, from the wicked and the greedy.
@@danthelowblood2653 Leos Klein did, when he asked: Raven...What is it that you wish? That is my wish. I don't want to rule the world, or the universe. I don't want to control or enslave anyone. I just want to be left alone, and not be cheated. But so many individuals, groups, and systems want to steal resources, happiness, and power from me. And it's not a fair trade, it is not consent. They just want to steal from and sacrifice me, for their own egos, entitlement, and greed, or some cult & deity, and I'm sick & tired of it. I'm sick of others treating me like property or prey. And I am also sick of being shamed & punished for defending myself, and what I worked so hard for. Just like Armored Core games. In real life, you need a lot of friends, money, or firepower, to get & protect what you want. Until you have those things, you are better off isolated & undetectable.
Klein was the master of arena character. He decided "9-ball" had the right idea. That's what his whole final speech is about, he intends to bring back the "old way" of manipulation from the shadows by a single person. That's also why he uses AI controlled ACs
So! Headcanon time: Because Klein is the First Nine-Breaker that defeated the original Nine-Ball (you in Master of Arena) and if you remember the end of that game states the the corporations' fight for power only gets worse, but it leads to colonizing Mars. If you notice, Klein's actions seem to be heading towards him becoming a computer capable of controlling everything, because Humans can't govern themselves, much like what Nine-Ball was doing in AC1/MoA. At the end of the first Armored Core, Nine-Ball's AI, R, asks you The Raven "In time you will find out which one of us was right, it is your duty to see it through". So my theory is that Leos saw that mankind didn't change even after being freed from the computer ruling them, and decided that things were better while R was in control, leading him to try to take R's place as the new "Keeper" of humanity
It's only barely headcanon ; the mail and context of Master of Arena -> Armored Core 2 more or less spells this out without directly saying it. The only thing that gets a little wonky is that it would make Leos Klein old as hell.
@@NeroLordofChaos given the Klein AC has Human+, I think that's the case. Side note: the fake Klein AC being done up in Nine-Ball's colors is the coolest detail no one mentions.
This is my hands down favorite game series of all time. I cant wait for the next entry. From soft has already teased that this might be their next project. After all the success they have built they can finally do AC again.
@@TheLastGarou ac4 and for answer were hands down the best games in the series. Acs have never been as fast as they were in 4 and 4a. Ac5 and vday made the acs feel like slowly walking tanks instead of high. performance machines. Ac3 and silent line were also very solid and i miss some of the thinga from those games but nothing for me best the incredible fast pace of ac4 and 4a. The online was intense. Something the previous entries that came out before consoles really did anything online didnt have.
@@SinnerChrono Being "faster" wasn't really an improvement, as far as I was concerned. All the previous games had you feeling like your AC was as billed: a huge metal war machine. AC4 felt like it was trying to emulate Gundam's "ninjas in shiny suits, filled with nitroglycerin" aesthetic. I don't know, maybe it's just my tendency towards being a Tank-main, maybe it's how the customization was so much more complicated and less accessible. Hell, maybe it was the total rework of the control systems. But whatever it was, I just couldn't get into it. ... Still have my copy of the game though, and it used to be my favorite franchise, so maybe I'll give it another shot.
While true they have teased it, they have teased it for nearly a decade now. Many of the most important members of the AC art design team have left FROM to go and make Daemon X Machina. There is also the problem of the huge divide of the playerbase between those that prefer the gameplay style of AC4AA vs AC5. So I have unsure hopes of ever seeing my favorite game franchise ever return in a way I would love to play.
God damn this brings me back to 2000-2002 when my whole neighborhood group of friends was into this game. We all had our own AC's we'd fight in the multiplayer arena and the shit talking was absolutely iconic
Same thing here, including myself there were 8 of us from school who would hang out and play this game. I was the only one of us that found out about human plus, because I went negative money once and was curious to see how far I could go. My favorite config was a missile machine that just used the highest lock on missile swarms. It shot so many missiles even the best anti-missile system got quickly overwhelmed. The first time I used it on one of my friends, the alpha strike killed them immediately, it was like a 13s fight lmao. Man those were fun times.
Wow…! Yet another ”epic tale of AC community at the height of the series”… ”…a fine addition for my collection of things I wish of having witnessed in my days of blind ignorance…”
But did you play it over Firewire? Shame Sony ditched the connection after the V4r version of the original fat model. AC2 and Another Age came out well before the network adapter with ethernet. The Vs over Firewire in AC2: Another Age is my favorite AC Vs mode ever. AC3 and onward lost the Human+ and Overweight without penalty (unlockable). AC2: AA just felt like it had it all.
This game made my childhood. Outlaw Star and Gundam Wing first popped up on Toonami and I begged and pleaded for a PS2 for Christmas just for Armored Core 2 after reading about it in a video game magazine. I got so into this series. I am so happy it is coming back.
Armored Core 2 is my first Armored Core game and I have been a fan since, it was even during the time the Anime called "Zoids" was airing on Toonami. I really like how you point out the details of the intro cinematic cutscene showing the new features this game has compared to the last games.
I took the Klein fight in the reactors as being a trap. They were obviously going to be hit and the goal was to kill you in the station's explosion. Also I'm not sure if the bioweapons were alien tech or old human tech, there's a history of biological enemies in a couple missions throughout the games. Also Demon X Machina was made by people who wanted to do another Armored Core. I got it for free thanks to Epic but have yet to try it out (only really have keyboard and mouse) I don't know if you plan to do so but Chromehounds is also in the AC lineage as far as developers go. Unfortunately the multiplayer is probably dead (I never got to play it but the enticement of what it offered keeps the name alive in my brain).
The Bio-Tech in AC2 is Martian. The second or third "Mail" from Neil confirms the origin. As for Demon X Machina; it was made by a majority of the original team behind Armored Core; hence why it has a similar feel.
I never knew about Human+ but I went quad-leg as the speed reduction is negated by strafing with them causing them to slide across the ground like hover legs without drifting. Oh and moderate use of the Limiter Release secret function.
Thats another thing i wanted to point out about AC2, they discovered.....ACIENT ALIEN TECHNOLOGY.....kinda hard to pass that over. but they did, and it was never discussed or brought up again in another armored core. Seriously, they discovred proof aliens exist in their universe and they were just like..."so anyway 😒."
Well, it is also funny to note that after AC2:AA, Mars is never again brought up; leading to a possibility of, if everything is same universe through and through: Mars declaring independence from, and cutting off the Earth Government following the end of AC2; and then the Controller wiping Mars Knowledge off the planet as it wasn't "Necessary Knowledge" to keep humanity in check on earth. Always some things to consider.
Glad someone's talking about Armored Core. I feel like there's a hole in my life where a new Armored Core game should be. Never even a remaster or anything. :(
@@hikigayamurakamo9340 I'm not a big fan of nexus and this will be my 3rd time in my lifetime beating it. What did you like about nexus? I loved disk 2 but I feel like every change they made other than new controlls was for the worst
As to the "Conquer the Arena before doing any missions" idea, I've done it several times and it's not that bad once you figure out the pilots various tactics.
