A Story Analysis of Armored Core 6

[@jcraa91]

This game really has one of those sneaky stories. Where initially you couldn't care less, then bang, suddenly you are totally invested.

[@GodWarsX]

That happened for me at the beginning of chapter 3 when you get the PCA's attention

[@COHOFSohamSengupta]

When Rusty said "Buddy", I felt something

[@jeast9648]

Yeah as soon as the pca showed up I was like o.k. this is interesting.

[@azevol216]

When ayre came in I got invested in the story

[@halfthefunnn]

It keeps getting better! I'm having a blast!

[@oriongold395]

The reason why 621 can communicate with Ayre is because they are specifically a 4th-generational augmented human, which is why Iguazu is able hear these voices. He is also a 4th-generational augmented human.

[@Iscream4j0y]

What about Thumb?

[@OrgBrent]

​@@Iscream4j0yyeah I wonder that too. Thumb Dolmayan could also hear.

[@Leiru-desu]

​@@OrgBrentHe was hopped up on Coral. Through use of Coral as a drug or some sort of consumable substance...he got to hear his Zeria.

[@crimson-foxtwitch2581]

ALLMIND voiced interest in generations 1-4 because of their ability to directly interface with Coral. I wouldn’t be suprised if gens 1-3 were able to make Contact the way 621 did

[@TheRealXartaX]

@@Iscream4j0yThumb might be a 3rd gen. During a cutscene Allmind highlights four pilots as possible crucial pieces to it's plan. These are C1-249, C3-291, C4-621 and C4-769. C4-621 is the player, obviously. C1-249 is Sulla (identified by Walter during your fight with him. Sulla is also Allmind's preferred candidate for the Coral Release plan, but that's a whole other story. It changes focus to Raven after you kill him). C4-769 is most likely Iguazu as another 4th gen Allmind is interested in. That leaves C3-291, a third gen, which is a completely unknown pilot. This could be Thumb, as he's the only other one shown to interact with Coral whose generation is third or unknown. O'Keeffe is a second gen (confirmed during his kill mission), so it can't be him. Rusty is 8th (claimed, he could be lying about having had the surgery, but I don't see why he'd lie about his generation).

[@alihasanabdullah7586]

The PCA is not incompetent, the closure system worked. But now it has been sabotaged. Evidence can be found by looking into the Branch. There's also a very nice video about it I believe.

[@hacman8732]

I think the PCA isn’t really incompetent but more so dedicated to preserving whatever authority they still have over corps and planets and they do so by planetary closure. Where they essentially lock down planets like rubicon from anyone else while pillaging it for whatever useful tech they can find to augment and enhance their military might the only real source of authority every corporation recognizes by them. So naturally their intentions aren’t exploration for assimilation into the PCA but denial for other corporations and competing authorities so they care less about colonization of planets and more so about pillaging and then locking them down from what I got.

[@baines803]

Also in one of the missions it talks about raven leaking something from them

[@gillsejusbates6938]

so what you are saying, "the PCA is not incompetent, they have been sabotaged, and that somehow completely counters their incompetency? Isnt that the pinnacle of incompetenty? Also their 'Battleships" are easier to take out than an enemy AC or light MT lmao, they are a total joke

[@dawson3776]

@@gillsejusbates6938 its tied by bureaucratic red tape, they can't escalate unless they're permitted to. Their battlefleet was designed to kill MTs, not ACs. It's also not normal for it to be defeated as shown by the fight with Raven, Raven killed a whole fleet and that is *not* normal.

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

@@gillsejusbates6938saying the light MT that goes out to a single handgun shot is weaker than the battleship that you actually have to hit targets on and dodge stuff on top of is just blatantly false. Stop exaggerating.

[@dawson3776]

It's less incompetency as it is bureaucracy. Walter mentioned PCA wasn't suppose to be there, it was Subject Guard territory. But the situation has escalated, so PCA had to step in. That and if it wasn't for us the PCA wouldn't have been defeated.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

Yeah this irked me too. Saying the PCA are incompetent is a misread and goes way too far. Frankly, for an obviously large organization that has a fleet of ships meant to take control of an entire planet, moving what must have been hundreds of thousands of personnel and their associated materiel and weaponry is a HUGE task, and getting to Rubicon 3 with time enough to put an end to the meddling of the corporations once they made their presence abundantly clear is pretty damn fast. It's definitely more a commentary on the slowness of large bureaucracies taking time to react rather than their incompetence. The corporations are leaner, faster, and hungrier, which is why they are able to gain so much ground in the interim between when the PCA realizes they're there and when the PCA arrives, but it's also why they're so immediately knocked on their asses when the PCA does show up. If the PCA were incompetent, then the corpos would have resisted the attack utterly and knocked them away swiftly, but that's not what happens, and they in fact have to team-up and work together, which isn't in their normal interests, in order to defeat them. That actually demonstrates the competence of the PCA, if anything.

