I played 15 of From Software's HARDEST games

Name: I played 15 of From Software's HARDEST games
Uploaded: 2023-06-10T14:08:57.000Z
Duration: 3 h 6 min 35 s

Armored Core: Lessons Learned

In this section, the speaker talks about how changing one part of an armored core can fundamentally change the build. They also discuss the importance of choosing between a generator with high energy regen or high capacity.

Changing Parts

Changing one part can fundamentally change your build.

Equipping a Karasawa made the speaker realize they needed to take a closer look at their generator.

The speaker had to decide whether they needed a generator with high energy regen or high capacity.

Learning Lessons

The Karasawa's energy ammo was free, which was helpful in the early game when strapped for cash.

Despite having powerful parts, looking up and down was still difficult and some missions had unclear objectives.

Single combat against enemy ACs were the speaker's favorite fights.

Armored Core: Final Boss Frustration

In this section, the speaker talks about their frustrating experience with dying to the final boss and discovering that there was no checkpoint system in place.

Game Over Screen

After dying to the final boss, the speaker discovered that there was no checkpoint system in place.

Saving took time on PS1 era games so it wasn't done until after this experience.

The last level required efficient clearing of rooms and managing health and ammo for resources required for final boss.

Armored Core: True Final Mission

In this section, the speaker talks about their experience with Nine-ball, who is ranked as the top enemy AC in the game.

Nine-ball

Nine-ball is ranked as the top enemy AC in the game.

The mission required navigating a vertical hallway with moving platforms and turrets attached to them.

Failure after completing the second room resulted in a game over and having to go back to last save.

The final boss, Nine-ball, was difficult to defeat and required multiple attempts.

Aiming in a Vertical Arena

The nature of the vertical arena in Armored Core games requires players to aim up and down while fighting.

Aiming Up and Down

Players need to aim up and down while fighting due to the vertical arena.

Armored Core: Master of Arena

This section covers the gameplay experience of Armored Core: Master of Arena.

Dread for Next Game

The next game, "Armored Core: Master of Arena," caused dread for the player.

Revenge Against Nineball

The player's character wanted revenge against Nineball for shaming them in front of their YouTube viewers.

Lana's Contact

Lana is the player's contact at Raven's Nest who provides information about Nineball.

She warns that anyone who attempts to face Nine-Ball will surely be destroyed but offers to arrange a fight with him if they are serious about it.

PROGTECH Mission

PROGTECH, a manufacturer of AC parts, offers a mission to put down rampaging robots in their factory in exchange for free parts and sponsorship in the arena.

The game balances mission and arena gameplay, making it easily rank among top 3 Armored Core games due to its phenomenal pacing.

Final Fight Against Nineball

This section covers the final fight against Nineball.

First Try

The player thought the first fight against Nineball went pretty well and got him on the first try.

Phase Two

In phase two, the player fights two Nineballs, which is extremely difficult.

The Nineballs are mass-produced and controlled by a highly advanced combat AI that thinks it can rebuild the world by manufacturing conflict.

Upper Level to Dual Nineball Fight

There is an upper level to the dual nineball fight that could be used to potentially separate the two and help fight one at a time.

Eventually, after many resets, the player was victorious in defeating both Nineballs.

Third Phase

The third phase of the final fight is extremely tough and takes a while to learn because you have to defeat one nineball before fighting two nineballs.

Nineball Seraph always begins the fight by running at you with his blade, which sends energy waves and requires a well-timed boost-jump for you to evade it. After that, he'll transform into this little rocketship and zoom around the arena, shooting missiles and trying to get behind you before transforming back into an attack phase and just closing the distance with his blade.

Introduction

The speaker introduces the topic of Armored Core games and their personal experience with playing them.

Armored Core Games

The speaker mentions that a new Armored Core game was in the works back in 2016.

Playing Armored Core Games

The speaker talks about their experience playing different Armored Core games, including challenges they faced and unique features of each game.

Playing Different Games

The speaker talks about trying to get full access to every button at once for perfect control of their AC.