So this is another great video. I overall agree with your points, but I do have a couple of things to note. As has been mentioned before in other comments, it's heavily implied that Klein is the player character from Master of Arena. Why Klein did what he did is never truly explained, but my theory is that Klein ultimately agreed with Nineball in the end, after seeing the chaos of mankind without an overseaing power run amok again. Even in Another Age, we never really see how things have truly changed on Earth, but if the infighting on mars is any indication, then there's likely just as much conflict there as on mars. And he would want to put a stop to it before mankind caused another Great Destruction. The other thing is, I'm kinda sad you didn't cover Another Age. I know it doesn't have an arena, and it's story is a lot less compelling, but even a breif overview of some of it's more enteresting missions would have been nice. But that's just me, I totally understand not wanting to cover it for the reasons you gave. Overall, a great video.
Really high quality content right here! Its a crime that you don't have more subs lol. With the news of a new armored core on the horizon, I started to look into the series and I am hooked. Its unfortunate that I don't have any of the older systems tho. Anyways, keep up the good work!
you are doing great my guy. i personally love vids that are over 20min long, but your voice is pleasant, and although simple i like the text quips you add. i would say this is main monitor content. keep it up
On topic of Leos Klein's "Way of old" & his agenda : In my theory, its heavily hinted on mail that Leos Klein is protagonist of Armored Core Master of Arena. What he meant "way of old" is humanity have solid order by 1 authority system. But if Leos Klein is protag of MoA then he implied that he wants humanity to be ruled by singular entity maybe by himself by fusing himself into super computer or maybe creating new AI super computer just like old Ravens' Nest. Also keeps the intro cuz Armored Core always have banger intro.
I was under the impression Klein was also being controlled in some form or fashion by disorder unit machine he's using at the final level. His whole tone becomes really strange immediately after second phase with him straight up telling you how to stop Phobos's orbit from decaying. The dude knew something was up and told you with his last dying breath. Made me think the Martian defensive systems might've had some greater level of intelligence than what would be expected from a first glance
My theory of Klein is that he was dealing with a similar situation when a raven goes through HUMAN PLUS. Klein neurolinking to this ancient Death Star was making him insane which is why he killed his comrade. Basically man going psycho and causing mayhem with a long forgotten ideology.( the old ways )
Great presentation for someone looking to catch up on a missed world of adventure. I hope your channel grows, given your love and familiarity with the series. Your videos give me a good sense of how the old games played so I can understand what veterans mean when they critic no. 6. Btw, I think the Klein reactor fight is supposed to hint that a copy of 9 Ball was on Mars and Klein used it as a decoy to try and kill you. They don't try to connect all the games, but they do seemingly hint at an overarching connection like they do in Dark Souls with repeated items and the occasional reference character to the other games similar to Kabuki theater tropes of using architype characters. (Learned about 9 Ball from Armoredcorelore's channel and he's my current fav.
Armored Core 2 was my introduction to the series and it was way too hard for little kid me. Never beat it. But it always stuck in my mind because of the sounds like you said. So I've always loved the series despite only playing AC2 and Formula Front (PSP). Really hope the rumors of a new one is true.
man I love the AC franchise, these vids are bringing back memories- I would name my pilot Raven, and it would always feel like they are addressing you directly. Also would design my AC based on the one on the cover (and in AC2, could see it again during cutscenes)
It's been so long since I've even thought about Armored Core. 6 got me reminiscing. In AC2 I remember dual sniper rifles were a good way to kill enemies. And the local multi-player was great. except when you had 100 missles on the screen. Pushed that game to its limits.
That final arena fight is so good. It's a duel against a highly optimized offensive AC with good movement, it's a rival fight. My duels with him started out with mutual missile barages in the old murakumo dome followed by a dance of trying to be the first to land a karasawa hit and stunlock the other. (Matthais is the worst fight of all time though)
These vids are getting me pumped for a new armoured core (assuming we're getting one) 2,3 and nexus are my favourites. Ps3 ac felt a bit meh. I hope they get the new controls right. No fucking around with changing equipped weapons to use aux/internals/etc
The most rememberable part of armored core 2 another age was the bosses that were unlocked at the end of the game, These were re-imaged bosses from other games, Stinger, Phantasma, and a new one Nineball Seraph.
This was the first armored core game I ever bought and one of the first ps2 games I got as well. The game had me in love from the intro alone even though it took me a considerable amount of time to get used to the controls. I also really dug the space age theme and always wished the armored core series would return to it again.
So I just found you yesterday and I'm going through all or the AC stuff right now. It's really good. You have a good voice for longer-form videos and breaking up the mono-tone informational segments with the jokes and memes landed actual belly laughes from me. I personally like longer form videos so I don't mind the longer intro portion, but someone who doesn't know anything about AC might care a little less. I don't know how much more effort it would take on your end, but maybe consider explaining the intro and what's going on before showing off the intro and give people a time stamp to skip to if they don't feel like watching it. It just gives people the option. Great stuff man, you've got a new sub for sure.
Klein is the main character in AC1. He is in the reactor room to try and trick you into fighting in a dangerous area where if you mess up youll take both him and yourself out, but of course he isnt actually there. His motivation is to reinstate an AI as a guardian of humanity. He cant do it on Earth because its already too well progressed from Nineball and run by the LCC who would be looking out for that sort of thing, but Mars offers him a new opportunity since there is still conflict for him to take advantage of. The Klein you fight at the end isnt really Klein, but an AI copy of him he intended to be the new ruler of Mars and humanity, which is why it ends up acting similar to Nineball and in the end decides that since you won it will let you decide to save Mars and tells you how to. He betrays Remille because Remille and the other Frighteners thought they were fighting to liberate Mars to be run by Ravens for Ravens, so in the end when his plan was at the cusp they too were his enemies, because he didnt think any humans could self govern. This regret of liberating Earth from Nineball is what he references when he says in his final encounter "We all make mistakes. We humans need strict supervision. I want to revive the old ways".
I think keeping the opening intact is the way to go. In part because it gives viewers a solid bar of how far those have come with each numbered iteration. I really appreciate these videos.
thanks for making these videos so that new and old players can track the franchise's evolution up to fires of the rubicon to understand and appreciate how good ac6 really is
Good video. Your voice lends itself to deadpan humour that's nice, and its pretty relaxing. Please keep the intro cutscenes. They help lend flavour and prime things. If you're worried about the wait, tell people where to skip to get past them so they can, and let others watch.
Okay, not too far into the video yet but I do have to say: Even if the PS2 can read PS1 memory cards, I don't believe any PS2 games read PS1 memory cards, nor could saves be transferred over. So, no matter what, you're starting from scratch. There might also be some engine incompatibilities, considering that the AC games the ones without save transfers are the games with some sort of notable gameplay changes. AC1 arms can't carry shoulder extensions and AC1 cores can't OB or hold weapons themselves, etc.
Was thinking about armored core randomly and stumbled across your video. Who would have thought someone still plays this in 2022 great game and great vid bud🤙
Okay, I have a stupid strategy to cheese the arena. If you save up about 3-5 missions worth of cash, then sell all of your parts, you will have enough money to purchase the cheapest head, core, reverse joint legs, *plus* the rocket launcher arms. I first used this build to break through Werehound, but with the later addition of the back unit vertical missile launcher, you can practically kill the entire arena without ever having to see them by hiding behind walls and shit. This build easily carried me through the entire arena before I had even got more than 5 missions into the campaign. I guess all it takes to become Nine Breaker is a dollar store chicken walker and some missiles.
