Armored Core Last Raven Portable is a pretty good metaphor for what frustrates me about the PSP today. The game, like the system, is capable of dishing out some good graphics but nothing to get really excited about. The days where we were impressed by how much PSP games resembled PS2 graphics are gone. From a development standpoint, the PSP and PS2 now occupy about the same space, considering how few titles are being added to the PSP library these days. Instead of raising the bar and really demonstrating something new and exciting with Armored Core Last Raven Portable, developer From Software chose to put out something that feels like no more than fan-service. For the fans, this is a fine thing, but for the rest of us... The detail that fans appreciate is all here, including the many customizations that are reflected instantly as you view your unit between missions. The ability to customize right down to emblems and use colors across every part of the spectrum isn't really novel, but it does help to create an in-game experience that feels highly personalized. If you've been a dedicated player in the Armored Core franchise, you've seen all this before, but taking Last Raven on the go definitely helps it feel a bit fresher. The level design may only be a supporting character to the AC design, but we were bored to tears with the surroundings during missions. It's like Armored Core Last Raven Portable took a giant step back to one of those early PlayStation games that had miles and miles of repetitive landscapes, dotted with occasional trees, vehicles, and buildings. The actual mission areas tend to be quite small, so it's not like anyone intended for you to do open-world exploration, but it would have been nice to see more strategic gameplay options, based on using the environment. This may be the first game where you'll actually find a cave more interesting than most other settings...

This may also be the only game I've played that makes "New Game" feel like "Continue Game." The logic here says everything about the audience for Armored Core Last Raven Portable. It's like the adage about shopping in upscale stores: "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." In this case, if you have to ask why there isn't more training, an intelligible story, or at least a ramp-up mission, you obviously aren't steeped enough in Armored Core lore. That little "Convert" link at the front end of the game allows you to transfer AC information from Armored Core Silent Line Portable or Armored Core 3 Portable. Since we've played at least one or two of these previous games, we'll let you in on a little secret. Playing Armored Core Last Raven Portable is for most people, the gaming equivalent of rewiring your home's fusebox or perhaps doing some tile work. If you are incredibly meticulous and find that most so-called Action/Strategy games aren't nearly deep enough, you may be a perfect candidate for Armored Core Last Raven Portable. Especially if you get off on giant robots, there's no doubt that an AC will be right up your alley. The problem comes when we try to imagine a first-time player experiencing Armored Core Last Raven Portable.

The game revolves around several factions at war, each possessing some powerful armaments. Using AC technology, battles take on a very different flavor. These giant robots are piloted, making them a bit like some combination of a tank and a jet, bristling with weapons that luckily haven't yet been invented in the real world. Piloting an AC should feel somewhat like running a flight sim, where you constantly balance precise simulation gameplay with adrenaline-fueled action gameplay. Armored Core Last Raven Portable doesn't score all that well on the action side, until you really customize your AC to the nth degree. Longtime players will know which levers to move immediately to make a difference in performance, but n00bs won't stand a chance. The really sad thing is that without guidance, you'll most likely assume the game is just a dud, which it most definitely is not. Underneath, seemingly hidden from anyone other than veteran Armored Core players, can be found a really solid Action/Strategy game. The time you'll need to invest before you get to the sweet stuff is considerable, and it's just not realistic to expect that most people being introduced to the franchise at this point will be hooked. Even with some arena gameplay and the ability to battle another player's mech, the fundamental problem remains. You need to have your head around this franchise before coming to Armored Core Last Raven Portable, and no amount of good visual design, music/sound, or mission variety is going to erase that. If you can cross the high specialist's bar, Armored Core Last Raven Portable may have something that will make you happy, but only because there aren't many competing games of any kind on the PSP right now.

As you explore the mission structure in Armored Core Last Raven Portable, you'll identify difficulty ratings as tied to the reward for completion. If the amount of money granted to you at the beginning of the game seems excessive, it's because you're expected to quickly spend it on customization. At least one of the first two or three missions can be completed with a standard AC, but you'll need to retool in order to succeed on later missions. There are several slots for you to store mechs that you build and win during missions, allowing you to stage for specific encounters without a complete tear-down and rebuild. Knowing the basics of mech movement and battle strategy helps when buying parts and adding them on. One nice option is the ability to run a practice session using the AC as you've fitted it out, against a drone type of your choosing, in an environment you specify. The benefit of this becomes evident later on, when you find that missions can quickly be failed without the right equipment. Last Raven Portable lets you either return to the base at the point where you last customized your AC, or gives you a chance to restart from the beginning of the game. A hard reset may seem strange, but it does let you run easy missions and rack up new dollars for customization. Without this reset option, it would be easy to get "stuck" at some point in the game, unable to complete new missions but unable to afford necessary custom parts. Much like an RPG, Last Raven Portable is more about achievement than expertise; if you keep playing and resetting, you will eventually earn enough money to buy the most awesome parts, demolishing any enemy in your path. The actual skill involved, in terms of piloting the AC, doesn't go nearly as far as you would find in a comparable driving, flying, or sports title. This makes Last Raven Portable a nice one for people that believe persistence should be its own reward. Those of us looking for a quick pick-up/put-down style of game won't find anything of the sort here.

The best thing going for Last Raven Portable is its infinitely customizable control scheme. Every key combination can be mapped out to your heart's content, or new players can simply accept the default settings. As defaults go, these are decent. The vertical camera is mapped to buttons instead of the Analog Stick, while lateral camera is mapped to the Analog Stick. Movement is also divided, between the Analog Stick and the Shoulder Buttons. Once you get used to this, it's not completely unintuitive, just a bit like driving a bulldozer. The actual feeling of movement in the more advanced AC units, those that float rather than trod along, is actually silky smooth. It's possible to customize every one of the controls, down to weapons' selection and targeting. Most of the battle and weapons' customization is defined by what parts you choose. If auto-targeting is your thing, you can select for that when setting up your AC. Paying attention to propulsion and balancing speed against weight becomes a big part of Last Raven Portable. Big, bulky units with slow but devastating weapons are great when going up against similarly kitted-out ACs, but terrible when participating in missions that require fast reaction times and rapid-fire attacks.

Nothing about Armored Core Last Raven Portable is a dealbreaker, considering that the game has depth enough to satisfy the hardest of hard-core players. This is both a benefit and a disadvantage, since there are only so many veteran Armored Core players out there in the world with their PSPs at the ready. Building a strategy around catering to specialized gamers' interests has served the Armored Core franchise well for many years, so this may be no exception. The download option keeps costs down, and lets fans of the series extend their AC fun on a portable platform. With a long list of caveats, we can at least say that Armored Core Last Raven Portable is an acquired taste for anyone willing to commit extensive time to the game.