GoblinGuy
2023
Beautiful game with excellent gameplay. Side quests start off a little boring but towards the end the writing and narrative of each side quest chain isgenuinely interesting, even if mechanically they don’t provide too much.
The boss battles are insane, it’s like if Asura’s Wrath had an engaging combat system.
It's also one of the best stories in the Final Fantasy series - it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the XIV expansions and Tactics.
The boss battles are insane, it’s like if Asura’s Wrath had an engaging combat system.
It's also one of the best stories in the Final Fantasy series - it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the XIV expansions and Tactics.
- WIDE AS AN OCEAN, DEEP AS A PUDDLE -
Armored Core VI is bursting with potential but continually shoots itself in the foot with perplexing design choices, superficial combat, and egregious balancing issues.
First, let's clarify that, despite its marketing, Armored Core VI is not an action game; it's more of a combat puzzle game. The real challenge lies in finding the ideal build to overcome its puzzles. Sadly, the game falls short, even when viewed through this lens.
Customization: A Double-Edged Sword
The customization options are intricate, offering myriad choices in weapons, mech parts, paint jobs, and custom decals. This level of customization provides engaging freedom until you encounter the bosses.
Standard missions are often so easy that any build will work - while some that don't have bosses can offer a bit of difficulty, most are easy enough to allow the player to play around with the different weapons and gear offered to them. However, when you face a boss, the difficulty spikes dramatically. The game fails to teach players the necessary skills to tackle these encounters, in these moments you can spend 1 - 3 hours smashing your head off the wall trying to "learn" the boss or rethink your mech configurations.
Limitations in Loadouts
You might argue that Armored Core is all about customizing your mech, so being forced to adapt to these boss fights is good. However, every challenging encounter is solvable by using one of a few optimal weapon loadouts. You will figure out what works, and these loadouts will carry you through every boss if needed, if there were gonna be specific builds that are good for bosses, it should have been balanced so the player can't just make 2 builds that will always dominate each boss. As a result, if you wish to progress without feeling like you're wasting your time, you're pigeonholed into these specific builds.
Core Gameplay Flaws: The ACS System
I do believe the issues of build balance stem from some core gameplay flaws, not least of which is the new addition to the AC formula - the ACS system (essentially a stagger system from any other game). Due to this one addition, the game favors highly aggressive playstyles and weapons that do massive ACS damage in order to prevent the enemy from attacking, playing on the defense will often result in your death, which of course harshly limits viable builds for difficult encounters - not only that, but recovering your own ACS gauge is a matter of disengaging from combat and allowing the bar to refill. However, this is simply not possible due to hyper-aggressive bosses and enemy Armoured Cores that will not allow you a second to breathe, it's especially frustrating considering many of the harder enemies have ACS gauges that will recover within a matter of seconds if you stop firing to reload or get your bearings. What this means is difficult encounters become DPS races constantly interrupted by your stagger gauge being filled while taking damage that, by design, cannot be avoided.
Lack of Player Expression
While you can choose from a plethora of weapons, they often either function extremely similarly to other weapons or fall short in effectiveness. The game severely lacks avenues for player expression in combat, a feature that a very similar game in terms of combat and action "Vanquish" executes much more successfully.
Narrative Nuances
The story is generally satisfactory, but it stumbles in its handling of multiple endings. On the first playthrough, you're given the option to choose an ending, which feels meaningful until you experience New Game Plus (NG+). With the extra missions and choices available in NG+, the narrative for the ending I had initially selected takes on greater depth. This led me to the frustrating realization that the ending I initially chose felt richer in this subsequent playthrough. So, why offer me this choice in the first go-around if the second run improves this ending far more? It would make more sense to reserve these richer storylines for players who invest extra time in NG+.
Additionally, the game attempts to present a moral dilemma, suggesting shades of gray in its characters' actions. However, the ethical landscape is far more black-and-white than the developers seem to believe. It's quite evident who's in the right and who's in the wrong, undermining the complexity the game aims to convey.
