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---------- FINAL THOUGHTS
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As someone who played several Armored Core games as a kid, and played the rest more recently as an adult (and am generally a large fan of Fromsoft in general, including the recent Souls game era), my perspective is that this is the best Armored Core game From Software has ever made. When I say this, I dont just mean “its better cuz its more like Dark Souls”, I genuinely think the general arrangement of the entire game is the superior form of uniquely Armored Core traits - with the only real exception being that I miss the classic Arena format.

Adding Stagger was a genius way to add depth to weapons that used to be exclusively measured by ammo and damage (Missiles were literally useless to me in most Armored Core games, no joke, and its so nice how much utility they have now) Reinvention of laser blades and diversifying leg types and basically all the ways they shook up the Assembly sandbox was a boon to the game and desperately loosens the historically very stiff design scheme. Frankly it just feels better to play.

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But then, the Souls influence also does add alot of charm. The bosses are very clearly Souls bosses - but each boss is as good as what is normally a traditional final boss in other Armored Core games (which is fun and good). The more dramatic narrative greatly improves the more… pedestrian? world the games typically represent, where companies are just doing a lil bit of military corporate warfare for a giggle and a laugh. It also just has a very striking visual flair thanks to the art direction for things like Coral.

It is, in general, just a much more badass game and mech games were born to be badass - in fact I think Armored Core deserves to be badass more than the medieval settings of the Souls games, where it maybe IS a lil strange your dopey player character is doing blood Zantetsukens across the map with his magic katana.

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External to the game, there was a funny phenomenon happening where alot of people were sour on Armored Core because it was, ostensibly maybe, not exactly like Dark Souls. This was, of course, patently not fair to Armored Core as Armored Core was an established franchise long before Dark Souls - but also it didnt seem to me like alot of these players were even very interested in preserving their experience with the game either. Alot of milk was spilled during Elden Ring about Spirit Ashes and Moonveils, with people being particularly concerned with protecting the challenge the Souls games are known for.

Yet when it came to Armored Core, it seems like alot of people were not worried at all about over-building their way out of the more interesting challenges the game offers. Which, tbf, shouldnt be an issue - you should be able to use tank legs and quadruple bazookas and shotguns if you want to, in the same way you should be able to use Rivers Of Blood if you want to. But the thing thats irksome is that Armored Core is getting some rash verdicts because people havent contextualized that maybe they min/maxed themselves into a less interesting experience.

I think something that doesnt help that issue is that Armored Core took their own lil brand of “replayability” where they have playthroughs introduce secret mission branches to help you get to the multiple endings the game has. Curiously, Fromsoft also stacked most of the more tedious missions into these later playthroughs - so people who only do one playthrough are having a sort of lopsided experience to begin with.

For my money, I dont think the playthrough staggering was worth it. Sure, it extends playtime but it seems like theres too much collateral in the meantime.

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LOG

All Missions S-Ranked, completed.
All Parts Acquired.
Everything Done.
Played with all the broken builds for S-Rank, which seemed designed expecting you to whip out all the stops.

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---------- MINOR THOUGHTS ON STAGGER
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Even tho "Stagger Systems" are a pretty recent Fromsoft innovation, the likes of which weve only barely begun to see imitated in the genre at large, Im starting to think theyre still inadequate in one key way:

I think "bonus damage" systems narrow down the design range because players will chase them single-mindedly. Games like Sekiro and Sifu avoid this because Stagger doesnt = Bonus Damage, Stagger = Defeat and are therefore the primary objective of combat. But Elden Ring and now Armored Core 6 are demonstrating to me that Stagger in a more traditional combat system is a recipe for limited play.

I said this to my friend yesterday, but "bonus damage" only feels good (and by "good" I mean it maintains the integrity of the fight) if doing it helps you (the player) stay competitive against a boss. When bonus damage trivializes the fight, it feels... well, trivial.

This is why Dark Souls Parries are annoying, and why Stagger was the logical replacement for things like that - but now I think we need to figure out the logical replacement for Stagger, cuz otherwise these games will continue to be home to Moonveils and Zimmermans.

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LOG

Third Ending Got.
Loghunts Completed in the process.
Parts Shop bought out.
Hidden Chests confirmed and acquired (I missed 2, 1 I shoulda found, the other I didnt look hard enough for tbh)
I will be attempting to S Rank the game, I am enjoying myself enough.

