Armored Core: Difference between revisions

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''Armored Core V'' is an online team-based multiplayer game in the same vein to ''[[Chrome Hounds]]''. Furthermore, the eponymous Armored Cores seem to have been scaled down to a "mere" 5 meters tall, as well as making it grittier and [[Real Robot|real]][[Buffy-Speak|...er]], making them very reminiscent to ''[[Front Mission]]'' wanzers. The story for the single-player campaign mode is told through 9 lengthy Story Missions. After the conclusion of the main storyline however, the player character, and the two [[Mission Control]] character banded together to become freelance mercenaries [[Walking the Earth]], narrated through simpler bite-sized Order Missions, amounting to an astounding 83 of them. Here too however, it follows a less-detailed B-plot detailing one of the main character's origins, the Mercenary organization Men of Honor, and a band of 13 powerful AC pilots called the Zodiac. New to the series is the ability (at a cost) to essentially repair, rearm, and remodify your AC in the middle of any Story Missions on pre-set places. Also different is the big change in controls; ACs capable of raw, astounding speed are no longer the norm. Instead, the terrain plays a very important role as ACs can now walljump quickly from places to places, and most maps feature very detailed and varying terrain unlike its predecessor. The new mechs even feature a function to essentially kick any targets, dealing damage according to speed and weight of the AC. The online gameplay has been described as "mech game meets [[Tower Defense]]", in which most online interaction between teams of player are measured in territorial assaults and controls, most of them involving invading a map guarded by turrets. If the invasion is intercepted however, the game switches into Team Deathmatch mode that pits a maximum of 5v5 players, 4 as Ravens, one as [[Mission Control]] complete with its own battle overview map. In addition, special events include Extra Missions that pit a maximum of four players against a variety of gigantic Bosses, some of which had a variant within Story Missions.

'''''Armored Core: Verdict Day''''' -

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'''''Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon''''' - In an [[Alternate Continuity]], starfaring humanity discovers a substance called "Coral" on the planet Rubicon 3. Unparalleled as both a power source and data conduit, it promises to be revolutionary. Unfortunately, it is also highly volatile, and an event called the "Fires of Ibis" burns not just the planet but the whole system to the ground. 50 years after this cataclysm, Coral has reemerged on Rubicon 3, and corporations war over it under the watchful eye of the Planetary Closure Administration, which regulates access to the planet. As C4-621, an augmented human under the command of Handler Walter, the player infiltrates Rubicon 3.

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'''''Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon''''' - In an [[Alternate Continuity]], starfaring humanity discovers a substance called "Coral" on the planet Rubicon 3. Unparalleled as both a power source and data conduit, it promises to be revolutionary. Unfortunately, it is also highly volatile, and an event called the "Fires of Ibis" burns not just the planet but the whole system to the ground. 50 years after this cataclysm, Coral has reemerged on Rubicon 3, and corporations war over it against native resistance under the watchful eye of the Planetary Closure Administration, which regulates access to the planet. As C4-621, an augmented human under the command of Handler Walter, the player infiltrates Rubicon 3.

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* [[Expy]] -

** Some noticeable examples include your operator in for Answer to Sumika Juutilainen from Project Phantasm and every continuity having a Nineball expy. Hell Nineball himself is a expy to [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Char]] and official art makes him look kinda like [[Zeta Gundam|Quattro]] [http://armoredcore.wikia.com/wiki/File:9e3a76553d19448a53aa44e1855304eb989001a4.jpg Bajeena]

** ''6'' has Rusty. He calls you "buddy" and {{spoiler|(potentially) fights you in the endgame with apocalypse at stake. His talk about resolve has vibes of "Have you found a reason to fight yet, buddy?"}} ''[[Ace Combat]]'' players, doesn't that sound like Pixy?

** ''6'' has Rusty. He calls you "buddy", has a wolf emblem, and {{spoiler|(potentially) fights you in the endgame with apocalypse at stake. His talk about resolve has vibes of "Have you found a reason to fight yet, buddy?"}} ''[[Ace Combat]]'' players, doesn't that sound like Pixy?

* [[Fan Vid]] - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWKfCpzpxg4&playnext=1&videos=gaP_tEMEVwk There] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CP7DLsiqvo&feature=related are] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5622RqeX3k4&feature=related quite] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4uLTLSR2lY&feature=related a] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn7HFnR5gXI&feature=related few.]