I like the intro cutscenes, it's fun because i never played these, so i love seeing them and hearing you talk about them. I guess if you've already played it you can just skip past it!
answering your question at the end no. the intro was not to long. I literally have no complaints about your video. Sound was good, pacing was good, editing was good. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 I mean AC without that sound isn't AC to me, it's the best reason to use it. Also I wasn't saying that was your intent, it's just the straight up fact cause you cleared the last boss fights in like 10 seconds cause that thing was busted. Though you're using human plus so I think it had a fire-rate improvement and energy usage reduction + generator cap boost which makes it even more busted.
re 34:00 and Leos Klein's motivation: The wiki states the official site referred to Klein as the protagonist of Master of Arena. I have no idea idea if that's true and have no way to verify myself but *if* it is, it would go some ways to explaining AC2's plot. In MoA, Klein topples the AI that controls the world and leave human beings to rule for themselves. Presumably, the idea is that Klein came to regret it for whatever reason and wanted to revert humanity to be ruled by a superior entity, in this case the ancient civilization's technology on phobos. It would also explain the "You remind me of another pilot" speech. He's speaking in the third person - the "other pilot" is himself. He was the rebel who threw a wrench in the system and he now sees himself in the player.
Thanks for making this video and series man. These games deserve more coverage and the more they get, the more likely it will be that FromSoftware will make another.
Grabbed a copy of this a couple of days ago as part of a nostalgia gaming kick. My goodness, the controls. I don’t understand why look up and down can’t be mapped to the right analogue stick.
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 I’m finding that a lot of older games that I thought were really difficult when I was younger actually just have awful controls and/ or camera. Tomb raider 3 is another classic example.
I liked Another Age for the new weapons, parts, & options! Definitely a call back to Master of Arena! Lightweight weapons definitely gives you an edge when you need a more maneuverable Raven built for speed & firepower!!
There was an older theory from the forums in ages past that the 'alien' tech is just the NEXT frames and that AC 1-2 happen after 4, 4A, 5, 5VD. It's a kind of a tenuous connection, but it's neat to think about.
the last AC pilot at the end of the video really threw me off, his has an extra "t" but you pronounced it exactly how mine is said. Awesome video all together though 👍
The soundtrack was way ahead of it's time and visually it looks different from any armored core game. The story and location is just so diverse it changes the whole feel of the game from any other ac game
I always enjoyed the entry for the number 11 guy in the arena who only isnt in number 1 slot because he loves the number one and being rank eleven has twice as many ones in it
Watching you drop Armored Cores and bosses alike with half a dozen Karasawa attacks reminds me how it wasn't until the sequel AC2: Another Age where enemy Armored Cores had the same stats as a player mech with the same equipment.
Ya your right. It's so easy in missions to kill an ac. Funny enough they changes AC's in later games. Some of them straight up cheat with their weapons not weighing anything, getting alot more mobility
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 I'm struggling in Last Raven Portable because it seems like every serious enemy AC has a rapid fire linear gun tucked away somewhere to fire in mid-air at you the moment you're vulnerable to stun lock.
@@jonbezeau3124 ya I just finished every mission in LR and the amount of h+ users is ridiculous. Micro missiles work good but other than that I cant give any advice that would make the game easier.
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 right now I'm pushing through hard fights mostly on heavy armor, EO cores, and the dual-back part orbit launcher. I haven't tried going through all the missile options to see which ones connect with enemy ACs the best yet.
This was my entry into Armored Core. I can remember back in 2001, my uncle comes one day to my house (he use to work at Blockbuster), he tells me and my brothers that he got a game for us for a week, and shows us the cover of Armored Core 2. Being a 90s kid, and growing up with Gundam Wing, seeing the AC with the laser gun and cannon definitely peaked my interest and I became hook the moment I played it in my PS2 (which was brand new at the time and didn't have that many games on it).
Human Plus does make the game simpler and makes mobile machines thrive, however it gives little to nothing for defensive designs such as tanks. There are designs that straight up benefit more from the regular optional parts then OP-I.
My 1st game on PS2 and I'm glad it was...Will always love AC games (only the PS2 era) this game was amazing played it sooo much...great review lmao at the voice actors they're great and memorable.
If I remember correctly the cheese in Arena was to have your Overboost and turning + lock-on ability all at a certain threshold where you can circle strafe around enemies and fire the Karasawa on them, even while Overboosting. Then you pick the big open level without terrain to fight on. Enemies cannot turn quick enough to target you, but it also busts their AI so they will continually try to catch up with you (which is why it works). I couldn't beat Arena otherwise cos the player controls were too clunky and the enemy AI uses all of its systems mercilessly (if you don't break it, that is).
This game is a classic for me, as the game introducing me into AC series. Back then, I got this game from a friend to try out, and I mainly played this with my brother as a versus game. Back then I was also foolish enough to try playing this game without memory card attattched to PS2… foolishness of youth… Yet my greatest regret about this game was when I didn’t buy it from my friend when he sold his ps and the games…
Oh man with new AC6 on the Horizon this vid brings back uber nostalgia. Fromsoft never fails to deliver that feeling of git gud or die. I knew AC before ever touching a Souls game and realize how they both have that killer learning curve.
I enjoyed this video as much as I did your first. I think if there's any constructive criticism I can give you, it is to keep pointing out the whacky decisions they made with the storyline, the ridiculous voice acting and weird character dialogue, and above all the AC pilots themselves. Also to answer your question about keeping the intro cinematic in your videos, I believe you should keep it as long as you comment on the intro. Keep up the great work! I subscribed and I'll keep looking for your Armored Core videos.
0:53 by analysing the letters in this sequence of gibberish they thought nobody would notice you can roughly determine where the author's hands were on the keyboard and how they wandered across the keyboard when they were mashing the keys
Disappointed that you didn't go in-depth on Another Age. It's my favorite game in the whole series with it's excellent Firewire Vs and Human+ & Overweight. I'd love to see you do detailed videos on the parts unique to each game. Discussing nerfs to parts in later entries would also be worth discussing. How about some videos comparing the Vs modes' differences between games? Master of Arena had very different Link Vs maps than AC1 and Project Phantasma, for example. Just some ideas for more excellent Armored Core videos. Thanks for making these. I've been a fan of the series since '97 😎
Hey man love these vids. If I could give any feed back. I’d say do cover the intro cutscenes I think there sick as hell. I’d love to see you give a more expanded look at some of the opponents ac’s and there profiles, and I’d like to hear you talk about the load outs on your ac that you use for the missions maybe with a brake down of what parts and weapons you use. Keep up the great work I’m having a blast getting a distraction from my thesis with these vids
This was my first and only AC game. I was probably way too young for its skill level, and recall rage quiting after few missions and arena. But I absolutely loved the game, and had fun just messing around with parts. Idk how how AC fell through the cracks for me after 2. Maybe because there didn't seem to be a lot of advertisements, and none of my friends played them. I really can't wait for VI.
I stumbled onto this series trying to find some footage of the full final boss fight from this game. I wanted to show it to a friend of mine who's a huge souls fan, that has never played the AC series. It's really interesting seeing someone go back and experience some of my favorite games from my childhood. I was just a wee lad when AC 1 launched, but loved that game. I played every AC game in order up until 2 another age, then skipped everything up until 4 and have played all the ones after that This one is by far my favorite one in the series. My friends and I spent so much time customizing our ACs, and fighting each other over and over again. The internet wasn't very prevalent back then, and I was the only person who found out about human plus back then. Because I was the only person curious what happened if I kept failing over and over again. So imagine my friends confusion when I was the only one of us flying around using a shoulder grenade launcher on a light legged mech lmao. And ofc I was a dick, and told them it's a secret you have to find on one of the missions like you find the Karasawa and LS Moonlight.
