This was my introduction to the Armored Core franchise, as it was for many, and I really had a great time. As I've come to expect from any FROMSoft game, AC6 is extremely polished in nearly all aspects, and has tons of content and replayability. I have certainly not played a game with a structure like this before, and while it took some getting used to (very short individual missions, mostly focused on customization), I came to appreciate it, especially considering how formulaic some current releases can be.
Even though I didn't understand a lot of it, I did quite enjoy the story in this game, particularly the last couple chapters where it really ramped up and there were several important decisions to make. The voice acting and characters were all fantastic, especially considering you never actually see a single human face throughout the game (which was another sort of nice change of pace I think).
I loved how many different weapons and such became available throughout the game, with each one is pretty drastically different from any other, and you unlock almost all of them just naturally playing through the story. I tried quite a few different builds, although I always ended up going back to one somewhat basic dual trigger bipedal setup that was the only thing I felt like I was able to use to get me through the game's most difficult boss fights and challenges. I'm no expert at customization so I had a hard time building anything that felt like it came close to the power of dual trigger gatling guns and this one grenade launcher (Songbirds) that solo'd a lot of the game for me, but I did at least enjoy experimenting with other things in less difficult missions, particularly in the Arena.
The boss fights in this game were also pretty fantastic, there were a couple I hated a bit and had a lot of trouble figuring out how to not die instantly, but most of them felt like a good, fair challenge with incredible set pieces, particular the Chapter 4 boss which was by far my favorite in the game and reminded me of some of the best FROMSoft boss fights of the past. I found myself playing this game for 6+ hours at a time, which is not something I'm capable of doing with too many games, and so objectively I can say that I was pretty engaged throughout my entire playthrough.
I know getting just one ending is pretty loosely considered 'finishing' the game, but unfortunately there are just so many other things to play atm I think I will have to put this down for now, but it is something I am certainly interested in picking back up again for a second go-around, especially considering a NG+ playthrough would be significantly shorter than my 21 hours I spent doing everything I could in my first. Super neat game, and definitely was of the quality I expect from FROMSoft these days.
8.5/10
Even though I didn't understand a lot of it, I did quite enjoy the story in this game, particularly the last couple chapters where it really ramped up and there were several important decisions to make. The voice acting and characters were all fantastic, especially considering you never actually see a single human face throughout the game (which was another sort of nice change of pace I think).
I loved how many different weapons and such became available throughout the game, with each one is pretty drastically different from any other, and you unlock almost all of them just naturally playing through the story. I tried quite a few different builds, although I always ended up going back to one somewhat basic dual trigger bipedal setup that was the only thing I felt like I was able to use to get me through the game's most difficult boss fights and challenges. I'm no expert at customization so I had a hard time building anything that felt like it came close to the power of dual trigger gatling guns and this one grenade launcher (Songbirds) that solo'd a lot of the game for me, but I did at least enjoy experimenting with other things in less difficult missions, particularly in the Arena.
The boss fights in this game were also pretty fantastic, there were a couple I hated a bit and had a lot of trouble figuring out how to not die instantly, but most of them felt like a good, fair challenge with incredible set pieces, particular the Chapter 4 boss which was by far my favorite in the game and reminded me of some of the best FROMSoft boss fights of the past. I found myself playing this game for 6+ hours at a time, which is not something I'm capable of doing with too many games, and so objectively I can say that I was pretty engaged throughout my entire playthrough.
I know getting just one ending is pretty loosely considered 'finishing' the game, but unfortunately there are just so many other things to play atm I think I will have to put this down for now, but it is something I am certainly interested in picking back up again for a second go-around, especially considering a NG+ playthrough would be significantly shorter than my 21 hours I spent doing everything I could in my first. Super neat game, and definitely was of the quality I expect from FROMSoft these days.
8.5/10