Armored Core
The original trilogy of "Armored Core" games were developed for the original PlayStation by FromSoftware and established many of the core themes and mechanics that would be found in the rest of the series. The debut title, "Armored Core", was released on July 10, 1997 in Japan. Story elements like corporate-funded conflicts, post-apocalyptic settings, and silent protagonists were introduced in the first game. The game's mechanics revolve around taking on missions from various clients for pay, using earned money to customize the player's Armored Core unit.