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[Unknown Soldier]

It won lots of awards including Best Action Game at TGA, I think a lot of people were being real about it being one of the best games of 2023

 

[Drizzlehell]

I don't know, man. I played like 80% before quitting out of boredom. Mowing down waves of enemies who present no challenge feels like Dynasty Warriors to me. That is until the bosses, when it's no longer a Dynasty Warriors games and instead a matter trial and error until you find the right equipment.

But again, to each their own. I'm glad mech fans are enjoying it.

Honestly, the fact that you didn't find it entertaining to just zip around in a big robot and blow the fuck out of other big robots only tells me that we're on such a different wavelength that there's no point in me trying to explain why it's awesome. You either like it or you don't, there's no hidden meaning to be unlocked here.

But I'll still strongly oppose to the Dynasty Warriors comparison. It's not even the same style of gameplay, lol.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Haven't played the game, however your introduction paragraph is a perfect summary of how I feel about modern day games and movies. Couldn't have written it any better.

Glad you got to play a game that you truly enjoy. I am not too much in mechs, but I do find games I love as well every once in a while. If you are really searching for intelligent games that have you learn and understand by yourself, why not try Shiren the Wanderer series ? I love these games, 5+ is available on a lot of platforms including PC. That would be my recommendation.

I haven't even heard of it before to be honest.

Even though I enjoy lots of things from Japan, the more "kooky" anime and manga rarely counts among them. And what you're recommending looks pretty kooky at glance, lol. I appreciate the recommendation, though. I'll give it a thought. I still have a couple of games from the The Tales series to play through, so we'll see how that goes first.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I really liked it and it was one of my favorites from this year. But i do have some criticism for it, mainly the normal mobs being too piss easy to deal with, game would be more fun if they packed more punch. I also dislike the level design somewhat, that invisible wall they throw in is very jarring and just makes exploring unfun, not to mention we have a few levels with tons of cool stuff to find while most others are pretty straightforward.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

I haven't played ot but considering who made it and the praise, this game lost attention after 2 months. Like literally nobody was even talking about it nor making topics .

Unlike Elden Ring which is constantly discussed.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I haven't played ot but considering who made it and the praise, this game lost attention after 2 months. Like literally nobody was even talking about it nor making topics .

Unlike Elden Ring which is constantly discussed.

I mean, it was a completely different kind of game. Considering what it is it was very successful. It still has some good 4k regular players on steam and made it to the top 20 most sold there on this year.

 

[MagnesD3]

I haven't played ot but considering who made it and the praise, this game lost attention after 2 months. Like literally nobody was even talking about it nor making topics .

Unlike Elden Ring which is constantly discussed.

Well its a 40-60 hours and your done kind of thing, also mechs just seem not popular enough in the west to make a big splash.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

PSA:

 

[Tg89]

Fantastic game. FROM continues to deliver.

 

[HelveticaBold]

Wow I just started playing this yesterday and I can't get past the prologue boss. I must have died at least a dozen times. It's my first AC game and Im still trying to figure out its for me.

 

[Crayon]

Wow I just started playing this yesterday and I can't get past the prologue boss. I must have died at least a dozen times. It's my first AC game and Im still trying to figure out its for me.

I was surprised at that. Nothing to do and nowhere to go but fight it out. I found it very difficult. It left me thinking there must have been a good number of people who had to give up on a new game after an hour. The game gets easier after that since it gives you a few easy missions then a hard boss. Some of those are hard but you can at least try different loadouts and farm to buy more stuff.

 

[Drizzlehell]

I really liked it and it was one of my favorites from this year. But i do have some criticism for it, mainly the normal mobs being too piss easy to deal with, game would be more fun if they packed more punch. I also dislike the level design somewhat, that invisible wall they throw in is very jarring and just makes exploring unfun, not to mention we have a few levels with tons of cool stuff to find while most others are pretty straightforward.

I'd say these are more like nitpicks than serious issues that drag the whole thing down. To me it's better to have a boundary of an operational area that can be plausibly explained in lore, rather than setting the levels in boxes and corridors, which would feel even more fake to me. At least that way you get to look at some beautiful open vistas that enhance the sense of scale. Also, most levels are large enough that this really isn't a problem unless you deliberately wander off for no reason (which, in a game like this, has very little purpose to it, it's not a soulslike).

 

[Sentenza]

...I keep forgetting that I bought this at launch but I was too engrossed with BG3 at the time and so I played barely the first mission and put it away.
I have nothing bad to say about it, to be clear, and I still plan to go back to it at some point. It's just that I have yet to put some serious time in it.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I'd say these are more like nitpicks than serious issues that drag the whole thing down. To me it's better to have a boundary of an operational area that can be plausibly explained in lore, rather than setting the levels in boxes and corridors, which would feel even more fake to me. At least that way you get to look at some beautiful open vistas that enhance the sense of scale. Also, most levels are large enough that this really isn't a problem unless you deliberately wander off for no reason (which, in a game like this, has very little purpose to it, it's not a soulslike).