* [[Face Heel Turn]] - Strung in 2, {{spoiler|Thermidor/Odstarva in the Orca path hard mode and you operator Kasumi Sumika in the destruction path hard mode}} in for Answer and {{spoiler|RD}} in 5.

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** Two [[Bonus Boss|bonus bosses]] of V are red even better, one of them is an upgraded version of the final boss.

* [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]]: In ''6'', ALLMIND saying "Welcome back, Raven" as an in-universe acknowledgment of the reactivation of said identity taken by 621 can also be interpreted as the franchise welcoming players back.

* [[Legacy Character]]: A less voluntary than usual example in ''6'' with 621 taking the Raven name. {{spoiler|When you meet the original Raven, his operator is interested in seeing whether you're worthy of it.}}

* [[Leitmotif]] - Nineball's ''9'', Spirit of Motherwill's theme of the same name.

* [[Lethal Joke Item|Lethal Joke Weapon]] - Technocrat Company's FSS-53 Shock Rocket. Described in-game as "A dummy rocket that doesn't explode". The stats however says something else: it has ''the highest Primal Armor-reducing capability of any weapon'', meaning one lucky hit and say goodbye to your usually very tough [[Force Field]]. To put things in perspective, weapons that usually do reduce PA does it by continuous hits, by large explosions, or the [[Awesome but Impractical]] Kojima weapons. This being a rocket shoulder weapon, not only you can spam it without needing to free a weapon slot, a good hit means that you can immediately follow up with weapons that deals most damage to PA-less targets. [[Oh Crap|Like grenade launchers, for example]].

* [[Lightning Bruiser]] - ~~Nineball.~~

* [[Lightning Bruiser]] -

** ~~Bigger~~ ~~case~~ with Nineball Seraph, it's stronger ~~any~~ faster than anything you can build.

** Nineball. Taken up to eleven with Nineball Seraph, as it's stronger and faster than anything you can build.

** {{spoiler|Exusia}} in 5 who is basically the fifth ~~genrations~~ Nineball ~~even~~ better {{spoiler|that the "person" using it is an AI."}}

** {{spoiler|Exusia}} in 5 who is basically the fifth generation's Nineball. Even better {{spoiler|that the "person" using it is an AI.}}

** Any lightweight AC in ACV using a HEAT Pile can oneshot any AC. Except for tanks, which, even then, only require as much as a finger poke for it to die afterwards.

* [[Lost Superweapon]]: There's usually one per game. Its relevance to the plot varies from game-to-game.

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* [[Machine Empathy]] - In ''AC4'', the AMS Piloting System links the pilot to their AC for perfect reaction time. The title LYNX comes from the word sounding similar to LINKS.

* [[Macross Missile Massacre]] - You can do this in all of the games, but ''4A'' takes the cake. Starting with the Spirit of Motherwill, we work our way up to the Answerer. Barring Stigro and Orca's AFs, every AF has missiles by the dozen (Stigro has them too, [[Curb Stomp Battle|but he's special]]).

** One notable Raven in Nine Breaker has ~~Missile's~~ as ~~it's~~ weapon of choice (save for a [[Frickin' Laser Beams|Pulse Cannon]] ), ~~the~~ name of her AC, "MMM." Take a wild guess what that means.

** One notable Raven in Nine Breaker has missiles as its weapon of choice (save for a [[Frickin' Laser Beams|Pulse Cannon]] ). The name of her AC is "MMM." Take a wild guess what that means.

* [[Made of Explodium]] - Most ~~MT s~~ blow up after a couple hits from even the weakest of weapons and once you acquire the really heavy artillery stuff tends to explode if you look at it funny. ~~AC s~~ on the other hand are tough to bring down with even the best equipment. Anything larger (warship, building, Behemoth, Arms Fort) has a tendency to explode gigantically if you so much as poke it with a half-decent energy blade.

* [[Made of Explodium]] - Most MTs blow up after a couple hits from even the weakest of weapons and once you acquire the really heavy artillery stuff tends to explode if you look at it funny. ACs on the other hand are tough to bring down with even the best equipment. Anything larger (warship, building, Behemoth, Arms Fort) has a tendency to explode gigantically if you so much as poke it with a half-decent energy blade.

