One Armored Core 6 route is emotionally devastating

destructoid.com:

Armored Core 6 is an absolute blast to play through, which certainly contributes to players fighting through to the ending. From the combat’s blistering pace to the depth of customization, this is undoubtedly one of the best mech games in a long time. It also has a solid narrative about fighting against the odds for your beliefs and survival.

The delivery is more direct than most works coming out of FromSoftware since its games often keep the surface narrative light. Armored Core has always been this way, even if the latest entry is more dialogue-focused than its predecessors.

Also like what came before, Armored Core 6’s ending come from branching paths depending on missions chosen at key points. It offers two endings on a first playthrough, with a third one unlocked after finishing the game.

I want to return and get the other endings in Armored Core 6, but the one I chose scorched my heart. It’s been a week since I finished the game, and this harrowing conclusion has stayed with me because of how awful I felt after. FromSoftware games tend to include bleak endings chosen by the player, and I feel like a monster.

My Armored Core 6 ending is called The Fires of Raven, and for good reason. This means betraying Raven’s Coral companion Ayre to side with “Cinder” Carla’s idea to destroy all of Rubicon’s Coral. Coral in Armored Core 6 is a living species with at least human-level consciousness and emotions. Despite its exploitation as a resource, Coral is an intelligent species fully capable of communication. In other words, we are committing genocide.

I started down this route not fully aware of my action’s ramifications, and also because it paid way better. My blissfully ignorant self didn’t think we were eradicating an