Things I forgot/corrections: -Energy supply is for powering up blades, I said it weird. Better score, more hit. -There's more than 2 companies, I just covered the two biggest. -ACs are not uncommon, MTs are absolutely everywhere. People commute in the dang things in some places. -I should have mentioned this, but the hard mission is also the only Alliance option at the start. You can join them without it, but my first time through, I wanted to be on their side. So...struggle start on stubbornness. That was even with a 100% save from Nexus. -Yes, OP-I has some downsides, but I legit lost my head and right arm first go on that one. It should have been a NG+ option, but they did get that right for For Answer, which makes sense in terms of who was involved with the design.
Weirdly as soon as I started getting into the series the game got announced, it was like finding gold and the realizing that they're might be even more under it
Yup I was watching the ACVI gameplay showcase and immediately remembered that I had an AC game on my PSP as a kid, but didnt like it much at the time Now I want to try getting into it again on the emulator, but holy hell, I didn't know there were this many portable entries
When I was just a stupid young kid with a psp I never realised Formula Front was supposed to be about making an AI and I just played it like armoured core, and loved it all the same
Coffee Potato was actually my entry point for enjoying Armored Core. I watched the old "get op quick, 10 simple tricks-you WON'T BELIEVE how many kills he gets!!!" video. Prior to that, I had played AC1 and found it too hard. I liked AC4 but it felt a little too "super robot" for me. But AC3 on PSP really hit the right notes. AC3 is nice and easy (by AC standards,) so newbies with no skill (like I was) can adjust to the game. AC3 is now my favorite AC game by far and I'm a big fan of Silent Line too. Silent Line is what campaign dlc should aspire to be. The #1 advice Coffee gave in his old video, and which I agree with, is to get hover legs early. Hover legs let new players practice movement without the high skill barrier to entry that is mastering jump-hop-hovering. Hover legs also prevent drowning and make some maps way easier. That's not to say I think hover legs are the "best" legs. I prefer quads. A good set of quads can fly forever and boasts deceptively strong armor, high carry capacity and average-to-high speed.
Always loved the idea of AC, being into Gundam and other mech stuff, but never could get my hands on any of the games back when I owned a console. I did listen to 4 Answer's soundtrack A LOT. Solid album.
Dang straight it is. AC may reference a lot of mech stuff, but it's...not much like other mech stuff. It's honestly some kinda hybrid between Ace Combat, Dark Souls, a fighting game, and Legos.
@@CoffeePotato I specifically wanted to get into armoured core and tactics ogre so this is right up my alley. I may or may not have a thing for very specific and kinda strange games 😅
Everyone's got their favorites. It's especially flexible on Vita, with the second stick and 8 extra buttons. That said, there's something really elegant about the default PSP control scheme, someone put a lot of thought into that.
@@therandomdickhead5744 True. "Boss, we need a control scheme for our fast and technical robot game!" "Why not reuse the one from our slow dungeon crawlers?" "The ones where you needed multiple buttons to do basic actions?" "Yes, we'll reuse those combos to purge items a decade from now " "Seems logical to me"
I found your channel via your tactics ogre videos, hell yeah armored core If folks are playing on an emulator, get a controller with R2/L2 (and optionally, L3/R3), and try out a mapping that does this: L2 - Boost R2 - Right Arm Weapon L1 - Extension R1 - Left Arm Weapon L3 for Overboost, R3 for weapon switching - if you don't have those it feels ok to keep them on Triangle/Y and Circle/B (the default) Left Analog mapped to strafe instead of look map all looking to D-pad, map D-pad to right analog Every AC game has built-in remapping + the emulator lets you do more, you can do this by first mapping stuff in-game then adding inputs in PPSSPP. With that control scheme, especially if you have L3/R3, it's way more comfortable. You're free to struggle against having a shitty mech instead of hand cramps. If you're on a Vita you'll have to compromise a bit. Same principle though, map looking to dpad, map dpad to right analog, at least personally I do Boost on L and Right Arm Weapon on R, and then the face buttons for the rest.
This game looks right up my alley. I kept seeing you mentioning this series but without any personal context. However, today was the day that I decided to look into it and, boy, am I glad I did!
Thank you for showcasing these! I love the story of Last Raven, but it was always my least favorite in the series due to builds feeling so crippled and lacking…. Until I found a code to enable Human + for Last Raven, then it INSTANTLY became my favorite in the series. Solely being able to move and use back cannons makes it feel like the love letter to the series it was always meant to be. If any fan of the series hasn’t tried Last Raven with Human +, I can’t recommend it enough. Best experience I’ve ever had on any AC game.
Project Phantasma and Master of Arena also run great on a hacked PSP Vita. You can even tweak the controls for full analog camera movement, makes playing the games a whole lot easier.
(from software logo appears and says to me: you don't know yet, but you gonna play all my games) Started playing some psp stuff this year and this is exactly what i was looking for, thank you. Since you like these games and the theme have you ever read the "front mission: dog life" manga, its a hidden gem if you haven't and translation has just been finished recently. (and now i'm thinking about the intersection between mechs and tactics, from 'front mission' to 'into the breach' lots of things to enjoy)
Very true, I love those games. FromSoft has a crazy amount of cool idea titles. I ended up scrapping a video recently that I need to redo on Echo Night, still plan to do another on Shadow Tower, someone requested a H+-less run of AC1...there's so many.
I usually return to this video. So here are all the timestamp for each of the AC game on PSP: - 0:00 Armored Core 3 - 27:15 Silent Line - 31:05 Last Raven - 40:10 Armored Core (classic) - 44:45 Formula Front
Interesting to hear the PSP versions are definitive, I wouldn't have expected that (I can see how control issues may be a thing but probably less so via PPSSPP or something)
The console controls from Last Raven are infinitely better than the PSP games. With emulator settings you can nearly recreate it, but inside parts are still worse than in the console version because they can`t have a dedicated button like EOs or extensions do. In theory, someone could make a mod which fixes that, which would be amazing.