They mention overcoming phase 3 after countless attempts at phase one and about 16 victories in phase 2.

The speaker discusses how they were excited to play Armored Core 2 because it was a PS2 game with dual analogue sticks, but were disappointed when the sticks didn't work due to From Software's decision to stick with back triggers for camera control.

Storyline and Arena Mode

The speaker talks about the storyline of Armored Core 2 taking place 67 years after the events of Master of Arena, where mankind is forced underground due to a cataclysmic event called the "Great Destruction". They also mention committing exclusively to playing in the Arena until they defeated every single opponent and became top ranked raven.

They discuss how reading character descriptions before each fight was important as it revealed story and insight into each character's motivations for being in the arena.

The speaker mentions experimenting with various weapon types in Armored Core 2's arena and how it taught them about the pros and cons of different weaponry. They also mention learning a valuable lesson from #19, who had a build designed to stay alive while their opponents ran out of ammo.

Unique Characters

The speaker talks about unique characters they encountered in the Arena mode, such as Bullet Dragon who loved the sound of machine guns and only fought to afford more ammo, and Super Sonic who spent all his money on the fastest parts.

They mention Count One, who was obsessed with the number one and put a great deal of effort into being ranked 11th instead of 1st.

Conclusion

The speaker concludes by discussing how playing Armored Core games taught them about creativity with builds and exploiting enemy weaknesses. They also mention that Ares had the firepower to defeat their machine gun circling strategy in Armored Core 2's arena mode.

Armored Core: Nexus and Ninebreaker Overview

In this video, the speaker talks about his experience playing Armored Core: Nexus and Ninebreaker. He discusses the new features added to the game, such as left arm parts that allow for more diverse weaponry, and the introduction of a heat management system. The speaker also talks about how the control scheme was updated in generation 3.5 of Armored Core, making dual wielding much more viable.

Dual Wielding

Left arm parts can be equipped with various weapons such as bazookas and rifles.

Firing two weapons at once dramatically increases damage input but requires pressing three face buttons at once.

With the ability to aim with the right stick added in Nexus, L2 and R2 bumpers were finally released from their torment as camera operators.

Dual firing adds a new offensive depth to customization.

Heat Management System

Temperature management had always been a thing in previous games but became a huge consideration when considering weaponry, generator, boosters, and radiators in Nexus.

Heat management had become a huge new consideration when considering weaponry, generator, boosters and radiators.

The overheat mechanic was added in revenge for making controls easier.

Miscellaneous

The story of Nexus is about corporations fighting to control ancient technologies they don't understand.

Armored Core Ninebreaker has no missions or shop; it is purely a training game.

Armored Core: Nexus and Last Raven Review

The reviewer talks about their experience playing Armored Core: Nexus and Last Raven, focusing on the arena mode in Nexus and the story structure in Last Raven. They also discuss the challenges they faced with certain missions and how they overcame them.

Arena Mode in Armored Core: Nexus

The reviewer found that the real point of the game was the uniquely designed arena mode.

Importing a save from Nexus removed almost all of the default parts from the garage, forcing them to do the entire arena with one build.

To get to top rank by defeating the last opponent, they had to wait until he challenged them on a map where they could stand at the arenas edge so he couldn't fly behind them.

Story Structure in Armored Core: Last Raven

The reviewer was excited for Last Raven because it was said to be perhaps the hardest game From Software had ever created.

Last Raven starts with a clear story and a foreboding timer that counts down after every mission, building tension.

The mission structure offers a set of missions that, if done in the right order, push you towards different missions and endings.

The reviewer opted to go down a story path called "Zinaida" which is known as being one of the hardest paths.

Vertex has issued a declaration: their final attack will launch in 24 hours. So it is that Last Raven starts with war quickly escalating into chaos.

Challenges Faced

The first mission on Zinaida path was harder than anything the reviewer had faced in the previous two games.

The reviewer had to perfect their AC further by farming credits and buying every part in the shop to take on these missions.

