"Gen 5 is the absolute worst AC generation"->They played it on PS3
"Gen 5 is actually good you're just bad"->They played it on Xbox 360

Unfortunately, I've got to play the PS3 version in OG hardware and made Dark Souls' OG Blighttown look like Metal Gear Solid 2 in comparison. I have no feelings towards this game but FromSoft should be ashamed to have pulled one of the absolute worst running games I have ever played. Why is this generation such a pain just to be played normally??? On OG PS3 this runs like dogshit, let alone RPCS3; on Xbox 360 I saw it runs smoothly but you need good-ass hardware if you want to play it on Xenia, otherwise you've got to play it WITHOUT AC TEXTURES????

I've always closed an eye on From Software's absolute lack of capacity in terms of optimization, but this is too much I'm sorry.

why do vanillaware titles always cause so much melties LMAOOOOOOO, notice how none of the review bombers have actually talked about the gameplay.

anyways, this shit is really good (so far - only 11hrs in), so if you're on the fence about picking up a cool srpg - i'd strongly say go for this.

also i carnally need berengaria so bad

If Armored Core nails the fundamentals in a miraculous first try and Project Phantasma experiments by ultimately leading to a subpar experience, Master of Arena is undoubtedly the culmination of the 1st generation of ACs.

The reasons why are soon nailed by the player. A strong introduction delivers the reasons for all the struggle: a grudge with an enemy raven. That raven being none other than Hustler One in his Nine-Ball. This will soon become a trope in AC, but MoA is trailblazing his way into greatness.

The Arena is integrated into the storyline in a way which will then again set the standards for future ACs: you need a sponsor, and the sponsor needs work done. Back to the missions you go.

Speaking of which, mission design's the best in the 1st generation. Set-pieces, environments, concepts and ideas finally delivered in a substantial and effective way. They never feel the same, and there's always a reason to revisit the missing ones post-game, unlike Project Phantasma.

All of AC parts went into a balacing pass, but stuff's still broken like you'd expect in 1st Gen. Taking into account how tough this game gets in the late stages, you'd want to bring in only the best you have. And that's where Master of Arena excels.

Once in a while, through the normal, bite-sized missions, you'll find enemy ACs pouring out of nowhere, slowly becoming an habit, only for then being reward with a final gauntlet against your rival. And that - that thing goes way harder than you'd expect.

Kota Hoshino started working in the AC series with MoA. Even if some tracks from the original and Project Phantasma already went hard - this is where stuff really gets memorable. You'll find out soon enough.

Bring human plus or don't - the choice is yours. Just - don't sleep on this thing.

This is some of the best offerings in the entire series and you' don't want to miss it.

Recommended.

When something stays for one or two games, it could be a mistake. When something sticks around for two and an half generations - it's deliberate.

That's regarding the control scheme of Armored Core Silent Line. It's the same unforgiving mess which will make your hands sweat and some of your fingers hurt. But in Silent Line - it doesn't matter.

It doesn't since the AC feels butter smooth, the controls somehow do too, and everything is tighter and more "present". There's something inexplicable about how much feedback, animations, VFXs and sound design really sell the mech action's fantasy - and that's happening right here. This game wants to be obliterated by you, and it's asking that so much so you can already find out in the shop.

Shop which features a plethora of left-handed weapons which somehow mirror the right-handed ranged ones, bringing into the mix the ability to dual-wield without having to rely on weapon arms. Extensions get stronger, so much so that stuff like the MEST-MX/CROW is so strong you may just make an AC design just around that one component. And that's for starters.

If AC3 was somehow a bit tuned towards the heavyweights, here every kind of AC finds its own volition: you want a lightweight, speedy, flaking build? That's viable. A middleweight, classic Moonlight Karasawa action? Arguably some of the best renditions of both weapons.

Renditions which do not stop at weapons. Being AC3 kind of a retelling of the original Armored Core, you guessed it - Silent Line tries to make you feel like in Master of Arena. Those are big fat shoes to fill, and the game delivers on that. Partially. That will become soon understandable once you finish the title.

Until you finish though, get your ass ready for some kicking.

This thing is not joking around. Even if you bring OP-INTENSIFY, which by the way is the best rendition of the human plus system in the whole series, some if not the most of the missions are going to test your skills to the maximum. It won't take much long for ACs to drop like they were MTs, and duo or trio AC fights to become basically the norm. By that point, though, you'll be ready.

May it be a quick tour of the garage, or a stop by the arena. Silent Line, as said before, is almost overwhelming with options in order to build your tailor-made AC: being it so easy to develop a play-style-defining AC, you will spend way more time testing and trying out more stuff. That's also because one of the games featuring weapon variants, which share meshes with already existing weaponry, but with different statistics and colors.

Story goes hard. Soundtrack goes hard. If there's something really worth complaining, again, it's probably the very, very last section of the game. That's only because it under-delivers in the challenge department in a game which, mind you, it's tough, but absolutely forgiving.

Some of the best that the series has to offer is right there. Taking into account AC3, the early 3rd generation is probably quality-wise the most consistent the series has ever been.

Recommended.

Armored Core has remarkable entries, but only some of them will generate really, really strong reactions once said. Last Raven is, by no means exaggerating, one of them, and for all the good and bad reasons.

As it goes for For Answer, this is one of the games in the series which features this "impeding doom" scenario, writing, and atmosphere. The latter being thick enough which will sell you on the game in its first beats - just as art direction, soundtrack and quality of life changes will do.

