Apocynadeae
okina is so divorced
pretty cool scoring system but the story is pretty whatever and seija and shinmyomaru were the only two of the cast that really stuck out
This review contains spoilers
selfie with lucifer went hard as fuuck
Now that I've actually finished the base game (I'll make headway into the postgame dungeons in a bit) I can actually talk about it in a much more deeper fashion. I've been a little disappointed personally speaking at the shift in direction that Shin Megami Tensei has taken with its third person press turn output for its mainline games. Little means little; I love Shin Megami Tensei V and consider it the second best of the series, but that small itch of wanting another classic, first person dungeon crawler with an emphasis on fusion and mapping. So in theory, ADiA should tick all those boxes, right?
I'd like to say that, but unfortunately. Artificial Dream in Arcadia actually goes beyond and above for what I wanted from a modern yet classic Shin Megami Tensei title. In very basic aspects, like its aesthetics, ADiA is an absolutely beautiful reimagening of Gensokyo and its surrounding terms, transforming a fantastic region to a fantastic but antiquated style. I would like to say that is ADiA's strongest aspect, but then I'd be wrong again, because what I do consider the best part of ADiA is not its beautiful graphics, but its mechanics.
ADiA takes queues from classic Megami Tensei, but more clearly does it take aspects from the modern renditions; most specifically, the way Sumireko is built with stats, skills, and affinities takes clear inspiration from Shin Megami Tensei V's handling, being able to use your Sleepers to inherit their affinities or their skills allows a much deeper variety of skills to be used, making Sumireko a real jack-of-all-trades. Byakuren's respec also allows the player to redo her as much as they want, so party building is never truly restricted to a single build. I personally went full World of STR, getting it to 99 by level 40 then juggling Luck, Agility, and Vitality (I had around 50 in Luck?), while then I had a dedicated healer/buffer, a pure magician, and a phys dealer/debuffer. However, because of its variety in not just Sumireko's building but also how Sleepers can also be constantly built upon and added upon by the sacrifice of other Sleepers, that ADiA is not as merciless with its requisites in fusion, and rather that it allows the player to use ANY units as they wish. I didn't do that; because I like fusion, so constantly changing my team was half the fun, however I do think with a New Game+ that using specific Grimoires and a specific team of your favorite Sleepers would be a fun exercise.
This does not mean that ADiA is a perfect game, despite feeling out of the base game completely satisfied with what it does achieve; there are some gripes I have with it. For one, hijacking's balance feels a little off. Some of them I found pitifully easy and I opted to specifically hijack to avoid fights due to the lack of an Estoma, but others (Izu and Yumemi come to mind primarily) are disgustingly difficult. Paired that with the lack of a clear hitbox makes hijacking somewhat unreliable. Worse off is the steep cost of Fast Hijacking, needing 75 SP to use. I understand the price, but when the discounted price of a base Hijack is 25, I'd rather take my chances than rely on Boosters or constant combat to regain that extra 50 SP. I'm also a little sad that the bracketed skills can't be gained through skill inheritance, because I simply never used one because fusing feels too closed off to be able to transfer these skills to the end, and because I used a physical oriented cast with three out of four Sleepers (including Sumireko) focusing on physical damage, that regaining SP was a hurdle due to the unreliableness of obtaining a crit. My fault? Sure, but it doesn't change the fact that I found SP to be unreliable despite the Special commands being debatably useful. I never used Pierce, for example, despite Pierce being an absolutely crucial skill in other Megami Tensei games and especially for physical builds. Part of it would also be that having elemental damage that scales off of Strength would have gone a long way in relying on SP and bracketed skills.
I'm also partially disappointed in a few concepts in the storytelling that didn't feel entirely done. Touhou 12 and 13 being just a small sidequest to unlock respeccing felt wasted, for example; I don't mind 13 not having much because it's not really a game that has the setup necessary for a pure dungeon crawl, but merging both of the games felt like writing a quick check to make sure no touhou game goes underrepresented. 7 also fell to this; the only part of it was the Prismriver mansion, which also falls under the same thing as 13 where it's the best that could have been done, but it's still a little sad not to see Youmu and Yuyuko properly have a role in the story. I'd extend this to 19, but it DID come out a month ago, so it would be unfair to have it as a gripe.
The TORIFUNE dungeon is another part that felt disappointing in a storytelling sense as it felt it had no real bearing on Gensokyo or its cast as the previous dungeons do. DO NOT take this as me not enjoying it because the Hifuu club stuff is my favorite thing that Touhou has made, but there's no real characters or dialogue or enemies that really fit TORIFUNE, especially since Trojan Green Asteroid makes a point that TORIFUNE is a lush enviorment filled with fairies. You could maybe say that the TORIFUNE in Gensokyo is the idea of what it is in the Outside World given shape, but... well, I like Renko and Merry, so not seeing them or being able to use them was a little sad.
I do make a point on how TORIFUNE is represented because outside of that, I actually think this is a pretty well written game? I have some gripes with how some characters are represented, it's not perfect with how I see them, but there's a genuine hilarity to the stark contrast that is Gensokyo against Sumireko's contemporary outlook. It might not be something that ages well, but to be fair, Sumireko isn't someone who would age well as a character. And that's fine; for now, the time period we are in, she's a very fun lead with that twinge of cringe you'd expect from a high school zoomer, and the dialogue options that go full with that are really fun. I did also really like the ending, which I won't get into because the dev said not to spoil, but all that's really needed to be said is that it's a very nice ending to who Sumireko is as a character and how that works with the ending character as well as just Gensokyo, which was the strongest part of Artificial Dream in Arcadia and just the process of exploring Gensokyo and the cast at large.