The level design is mostly a nitpick, i just see wasted potential there. We even get a glimpse of how cool level exploration could have been in Infiltrate grid 086 or the Underground Exploration. And the invisible walls wouldn't have been much of an issue if they were put into less conspicuous places. Putting them over a cliff or in a vast desert expanse is fine, but then they go and throw them even into the middle of rich city-escapes with interesting-looking points being right on the other side of the barrier, after meeting those a few times my desire to explore just got killed off completely.

The main issue remains being the mobs. Fighting them is just such a mindless activity, they don't demand attention nor inspire respect like in souls games or boomer shooters.

 

[Secret_Lover]

Didn´t grab me. I thought the boss fights were great but everything else felt totally antiquated and boring. A lot of uninspired level design filled with trash mobs and the content in between missions basically just consists of staring at gray menus and audio clips.

 

[GymWolf]

It was, gameplay wise was at least top 3.

Biggest flaw was that most missions were cakewalks and you had only difficulty spikes during SOME bossfights, trash mobs were mostly very weak (and i wasn't even using the meta broken build)

I guess the problem goes away(?) during multiple new game plus runs but i always judge a game based on the first, more significant run.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Not really a mecha fan, but I'd like to eventually give AC6 a shot. Will wait for it to drop around €20 before picking it up though.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

...I keep forgetting that I bought this at launch but I was too engrossed with BG3 at the time and so I played barely the first mission and put it away.
I have nothing bad to say about it, to be clear, and I still plan to go back to it at some point. It's just that I have yet to put some serious time in it.

Same thing brother, got the Day1 edition on release day, played the first 2 levels and shelved it - i think i was in the middle of finishing Days Gone and for some reason never got back to it, something which i'll remedy as soon as i can (i.e : finish what i'm playing right now).

Played most AC's out there and ironically enough, the thing is dislike the most is the actual time i have to spend in the hangar tinkering with stuff - i HATE numbers and shit when it comes to...everything really.
I really get what some users in here are saying regarding the "missions are usually a cakewalk, get to the boss, get wrecked, tinker with shit in he hangar" - it always was like this and was always something that i disliked, this is why i always stayed clear of the MP part since you can't just compete with zero-life people that play 10 hours a day min-maxing stuff, it is what it is i suppose...

 

[Drizzlehell]

The main issue remains being the mobs. Fighting them is just such a mindless activity, they don't demand attention nor inspire respect like in souls games or boomer shooters.

I mentioned this before but considering how this is pretty much a flight combat sim on legs, these enemies aren't supposed to command respect. They're there as an obstacle on your way to the main objective. Also, I don't understand how a spectacle of fighting and blowing up smaller enemies somehow draws ire from some players. It's pretty much like complaining that you have to blow up TIE Fighters in Rogue Squadron, lol.

I also don't feel like regular combat is mindless either. You're usually up against a decent variety of enemies, and very few missions waste an opportunity to throw something unexpected at you. Being too careless or going in with unoptimised build will definitely cost you a lot of health and ammo.

 

[GigaBowser]

if you like mech games, sure.

otherwise, no thanks.

I could says the same about crpgs

 

[NecrosaroIII]

It was certainly my favorite game this year.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I mentioned this before but considering how this is pretty much a flight combat sim on legs, these enemies aren't supposed to command respect. They're there as an obstacle on your way to the main objective. Also, I don't understand how a spectacle of fighting and blowing up smaller enemies somehow draws ire from some players. It's pretty much like complaining that you have to blow up TIE Fighters in Rogue Squadron, lol.

I also don't feel like regular combat is mindless either. You're usually up against a decent variety of enemies, and very few missions waste an opportunity to throw something unexpected at you. Being too careless or going in with unoptimised build will definitely cost you a lot of health and ammo.

The point is there is basically no challenge in day-to-day gameplay. The biggest risk these mobs present as you said is depleting some of your ammo and repair kits before you get to a boss, but even those elements are rendered inconsequential as most bosses have a supply unit right before them, or how restarting a boss fight after dying once also replenishes you.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Genuinely thought it was awful.

Felt like a mediocre PS2 game with updated graphics.

 

[Alexios]

It's okay. I prefer mechs to feel more like military vehicle stuff and hoped the souls inspirations would have it be more deliberate and methodical in pacing than past games but instead it went all out in the auto lock on stuff to go even more anime crazy boosting all over the place etc. than before...

Not that I expected it to be something like MechWarrior 4 or anything very simy but let's say, a mech take on Ace Combat 7 or something along those lines, a decent amount of manual controls and what not, rather than a crazy anime third person action game that happens to have a mecha skin on.

