Support NeoGAF

[John Bilbo]

This feature length video convinced me to give the first game in the series a try. I recommend watching it if you want to get a grasp of what Armored Core has been about before the latest installment.

 

[GymWolf]

Have played AC on pad from the beginning. First time on KBM with AC and its superior to pad. Worth the initial discomfort.

Tone, presentation, style and audio are all very OG AC. On the fence with the gameplay. Everything feels a lot "lighter". Less weight and less mechanical feel behind the movement. It actually feels good, but feels a bit off compared to traditional AC. Feels like boost management is less important now, too - maybe im wrong in that. Movement and energy management seem way more accesible in general.

Loving the boost cancel / blade cancels, though. Its like wave dashing in AC lol.

The what?

 

[Con-Z-epT]

How are the haptics and adaptive triggers? Assuming they are used.

Not used.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Wait what. XBS is pulling 1440p 60fps and raytracing while PS4 at 1080p 30
I must be reading this wrong. no sarcasm.

Is XBS an XBX but with only change being no disc ?

edit - good luck parents buying Xbox. Even I got confused in their nomenclature.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

So when you push R3 to lock on and you get I think 3 rings round your centre reticle, that means it is going to auto target and rotate you? I think that’s correct?

 

[nikos]

Played a few missions. First impression isn't too great but I'm going to give it some more time.

 

[Bry0]

Have played AC on pad from the beginning. First time on KBM with AC and its superior to pad. Worth the initial discomfort.

Tone, presentation, style and audio are all very OG AC. On the fence with the gameplay. Everything feels a lot "lighter". Less weight and less mechanical feel behind the movement. It actually feels good, but feels a bit off compared to traditional AC. Feels like boost management is less important now, too - maybe im wrong in that. Movement and energy management seem way more accesible in general.

Loving the boost cancel / blade cancels, though. Its like wave dashing in AC lol.

Boost management is definitely more forgiving but I think it makes sense because getting staggered punishes you pretty hard if you do get hit too much.

 

[R6Rider]

Not used.

That's fucking lame.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Legendary OT as always from Mortal

About 5 hours in, absolutely loving it and I'll say it's probably FROM's easiest game yet lol (I say this as someone who has the plat trophies in Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring etc). One *big* criticism I have is the lackluster haptic support, such a missed opportunity on the PS5 with all these cool weapons, when will devs learn that good haptics increase the enjoyment and immersion in a game 10-fold, *especially* a game like this where combat is everything. Oh well, it is what it is.

The customization options are bananas, you have near infinite freedom to build whatever mech your heart desires. I appreciate that training had courses for the different mech types, they all feel great and I might actually try a tank build at some point. Loghunt encourages seeking out special enemies off the main path, replay missions for ranking and $$$ is cool though S rank requirements are nebulous/ inconsistent. I managed an S rank on one mission where I thought maybe I shouldn't have gotten it while I only got an A rank on another where I was 100% sure I should have got the S lol.

Arena battles offer even more to do with lots of cool rewards, there is a whole lot of game here, haven't even unlocked multiplayer yet. Love missions where you fight alongside allies, makes everything feel grander in scale and the combat pyrotechnics sing. Voices are fantastic, OST is dope, performance is solid, game is pretty, combat (despite mediocre haptic support) is sublime, this is going to be a hell of a ride!

 

[gaming_again]

I lost to the tutorial boss half a dozen times last night before giving up and going to bed. How embarrassing. I know the melee attack is the way to go, but the chopper moves a ton and fast and even max boosting it can be hard to catch up and if I do it's likely through a hail of bullets and missiles.

What super obvious things am I missing? Tutorial boss should not be whooping me like this.

It took me like an hour and 30 tries so don’t sweat it. I started getting a little better each time. There was no trick - i just slowly became more comfortable and confident with the controls.

 

[f~N_CH_1:3:3:3_SushiBoat]

The what?

Can cancel mele start up with mix - match of boost and assault. Rinse repeat, grounded or air. Not sure how practical, but its fun and provides an alternate linear movement option. If anything else, its got pizazz.

 

[GymWolf]

The money malus for the ammo at the end of the mission is some bullshit, it make killing enemies around the map just for fun actively a bad thing.

Let me fucking kill mofos without a penalty.

I guess you can just spam short missions to make easy money, but still...

 

[Danjin44]

The money malus for the ammo at the end of the mission is some bullshit, it make killing enemies around the map just for fun actively a bad thing.

Let me fucking kill mofos without a penalty.

In mercenary life every bullet and missle counts and cost money, so you need to be efficient rather than trigger happy.

 

[GymWolf]

Can cancel mele start up with mix - match of boost and assault. Rinse repeat, grounded or air. Not sure how practical, but its fun and provides an alternate linear movement option. If anything else, its got pizazz.

With a what? sorry but i'm playing with italian subs so the terminology is different.

 

[f~N_CH_1:3:3:3_SushiBoat]

With a what? sorry but i'm playing with italian subs so the terminology is different.

Just play around with boost as the blade comes out.