The only thing to really conclude with is that it's kind of a crime this costs 10 dollars. Having finished it at 25 hours, the amount of mechanical depth and unit variety with exceedingly great dungeon design is something that really deserves to cost, like, 20 dollars? I'd pay for that. It's what I wanted from a modern Shin Megami Tensei, delivering in even more spades than what I had originally wished for. I'm still gonna hound Atlus to stop making Persona 6, though.
I'd like to say that, but unfortunately. Artificial Dream in Arcadia actually goes beyond and above for what I wanted from a modern yet classic Shin Megami Tensei title. In very basic aspects, like its aesthetics, ADiA is an absolutely beautiful reimagening of Gensokyo and its surrounding terms, transforming a fantastic region to a fantastic but antiquated style. I would like to say that is ADiA's strongest aspect, but then I'd be wrong again, because what I do consider the best part of ADiA is not its beautiful graphics, but its mechanics.
ADiA takes queues from classic Megami Tensei, but more clearly does it take aspects from the modern renditions; most specifically, the way Sumireko is built with stats, skills, and affinities takes clear inspiration from Shin Megami Tensei V's handling, being able to use your Sleepers to inherit their affinities or their skills allows a much deeper variety of skills to be used, making Sumireko a real jack-of-all-trades. Byakuren's respec also allows the player to redo her as much as they want, so party building is never truly restricted to a single build. I personally went full World of STR, getting it to 99 by level 40 then juggling Luck, Agility, and Vitality (I had around 50 in Luck?), while then I had a dedicated healer/buffer, a pure magician, and a phys dealer/debuffer. However, because of its variety in not just Sumireko's building but also how Sleepers can also be constantly built upon and added upon by the sacrifice of other Sleepers, that ADiA is not as merciless with its requisites in fusion, and rather that it allows the player to use ANY units as they wish. I didn't do that; because I like fusion, so constantly changing my team was half the fun, however I do think with a New Game+ that using specific Grimoires and a specific team of your favorite Sleepers would be a fun exercise.
This does not mean that ADiA is a perfect game, despite feeling out of the base game completely satisfied with what it does achieve; there are some gripes I have with it. For one, hijacking's balance feels a little off. Some of them I found pitifully easy and I opted to specifically hijack to avoid fights due to the lack of an Estoma, but others (Izu and Yumemi come to mind primarily) are disgustingly difficult. Paired that with the lack of a clear hitbox makes hijacking somewhat unreliable. Worse off is the steep cost of Fast Hijacking, needing 75 SP to use. I understand the price, but when the discounted price of a base Hijack is 25, I'd rather take my chances than rely on Boosters or constant combat to regain that extra 50 SP. I'm also a little sad that the bracketed skills can't be gained through skill inheritance, because I simply never used one because fusing feels too closed off to be able to transfer these skills to the end, and because I used a physical oriented cast with three out of four Sleepers (including Sumireko) focusing on physical damage, that regaining SP was a hurdle due to the unreliableness of obtaining a crit. My fault? Sure, but it doesn't change the fact that I found SP to be unreliable despite the Special commands being debatably useful. I never used Pierce, for example, despite Pierce being an absolutely crucial skill in other Megami Tensei games and especially for physical builds. Part of it would also be that having elemental damage that scales off of Strength would have gone a long way in relying on SP and bracketed skills.
I'm also partially disappointed in a few concepts in the storytelling that didn't feel entirely done. Touhou 12 and 13 being just a small sidequest to unlock respeccing felt wasted, for example; I don't mind 13 not having much because it's not really a game that has the setup necessary for a pure dungeon crawl, but merging both of the games felt like writing a quick check to make sure no touhou game goes underrepresented. 7 also fell to this; the only part of it was the Prismriver mansion, which also falls under the same thing as 13 where it's the best that could have been done, but it's still a little sad not to see Youmu and Yuyuko properly have a role in the story. I'd extend this to 19, but it DID come out a month ago, so it would be unfair to have it as a gripe.
The TORIFUNE dungeon is another part that felt disappointing in a storytelling sense as it felt it had no real bearing on Gensokyo or its cast as the previous dungeons do. DO NOT take this as me not enjoying it because the Hifuu club stuff is my favorite thing that Touhou has made, but there's no real characters or dialogue or enemies that really fit TORIFUNE, especially since Trojan Green Asteroid makes a point that TORIFUNE is a lush enviorment filled with fairies. You could maybe say that the TORIFUNE in Gensokyo is the idea of what it is in the Outside World given shape, but... well, I like Renko and Merry, so not seeing them or being able to use them was a little sad.
I do make a point on how TORIFUNE is represented because outside of that, I actually think this is a pretty well written game? I have some gripes with how some characters are represented, it's not perfect with how I see them, but there's a genuine hilarity to the stark contrast that is Gensokyo against Sumireko's contemporary outlook. It might not be something that ages well, but to be fair, Sumireko isn't someone who would age well as a character. And that's fine; for now, the time period we are in, she's a very fun lead with that twinge of cringe you'd expect from a high school zoomer, and the dialogue options that go full with that are really fun. I did also really like the ending, which I won't get into because the dev said not to spoil, but all that's really needed to be said is that it's a very nice ending to who Sumireko is as a character and how that works with the ending character as well as just Gensokyo, which was the strongest part of Artificial Dream in Arcadia and just the process of exploring Gensokyo and the cast at large.