True, but part of it is not even game related. Like outside of a Deck or selling a kidney, you're not really losing anything other than inside rocket spamming potential on the handhelds, while fixing the annoying Blue/Red thing, while improving speed, while getting new parts and arena fights. I plan to cover all of them far more once my setup can emulate them properly.
@@CoffeePotato Admittedly I've yet to play an armored core so I'm lacking a fair bit of context for some of this, but yeah new content and faster game is pretty good.
@@dearcrowns For context: There's a lot of parts you can put in the inside slot. Usually most will run missile decoys, which you can quickly swap to, launch, and avoid being hit by a missile swarm. Think...flares, but it's a balloon. You can also put rockets in there. Basic damage rockets don't have much ammo, but you have napalm for overheats, ecm for jamming, and Silent Line had Generator Jammers too. There's scatter mines, float mines, and some other stuff too. These are tricky to deploy, but the main gripe comes from the fact that the PS2 versions allowed them to be on a different button. When you fire your right hand weapon, you can't swap until it's done reloading, so this meant you could use rockets as a mid reload, of sorts. It's super niche, but that's the deal there. On the other changes, on the PS2, AC3-SL had blue and red numbers on comparisons, but they only indicated up or down Blue was up, Red was down. So like you want lower Calorific Value on your generator, but lower was shown as red. Higher heat output on your boosters was shown as blue. The PSP version made Blue into Better, Red into Worse. The PS2 versions did have more effects, like more windows exploding when boosting by, as well as a slightly smoother Framerate sometimes. I say sometimes, because on the Vita or emulation, the PSP version is ultra crisp. There's minor graphical bugs from draw distance, like Avalon hill having a black triangle from one of the deploy scenes, and the Reservoir map having some tearing at a distance, but this is minor. The only mechanical thing I'd say has any real niche effect is how part damage translated in Last Raven, where Large Rockets have a hard time hitting heads and arms for hitbox reasons. I cannot overstate how few people this could possibly ever affect 😂
@@CoffeePotato Oh I see. Yeah having a different button does make spam easier lol but I can imagine how some people may prefer the PS2 system; PSP sounds more balanced though. And re: red/blue yes that does sound like a good change for the PSP versions to make as well, feels like an oversight in the original It does sound pretty solid, so all this is good to keep in mind for when I try playing the games haha
The graphical downgrades for Armored Core 3 on the PSP were very minimal, given the actual hardware difference. It's pretty much 95% the same graphics, including scale and shadowing. Also, the fact that one can fully modify the controls, ironically, makes it easier to control on the PSP than the PS2, where there was no way to take advantage of the second analogue stick.
@@billythenarwhal1579hopefully you figured it out, but just incase, you need to map the right analogue stick to buttons on the psp, then remap controls to suit it (for example aiming up/down/left/right with dpad, then mapping right analogue stick to dpad)
I imported the physical copies of AC3, SL, and LR from Japan to play on my vanilla PSP. It's pretty cool to have these on a mobile platform, the boxart for the cases are awesome, and the menus are mostly in English so it being in Japanese isn't that big a deal (especially since I've already played the PS2 versions). The only thing is I have to find a comfortable control scheme for vanilla PSP, the limited buttons make dual wielding and purging tough without getting used to the default controls which I never liked.
@@CoffeePotato maybe, though for 3 and SL on console I was able to remap to a control scheme that I got comfy with where all turning and aim controls were on face buttons, movement was on d-pad, and all other functions were on shoulders. Couldn't purge, but I could dual wield easily and hangars weren't something I had to worry about until Last Raven which had the Nexus Type-A controls which were improved by have dual analog sticks and more streamlined purging anyway.
I made it to Last Raven Portable and I have to say, I strongly dislike the portable version compared to the console version which is my favorite AC game. The vanilla PSP controls are manageable in AC3 and Silent Line, making them fine on-the-go versions of those games, but Last Raven's difficulty and design demand you use builds that are extremely hard to use on vanilla PSP, mainly dual wielding. I'm glad I have all three to display on my shelf, but I can't stand to play LRP compared to the other two. Ah well, two out of three ain't bad.
@@mallow2902 To each their own. Personally I find it far more comfortable, due to not having accidental analog inputs on old controllers. Something about the Dpad down lefty just feels right in my book, but that's a personal preference thing. Ain't impossible by any means, see the ACLR Rocket Only run for that. Last raven route, got all the big 3, good lord that was a challenge.
As an ac3 fan boy, this hit all the right notes. Don't know if you'd be the one to ask, but any recommendations as far as ideal specs for emulation? Either on Android or pc?
Oh I love last Raven music as it's like Aphex Twin or Autechre. But tbh I love all AC soundtracks ok maybe except ninebreaker? Idk... I hope that Frequency is making music for ac6 , I wonder if it will be industrial rock like 5/VD or techno like ps1/ps2... though trailer song sounded neither it was almost synthwave lol. Nexus and MoA has sweetest tunes though
Bought this booted it up and almost shit myself with controls. Gonna stick it out and give it an honest try since I’m on my yearly mecha kick. Have u played Damascus gear on vita?? Looks really solid kinda like Diablo with mechs
@@CoffeePotato I agree I’m mostly buying old games. Playing front mission 3 is a real treat!! Considering buying the other two AC psp games to continue through it’s got massive learning curve but I can see the appreciation now
Very helpful Info/review, even tho the graphics are outdated its armored core portable, definitely gonna check it out . Know of any other "obscure" Mech, strategy, or action game on psP or vita? My vita needs food.
Wanting to replay these games.. i never got the PSP versions-- super glad i found this video and this channel.. looking forrward for your AC6 content in the future mister CoffeePotato
Hey I’m new to the AC Series I have a PSP and a PS vita, is it playable to play AC3P on the PSP? or should I play it on the PS Vita? I really want to play on the PSP but if it’s not worth it I’ll play it on the Vita instead.
