Gaming
 

Armored Core: For Answer

From Armored Core Wiki

Armored Core: For Answer is a video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the 13th installment of From Software's Armored Core series. Armored Core: For Answer is the sequel to Armored Core 4, and takes place over a decade later.


It follows the story of an unnamed NEXT Lynx. There are 42 missions and 42 Ordered Battles (30 Collared, 12 ORCA).


Contents

[edit] Plot

The planet is in a decrepit and decaying state. Pollution from not only Human habitation, but from the hazardous waste given off by Kojima particles has caused the surface of the earth to become virtually unlivable. In desperate need of a solution, the remaining corporations from the Pax Economica build giant airborne habitats to house a majority of the populace - safeguarding them from the contaminated surface below. Some however, are forced to live on the surface. They form a resistance force known as ORCA, and amass a formidable arsenal to battle against the corporations. The player once again takes control of a "Next"(A more technologicly advanced Armored Core) (The pilot of a "Next" is called a "Lynx".) - as a mercenary for hire. Piloting the cutting-edge Armored Cores known as NEXTs, the player is thrust into the middle of the conflict between the corporations and ORCA. Each faction now controls super weapons known as "Arms Forts" that the player must battle against.

More than ten years have passed since the National Dismantlement War. The League of Ruling Companies has taken over the world. To escape the pollution that poisons the surface of the planet, the League has built massive floating platforms called Cradles. Only there, 7,000 meters above the ground, is the air clean and safe. Already, half of mankind lives in the skies. The planet's surface has become a battlefield, where armies fight to control the resource plants that feed the Cradles.

As the Lynx War came to a close, NEXTs enabled the League to firmly establish its rule of the planet. NEXT pilots (established in the previous title) are called Lynx. Fearing the power and independence of these NEXTs, the League left them behind on the surface. The Lynx now work as mercenaries for an organization called Collared.

[edit] Factions

  • The League of Ruling Companies: A group of corporations that have banded together to control the world's economy. On paper, the League seeks to preserve peace and order within the corporate society, but the grim reality does not match these aims. Under their rule, the planet succumbed to rapid over development and pollution. 'The Cradle System',is a series of floating platforms developed by the League in order to house and protect millions of civilians from the nearly uninhabitable surface. However, many people see this as only a temporary solution, as the surface-based facilities known as 'Arteria' which power these Cradles produce more pollution into the atmosphere. It is only a matter of time before the pollution reaches the Cradles floating 7000 metres up in the atmosphere. (See List of The League of Ruling Companies Companies)
  • Collared: Not much to be called a faction, but an organization under full jurisdiction of the League which manages and controls the mercenaries, LYNXs.
  • Line Ark: Largest surface-based power. Line Ark is a maritime city-state formed by those who opposes the League and their Cradle system. They advocate freedom and democracy and appears to be fighting for a just cause. However, their motto of 'accepting all who wish to enter' has attracted a large number of unfavourable types, which has led to slow decay of their government and society, leaving little of their original ideas and dreams remaining.

Line Ark's guardian pilots the White Glint, and is a highly skilled LYNX capable of taking on an entire army.

  • ORCA: A mysterious group that operates outside the League's rule, led by Maximillian Thermidor. Their true aims are unknown, except that they oppose the mankind's exodus from the surface. They are comprised of several top-class LYNXs and possesses a military strength that can match the League's.