The only thing to really conclude with is that it's kind of a crime this costs 10 dollars. Having finished it at 25 hours, the amount of mechanical depth and unit variety with exceedingly great dungeon design is something that really deserves to cost, like, 20 dollars? I'd pay for that. It's what I wanted from a modern Shin Megami Tensei, delivering in even more spades than what I had originally wished for. I'm still gonna hound Atlus to stop making Persona 6, though.
2018
see you next week
2023
既然都这样无视老粉丝了，那我也没必要留恋了
唉...这系列多年来的经营直接毁在这一步
Blue Reflection bye bye
唉...这系列多年来的经营直接毁在这一步
Blue Reflection bye bye
#JujutsuAirstrike
i dont like to use backloggd as a social media and i only like using it as a logging website but im throwing this out there anyways: i think its genuinely comical that in most uchikoshi works the best part isn't even uchikoshi's writing; it's nakazawa's. Remember11 is the best "uchikoshi" work because he didn't even work on it until late into development, and you can absolutely tell which parts he had involvement. in this case ryuki's route was mainly written by nakazawa and it shows when it is also leaps and bounds ahead of mizuki's route. if i have to see one more person credit remember11's quality to uchikoshi my eyes might bleed out
This review contains spoilers
SO, RAVEN... WHO NEEDS YOU?
ARMORED CORE'S CYBERPUNK DYSTOPIA IS A STRONG PART OF HOW THE SERIES HAS ALWAYS FORMULATED ITS WORLD AND HOW THE PETTY WARS BETWEEN CORPORATION AND CORPORATION THAT GRINDED THE WORLD TO DUST EVOLVE TO MUTUAL DESTRUCTION. HAVING ONLY PLAYED FOR ANSWER TO COMPLETION BUT TRIED OTHERS IN THE SERIES TO UNDERSTAND, FIRES OF RUBICON STANDS OUT AS INSTEAD OF BEING PURELY ABOUT THE CYBERPUNK STAPLE OF MEGACORPS FIGHTING FOR SUPERIORITY IT INSTEAD PIVOTS TO CRITICIZING COLONIALISM IN A MANNER WHICH BOTH FITS IN A CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL SENSE BUT ALSO DEVELOPS AND REPRESENTS HOW IT WOULD LOOK IN A SCI FI SETTING.
RUBICON, ITS PEOPLE AND ITS RESOURCES, ARE NOTHING MORE THAN FUEL TO CONTINUE RAMPING UP THE INNATE DESIRE OF A MEGACORP TO GROW UNRELENTINGLY. IT DOESN'T MATTER TO THEM THE PEOPLE THAT IT GRINDS TO DUST. IT DOESN'T MATTER TO THEM THE REALITY OF CORAL NOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF PLAYING WITH FIRE. CORPORATIONS HAVE NO SOUL AND THEY ARE SIMPLY PRIMED TO GROW AND CONTROL. IT DOES NOT ALSO PURELY GRIND THIS PLANET TO DUST BUT IT ALSO GRINDS EVERYONE WORKING UNDER THEM. NONE OF THESE PEOPLE YOU TALK WITH AND MEET REALLY HAVE ANY FREE WILL. NOT EVEN YOU AS THE PLAYER HAVE IT; YOU LIVE UNDER THEIR BOOT WORKING FOR THE HIGHEST BIDDER REGARDLESS ON IF YOU PARADE THE FLAG OF BEING AN INDEPENDENT MERCENARY. IT SPEAKS VOLUMES EVEN THAT IT REINFORCES YOUR ROLE AS A WEAPON OF WAR OR A HOUND, DESPERATELY CRAWLING FOR CREDITS TO BUY BACK YOUR INDEPENDENCE.
HOWEVER ONE MUST ALSO THINK THAT WHY EXACTLY DOES 621 NEED TO BUY THEIR INDEPENDENCE? THAT FREE WILL HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN THEM, SOMETHING THAT'S ONLY TRULY UNLEASHED ONCE THE PLAYER DEFEATS THE PREVIOUS RAVEN AND LEARNS OF ITS TRUE MEANING; A HERALD OF CHANGE WILLING TO MAKE ITS OWN CHOICES. THE REALITY IS THAT BOTH IN OUR MODERN ERA AND IN THE DAYS OF THE CORAL WAR THAT WE WILLINGLY SUCCUMB TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORLD DESPITE ITS LACK OF NATURAL SOURCE. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF JORDAN PETERSON TALKS ABOUT LOBSTERS; CRIMES ARE NOT NATURAL CRIMES NOR ARE PUNISHMENTS NATURAL CONSEQUENCES; THEY ARE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS TO CREATE A SEMBLANCE OF ORDER ON A NATIONAL LEVEL.
IN THAT SENSE THE TWO ENDINGS YOU CAN CHOOSE TO TAKE REPRESENT THAT VERY TRUTH. YOU DEFEATED THE PREVIOUS RAVEN AND HAVE COME TO THE INNER REALIZATION THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE ARRIVED AS AN ADVENT OF CHANGE. YOU FOUGHT RUSTY AND HAVE BEEN CONFRONTED OVER YOUR LACK OF IDEALS. AND BY CHAPTER 5 YOU ARE PRESENTED WITH A CHOICE; ABIDE WITH WALTER ON THE SIDE OF THE OVERSEERS OR DEFECT WITH AYRE TO THE RUBICON LIBERATION FRONT?