I've always tried to get into these older titles but I just never felt comfortable playing them. Kinda always struggled with controls, tried messing with different mappings but I dunno, shit always felt a bit off. I do, however, LOVE for Answer. Not great at it but controls feel much more intuitive/fluid. Verdict Day is cool but 4 just always felt like the apex of the series to me. I do try to get/bruteforce my way into the psp games every now and then cause I do find them cool, I just suck ass. lol Is there any way to mitigate landing recovery? Was playing LR and it felt really bad having to break momentum because of it.
There is, and I think I have a video on that somewhere. There's a lot of minute movement tech to third gen that I just love. Also, I assume 4A, not 4...4 itself was probably the most bizarre arcade cabinet translation of the series. That said, you just boost into a landing to mitigate hard lands. The amount of boost needed depends on your weight, and it helps to practice with a lightweight to get some of these little quirks figured out. Usually it's best to go for boosters way more powerful than your weight class at first, just to get a feel for how much thrust you need to counter your downward momentum. In LR, though, you will still take a hard land unless you're skating forward if your legs get broken (aka another reason LR just isn't as fun to play as 3-SL). Let me see I can find that video...
@@CoffeePotato yeah, yeah. Was referring to 4A. I went with LR due to it being the most recent release on psp, figured it would be the most fluid and stuff, guess I was mistaken. Appreciate the reply, never thought to look up an in depth AC review/commentary before for some reason. Glad I've found this video. Very informative. I'll definitely be checking more of your content.
@@CoffeePotato Also, I assume you're probably aware of this, but just in case you aren't, a romantic cd site (wink) has got most, if not all, AC titles for ps2 and psp. Got a few of them to run on my ps3 the other day. You mentioned emulation on pc being kinda demanding, which was kinda surprising to me since they all seem to emulate just fine on ps3.
How good of a computer would you need to emulate AC3 PSP games? I'd love to try it, but I've only got a laptop. It's modern-ish, with an i5 and 8gb ram but it's only got integrated graphics
Starter AC? Oh, no no no, Adieu downgraded the Starter AC. Also, bizarre stuff kept happening, like Evangel deciding his gun doesn't work, or managing to dodge pretty much every shot Etzam Nar fired. czcams.com/video/kyl2DARGWzo/video.html I ended up discovering years later that emulation messes with the AI in bizarre ways, so I was going to re-do the whole thing on original hardware at some point.
I've had AC3P on my Vita for some time. It seemed like it was cool, but the overwhelming number of stats and parts really were over my head. However, the thing that really holds me back from enjoying it are the controls. Even so, it was nagging at the back of my head for years that I should give it another go. With AC6 finally announced, it was the nudge I needed to boot it up again and take it more seriously. But the controls are just so difficult to deal with. Does anyone have any advice or methodology to practice getting used to them? It really is the biggest hurdle there is between me and having fun with this.
Funny enough, I've actually adopted the Portable controls for my AC1/PS1 playthroughs recently. The PSP and Vita lack R2/L2 Buttons though to map left arm/weapon switch for me. But I've remapped strafing on left/right d-pad and camera rotate on L/R. The biggest thing to get used to is probably camera adjusting since is it archaic. No thumbstick support, usually. But maybe you could get around that with remapping controls on the Vita. A modern take would be to map the camera controls on the thumbsticks, Boost/Jump on L and Right Arm on R, with the face buttons controlling other stuff to your preference. Don't feel bad if it takes you time to get a feel for it. These controls feel like moving a forklift or other similar equipment. It'll start feeling a lot better once you get used to it and you upgrade your AC.
@@CoffeePotato You know how some people are unrealistically scared or clown or kittens? I'm scared of modding it. I know it sounds silly, but I will brick my vita. It's the only 1 I have and I've had it for 7 years now.
There was an armored core on PSP that let you play with a mech that looked like wirframe I used to play this back in 2011 or so do you know what the name of t he game ?
so i play on the ppsspp and it is very difficult because i cant boost jump or move like how its is shown in videos so combat is very tough.i wanna know if i have change the buttons.
So, someone knows how to fix a bug in PPSSPP when i play this and SL? The problem is that the game is way too dark and sometimes it seems normal, i have searched for this but never found anything about it that helps.
Just booted up my vita first time in years and see armoured core is available digitally. Only silent like and last raven. Tempted to buy one as never played armoured core before. So watching this video for some help deciding.
AC3 is the best to start, Silent Line is the one to play if you want more AC3 wackiness, LR is the one to play if you like a more hardcore experience (aka it's just hard to be hard sometimes), and while not buyable digitally, Formula Front international is the one to play if you like fiddling around with weird builds and watching them slap each other. I'd say 3 or SL would be your best starting point.
@@CoffeePotato it looks like I can’t start with 3 as it’s strangely not compatible with the vita according to the ps store. It doesn’t show up on vita store so I went on ps3 to check the ps store and it says “psp only” where other 2 say “psp and ps vita” really strange. Ok just checked on Google and it seems to only be a issue for people in Europe. Front mission 3 works fine digitally in USA, so it’s not a hardware reason why it can’t work. How strange.
@@wannabkain4400 Bizarre, this video was off of a Vita, though that said ..it's honestly best used with crossing the seven seas in mind if you catch my drift. I wasn't about to go buy a second hand PS3 to download the Genesis Collection onto it to transfer to the Vita because of some background shenanigans.
@@wannabkain4400 Enjoy, the AC series is amazing, and that's a great place to start. Plus it's one of the few that you can research safely, since the spoilers honestly lead to more curiosity than actual spoiling. If you're curious about some of the ups and downs of the series after your first playthrough, a couple of us made a long form breakdown of what the series experimented with. czcams.com/video/KpN-S9xtMzk/video.html
@@Pandemonium-zp2fg It's easier than it sounds. You pretty much just pop your disc into the computer, tell it to rip, use that on psx2psp, add some art, throw it on the PSP/Vita, and bam.
out of all the portable armored cores, formula front is the best looking and best performing. I wonder, why they didn't make all of em look and perform like it.
