After FromSoftware announced Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, the long-awaited next installment in the Armored Core 6 franchise, many speculated it would be influenced by the preceding Souls games. Before Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Dark Souls, or even Demon's Souls, the Japanese game studio was most famous for its Armored Core series, a sci-fi mech simulator franchise about amoral mercenaries named Ravens and the robotic combat vehicles they used to survive in war-ravaged, apocalyptic futures. If anything, recent gameplay footage suggests that FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice has had the greatest impact on Armored Core 6's gameplay.
To counter overwrought and exaggerated claims that Armored Core 6 will just be Dark Souls but with giant robots, many long-time Armored Core fans have pointed out that games like Dark Souls or Bloodborne are, if anything, Armored Core but with dark fantasy. Both classic FromSoftware franchises are famous for tough combat encounters players overcome through mastery of the basis and character customization (equipping parts to modular combat mechs, and equipping weapons, armor, and spells to a fantasy hero). From this perspective, Armored Core 6 evolved the formula of Armored Core in the same way Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice evolved the Dark Souls formula.
Armored Core 6 Adapts Sekiro's Stagger & Deflect Combat System
Recently released raw gameplay footage has shone new light on Armored Core 6's combat gameplay and how it has evolved from the classic Armored Core formula. The fundamentals have mostly stayed the same - players control a giant walking war mech that uses rocket boosters to dash about or briefly fly. During battles, players try to dance around their enemies, hitting them with long-range weapons such as guns and missiles or close range weapons like FromSoftware's staple Moonlight Greatsword, all the while trying to not overstrain their mech's installed reactor.
The new gameplay footage for Armored Core 6, however, shows that FromSoftware has added a stagger system like the one in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Rather than simply scraping away at an enemy's health bar, players can use special weapons and attacks to build up a stagger gauge on the enemy unit they've targeted. Once this gauge fills up, the enemy is briefly stunned and takes extra damage, giving players the chance to unleash high-damaging weapon volleys or melee combos. Additionally, Armored Core 6 players will also have a Sekiro-style deflect mechanic where perfectly timed blocks with their armored core's energy shield absorb more damage and reduce stagger build-up.
Mission Maps In Armored Core 6 Share Sekiro's Emphasis On Verticality
Compared to previous Souls RPGs made by FromSoftware, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice gave players access to many useful mobility mechanics such as grappling hooks, parkour-style wall-running, and a dedicated jump button. To these mobility mechanics, many of Sekiro's areas were designed with three-dimensional movement in mind, allowing players to creep along rooftops, descend into monster-filled valleys, ascend to serene mountaintop temples, and leap onto enemies from great heights in order to perform deathblows (fitting for a stealth action video games centered around a ninja protagonist).
According to an interview with IGN, FromSoftware made the concerted decision to stick to tradition and make every Armored Core single player mission take place in a finite, self-contained map, rather than a larger, interconnected world. The maps revealed in Armored Core 6 footage, however, are full of verticality that seems to draw inspiration from Sekiro's own three-dimensional level designs. The look and feel of the mission maps shown so far trend towards multi-layered factories and industrial sites, each full of walkways, maintenance tunnels, and platforms players can reach with their mech's rocket boosters.
Armored Core 6 Has Stealth & Prep Mechanics Similar To Sekiro
One noteworthy gameplay feature seen in footage for Armored Core 6 is a ping tool players can use to scan their surroundings and highlight nearby enemies hidden by walls or other forms of terrain; this feature works like the stealth mechanics in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice's evolved combat gameplay, giving players the means to observe an enemy gauntlet safely and come up with a plan of attack. Additionally, game commentators who tried out the Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon press demo have mentioned a mechanic where players can find in-game garages in order to change their mech's loadout mid-mission – another feature that will incentivize players to scout, prepare, and kill ingeniously.
Source: FamitsuTUBE/YouTube, IGN
