Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is the first title in the series since 2012 and a return to the world of mech-combat for famed action RPG developers FromSoftware. Producer Yasunori Ogura recently spoke to host Haruka Mori about the upcoming title at the Taipei Game Show, and why now is the right time for the Armored Core franchise to return (via Gematsu).
The Armored Core series began in 1997 on the original PlayStation, with Armored Core II available as a launch title for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in 2000. The franchise sees mercenaries piloting customizable mechs and taking on missions for the dystopian world of Armored Core’s many warring factions. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon does not continue the previous game’s narrative, instead transporting the action to a new planet. A new, valuable material has been found on the planet Rubicon 3, and “the overarching backbone of the game’s story features the struggle for control of this material between various corporations and organizations.” Amidst this backdrop, the player character, a mercenary, works for both sides. The story mode will be single-player, however, an online battle arena is also in development.
Ogura puts the long gap between Armored Core games down to FromSoftware’s commitments to their other titles saying that the company “had so many titles on the go, and we had to make sure that our resources were appropriately distributed.” Between Armored Core: Verdict Day and 2023, FromSoftware has worked on several large, insanely detailed games including Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and recent Game of the Year winner Elden Ring. Now is the time for FromSoftware to work on and release a new Armored Core game because, after releasing Elden Ring, the studio has “the freedom to spend more on the game’s development and resources”. Furthermore, as Ogura puts it, the studio has built up “the experience and know-how” to combine the combat’s “extremely dynamic movements”, with the various customizable configurations available for each player’s individual mech.
Customization is a large part of Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. There are several different “cores, heads, and weapons” to collect and equip in a piece-by-piece fashion and, while Ogura calls the process “very deep and complex”, he assures more casual fans that the studio has “put a number of new measures in place to help make assembly and customization more intuitive.” FromSoftware games are well-known for their difficulty and Armored Core VI approaches this from a different perspective. Again, customization is at the heart of it. With bosses whose “dynamism is only matched by the aggressiveness of their movements”, Ogura puts an emphasis on trial and error as players adjust the parts of their mech and are rewarded for “using the most appropriate actions in each situation to overcome difficulties.”
An additional interesting takeaway from Ogura’s interview is that Hidetaka Miyazaki, FromSoftware’s president and the auteur behind Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, will be credited as ‘Initial Game Director’. Working with Armored Core VI co-director and producer Kenneth Chan and other developers on foundational elements of the game including “map design, action fundamentals, and other core elements at the game’s heart.”
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon releases in 2023 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam.
Alex Johnson (@AlexJohnWriting)
News Editor, NoobFeed
| Platform(s): | Xbox One, PS4, PC |
| Publisher(s): | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. |
| Developer(s): | FromSoftware |
| Genres: | Science Fiction, Third-Person Action |
| Themes: | Mech Combat and Customization |
| Release Date: | 2023 |
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