This was my first attempt at a video in this style, so I would really appreciate any sort of feedback! I hope you guys enjoyed it and I will be streaming other games from the series right here on this channel. Or watch live on Twitch: www.twitch.tv/upper_case_t
@@davemarx7856 although i'm not too familiar with the armored core games, i would say every fromsoft game i've ever played has seemed like it was designed with the idea that there would be community discoveries that would spread as common knowledge
The controls were so hard for me i had to change it Left joystick - general movement Right joystick - none Triangle - melee X - change weapon Square - look left Circle - look right L2 - look up R2 - look down L1 - boost/jump/fly R1 - fire
As an Armored Core vet who has been playing since the very first one you are currently playing on your podcast I find it very enlightening that you are enjoying it as much as I did the first time....I look forward to Armored Core 6 and have waited a long time for it.....From soft has had a lot of time and experience to bring the best Armored Core game they ever made to the forfront no matter what anybody else says I'm glad the series never died
Good script and editing. Default controls is the way to go for authentic experience on your first introduction. But if you decide to try other games remapping camera controls to face buttons will make your life much easier.
Yeah i played 2nd and 3rd gen but on other retro games i just go with the latest control scheme in the series. Sucks to switch games and warm up on new controls everytime
I've played a couple PSP games where the face buttons were camera controls. It's still not perfect (any controller without two thumbsticks is really on some stone age shit) but I was able to get used to it. You just have to think of the face buttons as essentially a second directional pad to compliment the actual dpad being used for movement. I seriously don't think I could *ever* comprehend triggers being used for camera control. That's simply barbaric.
I played through AC1 with original controls, but as soon as I remapped to a dual analog control scheme the games became much more fun. Dual analog is the superior control scheme, which isn't exactly news at this point, so in-game remapping to face buttons is pointless unless you're playing on console imo.
Actually to be accurate, there are 14 installments of the series but some of them are either games with additional content. Other than that they are sequels to each other.
Its always fun when a Dark Souls fan finds Armored Core. Because there is a surprising amount of Armored Core DNA in Dark Souls. But you wouldn't know that if you haven't played both. Its also funny how everyone complains about the "crazy" controls of the old games. That was actually a fairly common control scheme for PS1 games. Because, as you said, we didn't have twin analog sticks back then. I'm glad you didn't change them, though. Because I feel that learning those controls is an integral part of the whole Armored Core experience. Just like when you first learned to drive a car, or ride a bike, you also have to learn how to pilot your AC. And its super satisfying once you succeed. FromSoft games are all about overcoming challenges. And the controls are just one of those challenges.
Yeah it seems like From had it all figured out from the start lol… I’m really interested to see how AC6 will turn out after all this time but from what we’ve seen I’m positive that we’ll enjoy it! And yeah, I never had a ps1 growing up, so these controls were completely new to me. But I have really started to enjoy them during Master of Arena and AC2, now I’m onto Last Raven and I have to relearn the controls with the dual sticks lmao
Glad to see someone else who just played this game for the first time recently. This game is genuinely one of my all time favorites, the atmosphere with the music, graphics, and gameplay is 10/10. Despite how much I can praise this game, destroy the floating mines will forever give me nightmares
There really is something special to those blocky PS1 graphics, they remind me of the analog age. I've started to really appreciate physical media recently so I've also been looking to buys these games for the original consoles ;D
Good video, really cool to see someone starting the series for the first time. I got my start with a Blockbuster rental of Armored Core 2 way back in the day. While I'm not a super-hardcore fan that's played every game in the series, I do really like it, to the point that with VI's reveal I went back to play 4 for the first time and For Answer for the fiftieth. Just prepare to be stuck with that awkward control scheme for a while. It took Fromsoft a little while to learn how to properly use those two sticks on the dualshock.
Thank you! I've heard mixed opinions from people about AC4 (and for Answer to some extend) and I can understand why, the gameplay seems to be very different to all the previous games. It's great to see someone on the positive side of the argument since I also think it looks pretty awesome lol
I can understand the feeling of reading guides to be as OP as possible first before exploring other sub optimal options. It makes the first run on games with a lot of traps then punishes you for being "bad" like xcom, darkest dungeon, and the recent alien dark descent more enjoyable for me. It's actually one of the things I like about souls games too. Cheesing bosses then coming back again with just a club.
True, I take a similar stance with Elden Ring, where if you can't beat a boss and go exploring for a while you can become incredibly strong and then just return to finish the job. I wouldn't call that bad balancing, you are just being rewarded for taking the time to properly explore the world.
Yeahhhhhhh, you'r in for a wild ride. 4th and 5th gen stories are tied together so that's alot already right there. Nice work on making a analysis over Armored Core!
Thanks, I really appreciate it! I really gotta pick up the pace, I've been looking forward to the 4th gen and I'm only in the 2nd... And Fires of Rubicon is just over a month away...
Happy to finally be a part of the club. I will definitely do more of this kind of content around AC and other Fromsoft titles since I really enjoyed doing it and the response has been great!
Why is it that so many players never used the control mapping function that is in the System -> Options menu of the Armored Core game? That control remapping functionality has been in the game since it's release back in 1997 and yet so many players never used it. Crazy!
The better you learn to control your AC the most fun you have playing it. There are a lot of great armored core games like 2, 3, For Answer, and many others.
The only reason I knew about Armored Core was because a friend had the demo disc, I played through it a few times. On finishing a replay of the opening test, the friend misheard the closing message and confusingly repeated back "you are now a raisin?!" Congrats on making the 500th sub.
Thanks! The response to the video has been a lot better than I expected. I can still remember playing demo discs back in the day and having a lot of fun with them, but I would neve end up purchasing the actual game lmao
That's very true, but playing through Master of Arena and doing all of the AC fights is teaching me a lot, so I might be able to do it relatively soon lol
@@upper_case_T It really was a niche series. Japan picked up on it more than the US. The only reason I heard about it was because PS1 had a lot of demo discs that had games like AC1 on it.
I started with AC 2 another age when i was young not long after it came out been an AC player ever since only missing gen 4 sadly due to real life problems hoping 6 will make up for missing out on gen 4
@upper_case_T well considering all i missed was gen 4 yea ur rivht pretty sure i can find those with relative ease n gen 4 is said to be the best of AC so id be glad to go back n try those out tbh
I feel like everyone keeps forgetting about Demon's Souls.. Edit: this version of "You Died" is just as merciless as the Souls version of "You Died" as you noticed the Income and Expense reports.