Conclusion

Last Raven was a challenging game that perfected the mission structure and offered different paths based on player choice.

Kiting Bolt and Facing Memorable Builds

The speaker discusses their experience kiting Bolt around the arena and facing various builds, including a memorable infinite flight build with close range machine guns and bazookas.

Kiting Bolt

The speaker was able to kite Bolt around the arena by staying just out of its range.

Facing Memorable Builds

One of the funniest builds the speaker faced in the arena was an infinite flight build with close range machine guns and bazookas.

Daemon, who combined a close range machine gun with some sort of bazooka, was able to essentially control his aerial movements. He was one of the best pilots that the speaker had yet faced in these games.

The speaker wondered if building something like Daemon's build would be key to defeating him.

Building Vulture for Infinite Flight

The speaker describes how they built Vulture, an AC designed for infinite flight, which eventually helped them defeat Daemon.

Building Vulture

To defeat Daemon, the speaker needed a build that could get up to the roof and stay there to negate his aerial controls.

The final problem was cramming weaponry onto this thing without it weighing or draining down.

The AC "Vulture" took me to victory against Daemon with literally zero damage taken.

Loading Specific Builds and In-game Lore Repository

The speaker discusses the benefits of being able to load specific builds and having an in-game lore repository.

Loading Specific Builds

Being able to load specific builds is an amazing feature for these games to have, as it stops you having to tinker with your build.

Players can be ready to switch up their gameplay style whenever those builds are perfect for the situation at hand.

In-game Lore Repository

Armored Core 6 should take from Last Raven its in-game lore repository, which is a great way for players to recap the story in-game.

High Energy Regen or High Capacity Generator?

The speaker discusses the importance of choosing between a high energy regen or high capacity generator.

Choosing a Generator

The speaker needed a generator with high energy regen or high capacity.

High regen would make me better in prolonged fights, but high capacity would allow me to fire a ton more shots and overwhelm enemies in the short term.

Glitchy Audio and Bad Missions

The speaker describes how they dealt with glitchy audio and bad missions while playing Last Raven.

Glitchy Audio

A glitch that showed up in my first mission where audio would bug out and the mission wouldn't end had been happening this whole time.

Bad Missions

Last Raven's missions were almost every one was peppered with familiar enemy ACs that would show up or betray you, and missions were just these great tests of your combat efficiency.

There was one bad mission which plunged me into pure blackness after a maze of corridors, making it borderline impossible to escape without a headpiece that had night vision.

Armored Core: For Answer - The Best Mecha Game You've Never Played

In this section, the speaker talks about how Last Raven runs at a higher framerate and plays at a sharper resolution. They also mention that built into the default controls was a huge step forward for the franchise.

Armored Core 4 and 4A

The speaker has replayed Armored Core 4 and 4A the most, having six full playthroughs under their belt.

They enjoyed putting together an energy weapon build that dual wields pulse guns, only to throw them away when they're out of ammo to reveal a backup set of two more pulse guns.

The true potential of this generation was fully realized in Armored Core: For Answer, not just in gameplay but in storytelling and tone as well.

The music in Armored Core has always been great, but a lot of credit for that seems to have to go to Kota Hoshino who composed on almost all of these soundtracks.

NG+ Missions

Replaying For Answer so many times helped the speaker play closer to that insanely high skill ceiling that the fourth generation lays claim to.

S ranking certain missions rewarded them with new parts, and replaying so many times also gave them a ton of FRS points to invest which are basically stat points that allow you to level up and further tune the performance of your AC.

Black Flint Build

Over the course of three playthroughs, Black Flint is equipped with dual machine gun arms which fires both chambers with R1.

For Answer and Armored Core 5

In this section, the speaker talks about his experience playing For Answer and Armored Core 5. He discusses the gameplay, performance, and features of each game.

For Answer

The speaker enjoyed firing machine guns constantly in For Answer.

Hard Mode in For Answer is extremely challenging.

The speaker managed to take out three enemy NEXTs but had to dive into combat on low health to defeat the fourth.

