Big robots, bigger customization.
Having been a FromSoftware fan for a while, I've always known them for their dark fantasy hack-and-slash action RPG’s. I was familiar with the fact that their roots were in the mecha genre. As well as the history of the company not taking off in the west due to the lack of interest for the longest time.
I had enjoyed FromSoft's venture into patriotism with the re-released Metal Wolf Chaos. An endearing Xbox game which I enjoyed a lot.
With the recent success of Elden Ring, I'm glad they didn't play it safe and instead used their newfound fame to push their old franchise back into the spotlight, Armored Core.
I was on the fence regarding this game. Plenty of people love the franchise, and I am a big fan of the studio behind it. On the other hand, if the mechanics within the customization and stat optimization are too deep, I tend to lose interest. I'd rather be playing the game than crunching numbers.
This was the biggest hurdle AC6 had to overcome to win me over after the positive reception got me caved. And it easily overcame that.
It takes some getting used to at first, when all you have is your default mech, and you are barely scraping by to get that gun you want. But there are some tutorials and tests showcasing different mechs, allowing you to try them out is a very good idea. This allows you to give a general idea of what type of build you want to make. I quickly decided on a super speedy lightweight build, with its focus on shotguns.
The biggest impact a part can have on your build would be the legs. There are tank treads, tetrapods allowing for hovering, reverse joints for speed and aerial combat, and the all-rounder bipedal legs. The parts on display are super varied, tons of different melee types, missile launchers, energy guns. If you want it, you can probably find it (except for a drill unfortunately).
Customisation also extends to the paint and decals of your mecha. I've seen people get very creative but I just slapped Chiyo-Chan on there and called it a day.
Once your build is about halfway there, the game really starts to click. Doing a mission, noticing a hiccup or two which your mech ran into, and tweaking it for better performance during the next one is immensely satisfying. The controls are intuitive and very responsive. The only problem I ran into is my own. When things get tense I tend to clutch my controller tightly. Accidentally pressing down on the right joystick triggers the assault boost, which has messed me up in boss fights more often than not.
Some other gripes I had include:
The difficulty. After playing against some friends I did realize that my build trivialized quite a bit, and the challenge was more present when I was using different mechs, but after the 3rd boss the game could’ve used some more challenging missions.
You only get a rating for missions when you choose to replay them. Even in NG+ you will have to replay the mission for an actual score, meaning you essentially need to play the game four times (the true ending being locked behind NG++) for completion. Not that big of a deal, but it would not have done harm to rank you on initial mission clears.
There is a lack of scale in my opinion. You are big robot. Fighting other big robot. Despite some of the missions taking place inside of cities, the map design felt very open. Obviously the maps are designed around the size of the player. I felt like this backfired in the sense that with these open levels, with a lot taking place in giant power plants, factories etc. You never FEEL like a big robot that could kick a cargo ship with ease. It felt bigger in Titanfall and Metal Wolf, despite those being a lot smaller in actual comparison.
I mentioned before that in order to get the true ending of the game you need to be in NG++. This might sound like tedium but it really isn't. With new missions being added in repeat playthroughs, combined with the growing skill of the player, and ever improving mech you really get a sense of mastery over the game. With FromSoft's typical multi-ending storytelling getting huge mileage out of this.
On repeat playthroughs you are almost guaranteed to find new details and connections you missed, allowing you to piece together the story of the game, and the backstory of the planet. I felt indifferent about the story during my initial playthrough, but grew to really like it throughout NG+ and NG++.
If the goal of this game was to awaken interest in a now-no-longer dormant franchise. It definitely succeeded, I will be checking out the prior titles.
Having been a FromSoftware fan for a while, I've always known them for their dark fantasy hack-and-slash action RPG’s. I was familiar with the fact that their roots were in the mecha genre. As well as the history of the company not taking off in the west due to the lack of interest for the longest time.
I had enjoyed FromSoft's venture into patriotism with the re-released Metal Wolf Chaos. An endearing Xbox game which I enjoyed a lot.
With the recent success of Elden Ring, I'm glad they didn't play it safe and instead used their newfound fame to push their old franchise back into the spotlight, Armored Core.
I was on the fence regarding this game. Plenty of people love the franchise, and I am a big fan of the studio behind it. On the other hand, if the mechanics within the customization and stat optimization are too deep, I tend to lose interest. I'd rather be playing the game than crunching numbers.
This was the biggest hurdle AC6 had to overcome to win me over after the positive reception got me caved. And it easily overcame that.
It takes some getting used to at first, when all you have is your default mech, and you are barely scraping by to get that gun you want. But there are some tutorials and tests showcasing different mechs, allowing you to try them out is a very good idea. This allows you to give a general idea of what type of build you want to make. I quickly decided on a super speedy lightweight build, with its focus on shotguns.
The biggest impact a part can have on your build would be the legs. There are tank treads, tetrapods allowing for hovering, reverse joints for speed and aerial combat, and the all-rounder bipedal legs. The parts on display are super varied, tons of different melee types, missile launchers, energy guns. If you want it, you can probably find it (except for a drill unfortunately).
Customisation also extends to the paint and decals of your mecha. I've seen people get very creative but I just slapped Chiyo-Chan on there and called it a day.
Once your build is about halfway there, the game really starts to click. Doing a mission, noticing a hiccup or two which your mech ran into, and tweaking it for better performance during the next one is immensely satisfying. The controls are intuitive and very responsive. The only problem I ran into is my own. When things get tense I tend to clutch my controller tightly. Accidentally pressing down on the right joystick triggers the assault boost, which has messed me up in boss fights more often than not.
Some other gripes I had include:
The difficulty. After playing against some friends I did realize that my build trivialized quite a bit, and the challenge was more present when I was using different mechs, but after the 3rd boss the game could’ve used some more challenging missions.
You only get a rating for missions when you choose to replay them. Even in NG+ you will have to replay the mission for an actual score, meaning you essentially need to play the game four times (the true ending being locked behind NG++) for completion. Not that big of a deal, but it would not have done harm to rank you on initial mission clears.
There is a lack of scale in my opinion. You are big robot. Fighting other big robot. Despite some of the missions taking place inside of cities, the map design felt very open. Obviously the maps are designed around the size of the player. I felt like this backfired in the sense that with these open levels, with a lot taking place in giant power plants, factories etc. You never FEEL like a big robot that could kick a cargo ship with ease. It felt bigger in Titanfall and Metal Wolf, despite those being a lot smaller in actual comparison.
I mentioned before that in order to get the true ending of the game you need to be in NG++. This might sound like tedium but it really isn't. With new missions being added in repeat playthroughs, combined with the growing skill of the player, and ever improving mech you really get a sense of mastery over the game. With FromSoft's typical multi-ending storytelling getting huge mileage out of this.
On repeat playthroughs you are almost guaranteed to find new details and connections you missed, allowing you to piece together the story of the game, and the backstory of the planet. I felt indifferent about the story during my initial playthrough, but grew to really like it throughout NG+ and NG++.
If the goal of this game was to awaken interest in a now-no-longer dormant franchise. It definitely succeeded, I will be checking out the prior titles.