despite the huge improvements this game over verdict day, it still tends to 5th gen, the 5th gen is has alot of flaws, and tries to be a direct continuation of ACFA, but god it is like, still kinda worth checking it out if you're interested and know what you're about to walk into, as this game's ost is actually genuienly really goated, but if you're looking for a great armored core game, AC:VD is not the place to look.
although the ultimate weapons were some of the coolest thing in fromsoftware history. FROMSOFT GIVE IT TO US IN LITERALLY ANY OTHER AC GAME I BEG YOU

A gigantic, triumphant improvement over Armored Core V, Verdict Day beats the odds to merely be very bad.

I already went on an unhinged rant about my problems with ACV, most of which were just barely less severe this time around, but I do want to say that Verdict Day has plenty of content laid over this totally irredeemable framework that I would love to have experienced in pretty much any other game. Like... there's some pretty decent writing, in an old-school AC way; you get character profiles of AC pilots after killing them in missions, which is a small thing that does (relatively) a lot to make the campaign feel less like an afterthought. Missions are also no longer atrociously long and samey (though the difficulty has been ramped up considerably), there are better and more varied maps, some of the new frame parts they added aren't as ugly. Strides have certainly been made.

The final boss gets hyped up a lot and: genuinely yes, it's an absolute standout as the best thing in the game visually, conceptually, and even mechanically. It's a pretty fun fight! I liked the actual gameplay of it! But like... I don't know if it's "play all of Armored Core Verdict Day for this" good. You can watch it on Youtube, frankly, it's not like the context of the rest of the game adds much. (The context of having played For Answer, however...)

If it wasn't obvious, I didn't fuck with multiplayer at all. There are a variety of reasons for this, but there's only a couple of months left that the multiplayer will even exist, so if the idea isn't as repellent to you as it is to me, you should probably hurry.

They took ACV's framework that had a lot of potential for more than what ACV gave us and then crafted a great AC experience that feels more akin to the older gens. Even if you aren't a huge gen 5 fan you gotta play this for that insanely amazing final mission. They even brought back the AI AC UNACs from Formula Front! Except they assist you this time as a partner. Really feels like they wanted to take a bunch of good elements from other games. Unlocking parts is much better in this game too.

The switch to traditional style AC missions is nice tho I would've liked if they had at least a couple of the long ACV style ones in-between. Could do with a bit more variety in the missions instead of the "kill all enemies and then AC" but its a very charming solid game with nice characters and plot, which is quite Last Raven-esque.

Definitely worth the play! The visual effects are a bit too distracting and chaotic in multiple AC fights though... beware if you suffer from a condition that could be triggered from that.

PS: I also have to mention Yuka Kitamura (of Dark Souls fame)'s help on the OST is neat too, Vendetta being a collab between her and Hoshino rocks.

do you like the oldgen mission format, AC vs AC fights and uh... programming? if so, then boy oh boy have i got the game for you:

...it's a shame there aren't more campaign set pieces a la ACV, but if their absence means having order missions that don't suck ass, maybe that's not such a huge price to pay. i'll certainly take 60 solid missions over 9 good ones and 80+ that suck ass

final boss made me remember things

I’m at a sheer loss to hype anyone about Armored Core: Verdict Day. And this is coming from someone who loves mecha, even the most dull ones I usually find some aspects worth looking into. Except for Nine-breaker, but that's a topic for another day. Here I am struggling so hard to get into a cockpit let alone function in one. In the end, I'm leaning quite heavily on “Skip this, please. For the sake of your sanity.” There is plenty wrong here, but I'll do my best to give a fair overview for those interested.