I think it's not that people forget the game but rather that it's cultural impact to the subgenre that Fromsoft created was not as significant as the first Dark Souls game. I personally still love Demon's Souls and also plan to make video about it at some point
It really amuses me when people new to the series go "wtf is this controller scheme!?" yes... compared to todays standardized schemes. its REALLY weird. As someone who when they FIRST got a PS1 and Armored Core was one of the first games I ever played? it doesnt seem or feel all that weird to me because that was the ONLY scheme I knew. looking back on it though. yeah its a weird setup. xD
It's also they're forgetting the PSX did not have dual analog sticks at first. But to be fair, the default controls are a little jank compared to something more sensible like having all the movement mapped to the d-pad. The reason is because they ported over the control scheme from King's Field, but the core difference there is that is at its core a dungeon crawler, so looking side to side on the d-pad was normal for that. It was early 3D game design, there were no standard schemes yet anyway. All that said, it was pretty bad that Fromsoft kept this antiquated control set up for 7 or 8 games, well into when everything had dual analog by default (PSP aside).
I'm actually playing through a bunch of them on stream at the moment. I won't be able to do everything before AC6 comes out but I will definitely revisit the ones I couldn't do afterwards!
All the Armored Core games are split into several timelines and generations. Generations typically introduce some new mechanic or design philosophy to the game. Like the addition of overboost between 1st and 2nd gen or left hand weapons and EO cores in 3rd gen (or the engine switch which allowed for right stick aiming in late 3rd gen) 1st Gen is Armored Core, Master of Arena and Project Phantasm 2nd Gen is Armored Core 2 and Another Age (3rd gen is a weirdo as its split between early and late gen due to the engine change) Early 3rd Gen is Armored Core 3 and Silent Line Late 3rd Gen is Nexus, Ninebreaker, and Last Raven (there is also the formula front spinoff games as well) 4th Gen is Armored Core 4 and 4 Answer 5th Gen is V and Verdict Day. The timelines are much easier. The 1st timeline is all of 1st and 2nd gen The 2nd timeline is the 3rd gen games, with Ninebreaker technically being a "and nothing bad happened" spinoff The 3rd timeline is all the 4th and 5th gen games... though there is some contention in the community about this one. And the new 4th timeline is held by Armored Core 6 Human+ is best described as the game's mercy mode. Go into deep enough debt and you get a permanent upgrade to that save file when it forces a reset... From an upgraded radar, reduced energy consumption and increased recovery to being able to fire cannon type weapons without kneeling first. Once you learn the game, the challenge becomes how far can you go without Human+ or the Karasawa. It can also be passed onto later games in their generation with the convert feature (which is also the only way to get a few parts in the 1st gen games) as a bonus. Also, watching veterans OB blade hooking, lead you with a rocket launcher, or bait you into a large missle is an experience you need to see to believe.
Thanks for the breakdown! I'm now on AC2 and I hope I can still get through most of the games before AC6 comes out. (Also I have to try out Human+ just for the fun of it)
Hmm youtube just recommended this. seeing the thumbnail made me chuckle. It's true! most of the AC games require a proper build and good energy/ammo management, since you pay for that as well. I started with the PS2 era games. I hope you enjoy AC6 ^_^b
Great video, very nice and to point and also if you like the soundtrack of this one you'd love ost for project phantasm and Master of Arena, MoA has my favorite overall tracks of games and probably one best games in series. Also for controls I appreciate you at least trying and sticking to it if want stay to even more i recommend XsX series controller because the D pad is to die for in old gen or if can find it OG PS1 controller. I always appreciate videos like this, and they don't come around too often.
Thank you! Currently playing through MoA and I have to agree, it's been pretty great so far. I also plan on actually getting a PS1/PS2 so I can try to enjoy these games on the original hardware.
As a person who played through all of the AC games from AC1 to Silent Line when I was younger I can say that games back then sometimes had to be creative with controls. I"ve recently been streaming through all the old AC games in order, but I did start playing AC4 and 4A off stream and the new controls were so different to me that I could barely stumble through the first few missions. I ended up changing the controls to work like the original series and the difference was like night and day. To be fair, I stopped basically all console gaming after PS2 and mostly only played PC games. I'm so hyped that AC6 will be on PC.
The remaps are built in to the game so it's totally ok. I remap strafing to the dpad and turning on the shoulder buttons, it feels a whole lot more natural after some practice and thinking like you're controlling a vehicle rather than a character
bro armored core was a game that I have been trying to find for years - one of my earliest video game memories was playing this game but I could never find it or what it was called
I used to have to preorder the games to even get a copy in canada. and if somebody had already preordered at that store i had to go to the other one, and then potentially even further. Unfathomable how much of my youth was spent playing Armored Core, oh and btw, the controls are best ever, I will die on this hill lol
I mean Berserk should just mandatory literature at this point lmao. And I haven't gotten far into Blame yet, but it has such an intriguing world that you just need to know more once you've started it
I got into Armored Core as a kid, when I played Armored Core 3. My mother then gave me Armored Core: For Answer and Formula Front, and Armored Core 5. I loved For Answer and Formula Front. Five was okay at best for me. But I’ve already pre-ordered Armored Core 6 and I’m ready to get behind the controls again. Now I want to play armored core on PS1 but it’s so expensive 😅 Also, you got a new subscriber
I really wish that I had gotten into this series sooner... But better late than never I guess! And you can always emulate the early titles in the series, but I understand if you aren't into that sort of thing. And thanks, I appreciate it!
@@upper_case_T No problem and thank you. Sadly I’m not very tech savvy with computers to do emulation. But I have been lucky so far to find rare games in the wild. This makes me want to boot up my PSP and PS3 to play formula front and for answer again to get myself ready for fires of rubicon that I pre-ordered
Thank you for taking the time to go back and learn from the beginning. You now know "SoulsLike" just means "Armored Core" like. Lmfao. It just wont roll off the tongue the same...