[@arsenalxa4421]

There's a quote that applies here. "No one plan ever survives first contact with the enemy." The PCA may have ran several simulations prior to their deployment, but they failed to take into account multiple, uncontrollable variables.

[@sisyphus_strives5463]

Also, the defense system was malfunctioning since someone found an opening by hacking/exploiting an eye, if it were functioning no one would be able to enter the atmosphere

[@bobsonny]

> wasn't **supposed** to be

[@boshwa20]

I just wish Rusty in the other endings had more of a conclusion other than 1) Getting shot off screen 2) Just disappearing from the plot entirely

[@jeast9648]

I think rusty is gonna come back in dlc or something. I don't think he's dead.

[@Chloroxite]

Getting shot off screen vs. Getting shot off script

[@sixft_under]

​@jeast9648 that's what I think too! It seems they at least left it inconclusive as to whether he died or not so they could see if people liked him and that subplot. Considering he was so universally loved, they gotta bring back the boi

[@Jlewis0201]

DLC BABBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYY 🎉

[@Urd-Vidan]

Usually, they make a new game that's an extension to the current AC game. It's like DLC, but a full game that you can put your previous Saves in the main game. So, they could put Rusty in the Extension.

[@crancelbrowser5478]

I personally loved how ambiguous they left the PCA, and whatever shadowy intergalactic government lurks behind it. I think it's actually a really apt and interesting representation of the type of perspective a person living in this type of future might have.

[@jalpat2272]

From the way they conducts themselves, as they stay using codes even at their last breath they are basically police forces or agency that regulated planetary resources extraction they also disciplined corporation that out of their line and their tech are simply better than even Arqueabus imply they are funded straight from government

[@crancelbrowser5478]

@jalpat2272 I think it's kind of thoughtful and realistic that a government that operates light years away from them would be a pretty ambiguous entity, and how the people of this planet would likely only see the PCA as thus sort of vague entity of control that is controlled by an even larger entity

[@DuxSupremus]

Everyone assuming the PCA was created by a massive government somewhere is imposing contemporary geopolitics onto a political situation which bears zero resemblance to the modern world. There is no reason whatsoever to believe that the PCA was created by some kind of unitary government, rather than either A. a coalition of corporations alarmed by the Fires of Ibis setting up an independent and neutral entity (like with how they banded together to fight the Ice Worm), or B. created by numerous local (planetary) governments alarmed by the Fires of Ibis. The "galactic government" idea is purely this video creator's speculation, and the speculation of people used to a world in which corporations are smaller than states, which has not always been the case even in relatively recent history on Earth. (See: the British East India Company ruling over India as recently as 1858, among many other examples.) That all of the PCA's units, like the Ekdromoi special forces, the CATAPHRACT tank, the NEPENTHES cannon, and so on, are all references to Ancient Greece, a place famously *not* under a unified government, and instead dominated by *city states* further makes this clear. Likewise, so does Armored Core VI's heavy thematic basis in both Dune, and Blade Runner, neither of which really features a central controlling government. (The Empire under House Corrino in Dune is a classic feudal system relying on local autonomy.) People are frankly just ignoring all the historical and literary allusions the game makes in order to imagine that somewhere behind the PCA is Halo's UNSC because I guess that's what they're used to, but it's very much not what Armored Core VI is telling you is the case.

[@lostvayne4553]

​@@crancelbrowser5478yeah even as a player I thought what right does some shadowy government have to lay down the law on Rubicon, so it's easy to see how the Liberation Front would think the same and resist them and the corporations

[@teslashark]

Meanwhile, Earth is still prrety fucked as of AC5 @@jalpat2272

[@kanadashyuugo873]

While I know it's a reboot, I want to believe this "revolving door" style Raven title was started by the one who ultimately became the.... Last Raven.

[@ju5t1ce33]

I love this idea

[@serraramayfield9230]

if FS walks back on 6 being an isolated canon, i could see this

[@teslashark]

The Sith!

[@kentyannayon3741]

It does feel like there's been a consistent story since AC3 taking place over centuries, perhaps millennia. The final ending of AC:FA canonically leads to AC5, but it feels like the galactic condition of AC6 could be hundreds or thousands of years after the Lynx war. The use of the term "Raven" to describe a mercenary AC pilot is long forgotten, but somehow a pilot on Rubicon remembers, and you happen to find a wreck they left behind. Regardless, the name will mean something new going forward. The Raven that Rubicon remembers will be famous for generations for being able to achieve the impossible. Some will remember a villain, others will remember a hero, it will all depend on their perspective of events.