IN REALITY THESE TWO OPTIONS REPRESENT WHAT I HAD SAID BEFORE ON THE REALITY OF SOCIETY'S LAWS AND FREE WILL. ABIDING WITH WALTER MEANS YOU WHOLEHEARTEDLY ACCEPT SUBMISSION TO THE SYSTEM REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES. TO YOU IT NO LONGER MATTERS WHAT RUBICON WAS AND IS BUT RATHER AIM TO DESTROY IT AND EVERYTHING THAT LIVES INSIDE IT. IT IS NO WONDER RUSTY FIGHTS AGAINST YOU AS DESPITE SEEING YOUR POTENTIAL TO RISE AGAINST THE WORLD YOU STILL DECIDE TO ABIDE WITH THOSE VERY LAWS THAT ALLOWED SOCIETY TO HAVE THESE MEGACORPS TAKE OVER AND PRIORITIZE HEARTLESS GROWTH.
ALTERNATIVELY, DEFECTING WITH AYRE IS A DIFFICULT BUT NECESSARY CHOICE AS YOU STEP ON WALTER'S LAST WISH AND DECIDE TO FIGHT FOR A WORLD'S LEGACY AND INDEPENDENCE AGAINST THESE MEGACORPS. RUSTY DECIDES TO STICK WITH YOU AS HE RECOGNIZES YOU AS BIRDS OF A FEATHER AND RESPECTS YOU. THE QUESTION OF "WHO NEEDS YOU" IS TRULY ANSWERED HERE: RUBICON NEEDS 621. NOT IN A WHITE SAVIOR WAY WHICH IS A VERY SIMPLE TRAP TO FALL IN THESE KINDS OF STORIES AS FOREIGNERS SAVING AN INDIGENOUS GROUP BECOMES AN INHERENTLY RACIST IDEA BY REPRESENTING THE WHITE MAN AS A MESSIANIC FIGURE BUT RATHER THE RAVEN STANDS AS THE TRIGGER TO FOSTER HOPE IN THE HEARTS OF THE RUBICONIANS. BOTH PARTIES HAVE BECOME TOOLS IN THE HANDS OF MEGACORPS AND BOTH GROUPS REALIZE THE FOLLY OF THAT AND REBEL AGAINST IT. EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY IS THAT WALTER HIMSELF RECOGNIZES THIS AS A POSITIVE: HE IS HAPPY THAT RAVEN WAS ABLE TO ACQUIRE A FRIEND LIKE AYRE AND SOMETHING TO STAND FOR. WALTER MAY HAVE OWNED 621 BUT HE CARES FOR HIS PILOT REGARDLESS AND THIS TRUST AND CAMARADERIE IS FOSTERED AS WALTER REALIZES OUR POTENTIAL AND WHAT WE ARE CAPABLE OF.
IN THAT SENSE ARMORED CORE 6 DOES NOT CRITICIZE THE INDIVIDUAL FOR LIVING UNDER THE WEIGHT OF A MEGACORP BUT IT DOES CRITICIZE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT BENEFIT FROM THIS. THE ARQUEBUS GROUP ARE THE BIGGEST EXAMPLE AS RUSTY IS CONSIDERED THE ONLY GOOD PILOT FROM ARQUEBUS BECAUSE HE DEFECTS FROM THEM AND USED THEM FOR HIS OWN END. THE REST ARE COMICALLY EVIL INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE THEY STAND PURELY AGAINST RUBICON, SUCH AS V.II SNAIL IN AYRE'S ROUTE AS HE RAGES AND SEETHES OVER YOU NOT ABIDING TO THE WORLD'S STRUCTURE. ALTERNATIVELY BALAM IS ALSO REPRESENTED AS A NEGATIVE BUT THEIR INDIVIDUAL CAMARADERIE IS RESPECTABLE AND THE LEGACY THEY LEAVE BEHIND AS WELL.
IT IS ALSO APPARENT THAT THE INDIVIDUAL IS NOT CRITICIZED COMPARED TO THE COLLECTIVE MEGACORP IN THE ENDING OF CHAPTER 3 WHERE EACH MAJOR FACTION IS UNITED TO DEFEAT THE ICE WORM. THE MOTIVATIONS BEHIND THIS ARE NOT MORALLY WELL BECAUSE IT CONTINUES TO ITERATE ON THE EXPLOITATION OF RUBICON HOWEVER IT ALSO SOMEWHAT STANDS AS AN IDEA OF THE POTENTIAL HUMANITY COULD HAVE IF UNITED RATHER THAN DIVIDED DUE TO THE CONFLICTING AIMS OF THESE MEGACORPS NEEDING AS MUCH OF THE SHARE AS THEY CAN GET OF THE PRODUCT OBTAINED IN RUBICON, AND YET ALSO HOW THESE GROUPS WERE ABLE TO COME TOGETHER AND FORMULATE A PLAN TO TAKE DOWN THE WORM. OF COURSE IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT ARQUEBUS IS THE FIRST TO LEAVE; THEY ARE THE MOST PROFIT INCENTIVIZED AND THE ONE MOST REPRESENTED AS VILLAINOUS. COMPARED TO THAT, CHATTY AND THE BALAM MERC CAN LEAVE IF DAMAGED ENOUGH. THE ONLY ONE THAT STICKS BY YOU IS ONCE AGAIN RUSTY AS HE IS THE ONE THAT STANDS MOST BY YOU IDEOLOGICALLY AS BOTH ARE ABLE TO ACHIEVE SIMILAR POTENTIAL.