I played Armored Core on the ps2 on my computer i spent a half hour remapping the controls to be normal lmao that camera movement layout drove me bonkers
Yeah I'm starting to really get into it now. Just finished my AC playthrough on stream and I'm onto 3 now, I can really recommend them if you ever feel like going back to them ;D
@@upper_case_T Oh nice, and a reply. I will say your uhh "Playstation" seems to be experiencing a common bug associated with modern hardware. The original Armored Core took a lot of processing to run properly, especially in arena matches or with explosive weapons, which would cause the game to slow down to about 70% playspeed. Giving the player more time to properly react and maneuver their AC accordingly. Or now that the comment is so long you need to click "read more" Emulation makes the game harder because there's no natural slow-down from a high intensity fight. It's like playing space invaders but the whole game is the final speed.
i played V 360 era and instantly got hooked to it because of my love for mechs, i also had played 2 back in the ps2 but my stupid kid brain didnt managed to learn the controls, still liked the game but i was just too stupid to actually play, after watching vatii's video i decided to FULLY LEGALLY emulate for answer and i have to say it holds up if youre into mechs
The armored core series? It has more than 6 titles to it. At this point, they put numbers on these just for tradition. I'm glad they are adding another mecha game into the limelight. It really is a niche genre ngl
Each AC game falls into a generation of AC games where you can transfer your progress between games within the generation. The generations go like this: Gen 1 | Armored Core, Armored Core: Project Phantasma, Armored Core: Master of Arena Gen 2 | Armored Core 2, Armored Core 2: Another Age Gen 3 | Armored Core 3, Silent Line: Armored Core Gen 3.5 | Armored Core: Nexus, Armored Core: Nine Breaker, Armored Core: Last Raven Gen 4 | Armored Core 4, Armored Core: For Answer Gen 5 | Armored Core V, Armored Core: Verdict Day Armored Core: Formula Front is the only exception to this. EDIT: Also, for default controls at least stick for aiming will be introduced in Gen 3.5 despite the 1st game on a console with only controllers with dual sticks being AC 2..
the mission payouts and repair bills are an underappreciated mechanic. Best RPG ever, you are a pilot you live the life of a scummy merc. TEEEN YEEEEEEAAARS and it loooks soooooo gooooood. people crying over expectations can get schrekts there's never been a bad AC game. Also you're supposed to go into debt until you get cyborg enhancements 6 times and then you have a cool expensive mech and super powers.
Yeah I think that AC6 looks amazing and I believe it will appease old fans and bring in new ones. I might do a playthrough with those enhancements at some point because it definitely sounds like a lot of fun!
@@upper_case_T The generator mission where you have to carefully kill all those little gimpbots, just spend all your money going into that mission on parts you keep all parts when you gameover from debt and then just fail your way to the top. so you actually end up starting over with a lot of money because you stored it all in parts ;) its so fun playing it back on the PS1 I loved it there's a completely different mission loadout if you go with the other company AND when you finish the game you can replay all the missions from both stories, so much fun. I can't wait. Glad you're having fun with it too, that game is a solid. The awkward controls make it feel like you're piloting a robot too. 👌
Also, if you go too far into debt in this game you start over with a permanent buff and all your parts. I never realized this when I played as a kid, and would always reload my save game instead
This is such a great video the hole thing was a great idea and execution I love it you made me believe we are going to see the new game instead we have fun with the 1st game lol
I was there here in the USA wondering why America didn't love the game from 1997...I felt like a living "forever alone" meme. I've been a fan since the very first game, and I live here in Kentucky. I also took advantage of the "save" feature because...we had to be mindful of our saves back then and waiting for loading was a small punishment for being bad. You kids are spoiled and left without any need for thinking thanks to auto saves.
"Most importantly, why are there six of them now?" Hah. Hahah. TBH when I played I used the in-game remapping feature to make the face buttons my camera controls. It seems like you didn't learn about bunny hopping. You shouldn't bother trying to actively dodge things so much as just making sure to move quick enough.
The mechs from Steambot Chronicles have a more rapid turn rate than the mechs in Armored Core. Armored Core is perfect in every way except that. You have to strafe like a maniac just to cover on-comers, thereby losing any tactical positional advantage that you manage to acheive. Basically you have to run away from every fight, turn around and come back to polish them off. Kind of like Robotech Battlecry. I didn't get very far before I gave away my disk.
The controls are rough to the point that I had to remap every game until Silent Line to work like Nexus. Unfortunately it requires not playing on native hardware. Also, the Karasawa is a flagship weapon like the Moonlight Blade is.
I just played this game aswell. It didn't even occur to me not to load after every failed mission. I don't even wanna know how much debt I would have been in..... 😢
Honestly the games are very fun but unless you are extremely gigabrain there is really no reason not to immediatly remap the control to a more reasonable layout, hell even just on the original controller you can do much better than the default layout, good luck with the other games.
moonlight greatsword reappears in MoA so you didnt miss anything ofcourse like its "soulsborne" counterpart it also spits out projectiles to do this you need to boost while blading this feature gets deleted when 4th gen and 5th gen rolls out but they like the karasawa are the strongest and the heaviest parts of their class
I'm currently playing through MoA and you best believe that I instantly bought the Moonlight lmao... It's not easy to use, but once you do get close you just shred through even the toughest of AC's. And I've heard about it's projectiles, definitely gonna try it out next stream!
Hey on the next game try emulator! You can remap the controls in the emulator so that the right stick uses the face buttons, then just change your movement stuff to the d-pad, your look and turn stuff to the face buttons, and the other functions to the shoulder buttons and you basically have early armored core with modern controls!
We can only wait and see, but I honestly have faith in Fromsoft that they will AT LEAST deliver a fun game with enough content to be worth the 60$ asking price.
by the way, you can map controls from the system menu actually. I ALWAYS swap the strafing and turning buttons because tank control is dumb and it really fucks with your head lol
I was considering dong that at first but I just really wanted to know how it would play if I went with the "intended" controls... And well you can see how that turned out lmao
Fun fact, you can actually remap the controls in-game in AC1. I use boost on L, shoot on R, Use/Melee as Up on the D-pad, and all the face buttons are for looking around, while Left and Right on the stick are for strafing. Makes the game feel way less clunky and more like a modern third person shooter. Well, that's for PSP anyways, you've got extra shoulder buttons to work with on a normal controller.