Ehh ...Not quite. On original hardware, it played like ass on the original release, and was a bit better on International. It emulates the best, presumably due to some of the little stuff they ironed out for the mainline releases, like many (but not all) of the breakable windows being already broken...so you still feel like you're blasting past breaking glass. Overall Last Raven performs and looks the best on original hardware, but FF was definitely the roughest on that same console. Emulation does make some of the tricks 3 and SL used stick out, like the black box on Avalon hill, or the tearing at the Reservoir. They effectively lowered and re-stretched the resolution and models, which can also be seen during the Rocket Only run, where this also lowered the hitbox of some limbs on ACs in ACLRP, so you'd shoot right through elbows, knees, and most of heads with rockets.
woah, definitely not expecting that, thanks for the info. Man, I can tell your passion on armored core. Now I know why people mentions you in reddit a lot. Cheers man! looking forward on your take on armored core 6.
Nah. Cheats are boring. Learning the mechanics and beating the thing with total garbage is where it's at. Thankfully, both of these opinions are correct!
Ah, this game is another side of fromsoftware. Either sword and magic fantasy or just straight-up mecha sci-fi. (They made Gundam unicorn game btw) This game is like reverse king's field. If king's field is, you are faster than your enemies. Everything is fair but there may be some trap. This game is, -kill the player command, execute. The enemy AC default speed is fast. Their aim is also pretty accurate. And you, your aim are shit lock on takes ages. And your turning speed is like your robot already rusted waiting to fall. You are not some super human, human plus, nor have forbidden ai build up cheat. Get fuck...!!! This is perhaps the only game the dev team said. Fuck the player give the enemy build-up cheat to cripple the player. And so cripple they did. I wonder if armored core is released nowadays. Would the enemy AI got that in game in world build up cheat. Never start from gen 1 it will give you ptsd. As bias as it may be. In my opinion, start from either 3rd or 4th gen. Because that's is the basic of what armored core would be moving forward. Everything is rebooted but still grounded. With the 6th rumors comes out (again) hopefully it becomes idk better? (I'm not even sure why i use this word) I mean the made souls game. Dodging and turning should be fast. If they still want FCS at least add semi lock on to the additional lock on (like 65% : 95% chance of hitting). Keeping the enemy on middle of the screen just for bullet to hit them is impossible when they are like 8 of them and they are surrounding me. Install some back camera you damn raven that i control. I really glad they made side boost a thing though.
@@CoffeePotato hopefully... After all, there is a possibility they pulled a fast one and goes "Ha Ha it was another century episode all along!!!" But, damn it too was a good game...
Things I forgot/corrections:
-Energy supply is for powering up blades, I said it weird. Better score, more hit.
-There's more than 2 companies, I just covered the two biggest.
-ACs are not uncommon, MTs are absolutely everywhere. People commute in the dang things in some places.
-I should have mentioned this, but the hard mission is also the only Alliance option at the start. You can join them without it, but my first time through, I wanted to be on their side. So...struggle start on stubbornness. That was even with a 100% save from Nexus.
-Yes, OP-I has some downsides, but I legit lost my head and right arm first go on that one. It should have been a NG+ option, but they did get that right for For Answer, which makes sense in terms of who was involved with the design.
I'm here to see the new wave of players come in after hearing that armored core VI has been announced
🙋♂️
That is me, and I've been loving AC3 so far. I used to play Custom Robo on the GameCube as a kid and this just feels like the adult version of that.
Same boat. I got Armor Core 3 on my PS Vita to dip my feet into the franchise before AC6 comes out.
Weirdly as soon as I started getting into the series the game got announced, it was like finding gold and the realizing that they're might be even more under it
Yup
I was watching the ACVI gameplay showcase and immediately remembered that I had an AC game on my PSP as a kid, but didnt like it much at the time
Now I want to try getting into it again on the emulator, but holy hell, I didn't know there were this many portable entries
When I was just a stupid young kid with a psp I never realised Formula Front was supposed to be about making an AI and I just played it like armoured core, and loved it all the same
Coffee Potato was actually my entry point for enjoying Armored Core. I watched the old "get op quick, 10 simple tricks-you WON'T BELIEVE how many kills he gets!!!" video. Prior to that, I had played AC1 and found it too hard. I liked AC4 but it felt a little too "super robot" for me. But AC3 on PSP really hit the right notes. AC3 is nice and easy (by AC standards,) so newbies with no skill (like I was) can adjust to the game. AC3 is now my favorite AC game by far and I'm a big fan of Silent Line too. Silent Line is what campaign dlc should aspire to be.
The #1 advice Coffee gave in his old video, and which I agree with, is to get hover legs early. Hover legs let new players practice movement without the high skill barrier to entry that is mastering jump-hop-hovering. Hover legs also prevent drowning and make some maps way easier. That's not to say I think hover legs are the "best" legs. I prefer quads. A good set of quads can fly forever and boasts deceptively strong armor, high carry capacity and average-to-high speed.
Always loved the idea of AC, being into Gundam and other mech stuff, but never could get my hands on any of the games back when I owned a console. I did listen to 4 Answer's soundtrack A LOT. Solid album.
Dang straight it is. AC may reference a lot of mech stuff, but it's...not much like other mech stuff. It's honestly some kinda hybrid between Ace Combat, Dark Souls, a fighting game, and Legos.
I started with last Raven and I’ll never forget that year
As a newbie getting into armoured core I was very pleasantly surprised to find your channel. Thank you for your work
Glad to help, and more on the way when I can. This is a very oddly specific channel 😂
@@CoffeePotato I specifically wanted to get into armoured core and tactics ogre so this is right up my alley.
I may or may not have a thing for very specific and kinda strange games 😅
@@therandomdickhead5744 Then you're in absolutely the oddly specific place 🤣🤣
Another big plus of the psp version is custom button mapping. I map turn to L/R shoulders and dpad/stick is directional strafe.
Everyone's got their favorites. It's especially flexible on Vita, with the second stick and 8 extra buttons. That said, there's something really elegant about the default PSP control scheme, someone put a lot of thought into that.