Those latter improvements are welcome, as they are needed in order to advance through the toughest parts of the title. From the original three we get five AC loadouts, the garage UI is completely revamped, the statistics sections too, the tuning is free of charge and not irreversible, and there's a whole new menu for any information regarding rival ACs, missions, world and story. Controls are carried over from Nexus and Nine-Breaker, but the old-school option still remains. So much is given...

...Only for the game to take it back, tenfold.

When people speak about this thing being hard, they are not lying or making it up. Parts can break down during a fight, worsening your AC performance in real time, and even make you unable to use an arm weapon. Those broken parts will have to be bought again in full at the shop, which makes experimenting harder, at least in your first play-through.

If Silent Line has the habit of dropping in ACs like MTs, Last Raven has the habit of dropping in bosses like ACs. If your performance was rewarded with a challenge before, now it's rewarded with a brick wall. Always expect the unexpected.

You won't bring OP-INTENSIFY here, everyone is a human plus, and most of the rival ACs are also over-tuned to the point of basically cheating against the player. All things which will generate frustration beyond everything you have experienced in the series, like "Destroy Floating Mines" or "B-1 Grand Chief".

That's because, even if the game is the biggest in terms of options - only some of them are viable. Those strong parts are, funny enough, the ones you won't be carrying over from Nexus, and instead finding in Last Raven. What you carry over from Nexus and Nine-Breaker is, instead, the EN balancing, lightweights being dead on arrival and weapons' spread making some of them borderline unusable. Adding in the game's habit to reward you with parts when you S-tier a mission, the pain points are now revealed. Yet how come this absolute disaster of a game is that praised?

Well, this thing is just - that - good. Arguably, some of the best the series can offer. And that can easily be explained by the game's high-level structure.

Time is of the essence. You, other ravens, corporations and independent warlords all fight for a piece of the remaining pie in this post-apocalyptic world soon to be engulfed in the apocalypse once again. You almost always have a choice, which will bring you towards one of the many endings this game offers.

Last Raven is more than a statement. Everyone has a bounty on his head. If you get them - the money's yours. Once you get them - they're gone for good, written out of that "blacklist" of sorts. You can still fight them in the VR Arena which, by the way, offers by far the toughest rival AC in the whole series.

The parts and missions offering is the biggest in the series, and the challenge arguably over-delivers in that regard too. With that said - do not be afraid, or at least, do be in a reasonable level. This is one of the some ACs where, even if you nail the garage right, the execution is on a whole other league. Be prepared to retry some encounters over and over.

Difficulty is, again, overall higher than all of the previous entries, but your experience will radically change depending on which path you do end up choosing. The easiest routes are tough, but doable. The toughest ones are on another level. If you want to go through the easiest, or toughest, or all of the routes - your call, but do keep at least your first play-through in the blind.

The most painful entry of the series is also one of the most joyful to play with. The sheer variety of options in all regards, the quality of life changes, and the technical improvements all deliver towards the best of the late 3rd generation and, arguably, some of the best action in the whole series.

Recommended.

Born out of a years long hiatus, while having to carry decades of heritage on his shoulders. Yet, it still manages to stand on his own legs.

Armored Core VI is unwilling to please everyone, but only who wishes to dig in its trial-and-error, experimentation and overwhelmingly fast gameplay. If you played any other game in the franchise, you'll know the drill. If you didn't, no pressure. This is by far the best entry point out of all the numbered titles.

Don't get me wrong, though. At first, I was worried. So much information on screen. The streamlining of the customization. And yet... All those concerns started to fade away at the first bosses and arena encounters.

There's no time to think about patterns, move-sets and such. The plan has to be made in the garage. In the mission, you are a relentless, implacable rancor-fueled man-machine of death and destruction. Drown the target with disgustingly massive amounts of firepower, attack using all of your resources with no restraints whatsoever. Execution is everything.

And then... When you'll overcome your next challenge, you'll start to feel "that". Swap out some components. Try a new approach. Slowly, carefully treading into the realm of removing your target from existence faster and better. Efficiency and effectiveness, constantly improving...

...And in that moment, all the fascination of this series finally reveals itself. The "thing" which makes this experience unique.

Unparalleled player agency.

Mission variety's on par with the series' top performers. Best environment art of the whole franchise. A lot of parts for a numbered entry, although with some restrains in the legs and arms departments. The boss encounters are by far the best of Armored Core VI's offering, and even if there's one entry which its "fun factor" could be debatable, his set-piece is still wonderful to go through. Arena's on the easy side, but its integration with the story is a nice touch, reminding somehow of Master of Arena. The narrative, just as the gameplay, keeps pushing faster and faster, with some beats, themes and characters reminiscent of Ace Combat along the expected references to older Armored Core games.

Multiplayer plays really good, even though it feels like an afterthought in terms of options and systems.

Shoji Kawamori's back in the mechanical design department, but you won't see any of it until you progress through the game. Do you wish to see the best the industry has to offer? Get at it.

Kota Hoshino's back in the soundtrack department, mixing compositions reminiscent of old entries along with a new dark, synth-wave, industrial tone, somehow close to DOOM (2016). The only match for a gritty, melancholic, hopeless landscape which, in hindsight, feels really close to the apocalypses of Last Raven and For Answer. All of that, alongside a crisp, state-of-the-art sound design and voice cast.

By the way, you won't be done with one play-through. Keep at it.

Technically-wise, the best release From Software ever put out, perfectly fitting the most sincerely written love letter to the mecha genre.

Armored Core has always been good. This is only the reminder.