Set 100 years after the events of ACV. I won’t spoil what happens in the previous game, but suffice it to say. You control a new protagonist. The “Lone Mercenary.” Accompanying them is an operator Maggy and a transport pilot by the name of Fatman. Yes, I kid you not, one of your handlers' names is Fatman… Okay….Unexpected Kojima character aside You have slightly fewer main missions(Sorties) here than the predecessor with sixty to go through, but only ten have relevance to the story. The 50 are mainly AC vs. AC duels and the occasional eliminate every enemy unit. The Sorties barely drop important plot scenes here, quickly dulling my interest. Sure they can drip-feed you lore pages after duels, but these only talk about the enemy and less about enriching who, what, where, when, and why questions about the ACs we use and less so about the characters, relationships, and plot threads we encounter. Mostly delegated in cutscenes, but these are too small in number when a majority of battles are simply skirmishes without context. So lack of context and exposition here hurts. To give you the bare minimum: “The Three Forces” reign supreme. The Venide, Sirius, and Evergreen Family(EGF). I don’t need to discuss their background because there is hardly vital information to explore. But the gist is that the Forces are in a constant 3-way war with each other for the power to use the Towers. Tall megastructures dot various places around the globe with hidden ancient advanced technology. There is a fourth power; “The Foundation,” a group that claims neutrality yet supplies all factions with weapons and UNACs(Unmanned Armored Cores). And you, my unlucky friend, have to navigate the different assignments from each of these factions.

After completing all the missions offline, I have to say the story is a downgrade from its predecessor. Villains unremarkable of note and meh characters. The inclusion of lore is a nice touch that constantly updates in a sort of digital newspaper; “The Voice of War” or VOW for short. Yet, these ultimately don’t do much to engage players enough to immerse them further into the world. Serving as little more than a footnote, an after-action report after a main story encounter and as a result disinterests me to care for worldbuilding at large. One could easily see this as a checklist the devs did to fulfill a ‘lore’ requirement. Granted, the series isn't known for lore to feed, since we have to piece together the sparse environmental storytelling told through fragments of cutscenes, character dialogue, and morsels of information that may connect with villains. Yet this in itself isn't a strong point to dive into from my time playing AC2 to ACVD. There have been attempts by more dedicated fans on Youtube to somehow connect the pieces of lore, an endeavor I respect and admire. So perhaps there is something to tie knots...

One feature I loved in the earlier title is the workshop sites. These sites allow one to resupply and change their outfits with different parts. Here the devs removed it in favor of larger, wider areas to fight enemies and much smaller levels. However, this presents a more bland design. Now corridors and areas became too samey and copy-pasted throughout. Once you see one AC vs. AC engagement you’ve pretty much seen them all. Dropping you from one wasteland with cliffs to an industrial, and another with broken factories and inoperable war machines. The lack of creativity compared to the tight-knit levels in the preceding one is a cause for concern. This coupled with a meager amount of interesting enemy variety and cool special boss encounters to wow you, are nearly nonexistent here. This is exacerbated by a poor list of worthwhile main objectives beyond defeating all enemies. Sure there are a handful of very uncommon ones, but more often than not the objective is simply "eliminate everyone." Where are the timed limits? Defend against 'x' waves of enemies? Defeat colossus-type machines!?

Can’t even go online since the servers are offline on PS3. I wanted to try some cool Sorties I hear you can undertake with others, especially battling an old special enemy type from AC V. Now that’s not possible. The servers were gutted, which comprises I would say a 3rd chunk of content left to peruse. Wish I could play that… Somehow… sighs

Anyway, there must be something here worth experiencing?! Right!?

Thankfully, there is. For such a bleak world, the soundtrack composed by longtime AC composer Kota Hoshino with Yuka Kitamura is surprisingly uplifting, not full of edge and hardcore rock. Instead, I am treated to a slew of tracks keeping the beat, full of techno, violins at times with bass during heavy moments, and chaotic musical mayhem. Not seeking to increase my anxiety, instead the music pumps me up to be efficient, keeps my spirits up, and despite overwhelming odds stacked against me, I persevere through heavy damage. Vocals are carefully sung in a beautiful tone sometimes in the background rather than the foreground. Where prominent instruments like the drums reign supreme in precision tempo to not destroy the beat too much. Not with an intensity to the extent they’re drumming without end, but utilized carefully to keep tracks soulful, pleasant, and full of good rhythms. Although, some tracks raise the tension and suspense to full throttle. Giving rise to my anxiety, but even so, it is still not enough to delve into despair. Some of these tracks for some reason feel triumphant with hints of melancholy. In effect, the composition of the whole soundtrack is eclectic, with controlled chaos, and a dash of oozing coolness here and there.