The speaker would love to attempt hard mode in For Answer someday.

Armored Core 5

Emulating Armored Core 5 allowed the speaker to enjoy the game without fps lag.

The visual clutter on the screen was atrocious in Armored Core 5.

Armored Core 5 was largely designed as a multiplayer experience, but there is still a singleplayer mode that the speaker did not enjoy much.

The final mission of Armored Core V showed a brief glimpse of how good the combat could be.

Final Generation of Armored Core

In this section, the speaker talks about the final generation of Armored Core games - Armored Core 5 and its sequel Verdict Day.

Verdict Day

Verdict Day improved upon some aspects of Armored Core 5's gameplay style.

The AI core that you destroy at the end is somehow part of 9 Ball's consciousness.

The speaker did not like the missions in Armored Core 5, but he enjoyed using a heavy tank build with autocannons and heavy rifles.

The speaker had fun with his build, even if he did not like the game too much.

Armored Core Project Phantasma

Armored Core Project Phantasma was released only a few months after Verdict Day.

Quad Legs and Back Weapons

In this section, the speaker talks about quad legs and back weapons in Armored Core games.

Quad Legs

Quad legs allow you to fire heavy back weapons while moving or flying.

Unlike tread legs, quad legs exist on a spectrum where you can equip heavy weapons that essentially rams a warhead deep into the body of your opponent for insane damage.

Back Weapons

Quad legs allow you to fire heavy back weapons while moving or flying, which no other leg part can do.

Tread legs allow you to carry extremely heavy loads and even allow you to fire heavy back weapons while moving or flying.

Gameplay Mechanics in Armored Core 5: Verdict Day

In this section, the speaker discusses gameplay mechanics in Armored Core 5: Verdict Day.

Starting with One Part in Every Category

At the start of fifth gen, players begin with one part in every category making it easy to try new weapons and equipment to figure out what build they like.

At the start of the game, players can't really go wrong with anything they buy from the shop because no matter what they do, it's probably going to be an upgrade from their previous AC build.

Importance of Scanning

Scanning is important because there are three damage types in fifth generation: Kinetic, Thermal, and Chemical.

If players don't scan enemies before attacking them with certain damage types, their weapons will just tickle them instead.

Jumping and Gliding

Jumping is extremely important in fifth generation as jumping up buildings is the primary means of gaining height over opponents.

If players are gliding on the ground, they're able to activate Glide Boost, which is essentially an overboost that moves them around at an extreme speed.

UNACS

The addition of UNACS (AI companions) in Armored Core 5: Verdict Day enabled a lot of strategy.

Even UNACS can only do so much against the final boss.

Lightweight AC Builds

In this section, the speaker talks about lightweight AC builds in Armored Core games.

Energy Output

Lightweight AC builds have low energy output when players fire their weapons but their energy output skyrockets allowing builds to recover energy quickly in scan mode and to be way more evasive for a long period of time.

Putting together a lightweight build would require a lot of trial and error.

Quad Legs

Unlike tread legs, quad legs exist on a spectrum where you can equip heavy weapons that essentially rams a warhead deep into the body of your opponent for insane damage.

The final boss was perhaps unsurprisingly the most memorable part of Verdict Day for the speaker because he spent a LOT of time trying to beat it with his quad leg build.

Armored Core Games on PSP

In this section, the speaker discusses Armored Core games available on PSP.

AI Coding System

Players can technically beat Armored Core games on PSP without actually playing as there's a whole system of AI coding where players can earn credits as they go.

Armored Core Game Reviews

In this transcript, the speaker reviews several Armored Core games and shares their experiences playing them.

Nexus

The story of Nexus is about corporations fighting to control ancient technologies that they don't really understand.

Swarms of unmanned suicide drones spew out of a factory and out onto the earth, where they blanket the world in another sort of great destruction.

The ending is one of the most memorable endings that these games have ever had.

You stand on the rooftop in the pouring rain, actually able to control your character and fight back as this indomitable barrage of suicide drones ram into you and the earth's surface.