PIVOTING A BIT FROM THE PURE STORY AND ENTERING TOWARDS THE GAMEPLAY OBVIOUSLY A LARGE PART OF ARMORED CORE IS THE AC’S CUSTOMIZATION; THE GAME HAS MULTIPLE STATS TO TAKE COUNT OF AND TO BUILD YOUR PREFERRED PLAYSTYLE BOTH FOR THE MOMENT TO MOMENT BUT ALSO FOR SPECIFIC STAGES AND BOSSES. BEING READY TO SELL YOUR PARTS AND BUY NEW ONES FOR YOUR FIRST PLAYTHROUGH IS SOMETHING TO EMBRACE FOR YOUR FIRST PLAYTHROUGH AS YOU LEARN HOW THESE BOSSES TICK AND HOW THEY ARE FULLY CANCELED OUT WITH SPECIFIC LOADOUTS, MAKING YOU EXPERIENCE A DIVERSE LOADOUT AND ALLOWS YOU TO LEARN WHAT REALLY MAKES YOU ENJOY ARMORED CORE’S FAST PACED HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD GAMEPLAY. FOR MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH I UTILIZED A QUAD LEGS BUILD WITH DUAL GATLING GUNS AND SONGBIRD, EXCHANGING MY WEAPONS OCCASIONALLY. FOR MY SECOND ONE I UTILIZED A MIDWEIGHT BIPED ENERGY WEAPON LOADOUT WITH AN ENERGY LANCE AS MY MELEE OF CHOICE. FOR MY THIRD OPTION I WENT WITH A REVERSE LIGHTWEIGHT DUAL ZIMMERMAN BUILD WITH THE MOONLIGHT BLADE AND A SONGBIRDS CHOICE. IT IS TRULY A GOAL FOR FROM SOFTWARE THAT I FOUND EACH OF THESE WEAPON LOADOUT TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE MOST CONFRONTATIONS; IF NOT ALL WITH THESE LOADOUTS EXCLUSIVELY. IT IS NOT SIMPLY A PROBLEM WITH A BUILD BUT ALSO YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE OF THE BOSS THAT DEFINES YOUR DIFFICULTY. I CONSIDER THIS THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: IT BOTH SUPPORTS THE WORLDBUILDING AND THE USE OF ACS BUT ALSO ALLOWS PLAYERS TO FLEX THEIR OWN CREATIVE FREEDOM IN FINDING WAYS TO DEFEAT BOSSES.
LOOKING AT THE AC CUSTOMIZATION FROM A PURELY UTILITARIAN VIEW HOWEVER YOU START TO DRAW PARALLELS TO THE THIRD ROUTE’S ENDING AND THE MISSIONS LEADING TOWARDS IT; ALLMIND IS AN AI. IN THAT SENSE HOWEVER ALLMIND DOES NOT FUNCTION AS AN AI WITH A SOUL OR CONSCIOUSNESS RATHER IT WORKS AS THE AI THAT EXISTS NOWADAYS; IT ONLY ACCUMULATES DATA AND REPEATS IT. THUS IS THAT THE ARENA EXISTS HERE NOT AS A WAY OF RANKING MERCS BUT RATHER FOR ALLMIND TO EXTRACT MORE INFO ON PILOTS TO BUILD STRONGER REPLICAS FOR THEIR AIMS; TO MAKE CORAL RELEASE. HOWEVER WHILE CORAL RELEASE IS CONSIDERED A POSITIVE AS IT IS AYRE’S WISH FOR HUMANS TO COEXIST WITH CORAL’S CONSCIOUSNESS ALLMIND’S GOALS ARE NOT THAT AND ARE MORE SO TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL HUMANITY; TO TURN CHAOS INTO ORDER AS THEY SAY IN THE FINAL MISSION OF THEIR ENDING. THIS BECOMES LESS DISMANTLING THE SOCIAL ORDER THAT MAKES THE WORLD RELY ON MEGACORPS REACHING TO IMPLOSION AND MORE OF A HEARTLESS UTILITARIAN SOCIETY. THAT IS WHY WE GO AGAINST ALLMIND; IT IS THE WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO AND IN A SENSE THE ENDPOINT OF A MEGACORP OBTAINING A MONOPOLY ON THE WORLD. BY THE END AYRE REAFFIRMS THIS; WE PULL THE TRIGGER FOR CORAL RELEASE. WE BRING ABOUT A NEW ERA TO THE WORLD TO IMPROVE UPON THE HOUNDING OF CAPITALISM THAT TURNS EVERYONE INTO TOOLS, COEXISTING AS HUMANS, CORAL, AND AC.
BY THE END I CAN ABSOLUTELY SAY THAT I ADORED ARMORED CORE 6 AS A GAME AND AS FROM SOFTWARE’S PEAK OF STORYTELLING. THEIR WAY OF HANDLING LORE EXISTS IN THIS GAME AS A METHOD OF CREATING INTRIGUE HOWEVER PIVOTING TOWARDS A MORE DIRECT STORY CREATES A GREAT SET OF CHARACTERS WITH CHARISMA AND INTRIGUE. THERE WERE MANY TIMES I WAS TASKED TO KILL A UNIT I HAD FOUGHT ALONGSIDE AND I ATTEMPTED TO LOOK AWAY WITH THE CAMERA BUT IT STAYED FOCUSED ON THEM: I HAD TO LIVE WITH THE ACTIONS I TOOK AS A HOUND OF WALTER. PACKED ALONGSIDE A SOUNDTRACK WHICH BY ITSELF APPEARS MEDIOCRE BUT WHEN COMPOUNDED WITH THE WORLD ENHANCES THE PRODUCT AND A VISUAL DESIGN THAT IS UNIQUE AND BEAUTIFUL IN THE WAY IT IS TERRIBLE, ARMORED CORE 6 PRESENTS US WITH A WORLD THAT FUCKING SUCKS. AND THAT IS WHY WE LIVE IN IT, EMBRACE IT, AND FIGHT TO REMAKE IT INTO SOMETHING BETTER.