There is a neat addition here I haven’t seen in all the AC entries I’ve played thus far and I dearly wish the feature will become a mainstay for future installments. In that upon dying. You don’t automatically head to the results screen. Instead, you are ejected from your mech with two big tanks equipped to your body to hover. From here you can spectate the skirmish as an active participant. Did you bring along a UNAC with you? Let’s see if they can defeat your enemies... If they can. You. Win. The. Mission. Oh my god. This single-handedly saved my playthrough and made repeating assignments upon failing them not a chore, but something I'm interested in witnessing since my buddy could finish the enemy AC or remaining mobs right? Yup! I lost countless times my ally finished the job when I couldn’t. They are a constant companion when you hire them during your main campaign progress. So fighting alone isn't so lonely when you have a buddy along!

Aside from that you can even upgrade these guys and make your own customized A.I. And even go above and beyond by allowing users to tweak their chipset to prioritize what to do during combat. I’m astounded at the sheer depth to have full control to tweak our A.I. companion into becoming a super killing machine. I didn’t delve into the option too much since I only found out during my repeated attempts at the final battle. But even without tinkering. The default UNACs you can use do more than enough damage to help you to victory. I’ll never forget SIGNS UNAC D/01. The dude carried me through countless fights, even when I used my previous build from importing. Salutes o7

As with certain entries in the AC series. You can import your saves from the past game to grant you additional parts, use your loadout, emblems, etc. I was able to use the build I had before the final boss painlessly. So it's a good idea to import if you do have a save. Fast process and you don’t need to have a struggle in the beginning.

That’s pretty much the only thing I could say positively to defend Verdict Day. I could sprout suggestions on what not to do, but I think FromSoftware learned from their mistakes here and is actively working hard to improve with the next entry coming soon. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. All in all, I’m incredibly soul-crushed to say, ACVD is a deteriorating mecha full of rust. And I shudder to enter the cockpit of one. The sum of its parts is not enough to redeem the underwhelming gameplay, poor level design, no noteworthy boss types, barebones story, weak worldbuilding, questionable feature replacement, missing online connectivity, and meh cast and villains. Customizing your AC remains satisfying, but everything else bogs my enjoyment. With very few positives for me to confidently recommend to newcomers or veterans. It’s a shame the last Armored Core the devs made before diving into a hiatus goes out not with a bang, but with a whimper. There is potential here, and I wish the servers were still online for me to play the multiplayer component. To anyone who enjoys this title, I triple salute your dedication. When I had only a little. I would only recommend this to super dedicated fans who want to try the last AC before ACVI by FromSoftware, but honestly, you're better off playing the past games in my honest opinion. AC2, AC3, Nexus, and AC4, are all better starting points.


4/10

Additional Material:
ACVD Tutorial Document for new players
Information, Explanations, and Q&A for Armored Core: Verdict Day (And 5th Gen)

Como eu amo jogar Pokémon, nossa como adoraria que uma certa franquia adotasse aspectos similares










Pelo menos o V foi tankavel

that final mission may be one of the best things i've ever played? holy fuck dude. the goosebumps are still there. so insane

verdict day is a fascinating game. coming off the heels of the divisive V, it's clear that this time, they wanted to bring the game closer in-line with its predecessors. now, how successful it is in that is up to debate, but the mixture of V's visual design and mechanics, For Answer-esque narrative and Last Raven-esque missions, it feels like a greatest hits album of everywhere and everything the series has gone or done, and even if i'm still not the biggest fan of its gameplay nor its changes, it's impossible for me not to love this game. the story is up there with the all time greats like that aforementioned LR and FA, the soundtrack is legendary, god it's hard not to gush about it.

