Armored Core VI hands-on: A triumphant return to FromSoftware’s past

blog.playstation.com:

FromSoftware has brought the Armored Core series back out after over a decade to give us what is shaping up to be one of the series’ best entries yet. The upcoming Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon takes cues from the studio’s most recent titles but retains everything fans of the mech action series have come to love. What we get is a title that doesn’t forget its complex mech simulator identity while still finding fresh ways to advance its formula for a new generation.

During a recent hands-on event, Bandai Namco allowed us to enter the armory, craft a mech of our choice, and visit planet Rubicon to work as a freelance mercenary and get a substantial taste of Armored Core VI’s first chapter. Read on for all the details we could squeeze out from five hours of playtime.

As soon as you jump into Armored Core VI, you’ll find out that the Armory–where you can build and edit your Armored Core (AC for short)–will be where you’ll spend a significant chunk of your time. Maintaining and customizing your AC is a necessity to meet the arduous demands of being a freelance mercenary. Unlike its sibling “Souls” titles, Armored Core VI’s gameplay loop consists of completing various missions, which can involve defeating a mysterious organization of invisible cloaked ACs, taking on an entire army, or even dueling against a colossal mech. Due to the ever-shifting nature of the game’s mission objectives, it’s essential to take advantage of all your personalized AC options so that you may defy expectations and live another day.

In Armored Core VI, you’re able to fully customize and swap out the body parts, core, weapons, boosters, defensive mechanisms, and weight class of your AC. Continually customizing your AC can be essential to survival.