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 It's really interesting seeing someone experience something I used to love (and still do), w/o the same nostalgia goggles I have. I'm excitedly awaiting when you get to 4, because that one is my second favorite in the whole series. And yeah, me messing with my friends is hilarious. I still get a bit of a laugh thinking about some of my friends sniffing every square inch of ever map trying to find something that isn't there. And what kinds of neat things they may have accidentally discovered instead.
a trick for dodging a LOT of enemy fire, is to circle strafe, boosting along the ground then let go and tap again to initiate a jump this will hold most of your momentum while you energy recharges, then you want to initiate a boost just before you hit the ground to soften your landing and begin boosting across the ground, the significant shifts in velocity and the jerky up and down movement will fuck the enemies aim really hard half the time theyll shoot the ground trying to track your trajectory.
Amazing video. Armored Core 2 is one of my favorite series. The bomb dispensers are good for destroying top and bottom floors in missions. With using them on a AC, it works good when you use it sideways towards it, or if you get close to the AC and use it while moving backwards(of course they would have to be very close). It works good when they sneak behind you, too. They’re pretty tricky to use like the parry blades in AC3. The mine dispensers can work good when you gather like 2-6 mines around the enemy. Decoys are also useful for helping you dodge big swarms of missiles.
I remember cheesing every single fight in the arena when i was a kid, simply by using the vertical attack missiles. Stay on top of the building you spawn on top of, let them come to you, and just keep your lock screen pointed at them launching death from above. Hard counters every single arena mech XD
I do think summing up the intro of this AC game with your own script would be better than just playing the intro scene back to us. Trust your instincts there. Playing us some of the in game dialog is nice but the pacing of your vid is effected by a long AC cut scene. Partly because the AC cutscene itself is a bit awkward. Good work so far though, and I'm glad someone is covering AC. No mech game has delivered exactly what I would personally like in a mech game but AC probably comes closest. Keep up the good work man!
I was unfamiliar with this series, but this entry was one of my first PS2 games. It was too hard at first but got further a few years later. I really hope I I still have it lying around somewhere cause I want to play it again and maybe track down Another Age.
Regarding LCC paying you to guard their envoy right before the Frighteners rebel despite LCC sending hitsquads after you, the two ACs in the Murakumo dome were actually sent by Zio Matrix Mars Division if I remember correctly. Before the frighteners rebel, you get missions from both the corporations and LCC during their ongoing war, with Klein himself independent of LCC taking an interest in you. Also Klein is heavily implied to be our player character from Master of Arena, now grown old and jaded by the endless corporate wars. He's evidently come to the conclusion that Nineball was right after all, and decides to upload himself to the Phobos superweapon and either force mankind back underground with another Great Destruction, or force them to submit to him as he becomes the new AI that supervises humanity. As he mentions, the state for Ravens was just a ploy to get the Frighteners and other naive AC pilots under his banner, as a smokescreen so he could set his real plan into motion.
i enjoyed the into even tho ive play 2 and 3 and such. it gave perspective of how the devs grew and what they brought to the game instead off, oh mech do cool thing intro
Probably a little late to mention this, but all of the old AC games let you fully remap the controller, so you can set up a more modern control scheme by mapping forward, backward, and strafe to the left stick/pad, camera movement to the face buttons, and other actions to the shoulder buttons. So you don't have to live with the old style controls.
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 While this is true in game, you can setup the directional inputs on the sticks to also corespond to the button imputs of the controller through the emulater. It's just an option. Although, I do distinctly remember AC2 having the left stick function just like the D-Pad, so you could use it for forward/backward movements and turning, but still had to use the shoulder buttons for strafing and looking up and down.
I hope you cover Armored Core 2: Another Age at some point. It was my second Armored Core but the first I actually owned since the first was a demo of the original AC...Also the boxart AC Wonder Raid is probably my favorite of all them outside of maybe White Glint...and I think the only lightweight AC among them. Hang Man (the Heavy weight with the spread bazooka) is also pretty nice...though extremely easy to cheese in the actual game. He only has 28 shots before he's completely defenseless. Granted that's 24 shots of spread bazooka and 4 pursuit missiles, which can absolutely wreck any AC that tries to face tank that many, but still.
I always wish there was more missions with Strung to build a relationship of mentor/mentee before the betrayal. If they ever remake it be cool of you get a few training missions piloting a couple of MTs or something.
![Armored Core 2 • Retrospective • [The History of From Software]](/img/1.gif)
"They're playing me and I have 10 mouths to feed."
This is the essence of Armored Core right here.
He should have kept changing the number of mouths up and down every time he said it. Reminds me that one guy from the 90s Total Recall movie. 😁
As a MGTOW Munk. Unless a woman grapes me. I will never have extra mouths to feed. I just want money & power for my own happiness, and to defend my own happiness, from the wicked and the greedy.
@@observingrogue7652 who asked?
@@danthelowblood2653
Leos Klein did, when he asked: Raven...What is it that you wish?
That is my wish.
I don't want to rule the world, or the universe. I don't want to control or enslave anyone. I just want to be left alone, and not be cheated. But so many individuals, groups, and systems want to steal resources, happiness, and power from me.
And it's not a fair trade, it is not consent. They just want to steal from and sacrifice me, for their own egos, entitlement, and greed, or some cult & deity, and I'm sick & tired of it.
I'm sick of others treating me like property or prey.
And I am also sick of being shamed & punished for defending myself, and what I worked so hard for.
Just like Armored Core games. In real life, you need a lot of friends, money, or firepower, to get & protect what you want. Until you have those things, you are better off isolated & undetectable.
Klein was the master of arena character. He decided "9-ball" had the right idea. That's what his whole final speech is about, he intends to bring back the "old way" of manipulation from the shadows by a single person. That's also why he uses AI controlled ACs
So! Headcanon time: Because Klein is the First Nine-Breaker that defeated the original Nine-Ball (you in Master of Arena) and if you remember the end of that game states the the corporations' fight for power only gets worse, but it leads to colonizing Mars.
If you notice, Klein's actions seem to be heading towards him becoming a computer capable of controlling everything, because Humans can't govern themselves, much like what Nine-Ball was doing in AC1/MoA.
At the end of the first Armored Core, Nine-Ball's AI, R, asks you The Raven "In time you will find out which one of us was right, it is your duty to see it through".
So my theory is that Leos saw that mankind didn't change even after being freed from the computer ruling them, and decided that things were better while R was in control, leading him to try to take R's place as the new "Keeper" of humanity
I love this.
It's only barely headcanon ; the mail and context of Master of Arena -> Armored Core 2 more or less spells this out without directly saying it. The only thing that gets a little wonky is that it would make Leos Klein old as hell.
@@CenetaurmanE52 he's 90 years old in AC2. Probably undergone most or all the human plus experiments.
@@CenetaurmanE52 I mean shit just hear him cry "Ra . . . ven" as he's dying he sounds old as shit
@@NeroLordofChaos given the Klein AC has Human+, I think that's the case.
Side note: the fake Klein AC being done up in Nine-Ball's colors is the coolest detail no one mentions.
This is my hands down favorite game series of all time. I cant wait for the next entry. From soft has already teased that this might be their next project. After all the success they have built they can finally do AC again.
