I've never been a huge mech guy, but FromSoftware returning to the Armored Core series had me interested. I never played any of the previous five Armored Core games, but anything that FromSoft puts out, I'm there. Armored Core 6 is not MechSouls, but that's okay - it's an incredibly fast and furious action game in its own right. Despite having no familiarity with the series, Armored Core 6 wasted no time in getting me not only into the action, but also invested in the dark, cynical, corporate sci-fi world where all of this action happens.
You are a mercenary mech pilot trying to survive on a dangerous planet called Rubicon. The planet is host to an incredible energy resource, so naturally many different corporations wage wars against each other for control. As a mercenary, you take jobs from any and all of these corporations in order to survive, as well as make a bigger name for yourself. The story, while having a basic premise, certainly plays with bigger ideas of corporate greed, morality, and humanity within such a dystopian situation. The story is certainly more interesting than I thought it would be, but it honestly doesn't need to be - the main draw is how incredible this game feels to play, as well as the absolutely wild spectacle this game is capable of - both aspects true to FromSoftware games.
The game follows a mission structure rather than operating within an open world, so you'll take missions, complete objectives, and earn money that you can use to upgrade your mech. Most missions can be completed fairly quickly, which encourages replay to try out different mech builds and strategies, knowing you'll always earn more money if you succeed. I think that the idea of replaying so much would be tiresome if this game didn't feel so dang good to play. Initially, it is a bit overwhelming to manage multiple weapons, your health, your speed, your altitude, and the number of enemies on screen, but after a few missions I realized I was very much in a flow state, dodging and flying around enemies and using the appropriate weapons at the right times. Executing the amount of action on-screen that is required to succeed while also doing that in a flow state is incredibly satisfying - even for somebody like me who hasn't been hugely interested in mech-action stuff before.
The moment that truly hooked me on how awesome this game is happened fairly early: you are tasked in one of your missions to take down a gigantic walking base that houses a huge laser weapon near its "head." When you start the mission, you see the thing out in the distance, and it looks impossibly huge from that far away. As you move in closer, all of a sudden you hear a warning about its weapon about to fire, and then you see this massive laser beam surging towards you. So now you have to dodge that giant laser AND other enemies as you get in closer. Once you finally get to the walker, you realize "Okay...now how do I take this thing down?" The size difference between your mech and the walker is absurdly comical, but yet you still have to take it down. Because the game rules, you quickly see all of the small ways that build up to take the thing down, even though it feels incredibly dangerous the entire time. The feeling I had while flying away, watching this giant monstrosity explode while I, a mechanized mosquito, flew away mostly unscathed was incredible. I think I'm a mech guy now?
You are a mercenary mech pilot trying to survive on a dangerous planet called Rubicon. The planet is host to an incredible energy resource, so naturally many different corporations wage wars against each other for control. As a mercenary, you take jobs from any and all of these corporations in order to survive, as well as make a bigger name for yourself. The story, while having a basic premise, certainly plays with bigger ideas of corporate greed, morality, and humanity within such a dystopian situation. The story is certainly more interesting than I thought it would be, but it honestly doesn't need to be - the main draw is how incredible this game feels to play, as well as the absolutely wild spectacle this game is capable of - both aspects true to FromSoftware games.
The game follows a mission structure rather than operating within an open world, so you'll take missions, complete objectives, and earn money that you can use to upgrade your mech. Most missions can be completed fairly quickly, which encourages replay to try out different mech builds and strategies, knowing you'll always earn more money if you succeed. I think that the idea of replaying so much would be tiresome if this game didn't feel so dang good to play. Initially, it is a bit overwhelming to manage multiple weapons, your health, your speed, your altitude, and the number of enemies on screen, but after a few missions I realized I was very much in a flow state, dodging and flying around enemies and using the appropriate weapons at the right times. Executing the amount of action on-screen that is required to succeed while also doing that in a flow state is incredibly satisfying - even for somebody like me who hasn't been hugely interested in mech-action stuff before.
The moment that truly hooked me on how awesome this game is happened fairly early: you are tasked in one of your missions to take down a gigantic walking base that houses a huge laser weapon near its "head." When you start the mission, you see the thing out in the distance, and it looks impossibly huge from that far away. As you move in closer, all of a sudden you hear a warning about its weapon about to fire, and then you see this massive laser beam surging towards you. So now you have to dodge that giant laser AND other enemies as you get in closer. Once you finally get to the walker, you realize "Okay...now how do I take this thing down?" The size difference between your mech and the walker is absurdly comical, but yet you still have to take it down. Because the game rules, you quickly see all of the small ways that build up to take the thing down, even though it feels incredibly dangerous the entire time. The feeling I had while flying away, watching this giant monstrosity explode while I, a mechanized mosquito, flew away mostly unscathed was incredible. I think I'm a mech guy now?