Help with Armored Core

It's ok, but it and AC4 are kinda radical departures from what was the series norm at the time. AC4 loses a mechanic or two and has a shop interface that is more new user intuitive but rather alienating to longstanding fans, to the point where 4Answer reverts the menu change.

While I'm on the subject of changes and stuff, 5 and Verdict Day are equally radical departures from 4 and 4Answer as well.

>>13579799
>it and AC4 are kinda radical departures from what was the series norm at the time

Oh, I heard that as well when I was trying to get some information about it and I'll be aware of it when I play. About the menu change in 4A, is this menu change bad?

Why not get an english version of For Answer?

Christ, bargain bins used to have tons of them.

>>13579861
I can't find it anywhere at an acessible place and the japanese second-hand copy this guy is selling may be the only possible way for me to get this game.

Game shops like gamestop aren't much common where I live.

>>13579832
the 4A menu is more traditional.

I really liked the 4 menu back when I was returning to Armored Core but in hindsight it just creates confusion because while combining shop and garage features in a single menu would make a fuckload of sense, the franchise has for the longest time kept the two menus kinda separate and so it's sorta like a quirk that hung around long enough to just become the norm.

It's perfectly serviceable, I just felt that having the two menus combined into one helped to expedite much of the tuning process. Armored Core is a franchise where most of your time is spent tweaking your bot, as such the setup of the menus can make/break one's experience when you're running back and forth trying to see what designs can fit within your current budget.

>>13579764
For Answer is a sequel to Armored core 4 so start with Armored Core 4 first then move onto 4A.

If you like them get into 1-VA.

V and VA are OK

>>13579764
White Glint will be completely lost on you if you start with 4A first to start with 4

>>13579832
Its really not that bad. From Software just likes to throw a lot of stats in your face, and to this day they still don't have a good way of presenting that.
In terms terms of mech handling, 4 and 4A are kind of like orbital frames in Zone of the Enders, constantly on the move at very high speeds. The classic games mechs are more like Mobile Suits.

>>13579890
>>13579923
I might be wrong here, but I remember in 4 I can test parts I haven't bought yet. I mean, I can equip some new parts without buying it, then testing my NEXT in AC test menu. As long as I don't leave the ACSIS menu I don't have to pay for those parts. I like that feature.

>>13579920
Storywise is it that bad not playing 4 before? I found some copies of 4, but they're way more expensive (but I can think if I can buy them soon)

>>13580044
Yeah Story wise play 4 first.

It's odd that 4 costs more then 4A because 4A use to be super expensive

>>13579799
Armored Core 4 aside from the addition of QB and primal armor(which both feel like very natural additions) is actually a step back to be closer to the first and second generations of AC in terms of energy economy and AC speed. For Answer is more of an actual departure but that's pretty much entirely down to the insane energy economy and ridiculous speeds.

It seems that most people generally view the third gen as "classic" AC though which I don't really agree with personally. Compared to the third gen AC4 is quite different, but I'd say that they third gen in the later half was a pretty big departure from classic AC. Compared to something like Nexus I'd say that AC4 actually reigns things back in to be more like AC1 and 2.

V and VD are very radical departures to where they barely feel like they belong in the series though.

>>13579764
>>13579908
>>13579920
>>13580059
4A was the second AC game I played, and I think it really makes little difference which you play first. White Glint may be lost on you if you play 4A first, but it'll also be lost on you if you play 4 first, because it has almost no relevance and looks completely different.

With regards to getting references between the two, I don't think the order matters; getting them retroactively works fine too. 4A also has slightly smoother and more polished gameplay and expands on 4's very sparse parts selection.

I mean they're both fun, but if you have to get one get 4A.

>>13579764

Buy VD like an adult.

>>13580766
Cutting out heat management means at best you can tie it to gen1 and only gen1.

And I personally thought that making the fcs lockbox full screen as well as making all cores ambidextrous lurched the 4th generation sufficiently away from the past games to a point where it'd be disingenuous to lump them with past ACs.

It'd be like insisting Bloodborn to be a Souls game.

>>13581967
>Cutting out heat management means at best you can tie it to gen1 and only gen1.
Lets not kid ourselves. They may have introduced it in 2, but heat management was all but irrelevant until Nexus. Until its overhaul you could easily skate by with the starting radiator.

Cores should have been ambidextrous ever since they introduced left arm weapons. For that matter, they should have long since gone with the alternating left and right arm or back weapon switching, rather than the left arm slot and everything else slot.

Another significant (but welcome) change is that back weapons can actually be used on the move by everything without Human Plus.

I do agree with you that they're quite different from what preceded them, but what preceded them was hardly sacred.

>>13582125
>but heat management was all but irrelevant until Nexus.

Well, actively managing it, sure I'll give you that.

But AP drain off of OUTPUT DOWN was a legit threat, the way I remember it.

I thought both systems had merits, but for different reasons. Nexus ruleset was the more intuitive sort where overheating led to energy drain (like what you'd think Output Down would mean), but 2 ruleset allowed you to antagonize AP off an overheat strategy without drowning the mechanics in their full complexity like the Nexus ruleset does.