[edit] Characters

  • The Protagonist: The unnamed protagonist of Armored Core for Answer. He and the story plays entirely out of their perspective and does not speak. The default name for the protagonist's NEXT is "Strayed." The protagonist initially carries out missions for The League, and later, other factions if he/she chooses. It's worth noting that in Japanese version, he is clarified as "him", as several characters refer him with masculine.
  • Fiona Jarnefeldt: Fiona Jarnefeldt is White Glint's operator. She and the protagonist of Armored Core 4 left Anatolia and became part of Line Ark in the Armored Core for Answer storyline. She is accused by Otsdarva of being responsible for "Anatolia's Downfall."
  • Serene Haze: She is Protagonist's operator. Unlike other operators in series, she talks to protagonist in senior, or even teacher-like manner. This fact, coupled with several evidences in the game, implies her past as an experienced Lynx herself. She is hinted to be Kasumi Sumika from Armored Core 4 because of her Next. If the player chooses to ally himself with Oldking in the special third ending, the player will face off against Serene Haze herself in the final mission on hard mode piloting the original Strayed NEXT often fought against in the ACSIS's test submenu. She is voiced by Cindy Robinson in the US version.
  • Maximilian Thermidor: The Leader of Orca, He pilots a black and red coloured mid-weight reverse-jointed craft, Unsung. His goal is to succeed and make Rayleonard's former vision a reality. Equal parts romanticist, visionary, and passionate demagogue, he is a complex, if not divided man. He is one of the Original five. He believes that carrying out the former Rayleonard's "Closed Plan" will open the last frontier for mankind...Outer Space. He shares some personality and AC part design (with emphasis on energy weaponry and missiles) to Berlioz in Armored Core 4. It is revealed during "Attack on Arteria Cranium" (on Hard Mode only) that Thermidor is actually Otsdarva, who faked his apparent death when his boosters malfunctioned during a fight with White Glint. Otsdarva then became a double agent for the League, infiltrating ORCA, and betraying the player during the aforementioned mission.
  • Oldking: He led the former armed rebel group Lilliana. Isolating himself from other Orca to maintain his "outsider" status, his Algebra-based craft, Lisa, is reversed-legged and armed with a heavy shotgun. He is portrayed in the missions in which he appears (Defend/Destroy Cradle 03) as a genocidal maniac who verbally expresses excitement and hums cheerful jigs while up to a hundred million people are killed. The player (oftenly refered to as "Lap Dog" by Oldking himself) can access a special ending paired with Old King once sufficent ORCA missions are fulfilled in which Oldking and the player embark upon killing spree murdering a hundred million innocents and then fighting against the four top ranked Lynx of Collared collectively.
  • Lilium Wolcott: A female Lynx who inherited the prestigious Wolcott name. She is the new princess of Wong Shao-Lung's treasured BFF, but her graceful disposition sets her apart from the late Mary Shelley, who piloted Prometheus in Armored Core 4. She pilots an offensive front line craft, Ambient. She respects Wong Shao-Lung greatly as a senior figure despite having surpassed him in rank and capability and often follows his wishs and commands selflessly.
  • Gerald Gendlin: Gerald is a Lynx working for Rosenthal, and is the successor to Leonhardt as the Lynx of Noblesse Oblige. Noblesse Oblige is Rosenthal's iconic NEXT and is often considered a symbol of the company's power utilizing powerful laser weaponry. Very self righteous and prideful, Gerald often takes immediate action when lives are threatened.
  • Otsdarva: Formerly from Rayleonard, this is Omer's trump card as the pilot of the AC Stasis. His home is the battlefield, where he's touted as a tactical genius and rank 1 in the Collared rankings. Now he's turned his attention toward the infamous White Glint, and is determined to secure his spot at the top.
  • Wynne D Fanchon: Interior's female Lynx, often referred to as "GA's disaster". Also known as the "Brass Maiden" by many front line soldiers, she pilots Reiterpallasch. An aggressive Lynx who is famous for never failing a mission, her craft is lightweight but strikes hard. Proud of her everyday work, she despises those simply in the business for killing.
  • Roadie: An experienced pilot who continues to pilot an outdated craft armed with bazookas known as Feedback. He makes up for a low AMS aptitude with battle experience. He is one of the few survivors of the Lynx War and one of GA's top Lynx. Portrayed as a righteous senior figure, he is respected by most for his experienced judgements on the battlefield and often feared alike for his NEXT's bazooka wielding arms.
  • CUBE: A cyborg test pilot for the Aspina corporation piloting an experimental X-SOBRERO craft, whilst he is not primarily a combat pilot he is used by Aspina on specialized missions for data collection and often accompanies Omer's top ranked Otsdarva on missions of utmost importance to the group. It is stated that many Lynx have fallen to its inhuman piloting abilities.
  • Shamir Raviravi: This Lynx is often called "Algebra's Femme-Arachnid". She pilots Red Rum, an insect-like four-legged craft equipped with a slug gun and other slug-based weaponry. Best in her element, she loves to get the drop on her enemies in adverse battle field situations taking sadistic delight in culling her victims like sheep.
  • Malzel: A young strategist and Maximillian Thermidor's right hand man and thrusted friend. He pilots a black heavy GA NEXT for key ORCA operations, he sugestes going himself to BIG BOX taking his younger protege Vaoh whose talent he discovered years ago. He is well aware that he might die but like he says - We have to die someday.
  • Neo Nidus: One of ORCA's top ranked Lynx. He is greatly feared for his remarkable AMS aptitude whilst piloting his NEXT Gachirin and his clever tactics on the battlefield. His NEXT, a heavy Torus craft utilizes experimental Assault Armour weaponry which can often cause great damage to surrounding NEXTs when approached.

[edit] List of Companies

Retrieved from "http://armoredcore.wikia.com/wiki/Armored_Core:_For_Answer"