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FromSoftware is one of the biggest and best developers on the planet right now, and so it can be easy to forget the studio’s more humble beginnings. Franchises like King’s Field feel like a lifetime ago, and even Armored Core – a series upon which renowned auteur Hidetaka Miyazaki made his directorial debut – isn’t exactly a household name. It’s interesting, then, that at The Game Awards, the studio revealed it will be returning to the mecha franchise for its follow-up to Elden Ring.
The last Armored Core game, Armored Core V, launched on the PS3 in 2012 and focused largely upon online play. It was critically panned, but released right at the very beginning of the Soulsborne explosion, with Dark Souls deploying six months prior. Since then we’ve seen games like Bloodborne and Elden Ring establish an entire new genre, so will Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon adopt the same format as FromSoftware’s more recent hits?
“No, we've not been making a conscious effort to try to direct it towards more Soulsborne type gameplay,” Miyazaki told IGN. “First of all, let me just make that clear. The essential direction of [Armored Core 6] was to go back and take a good look at the core concept of Armored Core and what made that series special.”
Miyazaki explained that the construction aspects will return, allowing you to build your own mecha from a selection of different parts and components. “The real impetus for this project, I think, or at least one of the real appeals for me comes from the aspect of assembly, and being able to really freely assemble and customise the mech, I think is what we really highly focus on in Armored Core.”
The project is being directed by Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’s Masaru Yamamura, but he admitted there’s no connection between the games: “There are no elements directly referring to Sekiro, but I feel both titles share the same essence of battle such as aggressive, speed change, and action-oriented fighting. For this title, by continuing to attack even the strongest enemy, the force of impact can break the enemy's posture and inflict a large amount of damage – a critical hit.”
Yamamura added that he wants to create an aggressive mindset, where players are encouraged to go on the offensive. But of course, there’ll be a much greater emphasis on ordnance and bullets than pure melee, unlike in FromSoftware’s more modern games. Throughout the rest of the interview, the developer reiterates that this will be a different kind of experience to its Soulsborne titles – it’ll even be mission-based, as opposed to the interconnected levels fans have become accustomed to from the team – but if there’s one major change from past Armored Core titles, Miyazaka says it’s the budget.
“I was the director on Armored Core 4 and For Answer,” Miyazaka mused. “And of course in those days, the level of resources and the cost and the time that we could dedicate to game development was just a completely different ballpark. So I'm extremely jealous of the team today who gets to make this new Armored Core. I wish we had that sort of leverage back in the day.”
[source ign.com]
Comments 27
I wasn't a huge fan of Elden Ring despite loving Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Dark Souls - I felt that the open world was at odds with the idea of overcoming huge challenges, and that all the game wanted me to do was to explore in very samey dungeons and caves to level up and find spirits (that I didn't like using) to crush the boss. I appreciate the game is for a lot of people, but it just didn't work for me. I know this game is a far cry away from that style of gameplay, but I loved Sekiro's take on action-oriented combat, and I'm very willing to give Armoured Core VI a go to see if it's for me!
I hope it plays like 4 and For Answer but I doubt it.
Never played one, interested to try. Mad that they developed a game in parallel with elden ring, given how huge and hand crafted elden ring is. Peeps at fromsoft really don't leave the office huh. Hope they are getting paid right.
I know a lot of people are excited, but wasn't all of the other armored core games average at best?
I never played an Armored Core game, but I do love a mecha game now and then. I liked Daemon X Machina enough to finish it.
I actually feel like a Souls-like on a literal different scale (a la building-size characters and enemies) would be pretty cool. Especially if it had systems akin to DxM and a bit of The Surge where if you want a weapon or item you just go hunt an enemy who has it and chop it off their body.
That would be super cool. Let me customize my mega mech with the armaments of my slain foes as I lay waste to cities and mountains.
@Americansamurai1
From Soft today is a very different animal to the From Soft of the 90s and early 2000's. I want to see how much they can improve a very solid foundation.
Good.
But, i cannot imagine it won't have changes.
@Americansamurai1 That depends on perspective. They are really good mecha sims allowing you to build your own preferred mecha. You pick all pieces including things like generator and you need to watch the power consumptions each piece you pick brings.
Now, the gameplay isn't devil may cry. The choices you make affect how your mech moves and which weapons it has.
This results in a clunky game for the average gamer. But, a good one for mecha robotics fans.
The assumption is that this one will try to bring them closer together with a more modern game.
@BranJ0 I had to trek the same corridors and little rooms just to level up to beat Cleric Beast and Father Gascoigne, it got repetitive but still Bloodborne is a masterpiece. What gives Elden Ring the edge for me and all reviewers is the freedom and unmatched sense of discovery. It's the same old repetitive dungeons in Bloodborne and the others, just that they're taken out of the way locked behind Chalices etc. I didn't have to repeatedly trek Stormveil Castle gates just to beat Margjt or Godrick. I went out to have fun and levelled up without even trying.