@@CoffeePotato way more thought than ps2 default controls thats for sure
@@therandomdickhead5744 True. "Boss, we need a control scheme for our fast and technical robot game!" "Why not reuse the one from our slow dungeon crawlers?" "The ones where you needed multiple buttons to do basic actions?" "Yes, we'll reuse those combos to purge items a decade from now "
"Seems logical to me"
I'm playing the PS2 version of AC3 and there's button mapping in that version too. I find it weird nobody seems to mention that.
@@mallow2902because it doesn’t allow you to remap turning to right analog stick until Nexus.
I found your channel via your tactics ogre videos, hell yeah armored core
If folks are playing on an emulator, get a controller with R2/L2 (and optionally, L3/R3), and try out a mapping that does this:
L2 - Boost
R2 - Right Arm Weapon
L1 - Extension
R1 - Left Arm Weapon
L3 for Overboost, R3 for weapon switching - if you don't have those it feels ok to keep them on Triangle/Y and Circle/B (the default)
Left Analog mapped to strafe instead of look
map all looking to D-pad, map D-pad to right analog
Every AC game has built-in remapping + the emulator lets you do more, you can do this by first mapping stuff in-game then adding inputs in PPSSPP. With that control scheme, especially if you have L3/R3, it's way more comfortable. You're free to struggle against having a shitty mech instead of hand cramps.
If you're on a Vita you'll have to compromise a bit. Same principle though, map looking to dpad, map dpad to right analog, at least personally I do Boost on L and Right Arm Weapon on R, and then the face buttons for the rest.
i remember playing ac formula front when i was a kid and not knowing the controls so i would just customise the mechs
AKA "The Lego Method"
This game looks right up my alley. I kept seeing you mentioning this series but without any personal context. However, today was the day that I decided to look into it and, boy, am I glad I did!
Right? It's dang good fun, and hard to quantify why. It just feels good.
Thank you for showcasing these!
I love the story of Last Raven, but it was always my least favorite in the series due to builds feeling so crippled and lacking….
Until I found a code to enable Human + for Last Raven, then it INSTANTLY became my favorite in the series. Solely being able to move and use back cannons makes it feel like the love letter to the series it was always meant to be.
If any fan of the series hasn’t tried Last Raven with Human +, I can’t recommend it enough. Best experience I’ve ever had on any AC game.
i got all these running on my phone, absolutely loving them.
Project Phantasma and Master of Arena also run great on a hacked PSP Vita. You can even tweak the controls for full analog camera movement, makes playing the games a whole lot easier.
The Vita is hands down the best little PS1-PSP brick.
just got a vita and this helps a lot just to explain the different games on there, thanks so much
No problem, it's an awesome device!
Thank you for the video.
I've always loved this games but never went out of my way to find info about it
Glad to help, and it's been keeping me entertained for going on 2 decades now, gotta share.
(from software logo appears and says to me: you don't know yet, but you gonna play all my games)
Started playing some psp stuff this year and this is exactly what i was looking for, thank you.
Since you like these games and the theme have you ever read the "front mission: dog life" manga, its a hidden gem if you haven't and translation has just been finished recently.
(and now i'm thinking about the intersection between mechs and tactics, from 'front mission' to 'into the breach' lots of things to enjoy)
Very true, I love those games. FromSoft has a crazy amount of cool idea titles. I ended up scrapping a video recently that I need to redo on Echo Night, still plan to do another on Shadow Tower, someone requested a H+-less run of AC1...there's so many.
I usually return to this video. So here are all the timestamp for each of the AC game on PSP:
- 0:00 Armored Core 3
- 27:15 Silent Line
- 31:05 Last Raven
- 40:10 Armored Core (classic)
- 44:45 Formula Front
Circulation was so much hype track in ac1 with that mission underground rebel hunt
The music was like 95% absolute slappers through this series.
Interesting to hear the PSP versions are definitive, I wouldn't have expected that (I can see how control issues may be a thing but probably less so via PPSSPP or something)
The console controls from Last Raven are infinitely better than the PSP games. With emulator settings you can nearly recreate it, but inside parts are still worse than in the console version because they can`t have a dedicated button like EOs or extensions do. In theory, someone could make a mod which fixes that, which would be amazing.
True, but part of it is not even game related. Like outside of a Deck or selling a kidney, you're not really losing anything other than inside rocket spamming potential on the handhelds, while fixing the annoying Blue/Red thing, while improving speed, while getting new parts and arena fights. I plan to cover all of them far more once my setup can emulate them properly.
@@CoffeePotato Admittedly I've yet to play an armored core so I'm lacking a fair bit of context for some of this, but yeah new content and faster game is pretty good.
@@dearcrowns For context:
There's a lot of parts you can put in the inside slot. Usually most will run missile decoys, which you can quickly swap to, launch, and avoid being hit by a missile swarm. Think...flares, but it's a balloon.
You can also put rockets in there. Basic damage rockets don't have much ammo, but you have napalm for overheats, ecm for jamming, and Silent Line had Generator Jammers too. There's scatter mines, float mines, and some other stuff too. These are tricky to deploy, but the main gripe comes from the fact that the PS2 versions allowed them to be on a different button. When you fire your right hand weapon, you can't swap until it's done reloading, so this meant you could use rockets as a mid reload, of sorts. It's super niche, but that's the deal there.
On the other changes, on the PS2, AC3-SL had blue and red numbers on comparisons, but they only indicated up or down Blue was up, Red was down. So like you want lower Calorific Value on your generator, but lower was shown as red. Higher heat output on your boosters was shown as blue. The PSP version made Blue into Better, Red into Worse.
The PS2 versions did have more effects, like more windows exploding when boosting by, as well as a slightly smoother Framerate sometimes. I say sometimes, because on the Vita or emulation, the PSP version is ultra crisp. There's minor graphical bugs from draw distance, like Avalon hill having a black triangle from one of the deploy scenes, and the Reservoir map having some tearing at a distance, but this is minor.
The only mechanical thing I'd say has any real niche effect is how part damage translated in Last Raven, where Large Rockets have a hard time hitting heads and arms for hitbox reasons. I cannot overstate how few people this could possibly ever affect 😂
@@CoffeePotato Oh I see. Yeah having a different button does make spam easier lol but I can imagine how some people may prefer the PS2 system; PSP sounds more balanced though.
