Armored Core 6 'story trailer' implies Armored Core 6 needs a story beyond dope mechs doing dope shit

Elden Ring wasn't just FromSoftware's biggest game ever: it was also the studio's most high-profile collaboration with someone outside the world of game development. George R.R. Martin wrote the lore for The Lands Between, which FromSoftware built upon to create their fantasy game's story. FromSoftware hasn't done that kind of collaboration many times in its history, but there is one other famous example. Throughout the Armored Core series, FromSoftware has relied on mecha designer Shoji Kawamori to guide the visual style of the hulking piles of metal players pilot and destroy.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have shared a good, long Armored Core VI gameplay preview trailer, revealing all about the upcoming mecha combat sequel. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is coming out for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One and PC on 25th August.

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.»

Before the groundbreaking releases of Demon's Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring, developer FromSoftware made its name with the giant robot action series Armored Core. With a cult-following dating back to the original PlayStation, fans embraced the dystopian settings and the fast-paced mech combat. In the period since the studio's massive pivot to the Souls sub-genre that it founded, the Armored Core series went on hiatus.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have shared a good, long Armored Core VI gameplay preview trailer, revealing all about the upcoming mecha combat sequel. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is coming out for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One and PC on 25th August.

Elden Ring and Bloodborne developer FromSoftware has been adamant from the beginning that its revival of the Armored Core franchise isn’t simply a Soulsborne game dressed up in mech clothing. That’s exceedingly apparent in a new gameplay video of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon released Tuesday, which shows off just how different of an experience this will be, in terms of the game’s mission structure, guidance from NPCs, and movement through the game world.

A new 10-minute preview for Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon has just gone live, showing off the frantic combat, detailed customization and dystopian environments we've come to expect from the mech-battling RPG. 

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will reportedly take 50 to 60 hours, utterly dwarfing almost every other game in the series.

Armored Core 6 is not a small side project for FromSoftware. That may have seemed obvious from the game's bombastic trailers, but without famed studio head Hidetaka Miyazaki serving as director and with that big Elden Ring DLC also in the works, it's less obvious exactly how FromSoftware splits its time and resources. During a recent interview with Armored Core 6's director and producer, I asked how big the studio is now and how the teams are broken down.

In the latest Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon gameplay preview, we got a decent viewing of what we can expect from combat scenarios. This FromSoftware mech action game lets you play as 621, an augmented human who pilots Armored Cores (ACs) as an independent mercenary. The gameplay preview showed how Armored Core 6 AC boss battles are looking up to par with Elden Ring’s combat.

Every mission in Armored Core VI  Fires of Rubicon throws something new at you. Whether it be a special scenario, challenging objective, strong enemy pilots, or a gigantic colossus, evolving and adapting is key.

For all the Armored Core and FromSoftware fans out there, myself included, any new news of the newest Armored Core game is greedily gobbled up. The latest Fires of Rubicon gameplay trailer is the biggest reveal we have been given yet. Boy, is it something to behold! Ten years since the last release, FromSoftware is back at it again with the game that redefined shooters, mech games, and combat movement. Fires of Rubicon promises to be a polished, high octane, all guns blazing, Bulletstorm, judging by this latest teaser. However, one little element of gameplay may have slipped under your radar.