[@kanadashyuugo873]

@@kentyannayon3741 How the turns have tabled. So we are the FIRST Raven once again, you mean? :D

[@SomeCameo]

whats so funny to me about AC6 is that after meeting him once i never called him just iguazu. it was always: "f*cking iguazu" and during the big ng++ reveal/battle it became: "F*CKING IGUAZU"

[@thefraser5131]

In the first playthrough I never even knew of his existence, I killed him and moved on. Second playthrough I betrayed him at the dam and fought him multiple times, finding him hilarious. Then on third playthrough I used a guide to guarantee I'd see that ending, and getting closer to the end was unnerving, the final missions of the NG++ path felt "wrong" in a way. And then that feeling of unease became laughter when IT WAS THIS ASSHOLE AGAIN!

[@SomeCameo]

@@thefraser5131 "my actions have brought terrible consequences to those around me, the corps, rubicon and even myself... In my curiosity and blind faith i have unleashed a monster...all that remains is to pull through this las- SON OF A BITCH IS THAT FUCKING IGUAZU?!"

[@7evan]

I understand they wanted a kinda rival character that is built throughout your play throughs of the game but they should've dropped the more whiny part of his character later on if they expected me to take him more seriously. Dude is hilarious whenever he's on screen and even better is the other characters shit-talking him behind his back.

[@AsaelTheBeast]

@@7evan The dumb part is that the Red Guns are supposed to be an elite force. He was basically already pretty high up for an AC pilot. Really, it's his attitude that makes him a loser more than anything. The dude is a contract killer for a soulless mega corp, but he acts like he needs more hugs and praise from his daddy. His ego meant more to him than his own freedom- to the point where he let's allmind fucking absorb him. (Though Allmind is probably the one that regretted it the most in the end.

[@AWholeLegionary]

​@@7evanHe's voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, aka Deadweight.

[@Manray625]

After beating ng++ this games story has stuck with me since and I’ve been clicking on any story/lore related video to it because I just found it so interesting and how well crafted the story was across all three playthroughs

[@maricorp.449]

Amazing story. Was not prepared for the ng++ ending, when shawty comes flying in 😮

[@leonides1527]

The evangelion ending

[@SpottedHares]

Slides shows with tone dead dialogue is well crafted?

[@HawkeyeVoid]

@@SpottedHaresyou must not have made it very far

[@letsbetheawkwardkquorter7159]

@@SpottedHares Correct

[@commandershepard4471]

FromSoft has a very interesting and captivating way of creating deep lore without a huge amount of filler exposition.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

It's a shame that they're the exception on this note, because this is what just used to be considered storytelling competence. The ability to not have to spend ages with exposition and just getting to the core of your story and letting people pick up the "world building" (otherwise just known as the setting) through indirect means was expected, as it showed confidence in your writing and respect for the audience.

[@SpottedHares]

That’s all they are exposition filler. We have to inform said at us unlike the rest of the industry where we either experience it or observe it. Soft Wikipedia of writing, no story just bland exposition.

[@Horvath_Gabor]

I kind of disagree with that. They have relatively straightforward lore told in a fragmented and contradictory way. For example, because the game never fully explains why the Coral is dangerous, or how something only present on this one planet can cause destruction on an inter-solar scale. Because of this, people are still arguing about the morality of the various endings and whatnot. However, if they just straight up told the player what's going on, we could make an informed judgement. Yet, we can't, so everyone is forming big, complicated theories based on whatever snippets of actual, in-game context they encountered, and on the internet, all of that becomes "lore". This is the exact same thing From Soft has been doing with all of their other franchises; they give players a vague scaffold of a plot/history/setting, and then outsource all the lore-building to them. Just look at the guys who analyze Elden Ring's history based on the architectural similarities of various areas (when they are most likely just reused assets, because it's a big open world and not everything can be made from scratch), or people creating huge epileptic-trees style theories to link all the DS games into a single timeline. In reality, a lot of the "lore" probably wasn't ever intended. Much of it was, but I'd wager the majority was never penned down in terms of "Oh, you must put this piece of broken pottery here using these assets, because it's a reference to the Lord Vessel in the previous game and it's all part of this meticulous flowchart of connections I have", but more of a "Just sprinkle in some references, and so long as we don't say anything on the matter, it will keep the fans busy with theorizing". I feel that the same is happening in this game, and it's done on purpose. It's not necessarily a bad thing either, but some people just give waaay too much benefit of the doubt to From Soft and presume that their "lore" makes perfect sense, instead of it just being purposefully obtuse and meaningless just to draw the player's imagination in.