I do agree that firing back weapons on the move was a major improvement. I honestly played through Silent Line with that OP-I upgrade and Lawdas Factory ended up being GOAT mission skating around and fucking shit up with the shoulder folding grenade launcher.

>>13582219
Suddenly having to mind the heat cost of every part I used was annoying at first, but I came to appreciate it as another facet of balancing an AC. I do still think they went a bit overboard with it though.

Yeah, the series always had all these many back weapons that were for practical purposes unusable by most builds without cheats. It seemed like such a waste.

>>13581942
It does have relevance, you can blame the guys who did the translations of 4 for fucking up a good bit of the story by changing phrasing and names too much to basically lose most of that meaning in fA.

>>13582473
No, I still know about it. It's supposed to be the Anatolia Mercenary naming his NEXT in Josh's honour. Problem is, Joshua appears like once or twice in the normal game before the end, so even if you know about him you have almost no connection. He's supposed to be some sort of friendly rival, but several of your encounters with him are in the bonus hard mode, which you can only do after you've already beaten him in story without much reason to care. I know there was supposedly more dialogue in the Japanese version, but could he really have that more

Regardless, it really has no relevance to the story of 4A, it's just one of a number of neat little callbacks that work just as well if you play 4 afterwards and get it in that order.

>>13582536
But then you don't understand why Anatolia mattered so much in 4 and why it being gone is such a big deal. Also it helps give you a reason as to why White Glint in fA is fighting against the corps with a group that is basically Anatolia 2.0.

I own the first Armored Core but haven't touched it. Is it archaic?

>>13582559
>why it being gone is such a big deal
How is it though?
It mattered in 4, but it doesn't in 4A, because even if it were still around it would be ruined because of the expanded kojima pollution. And Line Arc's ideals kind of speak for themselves vis a vis the corps being a bunch of bastards.

>a group that is basically Anatolia 2.0.
They aren't really. He abandoned Anatolia with Fiona when they realised they were just being leveraged as political tools by the guy in charge of the place. Line Ark was supposed to be a refuge from the corporations, but in practice ended up mostly just being ner-do-wells as a result.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great bit of fanservice, but it's not super pertinent to the plot of 4A overall. In point of fact, neither is Line Ark, they achieve nothing of note in the story. Their biggest role was White Glint being a boogeyman that prompted the league to be formed.

>>13582604
>Is it archaic?
Indubitably so. It's the first entry in a series, and also an early PS1 game. Do the math.

It basically feels like they nailed the base concepts of what they wanted in the game, but didn't go much past that, so it feels rough and unpolished.

That said, I had a blast with it. I found it very charming in a nostalgic retro kind of way, and it's very clearly in the spirit of Armoured Core right from the start. Heck, it even controls exactly the same as every game up til Nexus.

And of course, it shows that even back then the music was something special.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM_J4wjHXf4

>>13582837
I can hardly control the camera or move with the directional buttons

>>13583373
Well then git gud

>>13583685
Just going to play MS Saga

File: 1296559602171.png (176KB, 501x449px) Image search: [Google]

176KB, 501x449px

>>13583373
>can't figure out the controls
Shit's easy yo. This is nothing compared to Resident Evil. Or most early PS1 games for that matter.

>>13583685
>>13584461
He might have just been having trouble with the raven test. The one in the first game is actually pretty tough if you don't know how the game handles,

>>13585217
It's enough to make me not want to play it again any time soon. If there was some sort of lock on button it would be daijobu, but i don't like to keep my fingers glued to the shoulder buttons to look up and down at an enemy

>>13585574
You really don't want a lock on button. had you been around when AC5 was out and multiplayer consisted of a bunch of super lightweight SMG/Chaingunners trying to overheat bigger suits you'd know that lock-ons are not the way to go for these games.

>>13582604
Sure. It's still a fun-ass game.

>>13585217
that shit always bothers me simply because I just want to remap my controls to what I actually use and can't, and muscle memory is making me freeze up whenever I try to adapt to the default scheme

was kind of mad when AC2 and 3 did it after the two PS1 sequels didn't (and IIRC, AC3 had an options menu before starting that didn't have the key remap screen, so you knew this shit was fucking deliberate to fuck with the player)

>>13585574
as soon as you get past the test, you can fully remap every button
if you really want, you can set up twin-stick style control with the face buttons even

>>13585574
You shouldn't need to be looking up and down too much to begin with. Me, I actually had to struggle to keep my fingers *off* the shoulder buttons because mine are sensitive and I kept accidentally sliding the lockbox way down or up.

>>13585587
He says the truth.

Though it's kind of shameful they never properly integrated the analogue sticks until Nexus, which meant going through at least four ps3 games with a control scheme really designed for a ps1. An EARLY ps1 at that.

I picked up 4A a few years ago. If you want to sink some time, mash some buttons, feel some speed, build some bots and listen to kickass fucking music then give it a shot. Even if it's your first AC game, you'll get the picture. Sure there are frustrations but nothing that any non-autistic human would bother forming let alone sharing arguments about.

OP back here.

I just bought the game and now I'll only have to wait for it to be delivered at home. Thank you guys for the help and I hope I'll enjoy AC.

>>13585620
Oh, just what I wanted. Seems like I made the right choice then