Armored Core 2

[Grim]

It actually plays a lot more comfortably than I originally thought it would

Because of two reasons I can think of: one, the control scheme is what you're used to, and two, because it's so damned slower compared to AA and beyond. While the sensation of speed is still there, it just feels... heavier and lunkier, doesn't it? More like playing with tanks rather than planes, as far as that analogy can fit into ACs. In my opinion this move from the arcadey speed of the first generation towards a more realistic and deliberate game is that being the first game on a then-new PS2, they wanted to bring the series to a greater audience, so they put in all the fun things like OB and high-powered energy rifles hoping they'd get both the newbies attracted by the way it looks and old veterans intrigued by the mechanic changes to pick up the game and play.

I'm not saying AC2 wasn't an important part of the series, it was, but like so many transitional titles the next version totally one-ups it in almost every department (which, from what I can infer, is AC4's general situation now).

I think AC2 is where many people really became biped-centric in their designs, since it offered a ton of advantages like easier learning curves and good overall defense without much of a tradeoff.

Well I'll be playing this for a few more days, I suppose. I'll be starting with Another Age later today.

I sure hope you'll love it as much as I do, then we can battle. AA is one of the games where I believe anyone with a decent amount of experience playing the dual analog configuration can play on the same level as guys used to playing with the old controls. For 3 and Silent Line, it's all about owning and getting owned by the amount of accurate dual gunning in the game. For me this is a great great obstacle, since my thumb has a physical inability to fire both guns at the same time effectively. In AA at least, it's still largely a right hand weapon AC world, so there's some semblance of the old school balance and play mechanics left.