 

[GymWolf]

I lost to the tutorial boss half a dozen times last night before giving up and going to bed. How embarrassing. I know the melee attack is the way to go, but the chopper moves a ton and fast and even max boosting it can be hard to catch up and if I do it's likely through a hail of bullets and missiles.

What super obvious things am I missing? Tutorial boss should not be whooping me like this.

Even when you are on the ground without juice you should still slide towards him so when you have the juice again the distance to reach him in the air is shorter to cover, also try to hit the visible head\cabin with the blade, not other parts because i think you do less damage and stagger.

Also, use the X\square evasion left and right when you are reaching him in the air to blade his ass because if you fly in a straight line he stuns you with his machine guns and missiles.

Also, don't waste any try when he fly too close to the limit of the arena, he does this bullshit move where you can't reach him in the air but he can fuck you up, the arena was small and annoying in this sense, very unfair to even have walls if he can just go outside of them and be safe from your attacks.

 

[j0hnnix]

Without spoiling who.. Boss vs. My tank boy with dual laser top mount and dual shottys 60 sec fight. Build is perfect if anyone is having trouble with this turd.

 

[GymWolf]

Just play around with boost as the blade comes out.

The boost is the circle or the square? or l3?

 

[nightmare-slain]

I'm pissed off already after just 40 minutes so yeah this is definitely a From Software game lol. The first boss is giving me trouble but I'm still trying to get used to these awkward controls. I might see if it's better to play with keyboard/mouse. The amount of shit on screen is overwhelming and I wish the FOV was a bit bigger. I'm not shitting on it... I know it's going to be tough but once it clicks then I'll be good.

I don't know how I should be playing. More aggressive like say Bloodborne/Sekiro or backing off and being defensive like Souls.

 

[GymWolf]

I'm pissed off already after just 40 minutes so yeah this is definitely a From Software game lol. The first boss is giving me trouble but I'm still trying to get used to these awkward controls. I might see if it's better to play with keyboard/mouse. The amount of shit on screen is overwhelming. I'm not shitting on it... I know it's going to be tough but once it clicks then I'll be good.

I don't know how I should be playing. More aggressive like say Bloodborne/Sekiro or backing off and being defensive like Souls.

L3 to reach him in the air and blade his ass, be super aggressive and you can beat him in 60 sec.

Not sure if this is gonna work with every boss tho.

This is an example of what you should do but maybe use a medpack when you are about to die
(sorry for the cringe)

 

[nightmare-slain]

L3 to reach him in the air and blade his ass, be super aggressive and you can beat him in 60 sec.

I must've missed what L3 does. I tried jumping up to slash him but kept losing power.

 

[John Bilbo]

I'm pissed off already after just 40 minutes so yeah this is definitely a From Software game lol. The first boss is giving me trouble but I'm still trying to get used to these awkward controls. I might see if it's better to play with keyboard/mouse. The amount of shit on screen is overwhelming and I wish the FOV was a bit bigger. I'm not shitting on it... I know it's going to be tough but once it clicks then I'll be good.

I don't know how I should be playing. More aggressive like say Bloodborne/Sekiro or backing off and being defensive like Souls.

The starting build has a good long range rifle but the blade on L2(?) does severe damage.

When you get a bit further in the game you can unlock loads of different weapons / legs / builds to play close, mid or long range.

 

[geary]

I died a lot at the first boss due to the fact that i remained out of boost to reach it, until i used the power boost (dunno its name) which is on CTRL on KB/M. Beat it at the first try.

 

[nightmare-slain]

I'll give that a try then, thanks for the suggestion

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Legendary OT as always from Mortal

About 5 hours in, absolutely loving it and I'll say it's probably FROM's easiest game yet lol (I say this as someone who has the plat trophies in Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring etc). One *big* criticism I have is the lackluster haptic support, such a missed opportunity on the PS5 with all these cool weapons, when will devs learn that good haptics increase the enjoyment and immersion in a game 10-fold, *especially* a game like this where combat is everything. Oh well, it is what it is.

The customization options are bananas, you have near infinite freedom to build whatever mech your heart desires. I appreciate that training had courses for the different mech types, they all feel great and I might actually try a tank build at some point. Loghunt encourages seeking out special enemies off the main path, replay missions for ranking and $$$ is cool though S rank requirements are nebulous/ inconsistent. I managed an S rank on one mission where I thought maybe I shouldn't have gotten it while I only got an A rank on another where I was 100% sure I should have got the S lol.

Arena battles offer even more to do with lots of cool rewards, there is a whole lot of game here, haven't even unlocked multiplayer yet. Love missions where you fight alongside allies, makes everything feel grander in scale and the combat pyrotechnics sing. Voices are fantastic, OST is dope, performance is solid, game is pretty, combat (despite mediocre haptic support) is sublime, this is going to be a hell of a ride!

I was really disappointed to not feel the haptics in action.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Ok, the lack o DLSS make this game look worse then anything else out there, geez

if u have a 4k monitor u are good otherwise u are fucked, c'mon FROM its not that hard

 

[geary]

With the customization, mission strcture, builds, flexibility and movement, it remembers me of Warframe when was at its best.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Ok, the lack o DLSS make this game look worse then anything else out there, geez

if u have a 4k monitor u are good otherwise u are fucked, c'mon FROM its not that hard

doesn't look bad for me on 1440p monitor. my PC is hardly breaking a sweat running at max settings 1440p 120fps. DLSS would be nice but I don't need it. my GPU is sitting at max 60% usage and about 40C lol. my PC is powerful but it's a very light game. anyone with a card that can do DLSS shouldn't need it for this game.