Same here. Cautiously hyped. Hope it retains some of its original identity and doesn't turn out to be some kinda robo-souls.
I just hope they can reclaim the franchise identity from SEGA. I haven't played AC5, but AC4 just felt kinda soulless. 😢
@@TheLastGarou ac4 and for answer were hands down the best games in the series. Acs have never been as fast as they were in 4 and 4a. Ac5 and vday made the acs feel like slowly walking tanks instead of high. performance machines. Ac3 and silent line were also very solid and i miss some of the thinga from those games but nothing for me best the incredible fast pace of ac4 and 4a. The online was intense. Something the previous entries that came out before consoles really did anything online didnt have.
@@SinnerChrono Being "faster" wasn't really an improvement, as far as I was concerned. All the previous games had you feeling like your AC was as billed: a huge metal war machine.
AC4 felt like it was trying to emulate Gundam's "ninjas in shiny suits, filled with nitroglycerin" aesthetic.
I don't know, maybe it's just my tendency towards being a Tank-main, maybe it's how the customization was so much more complicated and less accessible. Hell, maybe it was the total rework of the control systems. But whatever it was, I just couldn't get into it.
... Still have my copy of the game though, and it used to be my favorite franchise, so maybe I'll give it another shot.
While true they have teased it, they have teased it for nearly a decade now. Many of the most important members of the AC art design team have left FROM to go and make Daemon X Machina. There is also the problem of the huge divide of the playerbase between those that prefer the gameplay style of AC4AA vs AC5.
So I have unsure hopes of ever seeing my favorite game franchise ever return in a way I would love to play.
God damn this brings me back to 2000-2002 when my whole neighborhood group of friends was into this game. We all had our own AC's we'd fight in the multiplayer arena and the shit talking was absolutely iconic
That sounds awesome
Same thing here, including myself there were 8 of us from school who would hang out and play this game. I was the only one of us that found out about human plus, because I went negative money once and was curious to see how far I could go. My favorite config was a missile machine that just used the highest lock on missile swarms. It shot so many missiles even the best anti-missile system got quickly overwhelmed. The first time I used it on one of my friends, the alpha strike killed them immediately, it was like a 13s fight lmao. Man those were fun times.
Wow…!
Yet another ”epic tale of AC community at the height of the series”…
”…a fine addition for my collection of things I wish of having witnessed in my days of blind ignorance…”
But did you play it over Firewire? Shame Sony ditched the connection after the V4r version of the original fat model. AC2 and Another Age came out well before the network adapter with ethernet. The Vs over Firewire in AC2: Another Age is my favorite AC Vs mode ever. AC3 and onward lost the Human+ and Overweight without penalty (unlockable). AC2: AA just felt like it had it all.
This game made my childhood. Outlaw Star and Gundam Wing first popped up on Toonami and I begged and pleaded for a PS2 for Christmas just for Armored Core 2 after reading about it in a video game magazine. I got so into this series. I am so happy it is coming back.
Armored Core 2 is my first Armored Core game and I have been a fan since, it was even during the time the Anime called "Zoids" was airing on Toonami.
I really like how you point out the details of the intro cinematic cutscene showing the new features this game has compared to the last games.
Hey I know you! That ares starter ac fight was impressive. Most of your ac vids are impressive to be honest.
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 Good thing the Armored Core community seems to know almost everyone.
Check out MASS BUILDER and Phantom Galaxies
This game was my first played AC game as well!
Alas, my greatest regret is when I didn’t buy this game from my friend when he sold his PS and games.
Fancy meeting you here 🐄
I took the Klein fight in the reactors as being a trap. They were obviously going to be hit and the goal was to kill you in the station's explosion. Also I'm not sure if the bioweapons were alien tech or old human tech, there's a history of biological enemies in a couple missions throughout the games.
Also Demon X Machina was made by people who wanted to do another Armored Core. I got it for free thanks to Epic but have yet to try it out (only really have keyboard and mouse)
I don't know if you plan to do so but Chromehounds is also in the AC lineage as far as developers go. Unfortunately the multiplayer is probably dead (I never got to play it but the enticement of what it offered keeps the name alive in my brain).
Looking back on it it did give a reason. My bad I just drew a blank for some reason
Mouse and Keyboard is probably the best bet tbh, allows for much faster aiming in DxM than a controller.
Trust me, I own both versions
The Bio-Tech in AC2 is Martian. The second or third "Mail" from Neil confirms the origin. As for Demon X Machina; it was made by a majority of the original team behind Armored Core; hence why it has a similar feel.
Chromehounds multiplayer was godlike
What was it like?@@koontz1154
PS2 was the AC golden age. I sincerely hope they get back to this level of game design with a reasonably coherent story in this next installment.
I never knew about Human+ but I went quad-leg as the speed reduction is negated by strafing with them causing them to slide across the ground like hover legs without drifting. Oh and moderate use of the Limiter Release secret function.
Yeah, if you wanted to be able to use back mounted cannons without kneeling in place, you needed to use tank or quad legs.
This review is full of passion. You must truly love this game, Raven.
Thats another thing i wanted to point out about AC2, they discovered.....ACIENT ALIEN TECHNOLOGY.....kinda hard to pass that over.
but they did, and it was never discussed or brought up again in another armored core. Seriously, they discovred proof aliens exist in their universe and they were just like..."so anyway 😒."
@@baronvonslambert I know this Mr. Baron, but thank you again for pointing it out. My comment about the subject was more for satire and comedy. :)
Well, it is also funny to note that after AC2:AA, Mars is never again brought up; leading to a possibility of, if everything is same universe through and through: Mars declaring independence from, and cutting off the Earth Government following the end of AC2; and then the Controller wiping Mars Knowledge off the planet as it wasn't "Necessary Knowledge" to keep humanity in check on earth.
Always some things to consider.
Glad someone's talking about Armored Core. I feel like there's a hole in my life where a new Armored Core game should be. Never even a remaster or anything. :(
Agreed, bruva.
hope you all enjoyed. should i cut out intros?
Leave them, this adds to the overall flow.
I kind like the intro part.
The intro was the reason that I love Armored core so much. And I can't wait for the next installment especially the Nexus and For Answer
@@hikigayamurakamo9340 I'm not a big fan of nexus and this will be my 3rd time in my lifetime beating it. What did you like about nexus? I loved disk 2 but I feel like every change they made other than new controlls was for the worst
Keep the intros bro
As to the "Conquer the Arena before doing any missions" idea, I've done it several times and it's not that bad once you figure out the pilots various tactics.
The briefing VAs are absolutely hilarious. I don't care if it is considered bad, but it's so charming.
Klein was the protagonist of Master of the Arena. I guess he regretted killing Nineball and realized humanity sucks too much to govern themselves.
Underrated series covered by an underrated channel. Fitting.
I'm a green pea and have alot to improve on
I lol'ed at headcrab that shoots lasers, perfect description
So this is another great video. I overall agree with your points, but I do have a couple of things to note.
As has been mentioned before in other comments, it's heavily implied that Klein is the player character from Master of Arena. Why Klein did what he did is never truly explained, but my theory is that Klein ultimately agreed with Nineball in the end, after seeing the chaos of mankind without an overseaing power run amok again. Even in Another Age, we never really see how things have truly changed on Earth, but if the infighting on mars is any indication, then there's likely just as much conflict there as on mars. And he would want to put a stop to it before mankind caused another Great Destruction.