Armored Core 9 Breaker

This game has no missions, it doesn't even have a shop, and its core is a training mode.

It offers 150 training exercises that test you on things like movement, evasion, accuracy, stuff like that.

The uniquely designed arena mode requires you to earn points and climb the ranks that way.

Last Raven

Unmanned suicide weapons had ravaged the world in previous games. Corporations joined forces to form a new corporation called Alliance but a rebel group known as Vertex vowed to overthrow them.

War quickly escalated into chaos. Vertex issued a declaration; their final attack will launch in 24 hours so it is that last raven starts with a clear story and a foreboding timer that counts down after every mission building tension.

Last raven also perfects the mission structure offering different endings based on which path you chose.

The Zanida path was chosen by speaker which was considered hardest among all paths.

Completing the First Mission

The speaker talks about completing the first mission in Armored Corps and building a new AC called Vulture.

Building a New AC

The speaker discusses the process of building a new AC, including selecting weapons that are light, ammo efficient, and have long range.

The speaker reveals that they named their new AC Vulture because it circles around its foes.

The speaker acknowledges that some may consider their victory against Damon with zero ammo to spare as "cheesing" the fight but feels proud of solving a complex puzzle.

Blast Raven Build and In-Game Lore Repository

The speaker talks about using different builds in Blast Raven and praises the game's in-game lore repository.

Using Different Builds

The speaker explains how Blast Raven allows players to save and load different builds quickly, making it easy to switch up gameplay styles whenever necessary.

The speaker praises this feature as an amazing solution for players who don't want to spend ages tinkering with their build in menus.

In-Game Lore Repository

The speaker praises Blast Raven's in-game lore repository as a great way for players to recap the story without relying on over-dramatic YouTubers.

They suggest that Armored Corps 6 should take note of this feature.

Blaster Raven Missions

The speaker talks about their experience with Blaster Raven missions, including familiar enemy ACs and great tests of combat efficiency.

Great Tests of Combat Efficiency

The speaker describes Blaster Raven's missions as great tests of combat efficiency rather than having players run around the map before obscure objectives.

They praise the game for its use of familiar enemy ACs that show up or betray you.

Bad Mission

The speaker mentions one bad mission that plunged them into pure blackness after a maze of corridors, making it borderline impossible to escape without a headpiece with night vision.

Emulating Last Raven

The speaker discusses using an emulator to finish Last Raven and how it improved the gameplay experience.

Using an Emulator

The speaker explains how they used an emulator to finish Last Raven after experiencing glitches that made it difficult to progress.

They express regret at not trying emulators sooner and describe how running the game at a higher frame rate and sharper resolution improved the gameplay experience.

Recommendation

The speaker recommends emulating these games over buying scratched overpriced discs on eBay due to cautious buyer support and difficulty getting refunds for damaged discs.

Final Mission

The speaker talks about completing the final mission in Armored Corps, which requires dodging through long hallways filled with suicide drones before facing off against Zanida.

Facing Off Against Zanida

The speaker describes Zanida as widely regarded to be the most difficult fight in the game due to her movement and firepower.

They suggest that Zanida is cheating because there's no way you can build an AC that could match her movement and firepower.

Dealing Damage and Pollution in Armored Core 4

This section discusses the gameplay mechanics of Armored Core 4, specifically the need for precise inputs to deal consistent damage. It also delves into the lore of the game, particularly the use of Primal Armor technology which is extremely pollutive and banned in inhabited areas.

Precise Inputs for Consistent Damage

The game requires precise inputs to deal consistent damage to enemies.

Primal Armor Technology and Pollution

Primal Armor is a technology based on Kojima particles that are extremely pollutive.

The mere after effect of a next fighting in space could contaminate an area for generations to come.

Most of humankind fled to massive airship colonies called cradles due to pollution on Earth's surface caused by Primal Armor.

Orca, a revolutionary group, believes that maintaining the cradles is causing horrible pollution on Earth's surface and seeks to commandeer their energy sources for anti-satellite cannons.