I really loved my PSP back in the day, so if I get my hands on the PSP AC games I'll give that controlling scheme a try! As for now, I have started to actually understand the controls so I'm doing fine now lol
The music in these games is incredibly good across the whole franchise. Listen to Cord E from 2, Scrambling Film from Silent Line and Fake Facer from Formula Front for some absolute fucking Bangers
Dude i had no issues with the controller on ps1 or ps2 the ac2 and ac2aa wasnt bad. Im glad i played and learned ac1 first... But how did you play on steam???? Im only on ps1 :[
"Why are there six of them now?" Oh man, let me tell you, that "six"? That "six" makes the cake look like the truth. That "six" is lying straight through it's face. There are like, 15 Armored Core games. Five of them alone are just different versions of Armored Core 3. Edit: Oh, okay I guess you did notice this.
I did the research. ;D I thought it would be kinda funny and fitting for the video to play ignorant in the intro, to then start explaining things from the perspective of someone new to the series
I didnt have many problems with the ps1 controls because i play a lot of super metroid and there the triggers are used to look up and down too, ik in 2d its more easy to get around that but after 20 minutes of playing i got good at handling my AC, and most fights on gen 1 can be beaten without using the triggers at all. Except for the final level of the first game, that part really highlights the flaws on the controllers.
I tried mapping AC3's controls to sticks but it doesn't really work since the stick is 8 way and the look controls only work in the 4 cardinal directions.
Ah yes, "Last level, new skill" is what we called that thing from AC1, God of War, Halo 1... It's really annoying because it's an artificial difficulty wall. Good last levels build on all the core skills you've developed throughout your play rather than take a tertiary or brand new skill as the core hurdle. I still have a lot of fondness for AC1 but I won't lie, it's been many years since I played it. I'm super excited for AC6 both in terms of the level design (it's not all tunnels!) and movement.
Yeah I really did not expect to be playing a platforming level at the end of this game, it just seems like such a bizarre choice... But it makes for a memorable experience regardless, so I will give it some credit for that. lol Really excited for AC6 aswell, crazy that it's already only 2 months away!
fun fact, you can literally remap any controls to any button in every game from armored core 1 til armored core last raven. playing with the horrible standard controls is not the authentic experience, the game allows you to get rid of it.
Interestingly enough I've really started to become used to this controlling scheme while playing through the arena in MoA, so it actually feels pretty decent now
@@upper_case_T i have FPS brain so i cannot play this game without a pseudo dual stick control layout where i use the facebuttons for U/D/L/R and the shoulders for weapons and boost xd
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This was my first attempt at a video in this style, so I would really appreciate any sort of feedback! I hope you guys enjoyed it and I will be streaming other games from the series right here on this channel.
Or watch live on Twitch: www.twitch.tv/upper_case_t
Pretty good. Kinda funny too.
It was perfect, down to the last bit of it
@@rexsybimatrimawahyu3292 Thanks, I really appreciate it!
Sharing information about games is okay. I'd argue that a game like Armored Core actually intends that it's playerbase share their discoveries.
@@davemarx7856 although i'm not too familiar with the armored core games, i would say every fromsoft game i've ever played has seemed like it was designed with the idea that there would be community discoveries that would spread as common knowledge
I grew up in old school Armored Core in PSX. Learning how to be thrifty is an advanced skill after learning how to fight at faster pace.
The controls were so hard for me i had to change it
Left joystick - general movement
Right joystick - none
Triangle - melee
X - change weapon
Square - look left
Circle - look right
L2 - look up
R2 - look down
L1 - boost/jump/fly
R1 - fire
As an Armored Core vet who has been playing since the very first one you are currently playing on your podcast I find it very enlightening that you are enjoying it as much as I did the first time....I look forward to Armored Core 6 and have waited a long time for it.....From soft has had a lot of time and experience to bring the best Armored Core game they ever made to the forfront no matter what anybody else says I'm glad the series never died
Agreed, I believe that Fromsoft is now in a position where they can really bring this series back, AC6 seems to be shaping up pretty nicely.
Agreed
Good script and editing. Default controls is the way to go for authentic experience on your first introduction. But if you decide to try other games remapping camera controls to face buttons will make your life much easier.
Thanks, I will keep that in mind! Especially for those airborne targets, they get really annoying
@@upper_case_T I would personally recommend just swapping strafing and turning around.
Yeah i played 2nd and 3rd gen but on other retro games i just go with the latest control scheme in the series. Sucks to switch games and warm up on new controls everytime
I've played a couple PSP games where the face buttons were camera controls. It's still not perfect (any controller without two thumbsticks is really on some stone age shit) but I was able to get used to it. You just have to think of the face buttons as essentially a second directional pad to compliment the actual dpad being used for movement.
I seriously don't think I could *ever* comprehend triggers being used for camera control. That's simply barbaric.
I played through AC1 with original controls, but as soon as I remapped to a dual analog control scheme the games became much more fun. Dual analog is the superior control scheme, which isn't exactly news at this point, so in-game remapping to face buttons is pointless unless you're playing on console imo.
That main menu demo further solidified my love for the series years ago, what a lovely thing for you to stumble upon.
That little scene of you falling in the platforming shaft on the last mission encapsulates the armored core experience perfectly.
Actually to be accurate, there are 14 installments of the series but some of them are either games with additional content. Other than that they are sequels to each other.
15. 3 for gen 1, 2 for gen 2, 6 for gen 3, and 2 for each 4 and 5
@@xxx_nightcorepro_xxx don't forget formula front
@@adamcappella8088 I didn’t. 3, SL, NX, LR, FF and NB. 6 in total
15 bro
@@The_Raven_ now it’s 15
Cannot wait to see how you react to Armored Core 4 and For Answer.
Fun fact, it was the directorial debut of our favorite main man Miyazaki himself
I'm really interested in 4 since it changed up the AC formula so much... Miyazaki really does his own thing lol
OLD KING taught me to count.
@@upper_case_T 4 was good, For Answer is basically just a refinement of everything 4 introduced and probably my favorite AC game
It really requires knowing what 3/3.5 Gen and before was like to understand how big the changes of Gen 4, and 4 to 5 really were.
Lol going from old gen to 4 is basically forget everything and relearn the controls. Same again when going from 4 to 5.
Its always fun when a Dark Souls fan finds Armored Core. Because there is a surprising amount of Armored Core DNA in Dark Souls. But you wouldn't know that if you haven't played both.