[@madcat789]

Rummy and Brute will always be my favorite characters in Rubicon. Yeah I may have a cute woman in my head who calls me Studmuffin and I may have a best friend who calls me buddy, but how can they top someone whose Invincible and someone whose so Honest?

[@d4arken3ds0ul]

Its worth noting that honest brute (a fucking madman) is the only person to thank you for besting them besides ayre in the simulation lol

[@Orphim]

@@d4arken3ds0ul Pretty sure that's just because he's so ingrained as a pathological liar that he can't even tell the truth of how angry and hateful he is that you just bested him and killed him. He lies so much, he thanks you for even that. He just can't actually be "Honest" at all.

[@conradshtock3039]

With a pilebunker. To the face.

[@d4arken3ds0ul]

@@conradshtock3039 lol im just seeing a poster for like a military or resistance recruitment And its like: “Join now and save rubicon!” With an image of a pilebunker below it

[@g00gleisgayerthanaids56]

​@@Orphimwhat makes him seem like a pathological liar?

[@marcelsf23br]

The more I think about this story, the more I like it. I know it might be unlikely, but I do hope they expand on it like For Answer and Verdict Day did before.

[@zen_7748]

My favourite ending is Liberator of Rubicon. I'd fight for the corpos indefinitely for the money if it wasn't for the incorporeal girlfriend that plugged into my head.

[@shadowrealm3245]

nah it was all about staying buddies with rusty

[@egoalter1276]

I would say the most emotionally satisfying ending is definitely fires of Raven. Doesnt hurt that it has by far the best bossfight in the entire game.

[@zacheryeckard3051]

The PCA is run by the System, which is stated directly to be an AI (though by the possible unreliable narrator that is Dosers). Notably, in the ice cave survey when you go up and left to find the PCA troops, over the radio there is an exchange where they report the situation and the System responds with a simple "proceed" to which they say "what the hell does that mean?" So in the literal sense we have the alien and distant AI, but on the narrative level it's probably a *literal* allegory for a cold and unfeeling and distant government, and for broader systemic issues. It's out of touch.

[@baitbait65]

It's interesting that there's AllMind and the System. Two big AIs supporting different groups of pilots. I wonder if/how they interact.

[@Kreozot2D]

I liked fires of raven ending the most. All this "saving the coral" and "evolving with it" is a very undefined and a high risk endeavor. Even knowing that coral is a sentient lifeform, there is no guarantee that greedy corporations wouldn't stab each other in the back to obtain it and use it as a weapon of galaxy scale destruction long after the events of the game. Destroying all of it guarantees safety from interstellar warfare that threatens the very existance of humanity. If there was a safe method of disposing of coral, I think Overseers would easily choose it to prevent a whole solar system from burning again. They are simply pragmatic and chose the most defined and reliable way to ensure humanity's future. Also, this is a more personal story to Raven. Walther never betrayed 621 and gave the player a choice, believing in him. Credit to writers again, all of these characters are very well written, and I find Cinder Carla and Chatty some of the best characters in the game. Unlike Ayre, who comes late to the party and feels emotionally manipulative and naiive with her idea to Raven who doesn't have a full picture. This ending brings deaths to billions of people who were in that solar system, and Raven, if alive, has to live with knowlege of murdering all of them, not mentioning the murder of coral life. And this leads to death of Rusty, who is almost like Solaire, totally bro of all bros. And it's the cost of securing humanity's future, which in this case would be safe from coral fires across the galaxies and coral weapons used by people to kill people on scale of solar systems. All of that leads me to believe that there is no true "good" or "bad" ending of this game. It's all an uncertainty. Death of all coral means that the cyberpunk future stays the same as in other games in the series, with all corporate wars and manipulations, politics and greed. Merging with coral means that countless people will be merged with coral without consent and probably dooming known biological lifeforms, making them one with coral. Storing coral means even worse - there is no guarantee that there will be another person who will try to ignite the Flames after coral multiplies even more, or takes it for political and economical interests. Of all coral lifeforms the player knows only Ayre, it is dumb to judge all of coral based on what Ayre presents herself. Nothing would be worse than complete murderous psychopaths than same murderous psychopaths who can explode like a nuclear bomb, making a chain reaction across the star systems. And as the author said, the government is not shown in this game. The PCA is as strict and agressive as it is because of the present threat. There is no evidence that humanity on other planets in other star systems exists like they do on Rubicon or worse. Change may be for the better, and for worse, it's a gamble and nobody can see the future. Defending the 3rd ending and saying that "it's the best one ever, 100%", is quite like defending practices of Byrgenwerth. On the chance that all of humanity will become like Great Ones. And completely ignoring that almost everybody who has a hint of old blood in their veins is doomed to go mad at some point and turn into the beast. With only person who transcended being the protagonist of Bloodborne in one of three endings, with every human ascension being possible only after 3 births of Great Ones.