* [[Mana Meter]] -

* ~~[[Mana Meter]] -~~ ACs live and die by their energy bars. If an AC runs out of power it can't use its boosters or energy weapons until the generator recharges, which can take a couple minutes if you have an energy-dependant AC with a poor generator.

** ACs live and die by their energy bars. If an AC runs out of power it can't use its boosters or energy weapons until the generator recharges, which can take a couple minutes if you have an energy-dependant AC with a poor generator.

** ~~NEXT's~~ are an even worse case; a NEXT that is not boosting is a NEXT that will die very, very fast.

** NEXTs are an even worse case; a NEXT that is not boosting is a NEXT that will die very, very fast.

* [[Master Computer]] - R from ''Armored Core'', The Controller from ''Armored Core 3'' and IBIS from ''Silent Line'', {{spoiler|though remember that [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]].}}

** {{spoiler|There's some implications that ''Nineball'' is one, too.}}

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** ''Armored Core: Nexus'' and the Revolution disk.

** Chief and Carol in 5 who {{spoiler|[[Expy|are basically Nineball/Lana Nielsen from Master of Arena]].}}

** ''6'':

** The fight with {{spoiler|the original Raven}} ~~in ''6''~~ is one to the White Glint fight in ''for Answer'', complete with the boss being silent and leaving the talking to his operator.

*** The fight with {{spoiler|the original Raven}} is one to the White Glint fight in ''for Answer'', complete with the boss being silent and leaving the talking to his operator.

*** The uses of "Ibis" in both the Fires of Ibis and the Ibis Series mech.

* [[Neglectful Precursors]] - in Armored Core 2 {{spoiler|It is implied that all of the [[Lost Technology]] was left behind by a long dead alien race.}}

* [[New Game+]]- It's possible to upload your data from previous games in the series. In an interesting example, in the first and second games, getting 50,000 credits in debt resulted in your character being made "Human+ ," and starting over from the beginning with some bonuses, such as a better radar, double energy, and the ability to fire large weapons without kneeling.

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** Overed Weapons play this straight by do 60,000 to 150,000 damage a hit, the standard AC has around 34,000 AP.

* [[Passing the Torch]] - Your character's operator (possibly mentor) in For Answer is {{spoiler|1=Kasumi Sumika, a Lynx who first appeared in AC4}}.

** [[Older Than They Think]]: [[Action Girl|Your part-time partner and proto-operator]] in ''Project Phantasma'' is also called Sumika. However, given PP and 4A take place it separate universes, it's not the same one.

** [[Older Than They Think]]: [[Action Girl|Your part-time partner and proto-operator]] in ''Project Phantasma'' is also called Sumika. However, given PP and 4A take place in separate universes, it's not the same one.

* [[Point Defenseless]]: Played straight, subverted, double subverted, averted, all over the spectrum. General rule of thumb is that any Close-In Weapons System designed to pick off incoming missiles mounted on your AC usually works, except when it doesn't (poor detection rates, etc). Conversely, non-AC opponent's CIWS will usually not work, except when it does (a particularly strong CIWS, for example).

** One of the biggest recent aversion of this trope is the Aegis-CIWS unit onboard the St. Elmo. While it says it's a CIWS, it's more effective shooting down AC units rather than missiles thanks to its endlessly stunlocking bullets, not to mention St. Elmo is covered by six of them.

** One of the biggest recent{{when}} aversion of this trope is the Aegis-CIWS unit onboard the St. Elmo. While it says it's a CIWS, it's more effective shooting down AC units rather than missiles thanks to its endlessly stunlocking bullets, not to mention St. Elmo is covered by six of them.

* [[Poor Man's Substitute]]: A low-ranked Raven in the Arena in ''Armored Core 2'' goes by the moniker "Hustler Two" (AC: Eight Ball). He claims to be a descendant of Hustler One, which is kinda hard to take seriously seeing as how {{spoiler|1=rogue AIs don't have kids}}. His AC is also hilariously shitty in comparison to Nine Ball.

* [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]

{{quote|'''Hustler One/Nine Ball/{{spoiler|Lana Nielsen}}''': ''Target Verified.'' '''''[[Oh Crap|Commencing Hostilities]]'''''.}}

* [[Preorder Bonus]] - Armored Core 5 had two, the Recon pack and Heavy Assault pack which gave some of the Overed Weapons early without needing to beat the game. Apparently Armored Core 4 had one which added two more NEXT's to fight in the Simulation (one of which was apparently Nineball) but it's most likely a Internet rumor since there's no proof anywhere.