Its also funny how everyone complains about the "crazy" controls of the old games. That was actually a fairly common control scheme for PS1 games. Because, as you said, we didn't have twin analog sticks back then. I'm glad you didn't change them, though. Because I feel that learning those controls is an integral part of the whole Armored Core experience. Just like when you first learned to drive a car, or ride a bike, you also have to learn how to pilot your AC. And its super satisfying once you succeed.
FromSoft games are all about overcoming challenges. And the controls are just one of those challenges.
Yeah it seems like From had it all figured out from the start lol… I’m really interested to see how AC6 will turn out after all this time but from what we’ve seen I’m positive that we’ll enjoy it! And yeah, I never had a ps1 growing up, so these controls were completely new to me. But I have really started to enjoy them during Master of Arena and AC2, now I’m onto Last Raven and I have to relearn the controls with the dual sticks lmao
Glad to see someone else who just played this game for the first time recently. This game is genuinely one of my all time favorites, the atmosphere with the music, graphics, and gameplay is 10/10.
Despite how much I can praise this game, destroy the floating mines will forever give me nightmares
There really is something special to those blocky PS1 graphics, they remind me of the analog age. I've started to really appreciate physical media recently so I've also been looking to buys these games for the original consoles ;D
@@upper_case_Twell if you’re ever looking for a copy of V i have an extra for the xbox 360
Good video, really cool to see someone starting the series for the first time. I got my start with a Blockbuster rental of Armored Core 2 way back in the day. While I'm not a super-hardcore fan that's played every game in the series, I do really like it, to the point that with VI's reveal I went back to play 4 for the first time and For Answer for the fiftieth. Just prepare to be stuck with that awkward control scheme for a while. It took Fromsoft a little while to learn how to properly use those two sticks on the dualshock.
Thank you! I've heard mixed opinions from people about AC4 (and for Answer to some extend) and I can understand why, the gameplay seems to be very different to all the previous games. It's great to see someone on the positive side of the argument since I also think it looks pretty awesome lol
wow that’s exactly how i got my start
I can understand the feeling of reading guides to be as OP as possible first before exploring other sub optimal options. It makes the first run on games with a lot of traps then punishes you for being "bad" like xcom, darkest dungeon, and the recent alien dark descent more enjoyable for me.
It's actually one of the things I like about souls games too. Cheesing bosses then coming back again with just a club.
True, I take a similar stance with Elden Ring, where if you can't beat a boss and go exploring for a while you can become incredibly strong and then just return to finish the job. I wouldn't call that bad balancing, you are just being rewarded for taking the time to properly explore the world.
The "true" way to start the Armored Core franchise is the same way we all did back in 1997: the Playstation Demo Disc.
Yeahhhhhhh, you'r in for a wild ride. 4th and 5th gen stories are tied together so that's alot already right there. Nice work on making a analysis over Armored Core!
Thanks, I really appreciate it! I really gotta pick up the pace, I've been looking forward to the 4th gen and I'm only in the 2nd... And Fires of Rubicon is just over a month away...
Always nice on boarding a new raven 😊 and I personally love the edited down content with post commentary
Happy to finally be a part of the club. I will definitely do more of this kind of content around AC and other Fromsoft titles since I really enjoyed doing it and the response has been great!
Why is it that so many players never used the control mapping function that is in the System -> Options menu of the Armored Core game? That control remapping functionality has been in the game since it's release back in 1997 and yet so many players never used it. Crazy!
i hope youre not talkin about us old school ravens
@@unshr0 That depends on whether you knew about the key mapping function or not.
The better you learn to control your AC the most fun you have playing it. There are a lot of great armored core games like 2, 3, For Answer, and many others.
It was called "Verdict Day" for a reason.
AC Newcomers: "Why are there six of them now?"
AC Veterans: "You may want to sit down..."
0:36
The only reason I knew about Armored Core was because a friend had the demo disc, I played through it a few times. On finishing a replay of the opening test, the friend misheard the closing message and confusingly repeated back "you are now a raisin?!"
Congrats on making the 500th sub.
Thanks! The response to the video has been a lot better than I expected. I can still remember playing demo discs back in the day and having a lot of fun with them, but I would neve end up purchasing the actual game lmao
He became ONE OF US, ONE OF US.
Welcome party for new RAVEN! 🎉🎉🎉
Thanks, I'm a bit late to the party but better later then never 🙏
Great video dude, its always nice seeing new people enjoying the games. Very high quality video. Keep making them :D
Thank you! I've got a bunch of other video ideas related to Fromsoft games and I hope that I can always make the next video better than the last ;)
@@upper_case_T you should totally play last raven and AC Fa
I love the first Armored Core. My favorite PS1 game.
really cool video! YT put this on my recommended feed and i'm glad it did :) subbed
Thanks, really appreciate it!
AC games were fucking awesome back in the late 90s early 2000s PS1 era, Never got them fully as a kid as i was young but my life i loved them.
The Great soundtrack peaks with "Complete Physical" and the sequel has Complete Physical Tek which is even better.
"Yes, mmm, the tears of unfathomable sadness, mmm, yes."
Glad to hear you are enjoying the game! Great vid BTW
I honestly don't know why I haven't tried the games earlier... But now I'm really hyped to play all of the other games in the series.
love to see people getting into it!
Also it's ok to suck at it. You have 15 games to get through, take your time
That's very true, but playing through Master of Arena and doing all of the AC fights is teaching me a lot, so I might be able to do it relatively soon lol
It was so great watching you play AC1. Hope you enjoyed it as much as this video is showing.
Glad to hear that you had fun! I also had a blast playing it and making this video, I seriously don't know why I haven't played these games earlier...
@@upper_case_T It really was a niche series. Japan picked up on it more than the US. The only reason I heard about it was because PS1 had a lot of demo discs that had games like AC1 on it.
Some say his eyes still hurt to this day.
hurst
gesundheit
I started with AC 2 another age when i was young not long after it came out been an AC player ever since only missing gen 4 sadly due to real life problems hoping 6 will make up for missing out on gen 4
I'm sure it will, and even if Fires of Rubicon dissapoints, it is never too late to go back and try the older games ;)
@upper_case_T well considering all i missed was gen 4 yea ur rivht pretty sure i can find those with relative ease n gen 4 is said to be the best of AC so id be glad to go back n try those out tbh
I feel like everyone keeps forgetting about Demon's Souls..
