This review contains spoilers
still playing this (got a late start thanks to a tornado knocking out power and internet for a bit, plus i'm still playing bg3 as well)... just wanted to make a few comments, having only tried a handful of past armored core releases, on this game's tone. previously, the one i'd spent the most time with was armored core 5, which i came away from not really liking despite enjoying its aesthetic and the feel of wall-jumping off of buildings and so forth. it was held back by its completely disconnected narrative and its emphasis on multiplayer features that never really felt like they worked due to a low player count in the us.
ac6 has a coldly impersonal feel to it as well, with its interface and narrative interactions all happening on a static hangar screen or in your ac itself, every voice you hear disembodied... but it (as of having only just cleared the first chapter) also seems to have a sort of progression to it, even if only with the dawning realization that you are the corporate dog your opponents say you are, and the sinister pitch of this mindset steadily intensifying. you are (at least at the start) a fucking demon in ac6, seemingly devoid of emotion (perhaps as a result of your augmentation?), not simply destroying your targets but also overwhelming them with despair. you are just too powerful, and you crush their hopes beneath your heel. and not only their hopes of surviving the encounter, but of succeeding on their mission to free their people from endless corporate oppression and murder.
it, uh, feels awesome. i normally don't particularly go for being evil in video games, particularly when they're more personal, and i imagine that there will be some twists with walter and the liberation front and so forth, but my impression as of now is that you're nothing but a mercenary. an extremely adept one, though essentially inhuman. a monster chasing power above all else. and i've leaned into this, crafting the fiercest and most agile and aggressive death machine i can. one that should make its enemies afraid.
on the same token, i look forward to finding out whether there's anything to be awakened within the heart of augmented human 621.
last thing for now: the fucking music. hoshino's best work, maybe. a far cry from the jubilant discordance of evergrace, this will be likened to 'synthwave' by some, but it's so much more than that — droning, buzzing, constantly intensifying its mood of absolute menace.
what a game.
ac6 has a coldly impersonal feel to it as well, with its interface and narrative interactions all happening on a static hangar screen or in your ac itself, every voice you hear disembodied... but it (as of having only just cleared the first chapter) also seems to have a sort of progression to it, even if only with the dawning realization that you are the corporate dog your opponents say you are, and the sinister pitch of this mindset steadily intensifying. you are (at least at the start) a fucking demon in ac6, seemingly devoid of emotion (perhaps as a result of your augmentation?), not simply destroying your targets but also overwhelming them with despair. you are just too powerful, and you crush their hopes beneath your heel. and not only their hopes of surviving the encounter, but of succeeding on their mission to free their people from endless corporate oppression and murder.
it, uh, feels awesome. i normally don't particularly go for being evil in video games, particularly when they're more personal, and i imagine that there will be some twists with walter and the liberation front and so forth, but my impression as of now is that you're nothing but a mercenary. an extremely adept one, though essentially inhuman. a monster chasing power above all else. and i've leaned into this, crafting the fiercest and most agile and aggressive death machine i can. one that should make its enemies afraid.
on the same token, i look forward to finding out whether there's anything to be awakened within the heart of augmented human 621.
last thing for now: the fucking music. hoshino's best work, maybe. a far cry from the jubilant discordance of evergrace, this will be likened to 'synthwave' by some, but it's so much more than that — droning, buzzing, constantly intensifying its mood of absolute menace.
what a game.
11 Comments
Not that I had any doubt, but FromSoft's dedication and skills never cease to amaze an onlooker like myself. I never really thought they'd go into "Armored Souls" like a lot of wearied fans seemed to, but even then it's like they took a look at their last entries, thought "we must do better" and kept swinging at the batting cage. It's kind of awesome, especially since I'm already appreciating the series from afar thanks to friends and gameplay footage.
Will have to pick this up at some point but man... what a stacked few weeks this has been. This, BG3, Mimimi Games' latest release Shadow Gambit, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and Blasphemous II all coming out within the same span has my wallet crying in agony. Not even sure where to start if I ever decide on halting my old game pickings for a while!
Will have to pick this up at some point but man... what a stacked few weeks this has been. This, BG3, Mimimi Games' latest release Shadow Gambit, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and Blasphemous II all coming out within the same span has my wallet crying in agony. Not even sure where to start if I ever decide on halting my old game pickings for a while!
@blazingwaters: feels good to be a fromsoft enjoyer
i have to come accept that i will never able to play every single game that catches my interest, though i would certainly play more of the old stuff in my backlog were we not currently eating like way too good. i think bg3 and ac6 are among the best games i've played, or at the very least approaching that greatness haha... so those just put everything else on hold (aside from this weekend, being away from home for a bit) starfield is the big one i'll put off this year because honestly i'd far rather play phantom liberty (i'm actually stoked for that). i honestly don't know how i'm going to fit much else in.
i have to come accept that i will never able to play every single game that catches my interest, though i would certainly play more of the old stuff in my backlog were we not currently eating like way too good. i think bg3 and ac6 are among the best games i've played, or at the very least approaching that greatness haha... so those just put everything else on hold (aside from this weekend, being away from home for a bit) starfield is the big one i'll put off this year because honestly i'd far rather play phantom liberty (i'm actually stoked for that). i honestly don't know how i'm going to fit much else in.
i will never be *
if we find out soon that vtmb2 is coming out this fall and it looks amazing i might die of too many game
brian mitsoda arrives in a wrestling style intro and hits the paradox ceo with a steel chair, revealing VTMB2 as it was originally intended is being shadow dropped right away
Haven't played VI yet but how you describe the inhuman corporate dog crushing the hopes of people with better reasons for fighting than you do feels very similar to the first games tone where some of the very first missions have your employer sending you to violently break up workers strikes
@ombom: i feel like we haven't collectively talked enough about the way fromsoft has, through basically all of their games, analyzed the destructiveness and myopia of greed, power, control, etc. words like ambition and want come up frequently, essentially described as a curse. and we often play as pawns in this unfortunate scheme, perpetuating a curse we have the power to end.
Vee
8 months ago