Are the Armored Core 1-5 story connected in any way?

[Atomsk]

Never played any AC other than 6, are there any reoccurring characters or continuity between the games? The story is told in a way where it seems like we should already be familiar with Rubicon as a setting and the Fires of Ibis already .

[REBirthTheEdge]

We simply don't know at this point.
AC6 story is pretty much a planet away from the last setting, and with all characters and new corporations.

There are some weapons in past entries but these seem like signature nods/reference and they also look and perform different.

It could either be the future of AC4 or AC5 or an entirely new universe.
The new augmented human seems to be mixed with Coral which obviously don't exist in the previous entires, so it might be the latter.

[Ethanelephants]

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

We simply don't know at this point.
AC6 story is pretty much a planet away from the last setting, and with all characters and new corporations.

There are some weapons in past entries but these seem like signature nods/reference and they also look and perform different.

It could either be the future of AC4 or AC5 or an entirely new universe.
The new augmented human seems to be mixed with Coral which obviously don't exist in the previous entires, so it might be the latter.

is there more than one continuity in AC even without this speculation?

[Atomsk]

Ahh thanks, I didn't know even the corporations were different in the other games. Seems like AC6 is in it's own continuity. Similar to each Darksouls.

[REBirthTheEdge]

Originally posted by Ethanelephants:

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

We simply don't know at this point.
AC6 story is pretty much a planet away from the last setting, and with all characters and new corporations.

There are some weapons in past entries but these seem like signature nods/reference and they also look and perform different.

It could either be the future of AC4 or AC5 or an entirely new universe.
The new augmented human seems to be mixed with Coral which obviously don't exist in the previous entires, so it might be the latter.

is there more than one continuity in AC even without this speculation?

Yes, AC4 shares continuity with AC5 but not with AC3.

[Unknown]

Armored Core to Armored Core 2 Another Age share the same universe.
Armored Core 3 to Armored Core Last Raven share the same universe.
Armored Core 4 to Armored Core 5 Verdict Day share the same universe.

Meanwhile, Armored Core 6 doesn't even take place on the same planet.

I digress, if you played all games, you can faintly connect all 3 universes together, but it's not canon. The devs openly admitted that Armored Core 6 does not have any relations to the older titles.

[REBirthTheEdge]

Originally posted by Unknown:

Armored Core to Armored Core 2 Another Age share the same universe.
Armored Core 3 to Armored Core Last Raven share the same universe.
Armored Core 4 to Armored Core 5 Verdict Day share the same universe.

Meanwhile, Armored Core 6 doesn't even take place on the same planet.

I digress, if you played all games, you can faintly connect all 3 universes together, but it's not canon. The devs openly admitted that Armored Core 6 does not have any relations to the older titles.

Wait, AC4 and AC5 share the same universe? I didn't know that?

Why the radical change in AC design then?

[Unknown]

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

Yes, AC4 doesn't share continuity with AC3 or AC5.

AC5 takes place 100 years after AC4FA.

[Ethanelephants]

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

Originally posted by Ethanelephants:

is there more than one continuity in AC even without this speculation?

Yes, AC4 doesn't share continuity with AC3 or AC5.

sick, my gundam power fantasy grows even more

[REBirthTheEdge]

Originally posted by Unknown:

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

Yes, AC4 doesn't share continuity with AC3 or AC5.

AC5 takes place 100 years after AC4FA.

Wow....gonna have to edit my post then.

[EJRaven]

Yes, this is a prequel, how Armored Core pilots got the name "Raven", but a new re-imagined origin story for the whole franchise. You see they took elements from each of the major timelines and incorporated them into one single thread. From here, we will likely the story unfold to Armored Core 1's underground starting point or even to the Jupiter war.

[Unknown]

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

Wait, AC4 and AC5 share the same universe? I didn't know that?

Why the radical change in AC design then?

From a real-world standpoint, my guess is probably because by the time AC4 was conceived, we have hardware (PS3 / XB360) powerful enough to support a radical change of speed (or idea/design/plot) from the sluggish tempo of all the previous entries.

As for the design, they wanted to introduce a different type or branch of an Armored Core called NEXTs that uses a different source of energy (Kojima) than Normals. As a result, they were twice bigger & were far more devastating.

In other words; if Normals were anacondas or great white sharks, NEXTs were titanoboas or megalodons.

[Unknown]

Originally posted by Ethanelephants:

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

Yes, AC4 doesn't share continuity with AC3 or AC5.

sick, my gundam power fantasy grows even more

What sends shivers down my spine is the craft you pilot as in AC4 to AC4FA, called NEXT, is the exact same craft, albeit a watered-down version of it, you fight as the final boss in AC5VD.

If you've learned the implications when you play AC4 & AC4FA then AC5 & AC5VD, you'll feel like a tiny frog looking up a an erect cobra, ready to swallow you whole.

[Caboose]

Originally posted by REBirthTheEdge:

Originally posted by Unknown:

Armored Core to Armored Core 2 Another Age share the same universe.
Armored Core 3 to Armored Core Last Raven share the same universe.
Armored Core 4 to Armored Core 5 Verdict Day share the same universe.

Meanwhile, Armored Core 6 doesn't even take place on the same planet.

I digress, if you played all games, you can faintly connect all 3 universes together, but it's not canon. The devs openly admitted that Armored Core 6 does not have any relations to the older titles.

Wait, AC4 and AC5 share the same universe? I didn't know that?

Why the radical change in AC design then?

Due to for answer endings.
There are 3 of them, the less evil. You put an end to orca and the revolution stop. Maintaining the statut quo, megacorp continue their proxy war, the atmosphere fill with kojima particle. One day or another humnaity will die.
The orca ending. You put an end to the megacorp, seize the power source of the cradle (giant flying cities keeping humanity alive, the earth is too polluted by kojima particle, which is the main source of energy for Next, that generation of AC). And blast the satellites in orbit. These satellites prevent any space travel. The cradles are forces to land, and humanity will lose a part of it's population.
The mad king ending, with another AC you destroy all the cradles, humanity is doomed.

In the end what seem to be the real ending is ORCA path. Kojima particles are banned from there. Explaining the change in mech. And why the final boss of AC V got a superior AC, it literally use kojima weapon and have an energy shield. AcVI brought back some of the tech, with Armor assault, pulse Shield etc

[Codester]

IBIS is also the last boss in Armored Core3: SIlent Line.
Which takes place on ruined earth if i'm not mistaken after you have killed the Controller and freed humanity from being stuck underground. It reminds me of the story of WALL-E where the Ai took it's command to heart and would not let people return to earth.

[Albireo]

Yup, AC5 is a sequel to AC4 narratively speaking. The Spirit of Motherwill arms fort of 4 just straight up shows up in ACVD. The final boss of ACVD is just a NEXT, plain and simple. So at the conclusion of 4A the crables containing the entire civilian population came down. humanity had to 'live' in the blasted global wasteland/battlefield they had been exploiting. To be frank, it did not go well. But yeah the normals of AC4 are just mass produced ACs. NEXTs being noteworthy for containing a Kojima reactor, it just was not a sustainable technology after humanity returned to earth. have to do some digging for more detail.