The other thing is, I'm kinda sad you didn't cover Another Age. I know it doesn't have an arena, and it's story is a lot less compelling, but even a breif overview of some of it's more enteresting missions would have been nice. But that's just me, I totally understand not wanting to cover it for the reasons you gave.
Overall, a great video.
Ya I liked ac2aa alot.
You really need to do another age!
Really high quality content right here! Its a crime that you don't have more subs lol. With the news of a new armored core on the horizon, I started to look into the series and I am hooked. Its unfortunate that I don't have any of the older systems tho. Anyways, keep up the good work!
you are doing great my guy. i personally love vids that are over 20min long, but your voice is pleasant, and although simple i like the text quips you add. i would say this is main monitor content. keep it up
Having played all of the armored core games, this is a well done video and a nostalgia ride. I love it.
Good shit. I like the dry humor. Can't wait to see how you do with 4 and For Answer.
On topic of Leos Klein's "Way of old" & his agenda :
In my theory, its heavily hinted on mail that Leos Klein is protagonist of Armored Core Master of Arena. What he meant "way of old" is humanity have solid order by 1 authority system. But if Leos Klein is protag of MoA then he implied that he wants humanity to be ruled by singular entity maybe by himself by fusing himself into super computer or maybe creating new AI super computer just like old Ravens' Nest.
Also keeps the intro cuz Armored Core always have banger intro.
Thank you for this. I've been told he's the character from one of the ps1 games but just havent been able to piece it together. This makes sense.
I was under the impression Klein was also being controlled in some form or fashion by disorder unit machine he's using at the final level. His whole tone becomes really strange immediately after second phase with him straight up telling you how to stop Phobos's orbit from decaying. The dude knew something was up and told you with his last dying breath. Made me think the Martian defensive systems might've had some greater level of intelligence than what would be expected from a first glance
i always thought he was , or is connected to the controller. Ways of the past could mean being controlled by an AI
My theory of Klein is that he was dealing with a similar situation when a raven goes through HUMAN PLUS. Klein neurolinking to this ancient Death Star was making him insane which is why he killed his comrade. Basically man going psycho and causing mayhem with a long forgotten ideology.( the old ways )
Great presentation for someone looking to catch up on a missed world of adventure. I hope your channel grows, given your love and familiarity with the series. Your videos give me a good sense of how the old games played so I can understand what veterans mean when they critic no. 6. Btw, I think the Klein reactor fight is supposed to hint that a copy of 9 Ball was on Mars and Klein used it as a decoy to try and kill you. They don't try to connect all the games, but they do seemingly hint at an overarching connection like they do in Dark Souls with repeated items and the occasional reference character to the other games similar to Kabuki theater tropes of using architype characters. (Learned about 9 Ball from Armoredcorelore's channel and he's my current fav.
Armored Core 2 was my introduction to the series and it was way too hard for little kid me. Never beat it. But it always stuck in my mind because of the sounds like you said. So I've always loved the series despite only playing AC2 and Formula Front (PSP). Really hope the rumors of a new one is true.
Gotta try out AC3 Portable on PSP/Vita, one of my favs nad it controls great! PSP is cake to emulate nowadays
man I love the AC franchise, these vids are bringing back memories- I would name my pilot Raven, and it would always feel like they are addressing you directly. Also would design my AC based on the one on the cover (and in AC2, could see it again during cutscenes)
It's been so long since I've even thought about Armored Core. 6 got me reminiscing. In AC2 I remember dual sniper rifles were a good way to kill enemies. And the local multi-player was great. except when you had 100 missles on the screen. Pushed that game to its limits.
That final arena fight is so good. It's a duel against a highly optimized offensive AC with good movement, it's a rival fight. My duels with him started out with mutual missile barages in the old murakumo dome followed by a dance of trying to be the first to land a karasawa hit and stunlock the other.
(Matthais is the worst fight of all time though)
Love armor core and loved the video. I say keep the intros and steady as she goes.
I just love how Freightener theme kicks in once you encounter them.
These vids are getting me pumped for a new armoured core (assuming we're getting one) 2,3 and nexus are my favourites. Ps3 ac felt a bit meh.
I hope they get the new controls right. No fucking around with changing equipped weapons to use aux/internals/etc
The most rememberable part of armored core 2 another age was the bosses that were unlocked at the end of the game, These were re-imaged bosses from other games, Stinger, Phantasma, and a new one Nineball Seraph.
The new sound for the KARASAWA is the absolutely best videogame sound ever made.
Im Just really Happy to see someone who grew up with this like me and i know we are very few
This was the first armored core game I ever bought and one of the first ps2 games I got as well. The game had me in love from the intro alone even though it took me a considerable amount of time to get used to the controls. I also really dug the space age theme and always wished the armored core series would return to it again.
So I just found you yesterday and I'm going through all or the AC stuff right now. It's really good. You have a good voice for longer-form videos and breaking up the mono-tone informational segments with the jokes and memes landed actual belly laughes from me.
I personally like longer form videos so I don't mind the longer intro portion, but someone who doesn't know anything about AC might care a little less. I don't know how much more effort it would take on your end, but maybe consider explaining the intro and what's going on before showing off the intro and give people a time stamp to skip to if they don't feel like watching it. It just gives people the option.
Great stuff man, you've got a new sub for sure.
Klein is the main character in AC1. He is in the reactor room to try and trick you into fighting in a dangerous area where if you mess up youll take both him and yourself out, but of course he isnt actually there. His motivation is to reinstate an AI as a guardian of humanity. He cant do it on Earth because its already too well progressed from Nineball and run by the LCC who would be looking out for that sort of thing, but Mars offers him a new opportunity since there is still conflict for him to take advantage of. The Klein you fight at the end isnt really Klein, but an AI copy of him he intended to be the new ruler of Mars and humanity, which is why it ends up acting similar to Nineball and in the end decides that since you won it will let you decide to save Mars and tells you how to. He betrays Remille because Remille and the other Frighteners thought they were fighting to liberate Mars to be run by Ravens for Ravens, so in the end when his plan was at the cusp they too were his enemies, because he didnt think any humans could self govern.
This regret of liberating Earth from Nineball is what he references when he says in his final encounter "We all make mistakes. We humans need strict supervision. I want to revive the old ways".
I literally knew nothing about the Armored Core series, but your videos have made me become fascinated. I must complete them all now!
lmao this dude just tripped into becoming an iconic AC youtuber out of sheer luck/timing, quality and consistency. Keep it up boss!
I think keeping the opening intact is the way to go. In part because it gives viewers a solid bar of how far those have come with each numbered iteration. I really appreciate these videos.
All those Ps2 games were so good !
I still have all of them, and they feels like so many good memories !
thanks for making these videos so that new and old players can track the franchise's evolution up to fires of the rubicon to understand and appreciate how good ac6 really is
Good video. Your voice lends itself to deadpan humour that's nice, and its pretty relaxing. Please keep the intro cutscenes. They help lend flavour and prime things. If you're worried about the wait, tell people where to skip to get past them so they can, and let others watch.
Okay, not too far into the video yet but I do have to say: Even if the PS2 can read PS1 memory cards, I don't believe any PS2 games read PS1 memory cards, nor could saves be transferred over. So, no matter what, you're starting from scratch. There might also be some engine incompatibilities, considering that the AC games the ones without save transfers are the games with some sort of notable gameplay changes. AC1 arms can't carry shoulder extensions and AC1 cores can't OB or hold weapons themselves, etc.