[@jadkirk893]

Spoken like a person grounded in reality and not huffing on Reddit tier ideology. thumbs up

[@NKWittmann]

Yeah but y'know, "Change" and resisting being turned into a cloudy red mist is a losing battle

[@TheBayzent]

I pick that ending for the same reason I pick Destroy in Mass Effect. Alien scum gets the flammer 100% of the time. No exceptions.

[@spark9189]

genocide is pure evil and has no justification under any circumstance. no exceptions. to quote mass effect (which i swear fires of raven and alea iacta est both take inspiration from) "i won't let fear compromise who i am" (note that that line is bad in context since it's justifying a choice made out of fear, but the idea is there).

[@Kreozot2D]

You are so morally righteous at the cost of potential death of every living thing across known cosmos. Can't do anything but adore your position on genocide, especially when you are fortifying that position by confusing fear with calculated move to mitigate risk.

[@FortressWolf97]

Something interesting about the name "Raven" is that those birds are usually associated with strife and unkindness. This could mean the Ravens are sentimentally or emotional detached to any cause, simply tossing themselves into the wind and seeing where they end up next.

[@davidgreen3001]

That's something some stupid art student would come up with.

[@FortressWolf97]

@@davidgreen3001 I try.

[@needy3535]

​@@davidgreen3001"I'm 12 and this is deep" ass mf

[@malum9478]

depends on the culture. in european culture that may be the case, but in amerindian cultures crows and ravens are auspicious and benign characters--signs of good luck and of spiritual enlightenment. importantly, in japan specifically the crow is a figure of divinity. the yatagarasu was said to be what led the yamato people to the lands of japan, and yokai associated with corvids are typically martial masters and wise.

[@LowIntSpecimen]

Another interesting fact is that ravens are sometimes known to form a symbiotic relationship with wolves.

[@draysmusicalshtposts6340]

Def my favorite of the AC stories, though it has the advantage of Fromsofts resources in the modern day. I would've maayyybe liked a longer period of the classic corpo politics mercenary work before going all in on the alien coral stuff but it was a fun and engaging ride through all 3 endings.

[@christopherlyndsay8611]

I agree, more missions based around the corps early on couldve fleshed out interesting characters such as Freud and Raven, who had very little in game time.

[@VictorIV0310]

@@christopherlyndsay8611OG Raven/Nightfall and the rest of the BRANCH crew deserved a bigger role in the story!

[@LordRazer3]

22:40 Chartreuse, king, and possibly Raven (nightfall) are said to have attached and damaged station 31. This would have left a gap for the companies to slip through the orbital defense or at the vary least give them better odds of surviving

[@bobsonny]

attacked *

[@randomaether]

I believe there are no bad endings. There is a reason they say, "No one shall cast the dice." It's a gamble, one that sentences the rest of humanity, because this is no evolution, in real terms, it's a leap of faith.

[@ju5t1ce33]

Weeeeeell… killing about 70%-80% of humanity to "force evolution" sounds pretty bad. It’s literally the "only the strong will survive" type of ending. Personally: I’d rather die than have my body essentially destroyed and my consciousness put inside an AC. I’ve always hated the whole 'ghost in the machine' because of "space magic" or "alien magic" stories. It’s why some universes of Gundam turn me off.

[@illusionaryphantom3470]

There are no intended 'good' or 'bad' engings. It's only about choosing sides and loyalty. Your good ending is where your loyalty is. Burn it all, carry the torch Walter entrusted you with, stay loyal to being human, and that's gonna be your hard, pricey, but good ending. Or let yourself sink in manipulations of alien voice in your head, betray your friends, and let RLF win a battle and hope for the best, that's gonna be your leap of faith, which you would feel good about. Or you can side with flawed AI and force the questionable 'evolution' of humanity, and if you're into it, that's too gonna be your good ending. Fromsoft really made honest moral choices. It's up to your morals to decide which is good outcome.

[@moobysnaxx6086]

Considering only the older augments can communicate with coral, I think the others just have their conscious assimilated by the coral like Ayre and become a weird coral AI

[@dhoffnun]

It's fascinating - it's a reference to the die of chance like in the famous speech, but the meaning of "casting the die" from manufacturing applies as well - it implies shaping action that creates irreversible change.

[@primeEmu16]

Beautifully said haha. I went with the fires of raven my first run because i wanted to carry on walter's will.

[@TherusOneWolf]

"it is possible the entirety of the armored core universe is governed by an AI" Holy moly, did they keep Nineball in the series?!

[@dhoffnun]

Best Strongbad voice: "The SYSTEM is DOWN"

[@f1r3hunt3rz5]

"Commencing hostilities."