Multiple Endings in Armored Core 4

This section explores the different endings available in Armored Core 4 depending on player choices.

League Establishment Ending

In the first playthrough, players must side with the league establishment who are attempting to prevent Orca from taking away energy sources powering cradles.

Players defend energy sources against two enemy necks in Arteria Cranium.

Orca Ending

On second playthrough, players can choose missions leading up to the Orca ending.

Players must defeat an enemy pilot known as Old King in the arena mode to unlock a new mission.

In this ending, players end up on the opposite side attempting to rest power sources of cradles from the establishment. The cradles are forced to land, subjecting mother and child to pollution they had escaped.

Third Ending

A third ending is only available if players take on Orca members in their arena mode until they meet and defeat Old King.

In this ending, players face off against four enemy nexts and must fight against a united force of foes who are disgusted with their actions.

Armored Core 5 and Verdict Day

This section discusses Armored Core 5 and its sequel Verdict Day, which marks another huge generational shift in gameplay mechanics and story.

Generational Shift

Armored Core 5 marks another huge generational shift in gameplay mechanics and story.

Garage sessions are accompanied by a thumping militaristic beat that glorifies war.

The game features a new Operator system where players can receive orders from an AI character during missions.

Verdict Day

Verdict Day is a direct sequel to Armored Core 5 with similar gameplay mechanics but improved graphics.

The game features new multiplayer modes such as Territory Capture where teams compete for control over territories on a map.

Armoured Core Verdict Day Review

In this section, the speaker provides a review of Armoured Core Verdict Day, discussing its FPS performance and visual quality.

Review of Armoured Core Verdict Day

The speaker found the FPS performance to be lacking and was not impressed with the visuals.

Unacks in Armoured Core Verdict Day

In this section, the speaker discusses unacks, AI companions that can be brought into missions in Armoured Core Verdict Day.

Unacks

Unacks are AI companions that can be chosen to bring with you into missions.

Choosing a complimentary ally for your build adds fun strategy to the game.

The speaker chose an unack that would tank and take aggro while they snuck in from a distance. This made the game more enjoyable than previous games where they felt like just a bullet sponge.

Even unacks have limitations against the final boss who was difficult but memorable for the speaker.

Armoured Core Last Frontier Formula Front Extreme Battle on PSP

In this section, the speaker talks about their experience playing Armoured Core Last Frontier Formula Front Extreme Battle on PSP.

Playing Armoured Core Last Frontier Formula Front Extreme Battle on PSP

The unique PSP title is Formula Front Extreme Battle where you're given every single part from the get-go and tasked with climbing ranks in an arena.

You can technically beat this game without actually playing it as there's a whole system of AI coding where you calibrate your AC to fight for you but it takes forever to navigate the AI menus.

The enemy ACs in this game are really well designed and unique, forcing the speaker to make four drastically different builds in order to progress and counter them.

The music and intros in Formula Front make you feel like you've entered a race in Grand Tourism with an audience of adoring fans watching as the announcer shouts go with glee. It's weird compared to other Armoured Core games that have a dystopian commentary on war and business.

Conclusion

In this section, the speaker concludes their review of Armoured Core games.

Conclusion

The speaker enjoyed Armoured Core games, especially Master of Arena, Last Raven, and For Answer.

They discovered a genre of games they might not have otherwise found thanks to their viewers and channel.

They recommend playing any game from the series but suggest starting with the fourth generation if you only have time for one game.

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Armoured Core Nexus and Last Raven

In this section, the speaker recommends playing both discs of Armoured Core Nexus and then Last Raven instead.

Recommended Game Order

The speaker recommends playing both discs of Armoured Core Nexus before moving on to Last Raven.

The recommended order is due to the fact that Last Raven is more difficult than Armoured Core Nexus.

Playing both discs of Armoured Core Nexus first will help players become familiar with the game mechanics and prepare them for the challenge of Last Raven.

The speaker emphasizes that this is just a recommendation and players can choose to play in any order they prefer.