Visuals and Scale
The game impresses with the scale of its missions and often stunning art direction, especially when contrasted against the barren landscapes of some areas of Rubicon. The story is passable but flawed in its handling of multiple endings and moral dilemmas.
Conclusion
Armored Core VI offers a wealth of options for mech customization and loadouts but fails to translate these into meaningful gameplay choices. The game provides many tools but offers little room for creativity in how you use them. Ultimately, it's all about the build— for better or for worse.
Armored Core VI is bursting with potential but continually shoots itself in the foot with perplexing design choices, superficial combat, and egregious balancing issues.
First, let's clarify that, despite its marketing, Armored Core VI is not an action game; it's more of a combat puzzle game. The real challenge lies in finding the ideal build to overcome its puzzles. Sadly, the game falls short, even when viewed through this lens.
Customization: A Double-Edged Sword
The customization options are intricate, offering myriad choices in weapons, mech parts, paint jobs, and custom decals. This level of customization provides engaging freedom until you encounter the bosses.
Standard missions are often so easy that any build will work - while some that don't have bosses can offer a bit of difficulty, most are easy enough to allow the player to play around with the different weapons and gear offered to them. However, when you face a boss, the difficulty spikes dramatically. The game fails to teach players the necessary skills to tackle these encounters, in these moments you can spend 1 - 3 hours smashing your head off the wall trying to "learn" the boss or rethink your mech configurations.
Limitations in Loadouts
You might argue that Armored Core is all about customizing your mech, so being forced to adapt to these boss fights is good. However, every challenging encounter is solvable by using one of a few optimal weapon loadouts. You will figure out what works, and these loadouts will carry you through every boss if needed, if there were gonna be specific builds that are good for bosses, it should have been balanced so the player can't just make 2 builds that will always dominate each boss. As a result, if you wish to progress without feeling like you're wasting your time, you're pigeonholed into these specific builds.
Core Gameplay Flaws: The ACS System
I do believe the issues of build balance stem from some core gameplay flaws, not least of which is the new addition to the AC formula - the ACS system (essentially a stagger system from any other game). Due to this one addition, the game favors highly aggressive playstyles and weapons that do massive ACS damage in order to prevent the enemy from attacking, playing on the defense will often result in your death, which of course harshly limits viable builds for difficult encounters - not only that, but recovering your own ACS gauge is a matter of disengaging from combat and allowing the bar to refill. However, this is simply not possible due to hyper-aggressive bosses and enemy Armoured Cores that will not allow you a second to breathe, it's especially frustrating considering many of the harder enemies have ACS gauges that will recover within a matter of seconds if you stop firing to reload or get your bearings. What this means is difficult encounters become DPS races constantly interrupted by your stagger gauge being filled while taking damage that, by design, cannot be avoided.
Lack of Player Expression
While you can choose from a plethora of weapons, they often either function extremely similarly to other weapons or fall short in effectiveness. The game severely lacks avenues for player expression in combat, a feature that a very similar game in terms of combat and action "Vanquish" executes much more successfully.
Narrative Nuances
The story is generally satisfactory, but it stumbles in its handling of multiple endings. On the first playthrough, you're given the option to choose an ending, which feels meaningful until you experience New Game Plus (NG+). With the extra missions and choices available in NG+, the narrative for the ending I had initially selected takes on greater depth. This led me to the frustrating realization that the ending I initially chose felt richer in this subsequent playthrough. So, why offer me this choice in the first go-around if the second run improves this ending far more? It would make more sense to reserve these richer storylines for players who invest extra time in NG+.
Additionally, the game attempts to present a moral dilemma, suggesting shades of gray in its characters' actions. However, the ethical landscape is far more black-and-white than the developers seem to believe. It's quite evident who's in the right and who's in the wrong, undermining the complexity the game aims to convey.
