What was your favorite armored core game?

[OnePenny]

and why is it 3

Edit: You guys are great

[Lapetirubern]

Never gotten a chance to play any of them. This is my first experience of From Software mecha

[Illudium]

Another Age, probably mostly because it was the first one I played.

[Doozy Bot dowmein]

3 and SL.

[Daikatan]

Last Raven

[Zero The Intoner]

4th Gen. AC4 and For Answer.
Because the gameplay is the best for me and the NEXTs design is so beautiful.

[Cheese]

Hard to decide between Silent Line, Last Raven, and Master of Arena.
Probably Last Raven.

[-$ilver-]

I'd say the first three on the PS1. It was a breath of fresh air. The mechs and how you could upgrade them with scavenged or purchased parts. The way you had to think about how the mech would control, as in heavy with no jump jets or lightly armoured with a jet pack or something in between and of course what kind of weapons it's frame could or could not carry due to weight limitations.

The later ones in the series they started to get away from the original concept and started doing more ranked tournament fights which kind took the fun out of it. I mean if that is your bag that's great and every once in a while I like to try my hand at it as well, usually for prize money, fame and or a really good and rare part. But when the story revolves heavily around a blood sport type theme... ehhhh...

[Cheese]

Originally posted by -$ilver-:

I'd say the first three on the PS1.
(...)
The later ones in the series they started to get away from the original concept and started doing more ranked tournament fights which kind took the fun out of it. I mean if that is your bag that's great and every once in a while I like to try my hand at it as well, usually for prize money, fame and or a really good and rare part. But when the story revolves heavily around a blood sport type theme... ehhhh...

Uh, dude?
The third game on PS1 is THE 'ranked tournament fight as a cornerstone of the game and major focus of the story' Armored Core game.
It's even in the name.

[lozacenz]

Well, my favourite was a PS2 game, but I'm fairly sure it was called Armoured Core 3, so not sure what's going on with the number there if there were three PS1 games before it. It was the first one I played. The controls weren't super responsive, but most things' movement speeds, the number of enemies at a time, and the AI all added up to that non-responsiveness mostly meaning that you actually had time to do things rather than having to have super fast twitch reflexes to not stuff it up.

The later ones (that I played, at least) had uglier mech designs (rendered with prettier graphics tech, just making it more obvious), more responsive controls (which would be great, except everything Else was amped up as well, so the controls actually felt More sluggish a lot of the time, as your mech's reaction speed vs Everything Else was worse), etc. Which mostly amounted to them just being less fun (at least for me)

'course, I never owned the game, just rented it.

[Cheese]

Originally posted by lozacenz:

Well, my favourite was a PS2 game, but I'm fairly sure it was called Armoured Core 3, so not sure what's going on with the number there if there were three PS1 games before it.

They put out a new numbered entry when they move to a new game engine.
So on the PS1 you have the original Armored Core, and then Armored Core: Project Phantasma and Armored Core: Master of Arena running on that same engine.
Then they move to a new engine for Armored Core 2, and put out Armored Core 2: Another Age, running on 2's engine.
And so on and so forth.

[-$ilver-]

Originally posted by Cheese:

Uh, dude?
The third game on PS1 is THE 'ranked tournament fight as a cornerstone of the game and major focus of the story' Armored Core game.
It's even in the name.

Then I guess it was the first two then. It has been many years since they came out. ^^!

Not sure about the corner stone of anything. I do not like tournaments, as well as others do not either, while some do. Some were more arena based, while others tried to blend the two together to please everyone.

Originally posted by lozacenz:

The controls weren't super responsive, but most things' movement speeds, the number of enemies at a time, and the AI all added up to that non-responsiveness mostly meaning that you actually had time to do things rather than having to have super fast twitch reflexes to not stuff it up

I took the controls to be natural heavy mech movement. It is not suppose to be instant start and stop, especially for the heavier mechs. So the controls never really bothered me.

You want something with a flow, try Ghost in the Shell. ^^!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QiaB8eVXaE

[Cheese]

Originally posted by -$ilver-:

Then I guess it was the first two then. It has been many years since they came out. ^^!

Not sure about the corner stone of anything. I do not like tournaments, as well as others do not either, while some do. Some were more arena based, while others tried to blend the two together to please everyone.

Your character's motivation is vengeance against the top ranked arena duder, things like getting a sponsor for the arena and climbing the ranks are part of the story, you're required to beat some amount of arena fights in order to access missions, and there's a whole second disc devoted to more arena fights.
Not sure if it's the sort of "blending together" you mean, but if arena battles can't be considered a cornerstone of Master of Arena, then the word has no meaning.

[NPC_CO8ALT]

Verdict Day.
Last game in the series so far. Took the game back to slow stompy mechs instead of the OP lightning fast mechs of 4 and For Answer. IMHO took the series back to its roots.

[-$ilver-]

Originally posted by Cheese:

Your character's motivation is vengeance against the top ranked arena duder, things like getting a sponsor for the arena and climbing the ranks are part of the story, you're required to beat some amount of arena fights in order to access missions, and there's a whole second disc devoted to more arena fights.
Not sure if it's the sort of "blending together" you mean, but if arena battles can't be considered a cornerstone of Master of Arena, then the word has no meaning.

I think something was lost in translation.

Also didn't the ACs let you take over your mechs, equipment and money onto the next game, at least with in the same console?

[Daikatan]

Originally posted by NPC_CO8ALT:

Verdict Day.
Took the game back to slow stompy mechs instead of the OP lightning fast mechs of 4 and For Answer.

And i'd say you can be fast enough in V/VD if you need it, imho

https://youtu.be/Zz-O7Gz1JY4?t=515