@PegasusActual93 that's fair
4 was very cool and if they can implement all the lessons learned from the souls titles into the combat here this is very exciting. A big budget AC game in 2023 is crazy.
Expecting this to be like Elden Ring is like expecting Mega Man 12 to be a first person survival horror game.
I've never played an AC game before, but this trailer got be interested enough to pick one out. I bought Last Raven on the Vita as that was the simplest to get hold of and seems to be well liked.
So far it seems quite impenetrable, probably like Elden Ring would have felt if you'd not played all the Souls games before. As a result, I can't really tell whether I like it or not yet. It is certainly very different to Souls as I suspected it would be. One issue might be the controls given it's a PSP game, but I am finding it very challenging.
In any case, I'm not normally one for cinematic trailers, however this one has still got me pretty excited. I can see the bones of something promising in LR. Excited to see it get a modern treatment.
They don't need to add the Souls formula with AC but I do wonder how they will approach the world and how open will it feel. AC games tends to be mission based and players are often limited to building mechs on the garage, selecting missions, going to arenas, etc. but there's really no open world or open areas to explore.
Regardless of what they do, as a fan of the series for years now, I'm still hyped and will look forward to this new AC game
@BranJ0 share the exact same sentiment. I enjoyed elden ring, but definitely preferred a more linear structured souls like. The repeated dungeons and bosses did detract from the open world and made the game seem bloated. Was also slightly disappointed that the combat hadn't really changed from the dark souls series - sekiro was absolutely amazing due to the complete overhaul and reimagining of the combat systems.
Really looking forward to playing a completely different game in the form of armored core. A departure from the souls games with new mechanics and combat sounds fantastic to me.
I remember playing the PS3 demo of Armoured Core 4 and thought it was awful. It's surprising to see them resurrect this I. P. again.
@TheArt That's very fair, and I'm really glad you had that experience! Unfortunately, it just didn't work that way for me. I never found the need to level up to beat any bloodborne or dark souls boss - I felt like I was at the right level after just exploring through the levels and fighting through them. However, Elden Ring really felt like it needed to me to explore to level up and be good enough (unless I'm one of those crazy people who beat it on a dance mat...), and I found the exploration mostly gave me summons I didn't want, weapons and spells I couldn't use, and a lot of mini dungeons with repeated layouts, enemies, and bosses. Bloodborne's chalices are rubbish and repetitive for sure, but I completely ignored them and it makes zero difference to the game, whereas Elden Ring really expects you to explore these dungeons, and they're just not good enough to do so in my opinion. It doesn't help that, in general, I just struggle with open world games, and prefer a tighter, more linear experience! So unfortunately this one was just not for me, but that's okay!
@Neither_scene Sekiro's combat is just so finely tuned, I'd kill for another game like that. Hopefully armoured core will scratch that itch of From Software's signature style without repeating the mechanics and combat of a souls game!
I loved the first few armored core games. The mech tuning was awesome and really fueled the overall progression. I'm glad it's not another souls reskin and trying to stay true to that awesome series. With moder tech this could be really awesome.
Basic interview summary:
Miyazaki: We got money now, we can do whatever we want 😎
@BranJ0 Well I on the other hand love open worlds. Plus I feel like ER has everything. I can get attires and weapons with Bloodborne or Souls or Sekiro style in Elden Ring. The many weapons and builds make for great replayability. I beat BB 3 times with the same weapon and style, with ER there's so much variety but hey to each his own.
Really excited to get stuck into this, glad the rumours were true. Nice to read they have a decent budget for it.
As someone who loves mech games and hates Soulsborne, I'm very very intrigued and hoping beyond hope From can go back to a conventional game that's not difficult just for the sake of being difficult because of an obsessive fanbase that won't accept anything else. It's a clean slate for them. I'd love to see what they can create, today, without being bound to that particular gameplay loop.
This is good news. Armored Core was the sh*t back in the day. 2 and 3 were my obsessions. No need to force souls framework on there. But also don’t forget the single player experience!
CAN’T WAIT
Edit: read the interview! While there will be multiplayer, it’s a single-player focus. And a BIGGER budget. The grand return of Armored Core cometh!
Miyazaki is misspelled twice at the end of the article. The error is calling him Miyazaka.
Well after Daemon X Machina it can only get better. That got uninstalled pretty quickly from my PC.
From Software is one of my favorite developers right now - so the hope is there.
The last few games were meh, hopefully this one is great, I would love a good mech game with modern depth and build progression.
@MFTWrecks @mcdreamer @R1spam Same here! AC6 will be my first entry in the series, hope it lives up to the TGA 2022 reveal trailer hype.
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