Ya now that i think about it i could have left that part out. Half minded speculation
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 that's part of the charm of lore videos though. Verbatim wiki reads are super niche. Give us the seasoning, the experience
Was thinking about armored core randomly and stumbled across your video. Who would have thought someone still plays this in 2022 great game and great vid bud🤙
Okay, I have a stupid strategy to cheese the arena. If you save up about 3-5 missions worth of cash, then sell all of your parts, you will have enough money to purchase the cheapest head, core, reverse joint legs, *plus* the rocket launcher arms. I first used this build to break through Werehound, but with the later addition of the back unit vertical missile launcher, you can practically kill the entire arena without ever having to see them by hiding behind walls and shit. This build easily carried me through the entire arena before I had even got more than 5 missions into the campaign. I guess all it takes to become Nine Breaker is a dollar store chicken walker and some missiles.
I like the intro cutscenes, it's fun because i never played these, so i love seeing them and hearing you talk about them. I guess if you've already played it you can just skip past it!
answering your question at the end
no. the intro was not to long. I literally have no complaints about your video. Sound was good, pacing was good, editing was good. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Okay I really like that your gameplay vid essentially boils down to "Karasawa is busted", your movement is nice too, glad to see it.
I use it for the pew pew sound... I guess it's good too XD
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 I mean AC without that sound isn't AC to me, it's the best reason to use it. Also I wasn't saying that was your intent, it's just the straight up fact cause you cleared the last boss fights in like 10 seconds cause that thing was busted.
Though you're using human plus so I think it had a fire-rate improvement and energy usage reduction + generator cap boost which makes it even more busted.
re 34:00 and Leos Klein's motivation: The wiki states the official site referred to Klein as the protagonist of Master of Arena. I have no idea idea if that's true and have no way to verify myself but *if* it is, it would go some ways to explaining AC2's plot.
In MoA, Klein topples the AI that controls the world and leave human beings to rule for themselves. Presumably, the idea is that Klein came to regret it for whatever reason and wanted to revert humanity to be ruled by a superior entity, in this case the ancient civilization's technology on phobos.
It would also explain the "You remind me of another pilot" speech. He's speaking in the third person - the "other pilot" is himself. He was the rebel who threw a wrench in the system and he now sees himself in the player.
You monotone tone covering the AC series is just very soothing to hear, also the memes makes it more entertaining
Thanks for making this video and series man. These games deserve more coverage and the more they get, the more likely it will be that FromSoftware will make another.
Armoured core is seeing a comeback
Grabbed a copy of this a couple of days ago as part of a nostalgia gaming kick. My goodness, the controls. I don’t understand why look up and down can’t be mapped to the right analogue stick.
ya it was a huge flaw that sadly lasted way too long
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 I’m finding that a lot of older games that I thought were really difficult when I was younger actually just have awful controls and/ or camera. Tomb raider 3 is another classic example.
Similar controls to kings field
I liked Another Age for the new weapons, parts, & options! Definitely a call back to Master of Arena! Lightweight weapons definitely gives you an edge when you need a more maneuverable Raven built for speed & firepower!!
There was an older theory from the forums in ages past that the 'alien' tech is just the NEXT frames and that AC 1-2 happen after 4, 4A, 5, 5VD. It's a kind of a tenuous connection, but it's neat to think about.
Whoa, Human PLUS would've been nice to know about as a kid.
the last AC pilot at the end of the video really threw me off, his has an extra "t" but you pronounced it exactly how mine is said. Awesome video all together though 👍
Dude, I'm loving these vids.
I must be old-fashioned.
This (PS2 era Armored Core) looks and sounds better than 4th or 5th gen ever did.
The soundtrack was way ahead of it's time and visually it looks different from any armored core game. The story and location is just so diverse it changes the whole feel of the game from any other ac game
You sound as if Tina Belcher from Bob's Burgers got really into From games and I'm here for it.
seriously good series all of it. I look forward to you covering more video game series like this.
I always enjoyed the entry for the number 11 guy in the arena who only isnt in number 1 slot because he loves the number one and being rank eleven has twice as many ones in it
So many hours on this game in middle school. Arena and custom emblems for the highlight for me. Great video
These overviews are so good, can't wait for the next vid 👍
I think that the AC designs in AC2 and AC2: Another Age are some of the coolest designs in the series.
Watching you drop Armored Cores and bosses alike with half a dozen Karasawa attacks reminds me how it wasn't until the sequel AC2: Another Age where enemy Armored Cores had the same stats as a player mech with the same equipment.
Ya your right. It's so easy in missions to kill an ac. Funny enough they changes AC's in later games. Some of them straight up cheat with their weapons not weighing anything, getting alot more mobility
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 I'm struggling in Last Raven Portable because it seems like every serious enemy AC has a rapid fire linear gun tucked away somewhere to fire in mid-air at you the moment you're vulnerable to stun lock.
@@jonbezeau3124 ya I just finished every mission in LR and the amount of h+ users is ridiculous. Micro missiles work good but other than that I cant give any advice that would make the game easier.
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 right now I'm pushing through hard fights mostly on heavy armor, EO cores, and the dual-back part orbit launcher. I haven't tried going through all the missile options to see which ones connect with enemy ACs the best yet.
This was my entry into Armored Core. I can remember back in 2001, my uncle comes one day to my house (he use to work at Blockbuster), he tells me and my brothers that he got a game for us for a week, and shows us the cover of Armored Core 2. Being a 90s kid, and growing up with Gundam Wing, seeing the AC with the laser gun and cannon definitely peaked my interest and I became hook the moment I played it in my PS2 (which was brand new at the time and didn't have that many games on it).
Human Plus does make the game simpler and makes mobile machines thrive, however it gives little to nothing for defensive designs such as tanks. There are designs that straight up benefit more from the regular optional parts then OP-I.
This and Gun Griffon: Blaze is what made a launch PS2 worth it.
Great job. thank you for showing this series the love it deserves
My 1st game on PS2 and I'm glad it was...Will always love AC games (only the PS2 era) this game was amazing played it sooo much...great review lmao at the voice actors they're great and memorable.
If I remember correctly the cheese in Arena was to have your Overboost and turning + lock-on ability all at a certain threshold where you can circle strafe around enemies and fire the Karasawa on them, even while Overboosting. Then you pick the big open level without terrain to fight on. Enemies cannot turn quick enough to target you, but it also busts their AI so they will continually try to catch up with you (which is why it works). I couldn't beat Arena otherwise cos the player controls were too clunky and the enemy AI uses all of its systems mercilessly (if you don't break it, that is).
This game is a classic for me, as the game introducing me into AC series.
Back then, I got this game from a friend to try out, and I mainly played this with my brother as a versus game. Back then I was also foolish enough to try playing this game without memory card attattched to PS2… foolishness of youth…
Yet my greatest regret about this game was when I didn’t buy it from my friend when he sold his ps and the games…
Oh man with new AC6 on the Horizon this vid brings back uber nostalgia. Fromsoft never fails to deliver that feeling of git gud or die. I knew AC before ever touching a Souls game and realize how they both have that killer learning curve.
I enjoyed this video as much as I did your first. I think if there's any constructive criticism I can give you, it is to keep pointing out the whacky decisions they made with the storyline, the ridiculous voice acting and weird character dialogue, and above all the AC pilots themselves. Also to answer your question about keeping the intro cinematic in your videos, I believe you should keep it as long as you comment on the intro. Keep up the great work! I subscribed and I'll keep looking for your Armored Core videos.