Visuals and Scale
The game impresses with the scale of its missions and often stunning art direction, especially when contrasted against the barren landscapes of some areas of Rubicon. The story is passable but flawed in its handling of multiple endings and moral dilemmas.
Conclusion
Armored Core VI offers a wealth of options for mech customization and loadouts but fails to translate these into meaningful gameplay choices. The game provides many tools but offers little room for creativity in how you use them. Ultimately, it's all about the build— for better or for worse.
No way Balthier isn't packing at least 8 inches of hog
2023
Bethesda makes games for people who don’t actually like video games
2023
I’m such a leafling pilled dandoricel
2023
Beautiful visuals and great atmosphere are all this game has going for it. It fundamentally feels dreadful to play, how they managed to make the world’s twinkiest main character feel this stiff is beyond me. I genuinely can’t recall a modern game that feels this awful in the hands, the only satisfying thing to pull off in this game is the precanned fatal attacks and that’s mainly due to the controller going rampant rabbit mode.
2016
yeh i shit my pants, so what?
People calling this game of the year and it’s not even the best game that came out this friday
This review contains spoilers
This is mostly a stream of conscious since I just finished the game and have a lot of half formed opinions and things I wanna write down before I move on and don’t think about the game again, so this will probably be pretty terribly written, apologies.
I could go on and on about the myriad issues I have with this game - the terrible menus, the monotonous, brainless dungeon “puzzles,” the egregious padding in the main story (about 80% of this feels like easily cut filler), how the combat, despite being packed with new mechanics and abilities, is ultimately less enjoyable than Remake due to encounters being designed around being beat by tons of possible party combinations (probably due to the open-world nature, so designers can’t assume your party setup unless it’s a pre-determined section), the ubislop open world, the literal checklist that pops up when you finish any side activity (also, chocobo wrangling is genuinely one of the worst side activities in a triple-A game, i’d go as far as saying worse than tailing missions), the desperate attempts to try be funny almost all the time that only ever hits some of the time, the poor dialouge outside of the main cast and so on
But more than anything, the worst part of this game is how it strips the story of any thematic substance or meaning. There’s no edge to it; it’s primarily concerned with setup, more so than even Remake was. It feels like an MCU film that’s constantly setting up the broader universe rather than focusing on being a good story in its own right. All stakes are removed due to the multiverse— a prime example of this is Aerith’s death - she doesn’t die; she just exists as some sort of lifestream planet guardian to oppose Sephiroth. And even if she did die, don’t worry, there’s probably a universe where she’s alive! All of this just really neuters the emotional weight.
Also, this is the Glup Shitto-fication of the original FF7 story. It just wants you to go “wow, look at this in 4K! Remember when we only saw that on the PS1? Remember Cissnei from the PSP? She’s so cool in 4K, isn’t she! How cool would it be if Zack and Cloud teamed up to fight Sephiroth! Don’t you want to see that? What about Tifa and Aeriths toes? We spent so much time rendering them, please stare at them” It just feels so fanservice-y in a way that remake didn’t, I can’t put my finger on it. Plus, none of the emotional scenes that once hit just don’t anymore due to the reimagining. I wonder if this issue would exist if it was a straight remake? I don’t think it would because the game would just be a simple retelling, in trying to be something different but also the same it has actively made some plot points worse that were once great. Where the whole meta narrative (with the whispers) added a cool mystery to remake, here the meta narrative gets in the way of what was once great.
As a small example off the top of my head of Remake having a little more nuance, I recall when Barret calls out not only the higher-ups at Shinra but also those at the bottom, calling them complicit in Shinra’s actions just by being on their payroll, regardless of how little they contribute. This is a genuinely difficult question, especially as Remake explores the abject poverty of those who don’t work for Shinra and how being an employee means having a chance at a good life (Jessie’s story is a great example). Rebirth never asks any questions as nuanced or uncomfortable as this; it just wants you to dwell on the trite, tired multiverse and what the fuck the guy from the mobile gacha game is up to behind the scenes.