 

[Drizzlehell]

The point is there is basically no challenge in day-to-day gameplay. The biggest risk these mobs present as you said is depleting some of your ammo and repair kits before you get to a boss, but even those elements are rendered inconsequential as most bosses have a supply unit right before them, or how restarting a boss fight after dying once also replenishes you.

I disagree, for the reasons that I already mentioned.

 

[mayham2199]

I really enjoyed it. Thought the combat was great.

 

[hangdang69]

I thought it was really bad. I hated it. Probably my least favorite game that I played this year.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I disagree, for the reasons that I already mentioned.

Yes yes, spectacle. But many players aren't satisfied with just seeing robots go boom, especially the type of player From has cultivated over the years.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

I thought it was really bad. I hated it. Probably my least favorite game that I played this year.

What did you dislike about it?

What I loved about it:
- Mech customization - I loved experimenting with different parts, as well as customizing the look / colors of my machines.
- The controls. It felt super rewarding to play. Probably one of the best feeling games I've ever played
- Mission design. The missions were just long enough, generally. Long enough that you could get into the feeling and mission. But short enough that you can pick up and play and still make progress
- Atmosphere. Really cool cold looking industrial feel. Very cool
- The story. It's told in a minimalist way for sure, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I didn't need anything melodramatic. Just a fun story about corporations and governments fighting over a dieing planet.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Yes yes, spectacle. But many players aren't satisfied with just seeing robots go boom, especially the type of player From has cultivated over the years.

As it was said many times before: if anyone went into this expecting a soulslike, then those people only have themselves to blame. Things going boom is like one of the main attractions of games like this so being somehow disappointed with it is mental.

 

[Guilty_AI]

As it was said many times before: if anyone went into this expecting a soulslike, then those people only have themselves to blame. Things going boom is like one of the main attractions of games like this so being somehow disappointed with it is mental.

You can have both, and i can think half a dozen ways they could've improved that part of the game without removing the feel. Another criticism is that the multiple playthroughs can get a bit boring besides the new missions, they could've made the regular missions harder with more and tougher mobs that packed more punch in subsequent playthroughs.

 

[Drizzlehell]

You can have both, and i can think half a dozen ways they could've improved that part of the game without removing the feel. Another criticism is that the multiple playthroughs can get a bit boring besides the new missions, they could've made the regular missions harder with more and tougher mobs that packed more punch in subsequent playthroughs.

You can take other paths and make different choices in NG+, including ones that are only possible on second playthrough due to higher difficulty of these fights.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

OP, i dunno. Do i still need to 'git gud' to play it?

Apparently!

you gotta spend some time to actually get good at it

 

[Guilty_AI]

You can take other paths and make different choices in NG+, including ones that are only possible on second playthrough due to higher difficulty of these fights.

yeah, but you'll still have to go through most regular missions which will largely play the same. If they went through the trouble of putting harder extra missions or a few alt versions - and even then the 'harder' part still involves bosses and minibosses, with normal mobs remaining the same target practice as always - i don't see why they couldn't have given it the full treatment. Its not like this is some easy game for casual audiences considering how hard some bosses can be.

 

[GermanZepp]

I regret buying baldurs gate 3 instead of this. I be dammed.

 

[Drizzlehell]

yeah, but you'll still have to go through most regular missions which will largely play the same. If they went through the trouble of putting harder extra missions or a few alt versions - and even then the 'harder' part still involves bosses and minibosses, with normal mobs remaining the same target practice as always - i don't see why they couldn't have given it the full treatment. Its not like this is some easy game for casual audiences considering how hard some bosses can be.

I still fail to see this as anything but a nitpick. Going back to those early missions with all the best gear feels rewarding in a way. After getting your ass kicked so much on your first playthrough, it's cathartic to be able to take revenge and wipe them out like a total badass. It's like unlocking that overpowered aircraft in any other flight combat game, except here you get an occasional new challenge which is a nice bonus.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I still fail to see this as anything but a nitpick. Going back to those early missions with all the best gear feels rewarding in a way. After getting your ass kicked so much on your first playthrough, it's cathartic to be able to take revenge and wipe them out like a total badass. It's like unlocking that overpowered aircraft in any other flight combat game, except here you get an occasional new challenge which is a nice bonus.

I'm literally speaking of 50-70% of the game, that goes way beyond a nitpick. Besides, you get your ass kicked by the bosses not the mobs, which are the same boring target practice from the very beginning with the starter mech.

Game has weird difficulty balance, and i'm far from the only one to have pointed this out. No matter how much you or i like it, that is simply a fact and i sincerely hope they improve it on a Armored Core 7.

 

[Odinnii]

It’s my second favorite of the year, after SF6.

I rarely replay games or do NG+ runs but I was so addicted to the gameplay and customization that I beat it 3 times for the endings and put in a few hours into the MP too.

So good.

 

[Varteras]

They’re not! It’s a lie. It’s much easier than the soul games. There are weapon combos that melt any boss fight. I was killing bosses on first and second tries right and left. Don’t be scared, man.