and what a game it is.. i struggled with this more than even last raven, i think. it always felt a little like i was wrestling with the controls to do what i wanted, but it's a mech game so you can't really fault it for that. it's probably just a skill issue on my part - i could easily see the argument that this has the biggest skill ceiling (and floor? maybe?) of the entire series. still not a big fan of the way the shop updates, or the different damage types, and i think there can be way too much going on on-screen sometimes, but i really can't bring myself to not love this game, even if i prefer V's direction on the whole... wow. i love this series so much man. there really is nothing like it.

This review is gonna be less about verdict day and more about armored core as an entire series, because this was my final game in my marathon of all 15 before 6, but to get it out of the way, verdict day is better then 5 slightly, but worse then every other game. Anyways, this series is fucking phenomonal, i find it baffling this series is so niche, because it really is special, the custmoization is fantastic, most of the bosses are challenging but usually very very good and fair(like youd expect from fromsoft), the stories are dark and intriguing, even the worst ones i couldnt help but get sucked into the plot and (sometimes) characters, and not to mention the gameplay, depending on your preference you are basically playing an entirely different game with different mechs, its fantastic. I've had some very high highs and some very low lows with these games, and after all of it, i only have fond memories, this series is amazing, give it a chance, anyways, See you on the battlefield Ravens.

UND. ICH. BIN. DURCH!
12 Mainline Armored Core Teile, verteilt über vier Konsolen, über 100 Stunden Spielzeit, innerhalb von knapp drei Wochen.

Armored Core V Verdict Day stellt den letzten Teil dieser Reise dar. Das letzte AC was vor 10 Jahren released wurde und der erste Teil den ich mir damals kaufte und nach ein paar Missionen leider schon wieder liegen ließ.

Ich hab in meiner, uh, "Review" von V schon geschrieben, dass ich harte Anlaufschwierigkeiten mit diesem Spiel hatte. Anfangs mochte ich es überhaupt nicht, nur um es plötzlich dann doch irgendwie zu mögen und dann zu lieben.

Also nochmal kurz: Movement, Walljumps, Wallkicks und der delayed Boost? GROSSARTIG. Präsentation und Musik? GROSSARTIG.
Die Maps in diesem Spiel sind leider nicht mehr so dicht wie im Vorgänger, dafür ist die Framerate deutlich besser. Auch die Mechaniken wurden wohl etwas getweaked und es steuert sich noch dieses kleine Stückchen smoother.
Vom Movement aktuell definitiv mein liebstes Mech Game.

Das Schere-Stein-Papier-Prinzip der Waffen ist eine nette Idee, überschreibt allerdings den ganzen Rest der Waffen. Nie denk ich "Oh, was ist für diesen Gegner, auf diese Distanz nun die beste Option?", da man stets danach geht was den richtigen Schaden macht. Eigentlich ballert man nur und hält durchgehend drauf.

Es ist der Shooter des Franchises bei dem nichts mehr so wichtig ist wie einfach draufzuhalten. Und das ist leider äußerst Schade.
Da aber das Merc Gefühl, die Wahl der Mission, der Build meines Mechs, der Blick auf die Finanzen dabei, das Munitionsmanagement etc etc etc seit den HD Teilen sowieso keine Rolle mehr für mich spielten, genieße ich V und VD zumindest für das was sie sind. Nämlich sehr spaßige Endzeit-Militärshooter. Auch wenn die Kampagne sich dank des Online-Modes seeehr zieht.


OH! Okay, darüber sollten wir noch reden: Der Onlinemodus. Im Gegensatz zu V ist dieser hier immer noch online und funktionstüchtig. Leider spielt ihn keine Seele mehr, aber ich möchte trotzdem mal über ein paar Elemente sprechen die sehr interessant sind.