0:53 by analysing the letters in this sequence of gibberish they thought nobody would notice you can roughly determine where the author's hands were on the keyboard and how they wandered across the keyboard when they were mashing the keys
Binging your AC content now that VI was announced. Hype
Disappointed that you didn't go in-depth on Another Age. It's my favorite game in the whole series with it's excellent Firewire Vs and Human+ & Overweight. I'd love to see you do detailed videos on the parts unique to each game. Discussing nerfs to parts in later entries would also be worth discussing. How about some videos comparing the Vs modes' differences between games? Master of Arena had very different Link Vs maps than AC1 and Project Phantasma, for example. Just some ideas for more excellent Armored Core videos. Thanks for making these. I've been a fan of the series since '97 😎
did you know, a mech in Armored 2 has more polygons than an ENTIRE level in armored core 1?
Interesting. Ac2 looks better in a few different ways. Mainly the ac parts
So what i found in Wiki "It is implied that Leos Klein is is in fact the Raven from Master of Arena due to his Nine Breaker title"
Hey man love these vids. If I could give any feed back. I’d say do cover the intro cutscenes I think there sick as hell. I’d love to see you give a more expanded look at some of the opponents ac’s and there profiles, and I’d like to hear you talk about the load outs on your ac that you use for the missions maybe with a brake down of what parts and weapons you use. Keep up the great work I’m having a blast getting a distraction from my thesis with these vids
This was my first and only AC game. I was probably way too young for its skill level, and recall rage quiting after few missions and arena. But I absolutely loved the game, and had fun just messing around with parts.
Idk how how AC fell through the cracks for me after 2. Maybe because there didn't seem to be a lot of advertisements, and none of my friends played them.
I really can't wait for VI.
I stumbled onto this series trying to find some footage of the full final boss fight from this game. I wanted to show it to a friend of mine who's a huge souls fan, that has never played the AC series. It's really interesting seeing someone go back and experience some of my favorite games from my childhood. I was just a wee lad when AC 1 launched, but loved that game. I played every AC game in order up until 2 another age, then skipped everything up until 4 and have played all the ones after that
This one is by far my favorite one in the series. My friends and I spent so much time customizing our ACs, and fighting each other over and over again. The internet wasn't very prevalent back then, and I was the only person who found out about human plus back then. Because I was the only person curious what happened if I kept failing over and over again. So imagine my friends confusion when I was the only one of us flying around using a shoulder grenade launcher on a light legged mech lmao. And ofc I was a dick, and told them it's a secret you have to find on one of the missions like you find the Karasawa and LS Moonlight.
lol thats savage. glad you enjoyed the videos.
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 It's really interesting seeing someone experience something I used to love (and still do), w/o the same nostalgia goggles I have. I'm excitedly awaiting when you get to 4, because that one is my second favorite in the whole series.
And yeah, me messing with my friends is hilarious. I still get a bit of a laugh thinking about some of my friends sniffing every square inch of ever map trying to find something that isn't there. And what kinds of neat things they may have accidentally discovered instead.
a trick for dodging a LOT of enemy fire, is to circle strafe, boosting along the ground then let go and tap again to initiate a jump this will hold most of your momentum while you energy recharges, then you want to initiate a boost just before you hit the ground to soften your landing and begin boosting across the ground, the significant shifts in velocity and the jerky up and down movement will fuck the enemies aim really hard half the time theyll shoot the ground trying to track your trajectory.
Amazing video. Armored Core 2 is one of my favorite series.
The bomb dispensers are good for destroying top and bottom floors in missions. With using them on a AC, it works good when you use it sideways towards it, or if you get close to the AC and use it while moving backwards(of course they would have to be very close). It works good when they sneak behind you, too. They’re pretty tricky to use like the parry blades in AC3.
The mine dispensers can work good when you gather like 2-6 mines around the enemy.
Decoys are also useful for helping you dodge big swarms of missiles.
You may not have been able to carry progress from the last game, but you could still upload your emblem from ps1 to ps2 via memory card.
I remember cheesing every single fight in the arena when i was a kid, simply by using the vertical attack missiles. Stay on top of the building you spawn on top of, let them come to you, and just keep your lock screen pointed at them launching death from above. Hard counters every single arena mech XD
I do think summing up the intro of this AC game with your own script would be better than just playing the intro scene back to us. Trust your instincts there. Playing us some of the in game dialog is nice but the pacing of your vid is effected by a long AC cut scene. Partly because the AC cutscene itself is a bit awkward. Good work so far though, and I'm glad someone is covering AC. No mech game has delivered exactly what I would personally like in a mech game but AC probably comes closest. Keep up the good work man!
I was unfamiliar with this series, but this entry was one of my first PS2 games.
It was too hard at first but got further a few years later.
I really hope I I still have it lying around somewhere cause I want to play it again and maybe track down Another Age.
Regarding LCC paying you to guard their envoy right before the Frighteners rebel despite LCC sending hitsquads after you, the two ACs in the Murakumo dome were actually sent by Zio Matrix Mars Division if I remember correctly. Before the frighteners rebel, you get missions from both the corporations and LCC during their ongoing war, with Klein himself independent of LCC taking an interest in you.
Also Klein is heavily implied to be our player character from Master of Arena, now grown old and jaded by the endless corporate wars. He's evidently come to the conclusion that Nineball was right after all, and decides to upload himself to the Phobos superweapon and either force mankind back underground with another Great Destruction, or force them to submit to him as he becomes the new AI that supervises humanity. As he mentions, the state for Ravens was just a ploy to get the Frighteners and other naive AC pilots under his banner, as a smokescreen so he could set his real plan into motion.
Beat this game 3 or 4 times as a kid and had no idea about human plus mode.
i enjoyed the into even tho ive play 2 and 3 and such. it gave perspective of how the devs grew and what they brought to the game instead off, oh mech do cool thing intro
Probably a little late to mention this, but all of the old AC games let you fully remap the controller, so you can set up a more modern control scheme by mapping forward, backward, and strafe to the left stick/pad, camera movement to the face buttons, and other actions to the shoulder buttons. So you don't have to live with the old style controls.
Sadly even up to silent line the right stick has no directional inputs to set up
@@aboveaveragegaming6120 While this is true in game, you can setup the directional inputs on the sticks to also corespond to the button imputs of the controller through the emulater. It's just an option. Although, I do distinctly remember AC2 having the left stick function just like the D-Pad, so you could use it for forward/backward movements and turning, but still had to use the shoulder buttons for strafing and looking up and down.
I hope you cover Armored Core 2: Another Age at some point. It was my second Armored Core but the first I actually owned since the first was a demo of the original AC...Also the boxart AC Wonder Raid is probably my favorite of all them outside of maybe White Glint...and I think the only lightweight AC among them.
Hang Man (the Heavy weight with the spread bazooka) is also pretty nice...though extremely easy to cheese in the actual game. He only has 28 shots before he's completely defenseless. Granted that's 24 shots of spread bazooka and 4 pursuit missiles, which can absolutely wreck any AC that tries to face tank that many, but still.
I always wish there was more missions with Strung to build a relationship of mentor/mentee before the betrayal. If they ever remake it be cool of you get a few training missions piloting a couple of MTs or something.
Totally agree.
This more than any other ac entry is my wheelhouse