This review contains spoilers
Gonna write another review because I don't think my previous one quite captured my thoughts on this game as well as I wanted.
While my initial lack of hype going into Armored Core VI barred my enjoyment of the game when I had first tried it in 2023, but having beaten it, gotten all endings, and platinumed the game, I can say with confidence that it's one of my favorite games ever at this point, I adore nearly everything about it.
The gameplay is easily among my favorite ever, with the ever-brilliant Masaru Yamamura, known for Sekiro, returning to direct. What surprised me most about the gameplay weren't the mechanics themselves per se, but just how well they were integrated with many of the characters, factions, and setting. I imagine Armored Core as a series does this well, though I can't really verify that due to my lack of experience with previous entries as of writing this review. The way certain characters' personalities and allegiances align with the equipment they use, and how that translates to the encounters with the many NPC fights, encounter design, and bosses is nothing short of incredibly thoughtful.
While the linearity of the levels and mission structure are a departure to my knowledge of Fromsoft's catalogue, I adore the atmosphere in nearly each and every one, and I imagine that it's pretty faithful to Armored Core's standards as a series. Chapter 4 needs special mention for just how moody it is throughout, crawling into an underground crevice and unearthing Rubicon's history. It's fantastic and contributes to what I feel is this game's strongest suit: the presentation.
Not the least of Armored Core VI's great accomplishments are the vistas and the way in creates scale in each level, though the level of presentation in the game's bosses and in special missions like "Breach the Karman Line" need to be noted. One of my favorite moments in any game ever was being able to fly energy-free and soar over Rubicon's scorched skies, realizing that 1000m is a straight up kilometer and how that distance is covered in the matter of seconds. The sense of climactic finality that whole mission and the encounter afterwards creates were pure sensory and mechanical bliss. While I do love this mission, I don't want people to misunderstand: I think nearly every mission in this game contributory to the vision insofar as they help construct the world, characters, and atmosphere in a palpable way, from destroying PCA fleets, to the aforementioned expedition into the depths, to the incredibly miscellaneous merc missions in chapter 1 that help the setting and factions get up on their feet.
All this isn't even to mention the stellar voice direction and sound design, which were robbed of a GOTY nomination. Audiovisual design is one reason Sekiro's combat is as good as it is, and ACVI is no different, with every shot, every boost, every melee hit, every explosion having an adequate and appropriate amount of impact in correlation to their lethality. Additionally exists the voice acting which really takes the characters to the next level. Having no face to their names really forces the voice actors to act their hearts out to convey the personality and emotions of these characters, and I can't think of a single bad casting decision. Special mention needs to be made of Griffin Burns as G5 Iguazu, who delivers a performance equal parts pathetic and heartrending, Jonathan Lipow as V.II Snail, who gives the character this sense of snobbish and contemptible superiority, Patrick Seitz, who embodies his role as the stern yet caring and surprisingly emotional Handler Walter with perfection, and last but not least Erin Yvette as our Coral Wife: Ayre, who allows this disembodied voice such an intelligent yet adorkable personality that surpasses characters with full blown bodies or mechs we can physically associate with them.
If I had to levy any nitpicks against this game, and this is probably as small as nitpicks can ever get, it'd be that I don't emotionally connect with the story that much. I think it is very, very, very good and I've got nothing bad to say about it, the characters are great, with the likes of Ayre, Walter, Carla, and especially Iguazu being downright fantastic, and I adore the way the story is presented via logs, mission briefings, arena flavor text, and most pertinently the mission structure themselves, and I love love love how much the endings feed into each other. Both the Liberator and Fires ending would be solid on their own, but knowledge of the other ending really elevates your understanding of the setting and characters in a way the multiple ending structure of previous FS games I've played haven't really captured. All this to say, I think the story is great, beautifully presented, and particularly potent towards the end; I've just seen similar stories done in a much better way, or rather more palpably so that I'm able to better resonate with emotionally (see Xenosaga). The efficiency of the characterization and storytelling, mechanics, and presentation are definitely this game's strongest suits and carry the experience into the exosphere, though I don't want to take anything away from the narrative itself. I don't think about the game's core themes as much as I love to immerse myself in the world and gameplay. That's more of a positive if anything and exemplifies the medium's greatest strengths: its ability to uniquely draw the player in immerse them in the experience.
We'll see how future me will feel about this game, but right now, I've come out this experience wholly confident in its vision, and I hope to see more like it from both previous AC games and whatever Yamamura continues to direct in the future. Would've been my GOTY had I committed to it last year, and easily one of my favorite experiences in recent memory. Special game.