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LOG

Second Playthrough Completed.
Second Ending Got.
Entering NG+2, time to see what all the hullabaloo is all about.
For the record, I have been playing with mostly default gear since the beginning of playthrough 1. Boosters, FCS, and Generator have been changed but Ive stuck mostly to assault rifle, 4 missile launcher, pulse blade and the lance for double melee.

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---------- MISSION STRUCTURE THOUGHTS/ MUSINGS
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- As I work my way through the NG+ variations of the game, its fun to see the distinctly “Armored Core” vibes poking through the layer of Dark Souls influence on the game. More missions where a enemy AC just joins a fight in progress. Missions that just seek to overwhelm you with targets to stress your ammo reserves. I think Armored Core has a trademark style of putting players up against overwhelming odds and mostly expecting them to slam their head against it until they push through, and I suspect this element will reveal itself more and more in NG+2

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- Armored Core 6’s branching endings are very generally similar to how they did it in Armored Core For Answer I think, where an “unexpected” new mission line opens up to give you a different perspective on the story (its not exactly like that but you can tell theyre sharing the DNA). Along with my experience of Last Ravens branching mission system, I dont think I can say Im the biggest fan of these concepts - to me, it feels a little bit like Im being obligated to chew the fat while Im trying to get to the interesting new thing (and in some cases theres also a risk of wasting my time by just missing the correct mission chain)

But in this case I think Armored Core 6 is so enjoyable to just physically play that I actually dont mind. I think when you make a really engaging set of systems you invite players to look for an excuse to keep playing. Theres a strong chance Ill even be interested in attempting to S Rank every mission (possibly an insane endeavor tbh).

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---------- STORY THOUGHTS (NON-SPOILER)
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I think Armored Core 6 sits in an interesting place in terms of storytelling. On one hand, Armored Core traditionally had a very, lets say "spartan" approach to storytelling, where the narrative is formed from the progression of mission requests. On the other hand, modern Fromsoft has pioneered their brand of Souls storytelling where narrative is mostly archeological and players are experiencing a world that has mostly already "happened".

I think it would have been a rational guess to assume Fromsoft would write Armored Core 6 as if it were a Souls game. It would have also been a safe bet that they would just write it like they did previous Armored Cores - but I dont think I personally anticipated them doing both and I feel kind of dumb about that. It makes so much sense on paper.

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What Armored Core 6 is, is a game where a rich fantastical world with interesting events impacts the motivations of a very active cast of characters. In previous Armored Core games, the "main characters" were the companies that issued requests to the player. Crest, Mirage, Kisaragi, Omer, BF Group, whatever the companies were in AC5, etc. The pretext for all Armored Core games is that you are participating in a cold corporate war as a mercenary, but while companies do sometimes act on opportunity and express ambition with what they ask the player to do, the world generally feels fairly tame and formal. Dystopian in its own way, society is somehow perfectly fine even with all the minor military action going on around them. The companies themselves dont change much, the only thing that ever really "happens" is when some radical new antagonist sets something in motion.

But in AC6's case, theres more of a textured dynamic at play. The companies and their individual associates change over time, and have a messy array of motivations and behaviors. Theres sincere conflict between opposing forces aggravated by the long shadow cast by previous events. And uncharacteristic of most Souls narratives, theres alot of talking. Its been kind of rare to see how Fromsoft can write more active plot threads but AC6 seems to showcase they very much can if they want to.

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Its also cute to see Fromsoft write cyber-lore. Theres this kind of silly recurring bit about a wandering artist that is the last artist to draw things by hand - silly because it makes me wonder if they genuinely thought it was a compelling concept or if it was a convenient excuse to have sketches as game art. But in general I think AC6 is incredibly evocative and Im not gonna lie: I wasnt expecting an Armored Core game to be such a serious contender for my favorite Fromsoft story.

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---------- DAEMON X MACHINA COMPARISON
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Since the last Armored Core came out in 2013, over a decade ago as of AC6’s release, one thing I was keeping in mind and pondering was “how much influence would From Software take from other releases in the mech genre since they last made one?”

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The most notable I think is probably Daemon X Machina, a game that is very clearly an “Armored Core-like”, very clearly taking direct inspiration from Armored Core itself. DXM came out in 2019, and while I have alot to say about the actual content of Daemon X Machina, I thought DXM’s systems and improvements to the Armored Core formula were interesting and enviable.

