Game Recommendation: Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Feed the fire…
Let the last cinders burn…
Let the last cinders burn…
After 10 years of waiting, fans of Armored Core and mecha games are finally presented with a treat – a fast-paced, action-packed mecha RPG with modern graphics while keeping what made the franchise great. After years of Souls-game from FromSoft and subpar-to-bad Gundam games from Bamco, mecha gamers can finally enjoy a AAA title that made their blood boil and say: Now that’s a proper mech game.
AC6 takes place in a completely new universe (so far, there hasn’t been any hint of any relation to the old games) on the planet Rubicon-3. On this planet is a rare resource known as Coral that has exotic properties sought by many. The planet was declared a forbidden zone by the PCA – the Planetary Closure Administration. However, the Space Feds can never stop the Megacorps from trying to get their hands on the trillion-dollar Coral. Hence, the Megacorps like Balam and Arquebus, with their AC team, also arrive at Rubicon-3. The player, however, is none of these. Our character is just a lone mercenary trying to buy our life back – by becoming a hunting dog for our Handler, taking on mission after mission to gather credit and making a name for ourselves. However, everything is not what it seems, and FromSoft once again come up with a story that squeezes our hearts tighter as we go along the bloody path of an independent merc.
Plot: To plot up AC6 is very straightforward, to the point that there is no crazy development as well as hidden twist that really take us out of this world. However, it is still intense enough, with enough turns around the corners to make us care about the story, the plot, and the characters. The character building of AC6 is very good. Despite not showing any of the characters’ faces, their voice conveyed their personality and their emotion. In this aspect, I think that the English voice is much better than the Japanese voice, but both have their own charm. AC6 has three different endings depending on the missions you choose to take. It’s worth noting that in each ending, there will always be losses, so there isn’t a perfect ending that you can take. The realism hits hard. The story mode is relatively short, with five major arcs and 60 missions in total. Some of the missions are quite short, so you can probably complete the game relatively fast. However, the story will leave an impact, and you will no doubt replay it.
Plot: To plot up AC6 is very straightforward, to the point that there is no crazy development as well as hidden twist that really take us out of this world. However, it is still intense enough, with enough turns around the corners to make us care about the story, the plot, and the characters. The character building of AC6 is very good. Despite not showing any of the characters’ faces, their voice conveyed their personality and their emotion. In this aspect, I think that the English voice is much better than the Japanese voice, but both have their own charm. AC6 has three different endings depending on the missions you choose to take. It’s worth noting that in each ending, there will always be losses, so there isn’t a perfect ending that you can take. The realism hits hard. The story mode is relatively short, with five major arcs and 60 missions in total. Some of the missions are quite short, so you can probably complete the game relatively fast. However, the story will leave an impact, and you will no doubt replay it.
Graphic: Armor Core 6 is gorgeous. If you crank it on max settings, the environment and textures look absolutely amazing. Despite being released on the console as well as PC, the game isn’t locked to 30FPS, but rather 60FPS instead. On PC, it can go up to 120FPS on 4K, So if you have a good GPU, it will look amazing. AC6 is very heavy on the particle as well as gun flashes, and you can customize the weathering on your armoured core. You can heavily customize your AC with hundreds of stickers and logos with an extensive colouring palette. Despite the mission having a limited area, the scenery was rendered quite far, and with different weather conditions such as storms, snow, and night, You can enjoy Rubicon to your heart’s content. The photo mode also helps with capturing beautiful scenes.
Mecha Design: Armored core 6 main designers are Shoji Kawamori, Takayuki Yanase, And Kayutaka Miyatake. If we’re talking about quantity AC6 doesn’t have as much customized parts as previous ac game, however it does have a very good variety of parts, including the traditional ac configs: such as bipedal, quad legs, tank mode, and reverse joint. We have several different manufacturers, and each one of them has a distinct style. Some very aerodynamic parts are very curvy from Schneider, some bulky, heavy armored parts are from Dafeng, and many more. What is the amount of parts available in the game? You will be stuck in the hangar for hours.
Mecha Design: Armored core 6 main designers are Shoji Kawamori, Takayuki Yanase, And Kayutaka Miyatake. If we’re talking about quantity AC6 doesn’t have as much customized parts as previous ac game, however it does have a very good variety of parts, including the traditional ac configs: such as bipedal, quad legs, tank mode, and reverse joint. We have several different manufacturers, and each one of them has a distinct style. Some very aerodynamic parts are very curvy from Schneider, some bulky, heavy armored parts are from Dafeng, and many more. What is the amount of parts available in the game? You will be stuck in the hangar for hours.