"You may yet fly higher. Beyond Rubicon's scorched skies, to chase the freedom we never knew."
While my initial lack of hype going into Armored Core VI barred my enjoyment of the game when I had first tried it in 2023, but having beaten it, gotten all endings, and platinumed the game, I can say with confidence that it's one of my favorite games ever at this point, I adore nearly everything about it.
The gameplay is easily among my favorite ever, with the ever-brilliant Masaru Yamamura, known for Sekiro, returning to direct. What surprised me most about the gameplay weren't the mechanics themselves per se, but just how well they were integrated with many of the characters, factions, and setting. I imagine Armored Core as a series does this well, though I can't really verify that due to my lack of experience with previous entries as of writing this review. The way certain characters' personalities and allegiances align with the equipment they use, and how that translates to the encounters with the many NPC fights, encounter design, and bosses is nothing short of incredibly thoughtful.
While the linearity of the levels and mission structure are a departure to my knowledge of Fromsoft's catalogue, I adore the atmosphere in nearly each and every one, and I imagine that it's pretty faithful to Armored Core's standards as a series. Chapter 4 needs special mention for just how moody it is throughout, crawling into an underground crevice and unearthing Rubicon's history. It's fantastic and contributes to what I feel is this game's strongest suit: the presentation.
Not the least of Armored Core VI's great accomplishments are the vistas and the way in creates scale in each level, though the level of presentation in the game's bosses and in special missions like "Breach the Karman Line" need to be noted. One of my favorite moments in any game ever was being able to fly energy-free and soar over Rubicon's scorched skies, realizing that 1000m is a straight up kilometer and how that distance is covered in the matter of seconds. The sense of climactic finality that whole mission and the encounter afterwards creates were pure sensory and mechanical bliss. While I do love this mission, I don't want people to misunderstand: I think nearly every mission in this game contributory to the vision insofar as they help construct the world, characters, and atmosphere in a palpable way, from destroying PCA fleets, to the aforementioned expedition into the depths, to the incredibly miscellaneous merc missions in chapter 1 that help the setting and factions get up on their feet.
All this isn't even to mention the stellar voice direction and sound design, which were robbed of a GOTY nomination. Audiovisual design is one reason Sekiro's combat is as good as it is, and ACVI is no different, with every shot, every boost, every melee hit, every explosion having an adequate and appropriate amount of impact in correlation to their lethality. Additionally exists the voice acting which really takes the characters to the next level. Having no face to their names really forces the voice actors to act their hearts out to convey the personality and emotions of these characters, and I can't think of a single bad casting decision. Special mention needs to be made of Griffin Burns as G5 Iguazu, who delivers a performance equal parts pathetic and heartrending, Jonathan Lipow as V.II Snail, who gives the character this sense of snobbish and contemptible superiority, Patrick Seitz, who embodies his role as the stern yet caring and surprisingly emotional Handler Walter with perfection, and last but not least Erin Yvette as our Coral Wife: Ayre, who allows this disembodied voice such an intelligent yet adorkable personality that surpasses characters with full blown bodies or mechs we can physically associate with them.
If I had to levy any nitpicks against this game, and this is probably as small as nitpicks can ever get, it'd be that I don't emotionally connect with the story that much. I think it is very, very, very good and I've got nothing bad to say about it, the characters are great, with the likes of Ayre, Walter, Carla, and especially Iguazu being downright fantastic, and I adore the way the story is presented via logs, mission briefings, arena flavor text, and most pertinently the mission structure themselves, and I love love love how much the endings feed into each other. Both the Liberator and Fires ending would be solid on their own, but knowledge of the other ending really elevates your understanding of the setting and characters in a way the multiple ending structure of previous FS games I've played haven't really captured. All this to say, I think the story is great, beautifully presented, and particularly potent towards the end; I've just seen similar stories done in a much better way, or rather more palpably so that I'm able to better resonate with emotionally (see Xenosaga). The efficiency of the characterization and storytelling, mechanics, and presentation are definitely this game's strongest suits and carry the experience into the exosphere, though I don't want to take anything away from the narrative itself. I don't think about the game's core themes as much as I love to immerse myself in the world and gameplay. That's more of a positive if anything and exemplifies the medium's greatest strengths: its ability to uniquely draw the player in immerse them in the experience.
We'll see how future me will feel about this game, but right now, I've come out this experience wholly confident in its vision, and I hope to see more like it from both previous AC games and whatever Yamamura continues to direct in the future. Would've been my GOTY had I committed to it last year, and easily one of my favorite experiences in recent memory. Special game.
"You may yet fly higher. Beyond Rubicon's scorched skies, to chase the freedom we never knew."