The closest this game gets to having an actual theme is within the last few chapters, starting with Aerith waffling about living in the past, and at some point the game has you reliving the crisis core Aerith date as sort of a exploration of the pointlessness of reliving past events? But this game is obsessed with the past? obsessed with legitimising and validating all the compilation of ffvii media that came before it - despite the entire ending of Remake being you defeated fate and a new journey awaits, this game follows the OG VII even closer? and then tries to take the piss out the idea of living in the past? it’s just so badly done.
I genuinely can’t stand how unserious this game is too, it never treats anything with the proper weight it deserves, everything is a joke, and when it’s serious, the game needs to shove something else down your throat in case your brain has time to sit and process what actually happened. From the death of Dyne being interrupted by cartoon character mecha frog fight to the whole Gi are aliens exposition immediately after Nanaki learns about his father. Also why does Dyne have to die in a Hollywood bombastic shooting scene? especially when cloud and co were holding down the fort. Was the suicide angle too poignant? too thoughtful?
The game is just so insincere and emotionally shallow at times man, i hate that scene with aerith as a child during her trial where she goes to ask for help and a guy gets pushed into her and he turns round and insults her, a literal child. Its such a clearly desperate attempt to try make the player sad cause the writers don’t seem to know how to actually write a sad scene. I literally rolled my eyes when it happened. This might be a stretch and a bit cynical but it does feel like it’s trying to paint poor or impoverished people in a bad light and kind of show shinra is right to be patrolling their neighbourhoods with armed personnel, cause they’re all dangerous, even towards children, except for a select few.
I dunno, my heads all over the place with this game in regard to story, all I know is I came out the other end really hating the narrative.
HOWEVER
Queen’s Blood is so fucking good, it’s so good, it’s up there with Triple Triad, please release a standalone version I’m begging.
I could go on and on about the myriad issues I have with this game - the terrible menus, the monotonous, brainless dungeon “puzzles,” the egregious padding in the main story (about 80% of this feels like easily cut filler), how the combat, despite being packed with new mechanics and abilities, is ultimately less enjoyable than Remake due to encounters being designed around being beat by tons of possible party combinations (probably due to the open-world nature, so designers can’t assume your party setup unless it’s a pre-determined section), the ubislop open world, the literal checklist that pops up when you finish any side activity (also, chocobo wrangling is genuinely one of the worst side activities in a triple-A game, i’d go as far as saying worse than tailing missions), the desperate attempts to try be funny almost all the time that only ever hits some of the time, the poor dialouge outside of the main cast and so on
But more than anything, the worst part of this game is how it strips the story of any thematic substance or meaning. There’s no edge to it; it’s primarily concerned with setup, more so than even Remake was. It feels like an MCU film that’s constantly setting up the broader universe rather than focusing on being a good story in its own right. All stakes are removed due to the multiverse— a prime example of this is Aerith’s death - she doesn’t die; she just exists as some sort of lifestream planet guardian to oppose Sephiroth. And even if she did die, don’t worry, there’s probably a universe where she’s alive! All of this just really neuters the emotional weight.
Also, this is the Glup Shitto-fication of the original FF7 story. It just wants you to go “wow, look at this in 4K! Remember when we only saw that on the PS1? Remember Cissnei from the PSP? She’s so cool in 4K, isn’t she! How cool would it be if Zack and Cloud teamed up to fight Sephiroth! Don’t you want to see that? What about Tifa and Aeriths toes? We spent so much time rendering them, please stare at them” It just feels so fanservice-y in a way that remake didn’t, I can’t put my finger on it. Plus, none of the emotional scenes that once hit just don’t anymore due to the reimagining. I wonder if this issue would exist if it was a straight remake? I don’t think it would because the game would just be a simple retelling, in trying to be something different but also the same it has actively made some plot points worse that were once great. Where the whole meta narrative (with the whispers) added a cool mystery to remake, here the meta narrative gets in the way of what was once great.