[@Ikcatcher]

AC6 story is peak Ace Combat anti-war melodrama and I’m all here for it

[@MrHidePatten]

Well of course you want to help Ayre, since she has a calm nice voice for an alien super mass. If they sound red like the Reapers from Mass Effect, we’ll…

[@mkemia814]

Her rhetoric and diction alone creep me the hell out, man. She’s so aloof and esoteric, and talks about symbiosis with humanity so much when when we are aware of how deadly coral exposure can be to an exceeding majority of humans (e.g.: Generation 1). She gives off magnitudes of naivety at best, and willful, reckless, near-genocidal ignorance at worst, to me.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

It's a good point. If every alien voice sounded like Siri, then some jerk's gonna simp for her and bring about the destruction of humanity.

[@teslashark]

*angry Immulsion noises

[@SpottedHares]

She a back seat driver who never provides anything helpful at all.

[@Pale_Kingg]

*DOOM music intensifies*

[@gabethedragon]

One of the things that I like about AC6, specifically about the PCA, is how they don't really use AC's. Sure they have a few contractees like Sulla, but when you're fighting boss-mechs they're always home-grown PCA projects made with the best tech government-backed military budgets can buy. Ekdromoi, and especially Heavy and Light Cavalry all seem like PCA efforts to simultaneously improve on and mass-produce AC units used by the corps & others.

[@malum9478]

they also reinforce the thematic "stagnancy" of corps, as the main strength of AC's is their modularity, their ability to change and adapt. while calvary units are static--they can't change their equipment or otherwise be augmented or modified in any way.

[@ROBALHC]

Sulla don't work for PCA :)

[@Aereto]

The PCA employ LCs and HCs, which do not have the modularity of ACs, but unlikely to require the augmentations necessary to adapt to changes to the AC setup.

[@cjthenarhwalking1378]

Spoilers for ng++ Sulla doesn't work for the PCA he works for allmind.

[@ender25ish]

"we'll talk about the NG+++ ending in another video" *glances at **1:00:39* Jesus is that not enough?

[@jeshegames]

First time? (First FromSoft game?)

[@necfreon6259]

@@jeshegames yeah well they didn’t make Detroit become human or the quary did they

[@ilikestarwars4438]

Wait is there a seperate ending for NG+++? I thought the final one was NG++

[@d4arken3ds0ul]

The pca was actually introduced early on in illegal entry. The show of force by just the filter copter (sadly i cannot recall its model name) just decimating the MT squads like they are nothing

[@cjthenarhwalking1378]

I think he was referring to the suppression fleet/main force, not the subject guard. As for the chopper I think it was a PCA heavy combat helicopter.

[@jeast9648]

I hope that at some point we can get pca parts though. Like that shield the warrant officer has that he can bash you with.

[@Jlewis0201]

This game oozes dlc

[@PeacefulJoint]

I like the machine gun that looks like a ppsh

[@jarmars2777]

And we'll gladly pay for it.

[@Artaxerxes.]

Same. I want those pca parts. There's also the high mobility LC that looks nice

[@Prockski]

⁠@@Jlewis0201 All AC mainline games have additional content. It’s been that way since 1997.

[@PhabioTheHost]

Something you might not have considered but burning the coral IS change. because human augmentation that is required to pilot ACs is impossible w/o coral. Meaning the private armies of the corporations are defanged because AC pilots were kinda like superstars capable of amazing feats as army killers. Now wars go back to numbers and tech rather than an individual or small group's skill. This change isnt super huge by any means but it does give the PCA(and gov in general) an overwhelming advantage against corporation in the coming centuries after the last AC pilots die.

[@Warpded]

Can Aug Humans die due to age? Or would Raven have to be killed in combat?

[@stanharold7641]

In the arena bios it is stated that the new generation of augmented humans do not require coral.

[@edenwarr9670]

V.I Freud has zero augmentations.

[@astratan2238]