Gameplay: AC6 is a mecha action game That focus on fast paced combat, The game is much faster than AC1-3, however slower than AC4 gen. Despite this, the weight of the AC feels very realistic, which adds to the immersion of the game. The game is a third-person view, but you can install a mod if you are on PC to make it first-person, which will really give you the impression of actually piloting to make yourself. Unlike previously released from FromSoftware games, There are no iframe dodges in this game, so that makes it incredibly difficult for you to do a number of damage runs. And that adds to the Immersion of the game. Just like previous generations, your AC can equip up to four weapons, and you can customize your armoured core’s head, buddy, arms, legs, and thrusters. There is also one extra expansion slot where you can assign a special ability. The game also has something like an extra Ability chart, Which gives your account additional properties. Progressing throughout the story will unlock more parts in the shop, allowing you to strengthen your ac further as you go along.
AC6 cannot be won with skills alone, You also have to strategize, such as choosing which weapons to equip, which factors in their properties, their weights, their ammunition counts, and their specs as well. There are many, many hidden stats on the parts that you can equip that have a big effect on your gameplay. Hitting and missing an attack has various variables involved. As you play and learn the game’s mechanics, you will find different ways to tackle emissions, which will bring you to different gameplay tactics. You can go lightweight with fast weapons, or you can go tanky with heavy hitters, you can go range weapons only, or you can mix in melee weapons as well. However, one downside of the game is that you can only equip your melee weapons on the left arm. Unlike previous Armored Core games, they are safe points in AC6. This helps reduce the frustrations on boss stages and long missions.
AC6 also has online multiplayer where you can go 1V1 or 3V3. You can play against other players on the Internet; however, you cannot play cross-platform dark. PC will match against PC, PlayStation players against PlayStation, and so on. Hopefully, they will allow cross-platform matchmaking in the future, but we don’t have much hope for that. With the variety of parts in AC6 and the number of configurations that you can create, team battles will be very chaotic and fun to play. From software is actively balance the games with patches to ensure that everyone has a good online experience, however this will also affect the story mode which is in everyone’s cup of tea. Well, it is certainly by number means a game breaker, But the ability to choose which patches apply to the story mode will be appreciated.
AC6 cannot be won with skills alone, You also have to strategize, such as choosing which weapons to equip, which factors in their properties, their weights, their ammunition counts, and their specs as well. There are many, many hidden stats on the parts that you can equip that have a big effect on your gameplay. Hitting and missing an attack has various variables involved. As you play and learn the game’s mechanics, you will find different ways to tackle emissions, which will bring you to different gameplay tactics. You can go lightweight with fast weapons, or you can go tanky with heavy hitters, you can go range weapons only, or you can mix in melee weapons as well. However, one downside of the game is that you can only equip your melee weapons on the left arm. Unlike previous Armored Core games, they are safe points in AC6. This helps reduce the frustrations on boss stages and long missions.
AC6 also has online multiplayer where you can go 1V1 or 3V3. You can play against other players on the Internet; however, you cannot play cross-platform dark. PC will match against PC, PlayStation players against PlayStation, and so on. Hopefully, they will allow cross-platform matchmaking in the future, but we don’t have much hope for that. With the variety of parts in AC6 and the number of configurations that you can create, team battles will be very chaotic and fun to play. From software is actively balance the games with patches to ensure that everyone has a good online experience, however this will also affect the story mode which is in everyone’s cup of tea. Well, it is certainly by number means a game breaker, But the ability to choose which patches apply to the story mode will be appreciated.
Music: Art’s more core 6 music style is very different from previous games in the franchise. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not good; the soundtrack is very incredible, especially the character’s themes. The game focuses on orchestral tracks with some faint lyrics in the background. If you search for the lyrics to those tracks, You will appreciate them even more. The game only has one full vocal track that plays at the true ending. it is a rock song which is pretty in line with the franchise’s previous games.
+ Conclusion: AC6 is an amazing experience that Mecha fans have been looking for for a long time. The combat and the feeling of piloting the AC are very satisfying. The difficulty is not as hard as in previous games, so newcomers can approach the franchise much more easily. Some die-hard fans really don’t like the new difficulty style. However, I think it is a good choice to appeal to the audience at large, especially after more than 10 years. With Gundam games dropping the bar left and right, Fires of Rubicon is a Fresh blaze that really helps reignite the flames of passion for a mecha action game. It is not a surprise that it won the game awards action game of the year, the fast pace and intense combat but also requires strategy and skills really elevate the games enjoyment. We are not sure if FromSoftware is planning a DLC or a sequel, just like previous AC games, but if they keep this up, they’re on the fast track to major success.
+ Conclusion: AC6 is an amazing experience that Mecha fans have been looking for for a long time. The combat and the feeling of piloting the AC are very satisfying. The difficulty is not as hard as in previous games, so newcomers can approach the franchise much more easily. Some die-hard fans really don’t like the new difficulty style. However, I think it is a good choice to appeal to the audience at large, especially after more than 10 years. With Gundam games dropping the bar left and right, Fires of Rubicon is a Fresh blaze that really helps reignite the flames of passion for a mecha action game. It is not a surprise that it won the game awards action game of the year, the fast pace and intense combat but also requires strategy and skills really elevate the games enjoyment. We are not sure if FromSoftware is planning a DLC or a sequel, just like previous AC games, but if they keep this up, they’re on the fast track to major success.
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