Es existiert weiterhin ein Clanfokus mit eigenen Teams dessen Logos, Farben und Decals man anpassen kann, wie bei einem Vereinstrikot.
Du kannst dich einer von drei Fraktionen anschließen für Territorialschlachten, aber auch einfach so Online gegeneinander spielen, oder aber auch deine eigene Basis verteidigen bzw die von anderen Spielern überfallen die sie aber möglicherweise mit Verteidigungssystemen vollgestellt haben.
Falls du Hilfe bei einer Mission brauchst, kannst du Söldner anfragen was echte Spieler sind die sich bereiterklärt haben auszuhelfen.
Du kannst aber auch mit Leuten aus deinem Team die Kampagne gemeinsam bestreiten.
Sobald ein Teammate eine Mission startet, bekommst du einen Prompt im Menü und mit zwei Klicks bist du dabei. Coop könnte so einfach sein, From.

Das meiste davon ist mittlerweile vollkommen unspielbar weil es halt niemand mehr spielt, aber versteht ihr von was ich hier gerade rede? Das Spiel ist ein Third Person Shooter mit 5v5 Onlineschlachten, Deathmatch, Clanmatches, die neuen Splatfests von Splatoon 3, OGame und ein Coopspiel mit Souls-Summoning IN EINEM.
From hatte kaum Geld, es fehlte ihnen stark an technischer Expertise, die Menüs sind wie immer ein vollkommener Krampf (und sogar noch undurchsichtiger als im Vorgänger)
Aber diese Ambitionen, man, diese Ambitionen.

Ich freue mich tierisch auf AC6. Ich bin bereit dafür ENDLICH mit Freunden darüber reden zu können welche builds ich benutzt hab, wie ich diese Mission geschafft hab, bei welchem Boss ich hänge bis mir jemand sagt doch mal diese Waffe zu probieren - ich bin bereit. Ich hab so Bock darauf. Ich will dass AC6 so meine Obsession wird, so wie Ace Combat (auch ein AC, heh) vor ein paar Jahren meine Obsession war.
Und trotzdem blick ich diesem Spiel mit einem traurigen Auge hinterher, weil From bestimmt nie wieder ein so umfangreiches Onlinespiel machen wird wie Verdict Day.

Das Spiel ist aktuell der einzige Teil der digital erworben werden kann. Es kostet auf der 360 leider 20€, auf der PS3 hingegen aktuell nur 13.
Falls ihr zu diesen Weirdos gehört die diese Konsolen gelegentlich noch angeschlossen haben, probierts aus. Ich mags sehr.

I'll be perfectly honest, I purely played this cus A: I wanted to be done with the series until 6 releases and B: I really wanted to fight the final boss.
Was it worth it? Yeah, at least it gave me more context about the 5th gen of the series (granted, I skipped V, nothing about it seemed interesting to me) and the final boss really is that cool.
That said, how is the game overall? It's alright. Half of the missions are too long for their own sake and yet the other half are extremely easy and short. Most of the levels feel uninspired, you'd think with how the ACs are straight up the slowest in the series, which is lame by the by, the levels would be reminiscent of the ones from previous games, such as mazes, the inside of a structure, etc, but instead most levels are even emptier than those in 4th gen without the spectacle or speed to justify it. I do appreciate some of the changes done to how the ACs work, such as the back weapons just being weapons that you change into, but some changes feel like they were made for the sake of multiplayer, such as scan mode, the kinetic/thermal/chemical damage, and some weapons like the chaff grenades which are too niche in a singleplayer setting.
Also the story is really whatever, the only interesting thing is how after defeating any AC you get a little popup explaining their story, but everything else just feels too edgy and simple.
In general there's some things from the 5th gen that FromSoft could keep for the 6th entry, but I do think it's best if they really just do a clean slate. I also really hope they don't focus in online multiplayer.