As a small example off the top of my head of Remake having a little more nuance, I recall when Barret calls out not only the higher-ups at Shinra but also those at the bottom, calling them complicit in Shinra’s actions just by being on their payroll, regardless of how little they contribute. This is a genuinely difficult question, especially as Remake explores the abject poverty of those who don’t work for Shinra and how being an employee means having a chance at a good life (Jessie’s story is a great example). Rebirth never asks any questions as nuanced or uncomfortable as this; it just wants you to dwell on the trite, tired multiverse and what the fuck the guy from the mobile gacha game is up to behind the scenes.
The closest this game gets to having an actual theme is within the last few chapters, starting with Aerith waffling about living in the past, and at some point the game has you reliving the crisis core Aerith date as sort of a exploration of the pointlessness of reliving past events? But this game is obsessed with the past? obsessed with legitimising and validating all the compilation of ffvii media that came before it - despite the entire ending of Remake being you defeated fate and a new journey awaits, this game follows the OG VII even closer? and then tries to take the piss out the idea of living in the past? it’s just so badly done.
I genuinely can’t stand how unserious this game is too, it never treats anything with the proper weight it deserves, everything is a joke, and when it’s serious, the game needs to shove something else down your throat in case your brain has time to sit and process what actually happened. From the death of Dyne being interrupted by cartoon character mecha frog fight to the whole Gi are aliens exposition immediately after Nanaki learns about his father. Also why does Dyne have to die in a Hollywood bombastic shooting scene? especially when cloud and co were holding down the fort. Was the suicide angle too poignant? too thoughtful?
The game is just so insincere and emotionally shallow at times man, i hate that scene with aerith as a child during her trial where she goes to ask for help and a guy gets pushed into her and he turns round and insults her, a literal child. Its such a clearly desperate attempt to try make the player sad cause the writers don’t seem to know how to actually write a sad scene. I literally rolled my eyes when it happened. This might be a stretch and a bit cynical but it does feel like it’s trying to paint poor or impoverished people in a bad light and kind of show shinra is right to be patrolling their neighbourhoods with armed personnel, cause they’re all dangerous, even towards children, except for a select few.
I dunno, my heads all over the place with this game in regard to story, all I know is I came out the other end really hating the narrative.
HOWEVER
Queen’s Blood is so fucking good, it’s so good, it’s up there with Triple Triad, please release a standalone version I’m begging.
Story is relatively simple and engaging to follow until the last few hours and it totally shits the bed, tries way to hard to be more than what it actually is. But taking the game as a Vincent Valentine cool as fuck simulator? it succeeds.
I think it's greatest achievement and what it just hits out the park is the aesthetic and designs. All the characters just look so cool and the limited environments are always atmospheric, genuinely worth playing just to see the next cool looking boss. If you agree with any the points Thorhighheels made regarding DMC2 you'll find the same kind of stuff to like here.
The cutscenes dedicated to Vincent just being cool are a delight, genuinely could watch this caped loser do backflips for hours on end.
I actually enjoy the gameplay too and how the missions keep moving you forward. Always thought the weapon customization was cool and like the focus on continuous movement to avoid damage.
Overall well worth a playthrough considering how short it is, especially if you have a nice CRT. Also, not to compare games but it's unironically about 10x better than Crisis Core lol
I think it's greatest achievement and what it just hits out the park is the aesthetic and designs. All the characters just look so cool and the limited environments are always atmospheric, genuinely worth playing just to see the next cool looking boss. If you agree with any the points Thorhighheels made regarding DMC2 you'll find the same kind of stuff to like here.
The cutscenes dedicated to Vincent just being cool are a delight, genuinely could watch this caped loser do backflips for hours on end.
I actually enjoy the gameplay too and how the missions keep moving you forward. Always thought the weapon customization was cool and like the focus on continuous movement to avoid damage.
Overall well worth a playthrough considering how short it is, especially if you have a nice CRT. Also, not to compare games but it's unironically about 10x better than Crisis Core lol