And re: red/blue yes that does sound like a good change for the PSP versions to make as well, feels like an oversight in the original
It does sound pretty solid, so all this is good to keep in mind for when I try playing the games haha
The graphical downgrades for Armored Core 3 on the PSP were very minimal, given the actual hardware difference. It's pretty much 95% the same graphics, including scale and shadowing. Also, the fact that one can fully modify the controls, ironically, makes it easier to control on the PSP than the PS2, where there was no way to take advantage of the second analogue stick.
Exactly, plus the use of the Dpad was surprisingly slick.
@@CoffeePotato indeed.
How are you setting the 2nd stick up on ACP titles? Mine won't let me.
@@billythenarwhal1579hopefully you figured it out, but just incase, you need to map the right analogue stick to buttons on the psp, then remap controls to suit it (for example aiming up/down/left/right with dpad, then mapping right analogue stick to dpad)
I just bought front mission 3 and I’m scouring through psn psp store before shut down checking games off list these 3 are on the list for sure
Love the armored core series
I imported the physical copies of AC3, SL, and LR from Japan to play on my vanilla PSP. It's pretty cool to have these on a mobile platform, the boxart for the cases are awesome, and the menus are mostly in English so it being in Japanese isn't that big a deal (especially since I've already played the PS2 versions). The only thing is I have to find a comfortable control scheme for vanilla PSP, the limited buttons make dual wielding and purging tough without getting used to the default controls which I never liked.
Personally I always found it really cozy compared to PS2, just because you flick your left thumb to fire the left gun instead of using Circle.
@@CoffeePotato maybe, though for 3 and SL on console I was able to remap to a control scheme that I got comfy with where all turning and aim controls were on face buttons, movement was on d-pad, and all other functions were on shoulders. Couldn't purge, but I could dual wield easily and hangars weren't something I had to worry about until Last Raven which had the Nexus Type-A controls which were improved by have dual analog sticks and more streamlined purging anyway.
I made it to Last Raven Portable and I have to say, I strongly dislike the portable version compared to the console version which is my favorite AC game. The vanilla PSP controls are manageable in AC3 and Silent Line, making them fine on-the-go versions of those games, but Last Raven's difficulty and design demand you use builds that are extremely hard to use on vanilla PSP, mainly dual wielding. I'm glad I have all three to display on my shelf, but I can't stand to play LRP compared to the other two. Ah well, two out of three ain't bad.
@@mallow2902 To each their own. Personally I find it far more comfortable, due to not having accidental analog inputs on old controllers. Something about the Dpad down lefty just feels right in my book, but that's a personal preference thing. Ain't impossible by any means, see the ACLR Rocket Only run for that. Last raven route, got all the big 3, good lord that was a challenge.
As an ac3 fan boy, this hit all the right notes.
Don't know if you'd be the one to ask, but any recommendations as far as ideal specs for emulation? Either on Android or pc?
No idea, but just about any pc can run these well.
@@CoffeePotato currently running ppsspp on my nvidia shield and playing ac3 and sl on my TV with a Bluetooth controller. Amazing!
@@rickspringer4814 It lives!
@@CoffeePotato psp ac with mouse controls in ppsspp rocks
@@Azure9577 To each their own, I love the PSP control scheme.
Oh I love last Raven music as it's like Aphex Twin or Autechre. But tbh I love all AC soundtracks ok maybe except ninebreaker? Idk... I hope that Frequency is making music for ac6 , I wonder if it will be industrial rock like 5/VD or techno like ps1/ps2... though trailer song sounded neither it was almost synthwave lol. Nexus and MoA has sweetest tunes though
Bought this booted it up and almost shit myself with controls. Gonna stick it out and give it an honest try since I’m on my yearly mecha kick. Have u played Damascus gear on vita?? Looks really solid kinda like Diablo with mechs
I have not, but it does look pretty neat. I've only very rarely ever bought any new new games these last few years.
@@CoffeePotato I agree I’m mostly buying old games. Playing front mission 3 is a real treat!! Considering buying the other two AC psp games to continue through it’s got massive learning curve but I can see the appreciation now
What about the PS1 games?
Are they all good?, any particular order do you recommend playing for someone new to the series?
I fell in love with the franchise and im now trying ac3 portable
It's a cozy way to get robots in your pants. 👍
@@CoffeePotato w-what
@@nunothedude It's on PSP? Fits in a pocket?
@@CoffeePotato oh xd
@@CoffeePotato its not about what u say, it's how you say it 😂
Very helpful Info/review, even tho the graphics are outdated its armored core portable, definitely gonna check it out . Know of any other "obscure" Mech, strategy, or action game on psP or vita? My vita needs food.
Front Mission 3, MG Acid 2, and Formula Front come to mind
@@CoffeePotato Metal Gear Ac!d is weird but kick ass
@@Garry_Combine Dang right!
Check out Front Mission: Gun Hazard, English patched, on the SNES if you use emulation.
@@MorbidLyre It's an odd one, but fun.
Wanting to replay these games.. i never got the PSP versions-- super glad i found this video and this channel.. looking forrward for your AC6 content in the future mister CoffeePotato
Interesting, I would have guessed they are called ravens because they scavenge for parts
Part of both, more than likely. It's just a good title.
You can beat Adieu without an AC by tickling him
Depends on your perk loadout. With Black Widow and Lethal Down Pillow Expert...
Hey I’m new to the AC Series I have a PSP and a PS vita, is it playable to play AC3P on the PSP? or should I play it on the PS Vita? I really want to play on the PSP but if it’s not worth it I’ll play it on the Vita instead.
Both will play it the same, with the Vita just not having the frame dips the PSP gets on stuff like Ofanim.
@@CoffeePotato thank you ill play it on psp then :)
I've always tried to get into these older titles but I just never felt comfortable playing them. Kinda always struggled with controls, tried messing with different mappings but I dunno, shit always felt a bit off.