* [[Private Military Contractors]]: Raven's Nest, Nerves Concord, Global Cortex, Raven's Ark, Vertex, and Line Ark. They bill themselves as "[[Insistent Terminology|~~Despite~~ Resolution]]" firms, which is just a fancy name for "Mercenary Organization". Men of Honor in 5 does this in the more traditonal sense non story wise by having players hire other players to help them out in missions.

* [[Private Military Contractors]]: Raven's Nest, Nerves Concord, Global Cortex, Raven's Ark, Vertex, and Line Ark. They bill themselves as "[[Insistent Terminology|Dispute Resolution]]" firms, which is just a fancy name for "Mercenary Organization". Men of Honor in 5 does this in the more traditonal sense non story wise by having players hire other players to help them out in missions.

* [[Psycho for Hire]] - Stinger, Shamir, Do Su, Chief most games ~~has~~ one.

* [[Psycho for Hire]] - Stinger, Shamir, Do Su, Chief, most games have one.

* [[Punch Clock Hero]] - See below.

* [[Punch Clock Villain]] - Nearly every AC you fight against is one of these, as they are usually just recruited by corporations you happen to be fighting, corporations which may later recruit you because you killed their employees. Sometimes subject to [[Lampshade Hanging]], including an instance in Armored Core 3 where Nocturne tells you "We're both Ravens, just do what comes naturally, and don't think about it." right before trying to kill you.

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* [[Secret AI Moves]]- Aside from enemy ACs occasionally having parts that simply don't exist, the higher-ranked Arena opponents in 3 and Silent line have ''ALL'' the optional parts equipped, including the OP-Intensify (which, by itself) takes up all the slots on a Core).

** Proudly presents : [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv5Q1VGPn4U Rai-Den, god of QB-chaining.]

* [[Sequel Gap]]: 10 real-world years pass between the releases of ''Verdict Day'' and ''Fires of Rubicon''.

* [[Shoot the Dog]] - One interpretation of ''For Answer'' Ending C. {{spoiler|Sacrifice a hundred million innocents for a chance to save humanity? Tough choice.}}

* [[Shout-Out]] - Despite being 10 feet tall, Armored Cores have the [[Expy|the same feel as]] [[Armored Trooper VOTOMS|VOTOMS]]. They skid across the battlefield using a combination of boosters and feet, highly customizable, and some of the parts such as grenade launchers and missiles bear striking similarity to VOTOMS [[Ace Custom]] models. And don't get started on [[Hideo Kojima|Kojima]] [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Particles]]...

** There's one to the [[Xanth]] novels, of all things. In the first book there's a character that uses three pseudonyms: {{spoiler|Wynne, Dee & Fanchon.}} Then in this series there's the character {{spoiler|Wynne D. Fanchon.}}

** Every chapter in Armored Core 4 is named after a book by [[Agatha Christie]].

** "Liberator" is a generic word in of itself. However, one of the endings to ''6'' being called "Liberator of Rubicon", when viewed in light of the fact that Bandai-Namco now has not one but two games called ''[[Ace Combat|AC6: Fires of X]]'', does make a person wonder. The last word in that other AC6's title? '''Liberation'''.

* [[Sibling Rivalry]] - Rosary and Regan

* [[Skippable Boss]] - In some cases you are not obligated to kill certain boss enemies you meet and are encouraged to evade them to continue the mission uninterrupted. The bosses are usually hard enough in AC that some of them are considered [[Hopeless Boss Fight|Hopeless Boss Fights]] the first time you try them, but can usually be beaten after acquiring better parts.

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{{quote|{{spoiler|Angie}}: "Damage critical. Mission failed, #3/#8."

{{spoiler|Zodiac #3/#8}}: "This is some kind of a sick joke, right {{spoiler|Angie}}? [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|We turned ourselves into puppets]] for this?! ''I don't even remember why!'' }}

* [[Wake Up Call Boss]]: ''6'' has not one but two - a PCA Heavy Combat Helicopter at the end of the tutorial, and Balteus at the end of the first chapter.

