Armored Core 6 - Fires Of Rubicon

I'm kinda curious how many other people on here are excited for the upcoming FromSoftware game, Armored Core 6. The PlayStation 2 was such a big console for me. It's the reason why I got into Final Fantasy XI, and it had a lot of games I'd consider my all-time faves. One of those was the Armored Core series, especially the third generation.

I don't even care if the game isn't everything I want in an Armored Core, because FromSoftware are the pioneers that other companies seem to follow. Now that they're putting a Triple-A budget behind it and the hype they've generated with their marketing, I'm sure it's going to be at least reasonably successful. And that's all the industry might need to start generating a bunch of "Corelike" games. It might be enough to make publishers interested in making more games like Titanfall as well. Even if AC6 isn't for me, we might see some indie developers ride out its success with a game that is.

And honestly from what I've seen so far, it does look like something I'd enjoy. I know some long-time fans are upset that it's catering a bit to the Souls and Sekiro fans, but it still looks like an Armored Core game to me.

Anyway. I'm excited :3

AC5 was just the end for me and that series, I bought it and was absolutely disappointed. I loved AC1-AC3, Silent line was a lot of fun. I really like the world they had built, also 1v1 game play was just a good way to spend the day when you are 10

There was something so cool about passing save data from the old title to the new title I really miss that magic from that era of games.

Oh and hunting for all the hidden parts was great!

Back in the X360/P3 days I wanted to get into the series but couldnt get a copy of it (i didnt have a credit card back then), and never heard of that before.

I love mechs, and just for the design of it... Im gonna get it on day one. Lets see what they can show us, from the previews i have seen, it wont be for everyone, but it will be worth the money

That's fair. Both AC4 and AC5 (but especially 5) were very divisive. That's sort of the nature of the entire series, much like the Final Fantasy series. Maybe it won't be your thing anyway, but it couldn't hurt to keep your eye on gameplay footage and wait for a sale down the line.

Ah that's the best part. Scouring every corner of a big level because you know how much they love rewarding exploration. It sounds like that's coming back in 6, too! Actually sounds like they're taking a lot of inspiration from the first, second, and third generations.

The 360/PS3 games are apparently really hard to emulate. I'd recommend just using DuckStation and PCSX2 for the others, but the controls are awkward by design and it's not for everyone. AC6 should be the first in the franchise that I can just point to as the perfect starting point for everyone.

Most mechs are really cool, but Armored Cores always really stood out to me. I think a big part of it is that you can make your own, and character-customization has always been a huge selling point for me. I love that the mech designs are going in the direction of Armored Cores 2 and 3 because those were my favorites. Some of my friends and I have been pointing out how some parts look like they're ripped right out of AC3!

god i *** hope not

I loved AC1 and 2, after that it got more and more dumb and by AC5 I was just done. I hope they simplify the mech design a little bit, similar to how AC1 was. You could chose the parts and they would have meaning. And for the love of god, have an option to make ammo "free" because then we could have fun experimenting with new weapons without feeling like we had to make every shot count or stick with energy weapons.

I'm curious as to why.

If anything it'd add to the variety among the heaps of Roguelike, Soulslike, and Metroidvainias out there. Not to mention Survival games with crafting components.

You're in luck because they appear to be reducing the breadth of parts in favor of depth for this one. No more radiator, inside, or extension parts at least. And in interviews, they've also been saying how they want all of the weapons to not just be different stats with the same output, but rather give each one a very distinct feeling.

I hope that they serious look at ammo costs lol, seriously I always felt bad that my ammo load out was worth more then the mission pay. I'd love to go roaring into a quest with all sorts of massive cannons, chain guns, bazookas, rockets you name it and just blast for fun without clearing with this big negative number for pay.

Because soulslikes are almost across the board low effort cash grabs that completely fail to capture the essence of a fromsoft game. Don't need to see that ***sullying another franchise

Yeah, I do think the ammo price could be reduced by a lot. It makes energy weapons way too valuable. Though part of me does like the challenge-for-reward idea behind energy weapons. They're definitely a lot less effective, but not enough so to make it worth using other weapons.

I dunno what most old AC fans would think of eliminating ammunition costs altogether, though. You could theoretically make energy weapons have infinite ammo, but the charge drain is made more significant so it's unwise to rely on them too much. That said, there might not be ammo costs in AC6 considering some of the news we've heard so far.

True. It's like everyone thinks making a really challenging game with gigantic bosses is the thing that sells Dark Souls. Just like the mountain of MMOs that thought the formula to WoW's success was exclusively its quest system or something.

That said, it'd be good to see more mech games in volume just for the off chance of a couple being good. I just want to see some with proper customization.

Energy weapons are basically mission reward +100% because of how outrageous they made ammo costs. "No cost ammo" should be something you can turn off or on from the main menu, or even something you set when starting a game up. That or stop making the total cost of a weapons ammo be more expensive then the weapon itself.

Agreed. It's pretty ridiculous.

This video was released to the media a little while ago. But just released a few hours ago, here's our first 4K look at the gameplay footage.

