I’ve been playing throughArmored Core 6: Fires of Rubiconlately, and it’s cool, but I’m always wary when I start a newFromSoftwaregame. I go through the same cycle every time. I love the game, I’m having a fantastic time, and then I hit a boss that’s too hard, stall out, and then end up deleting the game to make room on my hard drive.
These games always feel good, and this one might just feel the best of the From games that I’ve played. But that isn’t the factor that might keep me playing longer than usual. Instead, it’s how fast I can start, finish, or fail a mission. Though Armored Core 6 kicks your ass as much as any of the studio’s other action RPGs, the levels are so short that I don’t really mind failing.
In a boss fight I reached today, the checkpoint is so close to the boss that if I don’t dodge as soon as I get control of the character, I’ll take damage from their charge attack. Compare that toElden RingorBloodbornewhere every boss fight begins with a sprint in from a checkpoint. Usually the Bonfire isn’t too far away. But there is some distance that requires your mental energy to cross so that you don’t take damage from a random enemy before you get to the fight you actually need to focus on.
It gives AC6 an immediacy that I really appreciate. It also feels like an invitation to tinker. Oh, you’re getting your ass kicked repeatedly by an enemy? Why not try swapping out your shoulder-mounted rocket launcher for a shield and see if that changes anything. Your gatling gun isn’t doing enough damage? Couldn’t hurt to ditch it for a round for the plasma blaster. You can do it right from the restart screen before you begin another run. The stakes for experimenting are very low — if you die it will have taken, at most, five minutes of your time — but has a great chance of paying dividends.
Missions are short, but you also move like you have a rocket strapped to your back — and basically you do. You’re a blur of metal, quickly traveling over great distances, and if you press in the left stick to throttle, everything else becomes a blur, too. As a result, you rarely spend much time on a level if you know what you’re doing. If you drop in and realize you don’t have the loadout you want, you can drop out, switch it up, and jump back in within a minute or two. It all makes Armored Core 6 feel like something I’ve never experienced in any of FromSoftware’s other games: it plays like an arcade game.
I’ve hopped into Elden Ring or Bloodborne orDark Soulsto grind some experience when I didn’t have much time to play, but Armored Core 6 is the first FromSoft title that feels truly pick-up-and-play. I can turn my controller on, try a boss a few times, set the controller down, and go about my day. I don’t feel like I need to play for long stretches, but as a result of that immediate sense of fun, I find myself playing longer than I expected. Hopefully I end up playing the game as a whole longer than I expect, too. I’d really love to finish one of these things.
NEXT:Lies Of P Has Me Asking: Should I Just Be Playing Bloodborne All The Time?