Edit: this version of "You Died" is just as merciless as the Souls version of "You Died" as you noticed the Income and Expense reports.
I think it's not that people forget the game but rather that it's cultural impact to the subgenre that Fromsoft created was not as significant as the first Dark Souls game. I personally still love Demon's Souls and also plan to make video about it at some point
It really amuses me when people new to the series go "wtf is this controller scheme!?" yes... compared to todays standardized schemes. its REALLY weird.
As someone who when they FIRST got a PS1 and Armored Core was one of the first games I ever played? it doesnt seem or feel all that weird to me because that was the ONLY scheme I knew.
looking back on it though. yeah its a weird setup. xD
Yeah I totally get that. I haven't really played many ps1 games in my time, so it was definitely a new experience for me.
It's also they're forgetting the PSX did not have dual analog sticks at first. But to be fair, the default controls are a little jank compared to something more sensible like having all the movement mapped to the d-pad. The reason is because they ported over the control scheme from King's Field, but the core difference there is that is at its core a dungeon crawler, so looking side to side on the d-pad was normal for that. It was early 3D game design, there were no standard schemes yet anyway. All that said, it was pretty bad that Fromsoft kept this antiquated control set up for 7 or 8 games, well into when everything had dual analog by default (PSP aside).
And a playthrough would be awesome . You do all of em cause theyre loads of fun
I'm actually playing through a bunch of them on stream at the moment. I won't be able to do everything before AC6 comes out but I will definitely revisit the ones I couldn't do afterwards!
Great video bro, gave me some good memories
Thank you!
All the Armored Core games are split into several timelines and generations.
Generations typically introduce some new mechanic or design philosophy to the game. Like the addition of overboost between 1st and 2nd gen or left hand weapons and EO cores in 3rd gen (or the engine switch which allowed for right stick aiming in late 3rd gen)
1st Gen is Armored Core, Master of Arena and Project Phantasm
2nd Gen is Armored Core 2 and Another Age
(3rd gen is a weirdo as its split between early and late gen due to the engine change)
Early 3rd Gen is Armored Core 3 and Silent Line
Late 3rd Gen is Nexus, Ninebreaker, and Last Raven (there is also the formula front spinoff games as well)
4th Gen is Armored Core 4 and 4 Answer
5th Gen is V and Verdict Day.
The timelines are much easier.
The 1st timeline is all of 1st and 2nd gen
The 2nd timeline is the 3rd gen games, with Ninebreaker technically being a "and nothing bad happened" spinoff
The 3rd timeline is all the 4th and 5th gen games... though there is some contention in the community about this one.
And the new 4th timeline is held by Armored Core 6
Human+ is best described as the game's mercy mode. Go into deep enough debt and you get a permanent upgrade to that save file when it forces a reset... From an upgraded radar, reduced energy consumption and increased recovery to being able to fire cannon type weapons without kneeling first. Once you learn the game, the challenge becomes how far can you go without Human+ or the Karasawa. It can also be passed onto later games in their generation with the convert feature (which is also the only way to get a few parts in the 1st gen games) as a bonus.
Also, watching veterans OB blade hooking, lead you with a rocket launcher, or bait you into a large missle is an experience you need to see to believe.
Thanks for the breakdown! I'm now on AC2 and I hope I can still get through most of the games before AC6 comes out. (Also I have to try out Human+ just for the fun of it)
Hmm youtube just recommended this. seeing the thumbnail made me chuckle. It's true! most of the AC games require a proper build and good energy/ammo management, since you pay for that as well.
I started with the PS2 era games. I hope you enjoy AC6 ^_^b
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! And I most likely will, see you on the battlefield Raven! ;D
That last story mission! Whoo I got some memories in that SOB
Ah yes, great memories :)
"And why are there already 5 of them"
Ohhh boi
Karasawa is love, Karasawa is life, can't wait to see how it works in AC6.
If they don't put it in AC6 there will be a riot (same with the Moonlight)
Great video, very nice and to point and also if you like the soundtrack of this one you'd love ost for project phantasm and Master of Arena, MoA has my favorite overall tracks of games and probably one best games in series.
Also for controls I appreciate you at least trying and sticking to it if want stay to even more i recommend XsX series controller because the D pad is to die for in old gen or if can find it OG PS1 controller.
I always appreciate videos like this, and they don't come around too often.
Thank you! Currently playing through MoA and I have to agree, it's been pretty great so far. I also plan on actually getting a PS1/PS2 so I can try to enjoy these games on the original hardware.
If you think the karasawa is broken, you don't know project phantasma's WA-FINGER.
I've only heard tales about the finger, I guess I will find out once I play Project Phantasma lol
@@upper_case_T Oh boy, it's beautifully OP, but you'll have to earn it. I'll give you a little spoiler of it's power level, it has 3000 ammo.
As a person who played through all of the AC games from AC1 to Silent Line when I was younger I can say that games back then sometimes had to be creative with controls. I"ve recently been streaming through all the old AC games in order, but I did start playing AC4 and 4A off stream and the new controls were so different to me that I could barely stumble through the first few missions. I ended up changing the controls to work like the original series and the difference was like night and day. To be fair, I stopped basically all console gaming after PS2 and mostly only played PC games. I'm so hyped that AC6 will be on PC.
The remaps are built in to the game so it's totally ok. I remap strafing to the dpad and turning on the shoulder buttons, it feels a whole lot more natural after some practice and thinking like you're controlling a vehicle rather than a character
bro armored core was a game that I have been trying to find for years - one of my earliest video game memories was playing this game but I could never find it or what it was called
Oooh yeah, I have some of those as well... I can't imagine what it would be like to have this as one of your first gaming experiences though lmao...
Always love to see someone taking a head first dive into Armored Core lol
And head first I went, aka I used brute force instead of skill lmao
I used to have to preorder the games to even get a copy in canada. and if somebody had already preordered at that store i had to go to the other one, and then potentially even further. Unfathomable how much of my youth was spent playing Armored Core, oh and btw, the controls are best ever, I will die on this hill lol
I see "Blame!" in the background. Man of culture
Not to mention berserk, almsot didnt notice those
I mean Berserk should just mandatory literature at this point lmao. And I haven't gotten far into Blame yet, but it has such an intriguing world that you just need to know more once you've started it
The old AC controls are STILL imprinted in my brain, even after playing the newer ones.