 

[gaming_again]

Just took that tank down. So much fun. I’ve already replayed every boss so far at least twice because I didn’t like my original scrappy wins.

 

[killatopak]

Just finished the desert boss.

Struggling to find a use for the shield. Most enemies do single digit damage and the boss attacks so far seem to penetrate the shield and stagger me anyway. Maybe later ACs will be more apt for this part but I will probably switch to something else.

I know perfect guard could probably make it worth it but there's too many movement options that doesn't require precise timings.

 

[Auto_aim1]

Combat is fun once u get the hang of it.

 

[RoboFu]

The first boss is just destroying me. not sure what is not clicking. I can fly up under it and hit with melee a few but after halfway it seems to not allow that anymore and just keeps getting in front of me and blowing me up almost instantly.


BS things about the first boss:

- BOSS can go outside of the fight area but you cant.. WTF!?
- Easy to get pinned on the buildings.
- When doing a L boost boss tends to again run outside of the battle area.

 

[Lokaum D+]

doesn't look bad for me on 1440p monitor. my PC is hardly breaking a sweat running at max settings 1440p 120fps. DLSS would be nice but I don't need it. my GPU is sitting at max 60% usage and about 40C lol. my PC is powerful but it's a very light game. anyone with a card that can do DLSS shouldn't need it for this game.

sorry, 1440p and 4k users are good at 1080 even with AA at maximum all edges looks rough as a chainsaw blade, DLSS or FSR are tools for upscaling image quality that keeps performance on check.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Its began

 

[Auto_aim1]

The first boss is just destroying me. not sure what is not clicking. I can fly up under it and hit with melee a few but after halfway it seems to not allow that anymore and just keeps getting in front of me and blowing me up almost instantly.


BS things about the first boss:

- BOSS can go outside of the fight area but you cant.. WTF!?
- Easy to get pinned on the buildings.
- When doing a L boost boos tends again run outside of the battle area.

You can destroy it in 50 seconds. Look at the video above your post.

 

[MikeM]

Anyone comment on the Dualsense? Used well or no? Debating whether to go PC or PS5.

 

[Con-Z-epT]

Anyone comment on the Dualsense? Used well or no? Debating whether to go PC or PS5.

It's not in use. No adaptive triggers or haptic feedback.

 

[MikeM]

It's not in use. No adaptive triggers or haptic feedback.

Wow that’s disappointing.

 

[gaming_again]

Keep trying. It’s frustrating as hell but it will click.

The going outside of the zone bit is pure bullshit, though.

 

[crazyjah2003]

I am having a bit of trouble with the controls, especially boosting and cancelling. First boss kicked my ass, but I realized he needs to be melee'd.

Feel like the controls are designed with large areas to travel through in mind as opposed to close quarter.

 

[Bartski]

I love how much of the game is about planning and trying to figure out a strat for a given encounter. I think they nailed it and being able to reassemble the mech mid-mission is just masterful direction.
Some fights that feel impossible become trivial with the quad-ped.

But now I'm at chapter 2 end boss and the strat so far seems to be

1. don't get hit
2. ?

I have plenty of builds to play with I'm sure I'll figure it out

 

[SJRB]

No other game gives that FUCK YEAH I DID IT after beating a boss like a FROM game. So good.

Love all the customization options and just flicking through the menus. Very nice interface and dope background music to boot.

 

[j0hnnix]

 

[Lokaum D+]

yeah, lets make the first boss near impossible to kill if u never played a AC game, even Margit was a fair fight compared to this bs.

Auto_aim1
Yeah, lets get into AC and watch boss guide at the first boss, great idea

 

[Romulus]

How does this fare for fans of Armored Core 2? That was above and beyond the best game for me.

 

[RoboFu]

You can destroy it in 50 seconds. Look at the video above your post.

thats exactly how i killed it., but sometimes it doesnt always work out like that if the boss decides to go OUT OF THE BATTLE AREA.

Played a few more mission which were really boring. Trying to decide if I should keep going or refund.

 

[Fart Knight]

Beat the chopper at the second try. Liking it.

 

[gaming_again]

How tf are people doing this in 15 hours? I’m 6 hours in and on mission 12 out of 60-odd.

 

[Lokaum D+]

first mission done and it didn't hook me, ll try a few mission later but i don't think i ll like it.

 

[nightmare-slain]

yeey i beat the first boss. actually wasn't that difficult! that left analog boost attack really made the difference. not sure why i didn't pick up on that at first lol. now i'm overwhelmed at how to customise the mech. i got some parts so equipped them. the lock on target seems weird. maybe i'm expecting the camera to turn to keep the target in view at all times but i need to manually do that. once i can see the target then it snaps back on.

initial impression of combat is very good! reminds me of bloodborne. will play more tomorrow.