Armored Core 6 will not play like a Soulsborne game

by techlowdown · 13 December 2022

Following the official announcement of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon at The Game Awards last week, directors Hidetaka Miyazaki and Masaru Yamamura have spoken about what players can expect from the game.

As recorded on Armored Core 6’s Steam page, Miyazaki served as the game’s initial director, and Yamamura has now taken over that role.

Speaking to IGN, Miyazaki and Yamamura discussed some details of the game and addressed preconceptions people might have about it due to the game’s From Software has released over the past decade.

Our first look at Armored Core 6: Fires of the Rubicon.

“We’ve not been making a conscious effort to try to direct it towards more Soulsborne-type gameplay,” Miyazaki stated. Instead, he said the studio has focused on the “core concept” of the Armored Core series and using the experience of developing games from other series. For context, the most recent Armored Core game was Verdict Day back in 2013. “This is more than just a marked improvement over Armored Core 5,” we said in our original Armored Core: Verdict Day review. “It offers more parts, more maps and new missions while expanding the already tight mechanics with an AI crafting system and an overhauled online mode that encapsulate what Armored Core does best: options, creativity, strategy and teamwork. It’s unashamedly hardcore – and all the better for it.”

Since the release of Armored Core: Verdict Day in 2013, From Software has released Dark Souls 2 and 3, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring.

The directors revealed Armored Core 6 will have an emphasis on mecha assembly, customisation and piloting, and will have a mission-based structure rather than an open-world. Gameplay is intended to be dynamic and intense, and Yamamura called its boss battles the “highlight” of Armored Core 6. Yamamura also confirmed the studio’s plans for a multiplayer versus mode, though said the focus for the team currently is the single-player story mode.

Yamamura stated the story is “completely fresh”, requiring no knowledge of events from previous games. The new setting is the planet Rubicon 3, which has become the centre of a war over a “mysterious” substance which caused the planet to burst into flames.

As previously reported, the new title is not a complete surprise to fans. Images of a new Armored Core leaked in January, and fans have been eagerly awaiting a new entry to the series for almost a decade. Armored Core 6 is currently set for release in 2023 on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox.