Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is a hard game. This is no surprise to those well-versed in video games, as the game’s developers are the legendary studio FromSoftware. This game is the 16th entry in the series, with the original Armored Core being released in 1997, and is the first release in 10 years. During this hiatus, FromSoftware created the Dark Souls trilogy and other games, creating the genre known as Soulslike. Soulslike games are incredibly challenging and focus on imposing boss fights, a deep yet vague story, and methodic combat. One proceeds through these games by increasing attributes of their character, often leading to the player character leaning into a singular gameplay style. Depending on the character’s playstyle, this mechanic can make the game’s boss fights either incredibly easy or difficult. When designing Armored Core VI, FromSoftware incorporated some design elements that they had pioneered with the Souls games—mainly that of the game having giant, imposing bosses. However, unlike FromSoftware’s previous endeavors, Armored Core VI has much more customizability and the ability to change one’s playstyle on the fly.
In Armored Core VI, the player character pilots a mech with incredible combat capabilities. The mech body is composed of eight unique parts, with the ability to equip four weapons. With 306 parts in total, the possible combinations of individual mechs are nearly limitless. With highly robust control over the mech’s coloring scheme and one of the best decal makers ever created, the ability to personalize one’s mech precisely to one’s liking is unprecedented. These options are not merely cosmetic, though. The game’s entire playstyle is governed by what parts are chosen to compose the mech, meaning that one can go from playing a lightweight, bipedal mech capable of running circles around its opponents to a literal tank that crushes anything in its path in a matter of moments. This affects the game’s overall structure in two ways: it allows the game’s balance to vary significantly across levels, and it allows for a game experience with a very high replay value.
First, the customization heavily impacts the balance of the game’s enemies and bosses. In FromSoftware’s previous games, all bosses had to be balanced so that no matter the player’s chosen playstyle, all bosses could be defeated by the player character. This was due to the ability to change one’s attributes—which governed how the character played—being either limited or hard to do. With Armored Core VI’s capacity for the player to completely change their mech’s loadout in a matter of seconds, this need for bosses to be meticulously balanced is no longer present. Certain bosses are nearly impossible to beat with specific weapons and extremely easy to defeat with others, all entirely by design. Such an approach creates a need for trial and error on the player’s part, as the best combination of weapons needed to defeat the boss is not always apparent. Also, to achieve the best score for a certain level, one must use as little ammunition, take as little damage, and move as quickly as possible, requiring even more strategizing on which loadout to use. This strategizing creates another layer of gameplay not found in many other games, as choosing one’s weapons becomes nearly as important as using them.
Second, the customization options and variety of builds dramatically increase the game’s replay value. Armored Core VI is not a very long game, lasting anywhere from 15 to 20 hours on a single playthrough. However, anyone would be remiss if they did not continue the game into New Game+ (or, when one starts a new game while keeping the equipment and upgrades from the previous playthrough). While Armored Core VI has a fantastic story on the first playthrough, much is hidden behind the second and third playthroughs for players to discover, further expounding on the narrative. New weapons, upgrades, and mech parts are also kept behind New Game+, increasing the game’s length to around 25 – 40 hours of content. While playing through the same story and missions would become repetitive and boring for many games after a while, Armored Core VI’s immense customization makes the game fresh even into the second and third playthroughs. Being able to change one’s playstyle ultimately makes playing a game the second or third time around much more enjoyable. The added incentive of alternate missions, new story beats, and increasingly powerful weapons create a game that is one of the most replayable out there.
Overall, Armored Core VI’s customization makes it a fantastic game, being central to the game’s difficulty and high replayability. This game is an instant classic for fans of the mecha genre, sci-fi, or anyone looking for a tight, fun action game to dive into.
Photos
Cover. d0197d757650567e4694e8b1a77b9ef239f818270367bc5a by PlayStation. https://image.api.playstation.com/vulcan/ap/rnd/202304/2800/d0197d757650567e4694e8b1a77b9ef239f818270367bc5a.png
Fig 1. Josiah Long. Assembly Screen.
Fig 2. Josiah Long. Hangar Photo.
Fig 3. Josiah Long. Red Sky.