An interview with FromSoftware has shed light on many of the developer’s decisions when it comes to the recently revealedArmored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, including progression, gameplay, and level design. Masaru Yamamura ofFromSoftwarepointed out that boss fights will be a major aspect of the sequel, with the kind of intense battles that can only be found among gigantic armored mechs.
BeforeFromSoftware’sDark SoulsandDemon’s Soulsgames, one of the studio’s main focuses was on its long-running series ofArmored Coremecha games where mercenary pilots take their hulking machines into battle on behalf of corporations and private enterprises. Throughout the series, the gameplay has generally revolved around the player undertaking various missions and using the income to purchase new components to customize their mechs. Customization is critical to success, as each mission and opponent calls for different configurations of parts, ranging from details like generators and heat sinks to missiles, cannons, and melee weapons. This has also been an important aspect of the series' multiplayer, with some players seeking out the best “meta” builds while others try to counter those designs with their own.
RELATED:FromSoftware’s Next Game is Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon and It’s Coming Next Year
IGN recently interviewed Hidetaka Miyazaki and Masaru Yamamura, who spoke about the upcomingArmored Coregame at length while also talking about how other FromSoftware games have inspired its development. Regarding bosses, Yamamura said that “Boss battles are the highlight of the game in this title,” and loosely comparedArmored Core 6’s boss fights to those typical ofFromSoftware’s previous gameswhere “the player reads the enemy’s moves and then plays games with them.” This is also in line with previousArmored Coregames, where major bosses had specific sets of moves that could be anticipated and prepared for.
Armored Core 6will not be open-world, so players will instead be thinking in terms of individual missions when it comes to their loadout and strategy. Rather than having a single favored build, it will likely be important to tune the mech to the needs of each mission, particularly when it comes to bosses.Armored Core’s bosses often have varying strengths, some have been incredibly deadly melee fighters while others used missiles and frequent boosting to evade the player. Similar to Souls games, players will need to identify the patterns of each boss and how best to approach them.
It’s been nearly 10 years since the lastArmored Coreentry, so thereveal ofArmored Core 6was a welcome surprise for fans of mech games. Hopefully, FromSoftware’s incredible success will bring more attention to the genre which has largely been championed by theMechWarriorfranchise in recent years.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubiconwill launch in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