Just a note for the PCA - I don’t think they’re incompetent at all. Governed by an AI and obsessed with predicting things based on collected data, they make exactly the same mistake as allmind. The reason their closure efforts are patchy is because it only accounts for the clear and present situation on Rubicon at the start of the game. The corps are fighting each other over largely meaningless ground containing little to no accessible coral, and the RLF are in no position to do anything other than try to survive. They don’t commit more resources because they don’t need to. Exactly as you would expect from an organisation that is entirely built on maximising efficiency. Time and again though, their failure is that they don’t and can’t predict rogue factors like us or indeed the original Raven, who seems to have been responsible for revealing there was still coral on rubicon and thus bringing the corps to the planet. They can’t predict that overseer will have the resources and expertise necessary to crack the defences of a watchpoint or find the coral mass under the ice field. As soon as the risk of discovery rises their response is efficient and immediate, but they can’t anticipate the ability of the other factions to ‘evolve’ and co-operate - especially with the wildcards of RaD’s tech and the skill of the player character. They’ve already let too much into the planet to stop it. Their reaction is effective, but too late. They think we’re the original raven, which is bad enough, but we’re actually better and even more dangerous. This leads to them losing several key battles to us because they never marshal the force required to take us down fast enough. Note how all the ops against them require disrupting their communications, and that as soon as they get a chance to identify the threat we pose they deploy a weapon we simply cannot defend against in the form of the ice worm. Had this happened earlier, there’s every chance we would have died. The PCA are like allmind, they place too much emphasis on predicting events and fail to account for rogue factors that inevitably lead to their fall because their ability to adapt and compensate always lags just too far behind to be successful. They’re a warning against placing efficiency as the only imperative, and relying too much on data rather than accounting for chaos.

[@anzullic]

Thank you for making these videos. Usually I don't watch these types of videos, but when I came across your God of War videos, I got the sense of "This guy sees and understands something I don't".

[@SSpider41]

The Branch organization destroyed part of the defense system. That's why Raven is so high on the PCA hitlist.

[@MrZuriax]

This is an amazing analysis of AC6's story. Thank you Brett this was great to listen to.

[@dialaskisel5929]

I saw a Sea Spider when I was getting ready to sit in the cargo launcher. So I got up, rolled up a newspaper and very, very carefully set the entire planet on fire.

[@BigPanda096]

Armored core explained with Metroid music is something I didn't know I needed.

[@Eyoldaith]

Guessing the PCA is a large interstellar government body, wouldn’t be surprised if the reason why they failed to stop the corps was because the rest of their fleets would take too long to get to rubicon. Would also explain why they showed up so late in the story, they might have been made aware of the invasion earlier on but simply been unable to get there faster, in addition to the internal issues OG Raven probably caused. Don’t remember if it was ever stated how long interstellar travel takes in the ACVI universe. Or maybe there’s just too much red tape lol

[@MatthewOfGilead]

"We gotta embrace our evolution man. If we don't evolve we will never, like, progress, you know? So yeah, eat this Radium 226. It will make you immortal, trust me."

[@astratan2238]

*stabs him in the gut, watches the wound heal* I fuckin told you man… _immortal_

[@egoalter1276]

A lot of the core points of the story are left intentionally unsaid, to make the endings more ambigous. Its hard to make a velue judgement on something that is completely undefined.

[@ChuxPadaina]

Loved this video and I love the story and characters of Armored Core. I look forward to all the upcoming videos

[@aguspuig6615]

i didnt expect the story to be that interesting tbh. Awsome job with the video too!

[@bfranciscop]

Re: 3:34 the nature of the augmentation isn't spelled out explicitly, but it is something we can deduce based on the logs. Consider that coral is organic, and can transfer data. Consider that some logs talk about experiments regarding human perception, and how some of the text in the AC parts designed by Allmind speak towards bipedal units being the easiest, because that is how the human body perceives itself. It is my belief that human augmentation is a technology used to interface the human nervous system with computer systems, using coral as a medium. So essentially the AC pilot can perceive and control the mech's body with his mind, by connecting his brain to the AC's computer control systems. This is why bipedal units are easier. And this is why Ayre can speak to enhanced humans: the augmentation feeds into the pilot's perception, his sight and hearing... so naturally a coral entity can learn to stimulate the coral present in the pilot's augs, in order to speak directly into his mind.

[@Icipall]

Hey, just finished NG++ in AC6 and could start watching your analysis videos of it. Really enjoying them, but I'm confused somewhat about RLF portion here. You say that the RLF seem to be aiming towards peaceful coexistence with Coral and know it is alive, but what Thumb Dolmayan says during the fight against him and especially after you defeat him in the "Survey The Uninhabited Floating City - ALT" mission seems to counter that: *How much of our hymn have you heard, menace? "Coral, abide with Rubicon. Coral, endure within us all. For none of us shall cast the die!" The Coral must not be set free!* This seems to indicate that Dolmayan, after making Contact with Seria, at least sees the RLF more as prison guards, trying to ensure that the Coral will stay on Rubicon, that no one will gets its hands on it, in the fear of either second Fires of Ibis or the Coral Convergence. And the way other RLF members quote just the first part of their hymn, and other "fingers" and Rusty never talking about it, seems to indicate that they don't know that Coral is alive, and see RLF as a way to liberate their home from the eke of the corporations, and Coral just as valuable, if dangerous, natural resource. That's why Dolmayan comes after Raven in 'Elea Acta Iest' route, cause he realizes that they're traying to achieve Coral Convergence.