ARMORED CORE'S CYBERPUNK DYSTOPIA IS A STRONG PART OF HOW THE SERIES HAS ALWAYS FORMULATED ITS WORLD AND HOW THE PETTY WARS BETWEEN CORPORATION AND CORPORATION THAT GRINDED THE WORLD TO DUST EVOLVE TO MUTUAL DESTRUCTION. HAVING ONLY PLAYED FOR ANSWER TO COMPLETION BUT TRIED OTHERS IN THE SERIES TO UNDERSTAND, FIRES OF RUBICON STANDS OUT AS INSTEAD OF BEING PURELY ABOUT THE CYBERPUNK STAPLE OF MEGACORPS FIGHTING FOR SUPERIORITY IT INSTEAD PIVOTS TO CRITICIZING COLONIALISM IN A MANNER WHICH BOTH FITS IN A CONTEMPORARY AND HISTORICAL SENSE BUT ALSO DEVELOPS AND REPRESENTS HOW IT WOULD LOOK IN A SCI FI SETTING.
RUBICON, ITS PEOPLE AND ITS RESOURCES, ARE NOTHING MORE THAN FUEL TO CONTINUE RAMPING UP THE INNATE DESIRE OF A MEGACORP TO GROW UNRELENTINGLY. IT DOESN'T MATTER TO THEM THE PEOPLE THAT IT GRINDS TO DUST. IT DOESN'T MATTER TO THEM THE REALITY OF CORAL NOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF PLAYING WITH FIRE. CORPORATIONS HAVE NO SOUL AND THEY ARE SIMPLY PRIMED TO GROW AND CONTROL. IT DOES NOT ALSO PURELY GRIND THIS PLANET TO DUST BUT IT ALSO GRINDS EVERYONE WORKING UNDER THEM. NONE OF THESE PEOPLE YOU TALK WITH AND MEET REALLY HAVE ANY FREE WILL. NOT EVEN YOU AS THE PLAYER HAVE IT; YOU LIVE UNDER THEIR BOOT WORKING FOR THE HIGHEST BIDDER REGARDLESS ON IF YOU PARADE THE FLAG OF BEING AN INDEPENDENT MERCENARY. IT SPEAKS VOLUMES EVEN THAT IT REINFORCES YOUR ROLE AS A WEAPON OF WAR OR A HOUND, DESPERATELY CRAWLING FOR CREDITS TO BUY BACK YOUR INDEPENDENCE.
HOWEVER ONE MUST ALSO THINK THAT WHY EXACTLY DOES 621 NEED TO BUY THEIR INDEPENDENCE? THAT FREE WILL HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN THEM, SOMETHING THAT'S ONLY TRULY UNLEASHED ONCE THE PLAYER DEFEATS THE PREVIOUS RAVEN AND LEARNS OF ITS TRUE MEANING; A HERALD OF CHANGE WILLING TO MAKE ITS OWN CHOICES. THE REALITY IS THAT BOTH IN OUR MODERN ERA AND IN THE DAYS OF THE CORAL WAR THAT WE WILLINGLY SUCCUMB TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORLD DESPITE ITS LACK OF NATURAL SOURCE. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF JORDAN PETERSON TALKS ABOUT LOBSTERS; CRIMES ARE NOT NATURAL CRIMES NOR ARE PUNISHMENTS NATURAL CONSEQUENCES; THEY ARE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS TO CREATE A SEMBLANCE OF ORDER ON A NATIONAL LEVEL.
IN THAT SENSE THE TWO ENDINGS YOU CAN CHOOSE TO TAKE REPRESENT THAT VERY TRUTH. YOU DEFEATED THE PREVIOUS RAVEN AND HAVE COME TO THE INNER REALIZATION THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE ARRIVED AS AN ADVENT OF CHANGE. YOU FOUGHT RUSTY AND HAVE BEEN CONFRONTED OVER YOUR LACK OF IDEALS. AND BY CHAPTER 5 YOU ARE PRESENTED WITH A CHOICE; ABIDE WITH WALTER ON THE SIDE OF THE OVERSEERS OR DEFECT WITH AYRE TO THE RUBICON LIBERATION FRONT?
IN REALITY THESE TWO OPTIONS REPRESENT WHAT I HAD SAID BEFORE ON THE REALITY OF SOCIETY'S LAWS AND FREE WILL. ABIDING WITH WALTER MEANS YOU WHOLEHEARTEDLY ACCEPT SUBMISSION TO THE SYSTEM REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES. TO YOU IT NO LONGER MATTERS WHAT RUBICON WAS AND IS BUT RATHER AIM TO DESTROY IT AND EVERYTHING THAT LIVES INSIDE IT. IT IS NO WONDER RUSTY FIGHTS AGAINST YOU AS DESPITE SEEING YOUR POTENTIAL TO RISE AGAINST THE WORLD YOU STILL DECIDE TO ABIDE WITH THOSE VERY LAWS THAT ALLOWED SOCIETY TO HAVE THESE MEGACORPS TAKE OVER AND PRIORITIZE HEARTLESS GROWTH.
