History YMMV / ArmoredCoreForAnswer

* RetroactiveRecognition: That's William Vanderpuye as the pilot of No Count. Yes, ''this'' is where we first met Patches!

* MoralEventHorizon: The player character crosses the line by taking the Destruction route. In it, he destroys the Cradles, killing one hundred million humans in a single mission. The ending even says they would be considered the greatest monster mankind has ever seen.

* EvenBetterSequel: The game is generally held to be better than its predecessor thanks to more parts, more missions, the inclusion of the massive [[BestLevelEver Arms Forts]], etc. The removal of the RealIsBrown graphics filter was also appreciated.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: On top of the work being a critique of unchecked corporate power and authoritarianism, some players also read the story as a jab at seemingly lackluster reaction to worldwide concerns in real-life such as climate change or [[PollutedWasteland nuclear power]] (it's telling the [[Creator/HideoKojima Kojima Partcle]] is [[ShoutOut named]] as [[VideoGame/MetalGear such]]) during 2000s; that organizations (both government and private) opt for an "easy way out" or only moved to solve problems for publicity or other selfish agenda.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: On top of the work being a critique of unchecked authoritarianism, some players also read the story as a jab at seemingly lackluster reaction to worldwide concerns in real-life such as climate change or [[PollutedWasteland nuclear power]] (it's telling the [[Creator/HideoKojima Kojima Partcle]] is [[ShoutOut named]] as [[VideoGame/MetalGear such]]) during 2000s; that organizations (both government and private) opt for an "easy way out" or only moved to solve problems for publicity or other selfish agenda.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: On top of the work being a critique of unchecked corporate power, some players also read the story as a jab at seemingly lackluster reaction to worldwide concerns in real-life such as climate change or [[PollutedWasteland nuclear power]] (it's telling the [[Creator/HideoKojima Kojima Partcle]] is [[ShoutOut named]] as [[VideoGame/MetalGear such]]) during 2000s; that organizations (both government and private) opt for an "easy way out" or only moved to solve problems for publicity or other selfish agenda.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: On top of the work being a critique of unchecked corporate power, some players also read the story as a jab at seemingly lackluster reaction to climate change in real-life (or any worldwide concerns in general such as [[PollutedWasteland nuclear power]] -- it's telling [[Creator/HideoKojima Kojima Partcle]] is [[ShoutOut named]] as [[VideoGame/MetalGear such]]) during 2000s; that organizations (both government and private) opt for an "easy way out" or only moved to solve problems for publicity or other selfish agenda.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: On top of the work being a critique of unchecked corporate power, some players also read the story as a jab at seemingly lackluster reaction to climate change in real-life (or any worldwide concerns in general such as [[PollutedWasteland nuclear power]] -- it's telling [[Creator/HideoKojima Kojima Partcle]] is [[ShoutOut named]] as such) during 2000s; that organizations (both government and private) opt for an "easy way out" or only moved to solve problems for publicity or other selfish agenda.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: On top of the work being a critique of unchecked corporate power, some players also read the story as a jab at seemingly lackluster reaction to climate change in real-life (or any worldwide concerns in general such as [[PollutedWasteland nuclear power]] -- it's telling [[Creator/HideoKojima Kojima Partcle]] is [[ShoutOut named]] as such) during 2000s; that organizations (both government and private) opt for an "easy way out" or only moved to solve problems for their own selfish agenda.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: On top of the work being a critique of unchecked corporate power, some players also read the story as a jab at seemingly lackluster reaction to climate change (or any worldwide concerns in general such as [[PollutedWasteland nuclear power]] -- it's telling [[Creator/HideoKojima Kojima Partcle]] is [[ShoutOut named]] as such) in real-life during 2000s; that organizations (both government and private) opt for an "easy way out" or only moved to solve problems for their own selfish agenda.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: On top of the work being a critique of unchecked corporate power, some players also read the story as a jab at seemingly lackluster reaction to climate change (or any worldwide concerns in general such as nuclear power) in real-life during 2000s; that organizations (both government and private) opt for an "easy way out" or only moved to solve problems for their own selfish agenda.

** [[spoiler:Thermidor]] in the League Path is not an especially gifted pilot and is actually at a massive disadvantage since his weapon loadout sucks in such a level. He's less of a threat than his lackey, who can actually put some pressure on a player less adept at melee combat.
** For the top-ranked Collared pilot, [=Otsdarva/Stasis=] is nothing special: He's a low damage output FragileSpeedster who, while modestly quick, is nowhere near evasive enough to justify his miserable, paper-thin defense. It's not unreasonable to beat him effortlessly with equipment available from the very start of the game. [[spoiler: When facing [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo White Glint]] in the story missions, he's usually the first to fall even with backup in the form of either you or [=CUBE=], leaving the other to finish the job. Also, he and Thermidor are the same person, so it looks like he hasn't learned his lesson from his first loss.]]

* TooCoolToLive: White Glint went from being [[spoiler: the previous game's protagonist]] to practically a MessianicArchetype, leading [[ALighterShadeOfGrey the last best hope for humanity]] to escape corporate rule and piloting a top-tier AceCustom GameBreaker of a NEXT. Naturally, he goes down at the end of Act 2 to make room for [[ALighterShadeOfBlack more morally ambiguous forces]] to replace him.

* CompleteMonster: [[OmnicidalManiac Old King]] is an "outsider" within the terrorist group ORCA and their most vile member, who seeks to bring as much death and destruction as possible. Helping ORCA in trying to create widespread destruction, Old King tries to destroy the 5 colonies, called Cradle 03, which carried 100 million people. If [[PlayerCharacter Strayed]] allies with him in one of the endings, Old King succeeds, happily counting how many people died and uses Strayed to kill millions more, turning him into "mankind's greatest monster".

* CompleteMonster: Old King is a member of the group Orca, and sticks out amidst a group of WellIntentionedExtremist types in that he's a genocidal OmnicidalManiac who simply wants to kill everyone in the colonies ForTheEvulz. In his worst moment, he tricks [[ManipulativeBastard the hero into destroying five of the colonies for him]] which brings about 100 million deaths.

* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Thermidor]] in the League Path is not an especially gifted pilot and is actually at a massive disadvantage since his weapon loadout sucks in such a level. He's less of a threat than his lackey, who can actually put some pressure on a player less adept at melee combat.

* AwesomeMusic: The soundtrack is awesome, [[AwesomeMusic/ArmoredCore as per series tradition.]]

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: While the game isn't exactly a graphics powerhouse, all the [=NEXT=]s and Arms Forts are intricately detailed. The Spirit of Motherwill and Answerer are sights to behold.

** For the top-ranked Collared pilot, Otsdarva/Stasis is nothing special: He's a low damage output FragileSpeedster who, while modestly quick, is nowhere near evasive enough to justify his miserable, paper-thin defense. It's not unreasonable to beat him effortlessly with equipment available from the very start of the game. The second ranked Collared pilot, Lilium/Ambient, is even worse, running a complete disaster of a build and being a surprisingly poor pilot on top of it.

* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Thermidor and Shinkai]] in the League Path. While the latter is actually quite troublesome for anyone unskilled in melee, the former is actually at a massive disadvantage since his weapon loadout sucks in such a level.

* AntiClimaxBoss: [[Thermidor and Shinkai]] in the League Path. While the latter is actually quite troublesome for anyone unskilled in melee, the former is actually at a massive disadvantage since his weapon loadout sucks in such a level.