I love how scrolling down through just a handful of missile launchers in the garage, they all seem to have very meaningful gameplay differences. One is good for battering a single target or hitting multiple enemies at once, one is good for its damage output, one deliberately slows propulsion to better track a moving target, and one creates a large explosion for area-effect damage.

The way things move and the little details like the boosters venting when you land are all really satisfying to watch.

It is looking incredible! I cant speak for how AC was during the PSX PS2 era, but so far... Im in.

Ngl Its gonna hurt not having a digital version of this (I play on PC)

All of the Armored Cores have a few things in common. The pacing is absolutely top-tier, because you can typically choose between the addictively bite-sized missions, the Arena, or mucking around with your mech's build in the Garage. Each game has its own story/world, but they each take place in some sort of dystopian future.

AC1~3 are basically all identical in gameplay. They're kinda clunky with really slow turning speeds and L2/R2 to look up and down. But that clunkiness is by design, in an effort to make you feel like you're in a 50-ton walking tank. You can fly, but it's very limited.

AC4 is closer to Gundams. The mechs are bigger, canonically overpowered, and zip around weightlessly with infinite flight. A lot of people love it for its fast-paced gameplay and modern controls. I find myself incompatible with its design, but I know that's a "me" problem.

AC5 also took a completely different direction. In an effort to swing it into a more realistic style, the mechs can't fly at all, and instead can only jump up walls and cliffsides to gain verticality.

AC6 is taking a bit of inspiration from their own Souls games and Sekiro (it's the same dev division which made Sekiro) and introducing a hard lock-on system. It's going to have a lot of maneuvrability like AC4, but at a pace more akin to AC3. They're deliberately giving all of their parts a lot more personality so it isn't just stats going up and down.

I could spare you the wall of text above (which I already heavily edited down) and just give you this absolutely fantastic video from the perspective of a newcomer trying out each game in the series. If you don't want to watch the whole entire video, just watch the first and last 15 minutes or so to get a good summary of the series.

Sign me up. It's true that I've never played an AC game before (didn't feel drawn towards giant mecha since watching super robot anime in my childhood, and I kinda wish I didn't skip Kojima's Zone of the Enders, but I digress), but I've been a Fromsoft fan since 2009's Demon's Souls, so I can't possibly pass on their next game since
Anyways, Sekiro was a visual treat; the animations in that game were just beautiful, and it felt really good to play. I'm sure AC6 will look stunningly beautiful and feel great to play as well.

If you like Sekiro, that's probably a good start. The director for AC6 was the lead designer on Sekiro, and I've heard it's the same division working on it.

The Armored Core games have always had a sort of stagger mechanic, but they're making it a lot more pronounced in AC6, to a degree that it resembles that of Sekiro (I'm told). It sounds neat. I'm always a big fan of mechanical layers in games.

I've actually not really gotten all that deep into other FromSoftware titles myself. Just the Armored Cores. I really want to dive into them at some point.

I miss the mech genre of games. I need more AC and Zone of the Enders in my life.

Much of my youth was spent with Virtual On at the arcade, complete with the dual stick chains.



I want one of these in my future game room.

It honestly looks really cool. Thanks for the info

Crap, as many things, this is one of those franchises I would have love to have as kid back in the good old era of PS2/GC. I never knew those mech games exists.

Now Im all hyped. Good thing there is a new one just around the corner!

Is armored Core the Sega Saturn robot Fighting game? or that was another game?

VaatiVydia did a video on YouTube as well (for those are familiar with him and his videos covering literally all the Soulsborne games) as a newcomer to Armored Core.

He played through virtually every single game apparently to get a full grasp for the series and did a lengthy video about it. Was actually pretty good too

What you're thinking of is called "Virtual On". Coincidentally, that's what Asura.Saevel posted about above :)

Yes he did! I give him a lot of credit for helping to ease a lot of the newer FromSoftware fans into a very daunting series.

In fact, I'll link the video here as well for anyone interested.

Oooh, a new trailer just dropped. It's purely cinematic, but the story seems super compelling. And as far as cinematics go, it's really, really cool.

OMG YES THAT WAS MY FAVOURITE LOL

This YouTuber assembled a trailer using footage he captured during his time with the hands-on media demo, specifically showcasing how spectacular the game looks in action.



After everything I've heard from people who've got their hands on the game, whether they were familiar with the franchise before or not, and all the bad mixed with the good, I can't see anything that's going to make me not like the game.

That's the only game I'm looking forward to playing, out of all the shiny things coming out.

Easily the most distinct arcade cabinet experience of my childhood. Quarters well spent

I could never get into AC series. The cinematics are sort of cool but I was massively disappointed with the game play. It feels like another 3rd person action game with robot skins and maybe bullet hell addon. It doesn't give me the feel of controlling a powerful Mech at all.

I guess I am more of a slow mech guy. Front Mission, Mech Warrior and Battle Tech for me.

One complaint I hear a lot is that turning is instant when it was slower and more tank like in previous games. I wouldn't know though...