Armored Core 2 Was Ahead of Its Time in One Important Way

There’s something strangely appropriate about how Armored Core 2 isn't remembered with the same affection as other entries in FromSoftware's long-running mech series. It lacks the mechanical refinement of Armored Core 3, the blistering speed of Armored Core: For Answer (still arguably the best among them), and the enormous resurgence that Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon brought to the franchise. Close Image: FromSoftwareImage: FromSoftwareImage: FromSoftwareImage: FromSoftwareWhat holds Armored Core 2 back from its contemporaries is primarily its wonky control scheme. It doesn't radically reinvent the wheel the way Armored Core 4 eventually would, nor does it represent the refined, ultimate culmination of the classic PS1 formula. Instead, it exists as a fascinating, awkward middle child — a stepping stone that nonetheless pushed the franchise's core philosophy forward.