* [[Wake Up Call Boss]]: ''6'' has not one but two - a PCA Heavy Combat Helicopter at the end of the tutorial serves to make the player aware that this game isn't a mindless spamming experience, and Balteus at the end of the first chapter further checks that the player didn't just get this far on beginner's luck.

* [[Walking Wasteland]] - Any NEXT is this due to the ubiquitous use of Kojima Particles in their Primal Armor and possibly weapons.

* [[Wall Jump]] - Added in 5

* [[Wave Motion Gun]] - So many.

* [[Weak But Skilled]] -

* ~~[[Weak But Skilled]] -~~ ''Verdict Day'' has '''you''' {{spoiler|fight a NEXT in the final battle using only a Normal. In other words, he has the equipment the player did in ''4'' and ''For Answer'', while you're in the kind of machine that's not even a speed bump in those games.}}

** ''Verdict Day'' has '''you''' {{spoiler|fight a NEXT in the final battle using only a Normal. In other words, he has the equipment the player did in ''4'' and ''For Answer'', while you're in the kind of machine that's not even a speed bump in those games.}}

** ''6'' has {{spoiler|the original Raven.}} His AC, should you recreate it, is unimpressive, crappy even. Fight him, though, and while he's not on par with the toughest bosses, he is still very much able to make you regret taking him lightly.

* [[Weaksauce Weakness]] - The Spirit of Motherwill is beaten by destroying its weapons (because the explosions cause uncontrollable internal fires, a rather glaring engineering fault for a weapons platform), Stigro has absolutely no resistance to energy blades (which generally do a huge amount of damage when they land).

** Arguably, BFF probably didn't think anything would be able to get close enough to Spirit of Motherwill to destroy its weapons in the first place, considering it can precisely hit a relatively small NEXT moving at least Mach 2 (You can hit as high as 2600kmph with the Vanguard Overed Boost.)

*** [[Star Wars|Well, they apparently don't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defense.]]

** Pretty much any arms fort can be destroyed in one motion by any AC that has two energy blades and has a four-legged chassis.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] -

* ~~[[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]-~~ Line Ark is an aversion. While they were branded revolutionaries by the League, they're actually very democratic and accepts people from all walks of life. This approach however has led them into a massive [[Motive Decay]]. Line Ark's successor of sorts, ORCA in ''For Answer'', is this.

** Line Ark is an aversion. While they were branded revolutionaries by the League, they're actually very democratic and accepts people from all walks of life. This approach however has led them into a massive [[Motive Decay]]. Line Ark's successor of sorts, ORCA in ''For Answer'', is this.

** In ''6'', {{spoiler|Walter wants mankind to know that Coral is too dangerous to be used. To do this, he plans to induce a second Fires of Ibis, which will scorch Rubicon 3 anew and kill so very many people.}}

* [[We Will Spend Credits in the Future]]: Interestingly, only Stateside editions use "Credits". Japanese versions use COAM instead; short of COmpany Assured Money<ref>An Engrishy translation of ?????? (Kigyo Hoshu Tsuka)</ref>.

** Credits are called "Au" in 5, implying gold is being directly traded but it still follows the trope.

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**** And the worst part about it? Old King was the only true rebel leader against the corporations which speaks a [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized|about the rebel groups]].

* [[With This Herring]] - The Story Missions in V are often long, hard, and brutal. The beginning AC you have is nothing more than a hodgepodge of "Junk" parts; parts that are no longer in their peak state due to damages they've sustained, denoted with the prefix "D/".

* [[Wolverine Publicity]] - Nine Ball is the series's unofficial mascot despite appearing in only four out of '''fourteen''' games.( {{spoiler|and his cameo boss apperence in [[Another Century's Episode]] R}}) And any Armored Core fan worth their salt will recognize him.

* [[Wolverine Publicity]] - Nine Ball is the series's unofficial mascot despite appearing in only four out of '''fourteen''' games.( {{spoiler|and his cameo boss apperence in [[Another Century's Episode]] R}}) And any Armored Core fan worth their salt will recognize him. It probably has to do with the fact that every Armored Core fan worth their salt has had their [[That One Boss|asses handed to them by it at least once]].

** It probably has to do that every Armored Core fan worth their salt has had their [[That One Boss|asses handed to them by it at least once]].

* [[Word Salad Title]] - Even in context some of the games titles are just weird. By way of example the thirteenth game's full is Armored Core 4: For Answer. Say that out loud and see how it sounds.