"-and why are there six of them now?" My brother in Christ, there are 15. This is gonna be fun.
I got into Armored Core as a kid, when I played Armored Core 3. My mother then gave me Armored Core: For Answer and Formula Front, and Armored Core 5.
I loved For Answer and Formula Front. Five was okay at best for me.
But I’ve already pre-ordered Armored Core 6 and I’m ready to get behind the controls again.
Now I want to play armored core on PS1 but it’s so expensive 😅
Also, you got a new subscriber
I really wish that I had gotten into this series sooner... But better late than never I guess! And you can always emulate the early titles in the series, but I understand if you aren't into that sort of thing. And thanks, I appreciate it!
@@upper_case_T No problem and thank you. Sadly I’m not very tech savvy with computers to do emulation. But I have been lucky so far to find rare games in the wild. This makes me want to boot up my PSP and PS3 to play formula front and for answer again to get myself ready for fires of rubicon that I pre-ordered
Thank you for taking the time to go back and learn from the beginning. You now know "SoulsLike" just means "Armored Core" like. Lmfao. It just wont roll off the tongue the same...
Yeah it's been a blast so far, I won't be able to play all the games before Armored Core 6, but I will revisit the ones that I had to skip afterwards
I played Armored Core on the ps2 on my computer i spent a half hour remapping the controls to be normal lmao that camera movement layout drove me bonkers
great vid. hope to see more as you go through
Thanks! I've recently finished AC master of Arena and I'll have a video about that out soon ;) The next vid coming out is about Dark Souls 2 tho
My all time favorite game series - even if I didn't have a PS2 and never got to play 2-3.
Yeah I'm starting to really get into it now. Just finished my AC playthrough on stream and I'm onto 3 now, I can really recommend them if you ever feel like going back to them ;D
@@upper_case_T Oh nice, and a reply.
I will say your uhh "Playstation" seems to be experiencing a common bug associated with modern hardware.
The original Armored Core took a lot of processing to run properly, especially in arena matches or with explosive weapons, which would cause the game to slow down to about 70% playspeed. Giving the player more time to properly react and maneuver their AC accordingly.
Or now that the comment is so long you need to click "read more"
Emulation makes the game harder because there's no natural slow-down from a high intensity fight. It's like playing space invaders but the whole game is the final speed.
From this moment on, you are a Raven!
i played V 360 era and instantly got hooked to it because of my love for mechs, i also had played 2 back in the ps2 but my stupid kid brain didnt managed to learn the controls, still liked the game but i was just too stupid to actually play, after watching vatii's video i decided to FULLY LEGALLY emulate for answer and i have to say it holds up if youre into mechs
Damn that thumbnail made me chuckle
Gotta get that bunny hop jump strafe down homie!
The armored core series? It has more than 6 titles to it. At this point, they put numbers on these just for tradition. I'm glad they are adding another mecha game into the limelight. It really is a niche genre ngl
Each AC game falls into a generation of AC games where you can transfer your progress between games within the generation. The generations go like this:
Gen 1 | Armored Core, Armored Core: Project Phantasma, Armored Core: Master of Arena
Gen 2 | Armored Core 2, Armored Core 2: Another Age
Gen 3 | Armored Core 3, Silent Line: Armored Core
Gen 3.5 | Armored Core: Nexus, Armored Core: Nine Breaker, Armored Core: Last Raven
Gen 4 | Armored Core 4, Armored Core: For Answer
Gen 5 | Armored Core V, Armored Core: Verdict Day
Armored Core: Formula Front is the only exception to this.
EDIT: Also, for default controls at least stick for aiming will be introduced in Gen 3.5 despite the 1st game on a console with only controllers with dual sticks being AC 2..
the mission payouts and repair bills are an underappreciated mechanic. Best RPG ever, you are a pilot you live the life of a scummy merc. TEEEN YEEEEEEAAARS and it loooks soooooo gooooood. people crying over expectations can get schrekts there's never been a bad AC game. Also you're supposed to go into debt until you get cyborg enhancements 6 times and then you have a cool expensive mech and super powers.
Yeah I think that AC6 looks amazing and I believe it will appease old fans and bring in new ones. I might do a playthrough with those enhancements at some point because it definitely sounds like a lot of fun!
@@upper_case_T The generator mission where you have to carefully kill all those little gimpbots, just spend all your money going into that mission on parts you keep all parts when you gameover from debt and then just fail your way to the top. so you actually end up starting over with a lot of money because you stored it all in parts ;) its so fun playing it back on the PS1 I loved it there's a completely different mission loadout if you go with the other company AND when you finish the game you can replay all the missions from both stories, so much fun. I can't wait. Glad you're having fun with it too, that game is a solid. The awkward controls make it feel like you're piloting a robot too. 👌
Also, if you go too far into debt in this game you start over with a permanent buff and all your parts. I never realized this when I played as a kid, and would always reload my save game instead
gotta love Human Plus
This is such a great video the hole thing was a great idea and execution I love it you made me believe we are going to see the new game instead we have fun with the 1st game lol
That track is called Dotted Line.
Absolute Banger.
About the use of sticks. Well, you get to use stick control. eventually. 6 games into the franchise.
Welcome Raven
I was there here in the USA wondering why America didn't love the game from 1997...I felt like a living "forever alone" meme. I've been a fan since the very first game, and I live here in Kentucky. I also took advantage of the "save" feature because...we had to be mindful of our saves back then and waiting for loading was a small punishment for being bad. You kids are spoiled and left without any need for thinking thanks to auto saves.
"Most importantly, why are there six of them now?"
Hah. Hahah.
TBH when I played I used the in-game remapping feature to make the face buttons my camera controls. It seems like you didn't learn about bunny hopping. You shouldn't bother trying to actively dodge things so much as just making sure to move quick enough.
If game history told me something its that this wont be the return we want until 7, and 4 is always the better one
The mechs from Steambot Chronicles have a more rapid turn rate than the mechs in Armored Core. Armored Core is perfect in every way except that. You have to strafe like a maniac just to cover on-comers, thereby losing any tactical positional advantage that you manage to acheive. Basically you have to run away from every fight, turn around and come back to polish them off. Kind of like Robotech Battlecry. I didn't get very far before I gave away my disk.
