Despite the intense action, FromSoftware wants Armored Core 6 to have a 'dark old sci-fi feel' with a 'sense of loneliness and nostalgia'

pcgamer.com:

I will take literally any opportunity to trot out my favorite game design quote of all time. In a design book about the original Dark Souls, director Hidetaka Miyazaki is quoted as saying «a certain kind of refinement, elegance, and dignity are very important to me… My idea of dignity is something that I pursue with every project I work on and not just Dark Souls.»

The clincher is in the follow-up from artist Masanori Waragai. «I remember when I was drawing the Undead Dragon, I submitted a design draft that depicted a dragon swarming with maggots and other gross things,» he said. «Miyazaki handed it back to me saying, 'This isn't dignified. Don't rely on the gross factor to portray an undead dragon. Can't you instead try to convey the deep sorrow of a magnificent beast doomed to a slow and possibly endless descent into ruin?» 

I think about this quote all the time when I play FromSoftware's games—even when they're often full of silly, gross, or undignified moments, they tend to work harder to convey a specific tone than most other videogames I've played. 

That's very much the case in Armored Core, a series that long predates Miyazaki's tenure at FromSoftware. In a PC Gamer article about why there's no other mecha game quite like Armored Core, contributor Noah Smith attributed much of that unique tone to the music of composer Kota Hoshino: «Missions will often feel more like work than play, a mood accentuated by a discordant aesthetic. Hoshino's soundtracks blend post-punk, trance, and jazz piano into eerie jams that somehow fit perfectly with the on-screen action. The alienating, depersonalized stream of contracts and the free associative post-punk music work together to leave these lingering feelings of dread, awe, and