ALTERNATIVELY, DEFECTING WITH AYRE IS A DIFFICULT BUT NECESSARY CHOICE AS YOU STEP ON WALTER'S LAST WISH AND DECIDE TO FIGHT FOR A WORLD'S LEGACY AND INDEPENDENCE AGAINST THESE MEGACORPS. RUSTY DECIDES TO STICK WITH YOU AS HE RECOGNIZES YOU AS BIRDS OF A FEATHER AND RESPECTS YOU. THE QUESTION OF "WHO NEEDS YOU" IS TRULY ANSWERED HERE: RUBICON NEEDS 621. NOT IN A WHITE SAVIOR WAY WHICH IS A VERY SIMPLE TRAP TO FALL IN THESE KINDS OF STORIES AS FOREIGNERS SAVING AN INDIGENOUS GROUP BECOMES AN INHERENTLY RACIST IDEA BY REPRESENTING THE WHITE MAN AS A MESSIANIC FIGURE BUT RATHER THE RAVEN STANDS AS THE TRIGGER TO FOSTER HOPE IN THE HEARTS OF THE RUBICONIANS. BOTH PARTIES HAVE BECOME TOOLS IN THE HANDS OF MEGACORPS AND BOTH GROUPS REALIZE THE FOLLY OF THAT AND REBEL AGAINST IT. EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY IS THAT WALTER HIMSELF RECOGNIZES THIS AS A POSITIVE: HE IS HAPPY THAT RAVEN WAS ABLE TO ACQUIRE A FRIEND LIKE AYRE AND SOMETHING TO STAND FOR. WALTER MAY HAVE OWNED 621 BUT HE CARES FOR HIS PILOT REGARDLESS AND THIS TRUST AND CAMARADERIE IS FOSTERED AS WALTER REALIZES OUR POTENTIAL AND WHAT WE ARE CAPABLE OF.
IN THAT SENSE ARMORED CORE 6 DOES NOT CRITICIZE THE INDIVIDUAL FOR LIVING UNDER THE WEIGHT OF A MEGACORP BUT IT DOES CRITICIZE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT BENEFIT FROM THIS. THE ARQUEBUS GROUP ARE THE BIGGEST EXAMPLE AS RUSTY IS CONSIDERED THE ONLY GOOD PILOT FROM ARQUEBUS BECAUSE HE DEFECTS FROM THEM AND USED THEM FOR HIS OWN END. THE REST ARE COMICALLY EVIL INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE THEY STAND PURELY AGAINST RUBICON, SUCH AS V.II SNAIL IN AYRE'S ROUTE AS HE RAGES AND SEETHES OVER YOU NOT ABIDING TO THE WORLD'S STRUCTURE. ALTERNATIVELY BALAM IS ALSO REPRESENTED AS A NEGATIVE BUT THEIR INDIVIDUAL CAMARADERIE IS RESPECTABLE AND THE LEGACY THEY LEAVE BEHIND AS WELL.
IT IS ALSO APPARENT THAT THE INDIVIDUAL IS NOT CRITICIZED COMPARED TO THE COLLECTIVE MEGACORP IN THE ENDING OF CHAPTER 3 WHERE EACH MAJOR FACTION IS UNITED TO DEFEAT THE ICE WORM. THE MOTIVATIONS BEHIND THIS ARE NOT MORALLY WELL BECAUSE IT CONTINUES TO ITERATE ON THE EXPLOITATION OF RUBICON HOWEVER IT ALSO SOMEWHAT STANDS AS AN IDEA OF THE POTENTIAL HUMANITY COULD HAVE IF UNITED RATHER THAN DIVIDED DUE TO THE CONFLICTING AIMS OF THESE MEGACORPS NEEDING AS MUCH OF THE SHARE AS THEY CAN GET OF THE PRODUCT OBTAINED IN RUBICON, AND YET ALSO HOW THESE GROUPS WERE ABLE TO COME TOGETHER AND FORMULATE A PLAN TO TAKE DOWN THE WORM. OF COURSE IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT ARQUEBUS IS THE FIRST TO LEAVE; THEY ARE THE MOST PROFIT INCENTIVIZED AND THE ONE MOST REPRESENTED AS VILLAINOUS. COMPARED TO THAT, CHATTY AND THE BALAM MERC CAN LEAVE IF DAMAGED ENOUGH. THE ONLY ONE THAT STICKS BY YOU IS ONCE AGAIN RUSTY AS HE IS THE ONE THAT STANDS MOST BY YOU IDEOLOGICALLY AS BOTH ARE ABLE TO ACHIEVE SIMILAR POTENTIAL.
PIVOTING A BIT FROM THE PURE STORY AND ENTERING TOWARDS THE GAMEPLAY OBVIOUSLY A LARGE PART OF ARMORED CORE IS THE AC’S CUSTOMIZATION; THE GAME HAS MULTIPLE STATS TO TAKE COUNT OF AND TO BUILD YOUR PREFERRED PLAYSTYLE BOTH FOR THE MOMENT TO MOMENT BUT ALSO FOR SPECIFIC STAGES AND BOSSES. BEING READY TO SELL YOUR PARTS AND BUY NEW ONES FOR YOUR FIRST PLAYTHROUGH IS SOMETHING TO EMBRACE FOR YOUR FIRST PLAYTHROUGH AS YOU LEARN HOW THESE BOSSES TICK AND HOW THEY ARE FULLY CANCELED OUT WITH SPECIFIC LOADOUTS, MAKING YOU EXPERIENCE A DIVERSE LOADOUT AND ALLOWS YOU TO LEARN WHAT REALLY MAKES YOU ENJOY ARMORED CORE’S FAST PACED HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD GAMEPLAY. FOR MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH I UTILIZED A QUAD LEGS BUILD WITH DUAL GATLING GUNS AND SONGBIRD, EXCHANGING MY WEAPONS OCCASIONALLY. FOR MY SECOND ONE I UTILIZED A MIDWEIGHT BIPED ENERGY WEAPON LOADOUT WITH AN ENERGY LANCE AS MY MELEE OF CHOICE. FOR MY THIRD OPTION I WENT WITH A REVERSE LIGHTWEIGHT DUAL ZIMMERMAN BUILD WITH THE MOONLIGHT BLADE AND A SONGBIRDS CHOICE. IT IS TRULY A GOAL FOR FROM SOFTWARE THAT I FOUND EACH OF THESE WEAPON LOADOUT TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE MOST CONFRONTATIONS; IF NOT ALL WITH THESE LOADOUTS EXCLUSIVELY. IT IS NOT SIMPLY A PROBLEM WITH A BUILD BUT ALSO YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE OF THE BOSS THAT DEFINES YOUR DIFFICULTY. I CONSIDER THIS THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: IT BOTH SUPPORTS THE WORLDBUILDING AND THE USE OF ACS BUT ALSO ALLOWS PLAYERS TO FLEX THEIR OWN CREATIVE FREEDOM IN FINDING WAYS TO DEFEAT BOSSES.
