played thru armored core 1 twice I liked it so much. I have become very attached to my mech and I'm so excited that you can port your save file to the other ps1 AC games 😍
EVERYTHING is determined by your mech parts in this game. Whether you have a radar, whether you remember the map or can only see a map of what's nearby, your turn speed, whether you can jump, EVERYTHING. There are also a bunch of hidden mechanics that you just have to encounter by experimentation. For example, with humanoid legs your boosters cause you to skate along the ground at a high speed, and pressing boost again makes you start flying, but if you swap to quad legs you just start flying right away and can't do the skate move. It's really cool to pop in a new part and all the sudden it feels like you're playing a totally different game. All the weapon types require different tactics and maneuvers to use effectively. it's awesome. The first game is only a few hours long but it's unbelievably replayable.