The controls are rough to the point that I had to remap every game until Silent Line to work like Nexus. Unfortunately it requires not playing on native hardware.
Also, the Karasawa is a flagship weapon like the Moonlight Blade is.
Bro wasn't ready 😂
I just played this game aswell. It didn't even occur to me not to load after every failed mission. I don't even wanna know how much debt I would have been in..... 😢
Amazing video!
Also, it's me.
Thanks! I completely forgot that Final Fantasy 16 releases tomorrow, so I went ahead and posted the video today lol
@@upper_case_T Welcome. Also, I changed my name. Twas my irl name before.
I remember playing the demo for armored core on the ps1 demo disc
Ah yes, the good old time of demo discs... At least they are starting to bring back demos in general for modern games, we didn't get any for a while
@upper_case_T Had a subscription to Playstation magazine just for the demo discs! Even fell victim to the viewtiful joe 2 memory card wipe bug.
Honestly the games are very fun but unless you are extremely gigabrain there is really no reason not to immediatly remap the control to a more reasonable layout, hell even just on the original controller you can do much better than the default layout, good luck with the other games.
Thanks! It's been going "relatively" good with the standart controls so far, but there might be a point where I definitely have to change them...
moonlight greatsword reappears in MoA so you didnt miss anything ofcourse like its "soulsborne" counterpart it also spits out projectiles to do this you need to boost while blading this feature gets deleted when 4th gen and 5th gen rolls out but they like the karasawa are the strongest and the heaviest parts of their class
I'm currently playing through MoA and you best believe that I instantly bought the Moonlight lmao... It's not easy to use, but once you do get close you just shred through even the toughest of AC's. And I've heard about it's projectiles, definitely gonna try it out next stream!
No, every beam sword can do that, you need to get some level of human+ for it to happen.
@@reinweissritter without human plus its only available in Nexus to Last Raven likewise unlocking the same effect in AC3-SL via OP-I
Hey on the next game try emulator! You can remap the controls in the emulator so that the right stick uses the face buttons, then just change your movement stuff to the d-pad, your look and turn stuff to the face buttons, and the other functions to the shoulder buttons and you basically have early armored core with modern controls!
Looking forward to AC6, worried that the decision to excise the debt aspect will be one “modernization” too far though.
We can only wait and see, but I honestly have faith in Fromsoft that they will AT LEAST deliver a fun game with enough content to be worth the 60$ asking price.
by the way, you can map controls from the system menu actually. I ALWAYS swap the strafing and turning buttons because tank control is dumb and it really fucks with your head lol
I was considering dong that at first but I just really wanted to know how it would play if I went with the "intended" controls... And well you can see how that turned out lmao
Fun fact, you can actually remap the controls in-game in AC1. I use boost on L, shoot on R, Use/Melee as Up on the D-pad, and all the face buttons are for looking around, while Left and Right on the stick are for strafing. Makes the game feel way less clunky and more like a modern third person shooter.
Well, that's for PSP anyways, you've got extra shoulder buttons to work with on a normal controller.
I really loved my PSP back in the day, so if I get my hands on the PSP AC games I'll give that controlling scheme a try! As for now, I have started to actually understand the controls so I'm doing fine now lol
My very real ps1 as he holds up a ps5 controller 😂
The music in these games is incredibly good across the whole franchise. Listen to Cord E from 2, Scrambling Film from Silent Line and Fake Facer from Formula Front for some absolute fucking Bangers
Great video!!!
Thanks!
What is Arm.Core? It is the Front Mission 3 where you no need skip dialogues))
Dude i had no issues with the controller on ps1 or ps2 the ac2 and ac2aa wasnt bad. Im glad i played and learned ac1 first...
But how did you play on steam???? Im only on ps1 :[
i dont understand why people does not remap the controls of this game, you can do it in the game menu
"Why are there six of them now?"
Oh man, let me tell you, that "six"? That "six" makes the cake look like the truth. That "six" is lying straight through it's face. There are like, 15 Armored Core games. Five of them alone are just different versions of Armored Core 3.
Edit: Oh, okay I guess you did notice this.
I did the research. ;D I thought it would be kinda funny and fitting for the video to play ignorant in the intro, to then start explaining things from the perspective of someone new to the series
armored core 1 has the best music.
-No! You get weapon with help. Thats cheating!
-Haha...and?
Hai, desu desu desu
I didnt have many problems with the ps1 controls because i play a lot of super metroid and there the triggers are used to look up and down too, ik in 2d its more easy to get around that but after 20 minutes of playing i got good at handling my AC, and most fights on gen 1 can be beaten without using the triggers at all.
Except for the final level of the first game, that part really highlights the flaws on the controllers.
I tried mapping AC3's controls to sticks but it doesn't really work since the stick is 8 way and the look controls only work in the 4 cardinal directions.
Ah yes, "Last level, new skill" is what we called that thing from AC1, God of War, Halo 1... It's really annoying because it's an artificial difficulty wall. Good last levels build on all the core skills you've developed throughout your play rather than take a tertiary or brand new skill as the core hurdle. I still have a lot of fondness for AC1 but I won't lie, it's been many years since I played it.
I'm super excited for AC6 both in terms of the level design (it's not all tunnels!) and movement.
I always felt that AC1 was a masterpiece, and I think the last level really sold it for me personally as an experience unrivaled by most games.
Yeah I really did not expect to be playing a platforming level at the end of this game, it just seems like such a bizarre choice... But it makes for a memorable experience regardless, so I will give it some credit for that. lol
Really excited for AC6 aswell, crazy that it's already only 2 months away!
Real ravens didn't need the thumbsticks........ but they were welcomed.
fun fact, you can literally remap any controls to any button in every game from armored core 1 til armored core last raven. playing with the horrible standard controls is not the authentic experience, the game allows you to get rid of it.
Interestingly enough I've really started to become used to this controlling scheme while playing through the arena in MoA, so it actually feels pretty decent now
@@upper_case_T i have FPS brain so i cannot play this game without a pseudo dual stick control layout where i use the facebuttons for U/D/L/R and the shoulders for weapons and boost xd
I'm emulating AC1 on my Xbox and I've banned myself from remapping the controls and using save states. I don't know why I hate myself so much.