To sum up those changes, I think it could be said that DXMs was very interested in preserving Armored Cores original dynamic, seeking instead only to improve its QOL for a modern audience. Namely: flying does not consume energy, ammo can be scavenged from kills, smoother animation transitions all around and the addition of a suite of personal buffs that are available regardless of your build. Many obtuse things were kept to respect Armored Cores identity - level boundaries and mission styles were copied almost 1 to 1.

DXMs original contribution was its boss battles tho, which were designed much more like traditional boss encounters (vs Armored Cores style of “Giant Thing That Just Relentlessly Blasts You Down For 30 Seconds”). Along with the aforementioned buffs (called Femto Armaments, no doubt designed to soften the consequences of bad build choices) DXM also took a daring stab at trying to reimagine melee weapons, which more literally are just swords in this case. I guess theres also healing in the form of destroyable objects containing…. uhh, blue health juice. Those were nice, I relied on them a few times.

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So with Armored Core 6 in mind, its actually interesting how both games attempted to address the same issues but in seemingly wildly different ways. Even more interesting is that Fromsoft was the one willing to make the more radical changes to its own franchise than an independent party was. Considering the results, it might be the case that DXM played it too safe. Not only does Daemon not really aspire to the incredible combat drama that is “Sekiro Core” (and maybe its unfair to think they ever could) but the few things it does change put it in difficult design spaces that are difficult to navigate without feeling clunky.

Like yeah, unlimited flight feels good, but now you need special flight controls to facilitate it and now all the enemies need to join you in the air. It has a knock-on effect to the rest of the design and AC6 seems to benefit greatly from just keeping everything simple. Robot Estus resolves the issue in a more controlled way than littering the playspace with Healing Pods, simply rebalancing ammo makes more sense than having a whole ammo drop system - and then Fromsoft even went as far as to make level boundaries just hard barriers. Accidentally failing a mission by falling out of bounds is a decidedly unique Armored Core experience but I know I personally do not miss actually having to deal with it. AC6s approach seems to be “Simplify the things that dont matter, Emphasize the things that do”

Its a good case study in how the best changes really take some intuition. Procedural design will improve things for sure, but its clear it can only take you so far.

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LOG

First playthrough completed.
Logged as completed and ranked in the (Lists)
Reviewed but working on more playthroughs as its clear more things unlock in subsequent runs. (Not essential to understand the game is excellent tho)

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---------- THE WEIRD "FROMSOFT FLOW STATE"
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Yesterday I remarked to my friends "You know, Armored Core 6 ought to be categorized as a shooter and be closer in comparison to like (picks a name out of my ass) Gears Of War than Dark Souls - but somehow it just doesnt feel that way" and Ive been wondering why that is. Part of it feels like it might be because of the more robust melee system in AC6, but I feel like I still think that even for builds that dont have melee options.

I think the sauce is in the bosses, or generally the enemy combat design. Its hard to picture when its JUST Dark Souls, cuz you might assume the important part is the RPG systems, or the exploration, or some other quality they all share in common. But there are moments in Armored Core 6 where you might forget youre playing an Armored Core game, and instead youve been taken to a very familiar mental place. Youre still managing energy, youre still boosting, overboosting, paying attention to ammo, gliding, all the very explicitly Armored Core things - but youre zoning out to the rhythm of boss patterns, sliding through windows, paying attention to spacing, doing alot of things that feel exactly like what you do in Dark Souls.

Old Armored Core didnt feel this way, and alot of the core mechanics were in old Armored Core, so the enemy encounters in particular have to be the thing making this significant difference - and thats interesting to think about. In fact, it makes alot of sense considering how, oftentimes, Soulslike copycats dont feel half as good as the genuine article. It seems it wasnt about the gameplay systems (like its easy to believe), but its about making encounters that induce a specific kind of Flow, a Flow you can induce in more than just one genre.

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---------- FIRST IMPRESSIONS
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So maybe it shouldnt be surprising in the slightest, especially considering how many times the Armored Core series has switched up its game-feel, but its interesting just how much I couldnt anticipate what Armored Core 6 feels like.

I think theres 2 big thoughts and feelings:

1. I was expecting the return of the Quick Boost and the emphasis on Assault Boost (Overboost) to mean the game was returning to the AC4 style of "fast and wild" - but in reality the game is instead focusing on fluid gameplay landing somewhere much closer to a less clunky version of Armored Core 5. Its less about flying, its less about screening around at high speeds, and its more about a more floaty swift kind of gameplay - which does indeed feel very good and also supports the Hard Lock-on system in a way that makes alot of sense.

