Armored Core 6 wants you to tinker your way through toughness

polygon.com:

Before the success of Elden Ring and building a near-ubiquitous reputation for crafting dark fantasy worlds, FromSoftware made the Armored Core games. This action mech series paired third-person shooter mechanics with an emphasis on customizing mechs to suit the player’s combat needs. Over time, the series has faded into the annals of FromSoftware’s history, but that will change soon.

This summer, FromSoftware will return to its roots and release Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon. As part of a hands-off preview at Summer Game Fest, producer Yasunori Ogura showed Polygon more of the game. During the demo, we got to see FromSoftware’s new mechs in action, more of the game’s machine customization options, and learn more about the developer’s vision for the game. What we saw was a slick action combat game that pairs the agile mobility of mechs with the precision of a typical FromSoftware game.

Armored Core 6 is a mech action game that blends third-person shooting with close-range combat. While Ogura has previously asserted this game will not just be Elden Ring with mechs, it will bring the studio’s characteristic emphasis on overcoming tough combat. In his presentation, Ogura articulated three aspects key to the game: 3D level design with a sense of scale; assembly in battle design (customizing mechs); and experiencing a sense of accomplishment through overcoming difficulties.

“Our aim is to create a new mech action by the current FromSoftware, which combines the fundamental fan aspect of the [Armored Core] series with the design philosophy of recent FromSoftware games,” Ogura said via a translator.

The producer showed a mission that tasks players with capturing a facility called Grid 086. Before hopping into the world, the