I do, however, LOVE for Answer. Not great at it but controls feel much more intuitive/fluid. Verdict Day is cool but 4 just always felt like the apex of the series to me.
I do try to get/bruteforce my way into the psp games every now and then cause I do find them cool, I just suck ass. lol
Is there any way to mitigate landing recovery? Was playing LR and it felt really bad having to break momentum because of it.
There is, and I think I have a video on that somewhere. There's a lot of minute movement tech to third gen that I just love. Also, I assume 4A, not 4...4 itself was probably the most bizarre arcade cabinet translation of the series. That said, you just boost into a landing to mitigate hard lands. The amount of boost needed depends on your weight, and it helps to practice with a lightweight to get some of these little quirks figured out. Usually it's best to go for boosters way more powerful than your weight class at first, just to get a feel for how much thrust you need to counter your downward momentum. In LR, though, you will still take a hard land unless you're skating forward if your legs get broken (aka another reason LR just isn't as fun to play as 3-SL). Let me see I can find that video...
@@CoffeePotato yeah, yeah. Was referring to 4A.
I went with LR due to it being the most recent release on psp, figured it would be the most fluid and stuff, guess I was mistaken.
Appreciate the reply, never thought to look up an in depth AC review/commentary before for some reason. Glad I've found this video. Very informative. I'll definitely be checking more of your content.
@@CoffeePotato Also, I assume you're probably aware of this, but just in case you aren't, a romantic cd site (wink) has got most, if not all, AC titles for ps2 and psp.
Got a few of them to run on my ps3 the other day. You mentioned emulation on pc being kinda demanding, which was kinda surprising to me since they all seem to emulate just fine on ps3.
So I found the video, it almost didn't go out, because the music audio is jacked up. Still could be useful: czcams.com/video/9ILAcyU89D4/video.html
@@SaiyanFantasyX Feel free to ask any questions as well, I've challenge run these games for years, so there's a lot of oddly specific knowledge there.
How good of a computer would you need to emulate AC3 PSP games? I'd love to try it, but I've only got a laptop. It's modern-ish, with an i5 and 8gb ram but it's only got integrated graphics
You can emulate the PSP titles on a dang toaster at this point.
@@CoffeePotato Okay, that's good to hear. I'll have to give it a try then
@@Fatlumpthe1st Worth a shot, it's always available at the low low price of free.99.
How the duck did starter AC Raven make it to the ranking of final hours✨
Starter AC? Oh, no no no, Adieu downgraded the Starter AC.
Also, bizarre stuff kept happening, like Evangel deciding his gun doesn't work, or managing to dodge pretty much every shot Etzam Nar fired. czcams.com/video/kyl2DARGWzo/video.html
I ended up discovering years later that emulation messes with the AI in bizarre ways, so I was going to re-do the whole thing on original hardware at some point.
I've had AC3P on my Vita for some time. It seemed like it was cool, but the overwhelming number of stats and parts really were over my head. However, the thing that really holds me back from enjoying it are the controls. Even so, it was nagging at the back of my head for years that I should give it another go. With AC6 finally announced, it was the nudge I needed to boot it up again and take it more seriously. But the controls are just so difficult to deal with. Does anyone have any advice or methodology to practice getting used to them? It really is the biggest hurdle there is between me and having fun with this.
Funny enough, I've actually adopted the Portable controls for my AC1/PS1 playthroughs recently. The PSP and Vita lack R2/L2 Buttons though to map left arm/weapon switch for me. But I've remapped strafing on left/right d-pad and camera rotate on L/R.
The biggest thing to get used to is probably camera adjusting since is it archaic. No thumbstick support, usually. But maybe you could get around that with remapping controls on the Vita. A modern take would be to map the camera controls on the thumbsticks, Boost/Jump on L and Right Arm on R, with the face buttons controlling other stuff to your preference.
Don't feel bad if it takes you time to get a feel for it. These controls feel like moving a forklift or other similar equipment. It'll start feeling a lot better once you get used to it and you upgrade your AC.
Yup. Think of it as an RPG, not a shooter.
I can’t even beat the third arena enemy help ;_;
Nvm I beat him 😎 nice video btw 👍
@@life_is_gr8 Thank You
Who else is here after the reformed Orthodox rabbi, Bill Clinton got nominated?
Huh?
You should watch the games award 2022, you'll know what I'm talking about. Its gone viral lol
@@CoffeePotato Game Awards thing, From Soft got invaded
I think ac3 has the best menu music
Definitely.
Vita gang gang
What's the best one for a first timer on a stick PSVita? Graphics and gameplay wise?
3, I'd say. That said, mod that thing, you can just do it from the browser nowadays.
@@CoffeePotato You know how some people are unrealistically scared or clown or kittens? I'm scared of modding it. I know it sounds silly, but I will brick my vita. It's the only 1 I have and I've had it for 7 years now.
There was an armored core on PSP that let you play with a mech that looked like wirframe I used to play this back in 2011 or so do you know
what the name of t he game ?
The only PSP Armored Cores were 3, SL, LR, and Formula Front, which was more of an AI dealie
so i play on the ppsspp and it is very difficult because i cant boost jump or move like how its is shown in videos so combat is very tough.i wanna know if i have change the buttons.
That sounds like a controller issue. When you say PPSSPP, what are you controlling with?
Play it with a gamepad
@@ched7591 Then it's just going to take time. A lot of the weird movement comes down to feeling out the nuances of your parts.
I just portable 3 and I search for a NA psp version and all that returned were jp imports, I feel like that version is a myth
You looked on PSN?
@@CoffeePotato I found out too late and no longer have ps3 currently to transfer it
How many gigs are on your memory stick?
I think that one was 128.
I play on keyboard and dont bunny hop much, Last raven looks like a nightmare
You must bunny hop to gen 3. Unless it's formula front. Then you just let the game do it for you.
So, someone knows how to fix a bug in PPSSPP when i play this and SL? The problem is that the game is way too dark and sometimes it seems normal, i have searched for this but never found anything about it that helps.
What're you running it on?
Android
@@pablohenrique3442 You're running defaults at the moment? Any funny movement from the boosters?
@@CoffeePotato yeah, the default settings, i have watched some videos about the settings but nothing changes at all so i put it on the default
@@pablohenrique3442 It often comes with AA On, Filtering at 16x, and Resolution at 2x, bump those down and see what it gets you.
Just booted up my vita first time in years and see armoured core is available digitally. Only silent like and last raven. Tempted to buy one as never played armoured core before. So watching this video for some help deciding.
AC3 is the best to start, Silent Line is the one to play if you want more AC3 wackiness, LR is the one to play if you like a more hardcore experience (aka it's just hard to be hard sometimes), and while not buyable digitally, Formula Front international is the one to play if you like fiddling around with weird builds and watching them slap each other.
I'd say 3 or SL would be your best starting point.
@@CoffeePotato it looks like I can’t start with 3 as it’s strangely not compatible with the vita according to the ps store. It doesn’t show up on vita store so I went on ps3 to check the ps store and it says “psp only” where other 2 say “psp and ps vita” really strange.
Ok just checked on Google and it seems to only be a issue for people in Europe. Front mission 3 works fine digitally in USA, so it’s not a hardware reason why it can’t work. How strange.
@@wannabkain4400 Bizarre, this video was off of a Vita, though that said ..it's honestly best used with crossing the seven seas in mind if you catch my drift. I wasn't about to go buy a second hand PS3 to download the Genesis Collection onto it to transfer to the Vita because of some background shenanigans.
@@CoffeePotato I bit the bullet and tried and it works on the vita :) so playing my first Ac game.
@@wannabkain4400 Enjoy, the AC series is amazing, and that's a great place to start. Plus it's one of the few that you can research safely, since the spoilers honestly lead to more curiosity than actual spoiling. If you're curious about some of the ups and downs of the series after your first playthrough, a couple of us made a long form breakdown of what the series experimented with. czcams.com/video/KpN-S9xtMzk/video.html
Wasn’t project phantasma and masters of the arena’s was on the ps store for vita and psp
Nope, but it ain't hard to make an eboot from a disc.
@@CoffeePotato I have a problem with that
@@Pandemonium-zp2fg It's easier than it sounds. You pretty much just pop your disc into the computer, tell it to rip, use that on psx2psp, add some art, throw it on the PSP/Vita, and bam.
@@CoffeePotato my pc does not have a disk drive so I am out of luck
Can these game be played on the ps vita?
Absolutely, a modded Vita is the best way to experience them.
@@CoffeePotato thank u very much
give me rpg tips that i can play on gba
Sure, why not! Might be a few days, though.
out of all the portable armored cores, formula front is the best looking and best performing. I wonder, why they didn't make all of em look and perform like it.
Ehh ...Not quite. On original hardware, it played like ass on the original release, and was a bit better on International. It emulates the best, presumably due to some of the little stuff they ironed out for the mainline releases, like many (but not all) of the breakable windows being already broken...so you still feel like you're blasting past breaking glass. Overall Last Raven performs and looks the best on original hardware, but FF was definitely the roughest on that same console. Emulation does make some of the tricks 3 and SL used stick out, like the black box on Avalon hill, or the tearing at the Reservoir. They effectively lowered and re-stretched the resolution and models, which can also be seen during the Rocket Only run, where this also lowered the hitbox of some limbs on ACs in ACLRP, so you'd shoot right through elbows, knees, and most of heads with rockets.
woah, definitely not expecting that, thanks for the info. Man, I can tell your passion on armored core.
Now I know why people mentions you in reddit a lot. Cheers man! looking forward on your take on armored core 6.
@@moonlalune8003 They do? Well that's fun, I had no idea, I thought folks forgot about the old challenge runs 🤣
great video but the game is way to loud like halfway through the video like god dayum
Yeah, audio goes jank sometimes, that was an oversight.
first rule about AC on psp...get human plus
Nah. Cheats are boring. Learning the mechanics and beating the thing with total garbage is where it's at. Thankfully, both of these opinions are correct!
@@CoffeePotato AC3 and Silent Line aren't hard enough to need cheats either.
@@TheSamuraiGoomba It's kind of like TO and grind, where it scales down.
Ah, this game is another side of fromsoftware.
Either sword and magic fantasy or just straight-up mecha sci-fi. (They made Gundam unicorn game btw)
This game is like reverse king's field.
If king's field is, you are faster than your enemies. Everything is fair but there may be some trap.
This game is, -kill the player command, execute.
The enemy AC default speed is fast.
Their aim is also pretty accurate.
And you, your aim are shit lock on takes ages. And your turning speed is like your robot already rusted waiting to fall.
You are not some super human, human plus, nor have forbidden ai build up cheat. Get fuck...!!!
This is perhaps the only game the dev team said. Fuck the player give the enemy build-up cheat to cripple the player.
And so cripple they did.
I wonder if armored core is released nowadays. Would the enemy AI got that in game in world build up cheat.
Never start from gen 1 it will give you ptsd.
As bias as it may be. In my opinion, start from either 3rd or 4th gen. Because that's is the basic of what armored core would be moving forward. Everything is rebooted but still grounded.
With the 6th rumors comes out (again) hopefully it becomes idk better? (I'm not even sure why i use this word)
I mean the made souls game. Dodging and turning should be fast. If they still want FCS at least add semi lock on to the additional lock on (like 65% : 95% chance of hitting). Keeping the enemy on middle of the screen just for bullet to hit them is impossible when they are like 8 of them and they are surrounding me.
Install some back camera you damn raven that i control.
I really glad they made side boost a thing though.
Well, it looks like AC6 is coming
@@CoffeePotato hopefully... After all, there is a possibility they pulled a fast one and goes "Ha Ha it was another century episode all along!!!"
But, damn it too was a good game...
@@reisawatariX3 The screenshots seem legit
@@CoffeePotato yeah...
Frame Gride by From Soft was both mecha and fantasy, it's knight mech gladiator things.
Lol