LOOKING AT THE AC CUSTOMIZATION FROM A PURELY UTILITARIAN VIEW HOWEVER YOU START TO DRAW PARALLELS TO THE THIRD ROUTE’S ENDING AND THE MISSIONS LEADING TOWARDS IT; ALLMIND IS AN AI. IN THAT SENSE HOWEVER ALLMIND DOES NOT FUNCTION AS AN AI WITH A SOUL OR CONSCIOUSNESS RATHER IT WORKS AS THE AI THAT EXISTS NOWADAYS; IT ONLY ACCUMULATES DATA AND REPEATS IT. THUS IS THAT THE ARENA EXISTS HERE NOT AS A WAY OF RANKING MERCS BUT RATHER FOR ALLMIND TO EXTRACT MORE INFO ON PILOTS TO BUILD STRONGER REPLICAS FOR THEIR AIMS; TO MAKE CORAL RELEASE. HOWEVER WHILE CORAL RELEASE IS CONSIDERED A POSITIVE AS IT IS AYRE’S WISH FOR HUMANS TO COEXIST WITH CORAL’S CONSCIOUSNESS ALLMIND’S GOALS ARE NOT THAT AND ARE MORE SO TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL HUMANITY; TO TURN CHAOS INTO ORDER AS THEY SAY IN THE FINAL MISSION OF THEIR ENDING. THIS BECOMES LESS DISMANTLING THE SOCIAL ORDER THAT MAKES THE WORLD RELY ON MEGACORPS REACHING TO IMPLOSION AND MORE OF A HEARTLESS UTILITARIAN SOCIETY. THAT IS WHY WE GO AGAINST ALLMIND; IT IS THE WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO AND IN A SENSE THE ENDPOINT OF A MEGACORP OBTAINING A MONOPOLY ON THE WORLD. BY THE END AYRE REAFFIRMS THIS; WE PULL THE TRIGGER FOR CORAL RELEASE. WE BRING ABOUT A NEW ERA TO THE WORLD TO IMPROVE UPON THE HOUNDING OF CAPITALISM THAT TURNS EVERYONE INTO TOOLS, COEXISTING AS HUMANS, CORAL, AND AC.
BY THE END I CAN ABSOLUTELY SAY THAT I ADORED ARMORED CORE 6 AS A GAME AND AS FROM SOFTWARE’S PEAK OF STORYTELLING. THEIR WAY OF HANDLING LORE EXISTS IN THIS GAME AS A METHOD OF CREATING INTRIGUE HOWEVER PIVOTING TOWARDS A MORE DIRECT STORY CREATES A GREAT SET OF CHARACTERS WITH CHARISMA AND INTRIGUE. THERE WERE MANY TIMES I WAS TASKED TO KILL A UNIT I HAD FOUGHT ALONGSIDE AND I ATTEMPTED TO LOOK AWAY WITH THE CAMERA BUT IT STAYED FOCUSED ON THEM: I HAD TO LIVE WITH THE ACTIONS I TOOK AS A HOUND OF WALTER. PACKED ALONGSIDE A SOUNDTRACK WHICH BY ITSELF APPEARS MEDIOCRE BUT WHEN COMPOUNDED WITH THE WORLD ENHANCES THE PRODUCT AND A VISUAL DESIGN THAT IS UNIQUE AND BEAUTIFUL IN THE WAY IT IS TERRIBLE, ARMORED CORE 6 PRESENTS US WITH A WORLD THAT FUCKING SUCKS. AND THAT IS WHY WE LIVE IN IT, EMBRACE IT, AND FIGHT TO REMAKE IT INTO SOMETHING BETTER.
This review contains spoilers
ALL HAIL THE HOUNDS OF WALTER KILL BILLIONS BURN THE PLANET KILL THEM ALL
I FUCKING HATE COLONIALISM
zun got that Treasure in him making this one
leaps and bounds ahead of PoFV in MANY ways, making it a much more playable and enjoyable experience to go through singleplayer. pretty great balance of difficulty thats tough but fair (i play on normal), with a visual style that feels truly new. a few gripes with some characters and their play style (yaamu) but otherwise had a lot of fun. hisami zanmu gay sex
junko is literally me. we share the same journey. there are no differences between us. she is completely and utterly me.
2023
some cool and fun movement held back by multiple pointless mechanics and hit or miss level design alongside weightless boring and especially janky combat and a complete and utter lack of direction and map; you dont want "shorter games with worse graphics" if the result is something like this; at least have a MAP come on especially with something as obtuse as the level design of this game, this shit looks like castlevania 64