2. Less emphasis on ammo and more emphasis on tactique is, far and away, the factor causing the greatest distinction in Armored Core 6’s flow. To some extent, I was anticipating this with the Sekiro influence (tho hope was more like what it was) but I was picturing a more specifically melee-focused system and not some galaxy brain reinvention of the fundamental stats governing the ebb of the game. Just like in Sekiro, stagger is everything in Armored Core and it adds a dimension to damage types that just didnt exist there before.

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Its just funny how the things I thought would be different feel extremely familiar still and the things I thought would stay the same are the things with the most dramatic departures. Besides the fact theres way more bosses, alot of the game still feels like Armored Core (besides the more moody and dramatic story) As far as my predictions go I think there was alot Im pretty on the money on tho. PVP def looks like its just gonna be a fuckaround mode, especially when it takes so long to unlock. Missions and their bit of exploration are def new territory for Armored Core, for the better imo. One thing I didnt really cast a prediction on, was the story - cuz Armored Core is historically not really about “story” as much as its about events. And maybe I didnt care, but one thing thats definitely welcome is the fact that the world of Rubicon feels like its not just a stage for some flimsy conflict that normal people wouldnt have.

Like, the actions people take in Rubicon feel like they make sense in a world thats semi-post apocalyptic after being razed but some sort of galactic fire. Everyones a lil crazy, a lil greedy, and life is cheap for all involved - vs some sort of soft corporate war that also has alot of death but everyones kind of chill and flippant about it.

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----------PRE-RELEASE EXPECTATIONS
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- In preparation for AC6, Ive been playing AC4, AC For Answer, and recently I beat AC Last Raven (Games I had missed in the series catalogue)

- As a kid I was an avid player of AC2 + Another Age and AC3 + Silent Line (and I mean very avid)

- Ive also played AC1 + Project Phantasma, a lil bit of Master Of The Arena, a short stint in AC5 Verdict Day, a playthrough I almost dont remember of Nexus and like the tiniest bit of Ninebreaker.

- As some additional context, I also played the non-Fromsoft made Daemon X Machina, which was a very clear interpretation of the traditional Armored Core formula.

- In general, I am also a big fan of Fromsoft, both modern and classic, with games like Metal Wolf Chaos maybe being relevant. (No Chromehounds yet tho)

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From my understanding, the Sekiro director is helming this version of Armored Core, so itll be interesting to see if the immaculate balance of Sekiro was a fluke or not (I suspect its wasnt). Historically Armored Core is a particularly unbalanced game (as part of its charm and also due to its customization diversity) but playing the games at the highest level has a very unique sense of grace to it that I think could align with Sekiro sensabilities in a very natural way.

I think the biggest difference of course will be mission design, and all the gameplay concessions they made to facilitate these greater commitments. Less emphasis on running out of ammo will really open up the weapon choice, as it seems you still have melee choices even if you dont equip a melee weapon (and in the case that you still need ammo, checkpoints and supply drops seem to be affordances here)

I also suspect exploration will have significant emphasis based on how levels seem to be designed, which will be a rather large shift in the usual Armored Core dynamic (which still had some exploration but was mostly tightly objective-oriented)

It wouldnt surprise me if the boss format shift (a boss at the end of most(?) missions if I interpreted the marketing correctly) also really changes the flavor of how the game progresses. Bosses in Armored Core tend to be designed as walls you get hit with, which is intimidating in its own right, but itll be interesting to see a more rhythmically rewarding version of the game (and the bosses are some of the best parts). This is also one of the few distinct Souls game influences Ive seen so far but I anticipate it being a welcome one.

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Here are some things I think will go bad tho:

- PVP, unless theres a suite of features they simply havent mentioned (possible, unlikely), seems too basic for anything other than skrimmin with the boys. I think it takes a certain kind of personality to want to play against human players for more than a dozen matches without some sort of progression structure - and I do not have that personality.

- Multiple endings in a mission based system seems difficult to make rewarding and pleasing - and considering how multiple endings were implemented in For Answer and Last Raven, I already know itll be a slight slog. But maybe not, maybe they found a sweet spot.

- I suspect this might be the hardest Armored Core game to S rank, considering the missions are longer and the checkpoints will likely mean encounters are harder to compensate along with the greater quantity of bosses. This will, likely, be the form of the game that most closely resembles a classic Armored Core experience and itll be interesting to see how tedious itll be.