[@OperationRedFlag]

I don’t think the “original” coral voices(personalities) are actually from the coral itself rather I think they were the people wiped out in the fires of ibis and when burned by the coral(an organic data cluster), their consciousness was digitalized into the coral flow. Hence why ayre mentioned that “this WAS her home” when fighting through the ruins of institute city. Given that coral is an organic data cluster (an organic network) that makes sense as to how we would be augmented and how ayre is so capable of hacking and other technological interfaces. When we connected with ayre it’s like connecting a voice call but instead of voice alone it connects consciousness itself. We just tapped into the network is all and those we connect with were digitalized.

[@gunnarschlichting9886]

While I think it is possible for a human mind to be completely "uploaded" to the Coral network, I don't think that's what happened to Ayre. Instead, it's likely that a lot of people's minds were absorbed by the Coral during the Fires of Ibis, but as mentioned in her introductory scene, were likely swept up in it. I think these minds ended up getting dispersed/dissolved, but those thoughts and memories ended up creating the conditions for new minds that more closely resemble a human's to be created within the Coral itself. To put it another way, I think Ayre was born within the Coral, but she was born from (some of) the thoughts and memories of people who were absorbed by the Coral and were dispersed.

[@NKWittmann]

I think that's precisely the intended lore

[@OperationRedFlag]

@@NKWittmann yeah after listening to all the dialogue and going through all endings and achievements It’s the only conclusion I can come to, especially when it gets into how all mind assimilated iguazu. And we still don’t know if all mind was an institute ai passing itself off as a mercenary program or if an institute ai hijacked the already in place program or if the coral is what caused all mind to become sentient and then corrupt so it’s honestly just process of elimination at this point

[@TheD404]

personally, I don't see the fires of raven ending as the rejection of evolution and thematic change. I actually believe the fires of raven ending is overall the best one. I think, by burning the coral, you not rejecting change but instead are rejecting a change that is without choice. I think NG++ ending is a good example of what I mean. Allmind wants to achieve coral collapse in a way that would let her use the wave as a way to connect her mind to all of humanity and its machines. She does this because she believes that she can bring about true evolution to humanity. When realizing this, it is hard not to compare her goals to Ayre's. After all, Ayre constantly talks about how she believe in the ability for coral and humanity to conjoin and therefore evolve just like Allmind. And while Ayre might be much nicer to us and ask us to do things while Allmind takes that liberty for herself, Ayre can be just as cold and forthright with her goals. There is also the fact that, in the very same way as Allmind, Ayre never ASKS if EVERYONE would want to be connected to the coral. When looking at Iguazu we can see just how bad unwanted connection to coral can be. He literally has a constant, mind splitting connection that only gets worse as he comes closer to coral contacted entities. There is also the consideration that coral can very much become an addiction as seen with the dozers and even somewhat with the RLF. I think coral in a very literal sense can be seen as an alien hivemind that wants to consume and conjure all minds into itself as a way of evolution that is brought without choice. Allmind could be seen in a very similar light. In a more thematic sense coral and Allmind could represent the worst parts of a civilizations evolution, one where people suffer due to a societies reluctance to rely on their own individual ability to change and create something better. I like to think O'Keeffe's dialogue is a very good warning about the dangers coral can bring. He speaks on how life can suck and make you wish to never be born, but that those experiences are what makes you human and those pains are no good reason to throw away the divers wheel i.e. coral collapse. O'Keefe's relation ship to Pater is also a good example of this mindset. There is also the whole RLF ending but TLDR I think that ending is more or less a pause button to the inevitability of coral collapse.

[@thorinhannahs4614]

Yes sir. Forcibly connecting my consciousness to everyone else? No. Taking away my physicality? No. Having an entity in my head whenever they want? No. Humans were doing just fine without Coral and will do just fine without it. Ayre shows Coral's skynet potential in the fires ending. Wow nice Satellite Cannon you have there, floaty float hack hack, haha mine now.

[@alexforster4598]

I disagree that the fires ending is objectively the worst. We get a very narrow view of what the coral wants from one mouth, Ayre. With no way of knowing what her true intentions are or what convergence (joining of human and coral) will really mean. I think it’s more wishful thinking to champion the melding of two separate sentient species as the best option when we have no idea what that would actually produce. It could be that the people handed over to the coral will completely lose their free will, sense of self, or anything that makes them remotely human. That being said great vid, always appreciate your content!

[@Linus8472]

I loved this story so much while playing through it. Only to have the details highlight its quality in analysis...... The beauty of it is simply tear-jerking. 💯💯

[@Implicacean]

Millions is an extreme low ball for the death toll of the fires of ibis. We're looking at the remains of a densly developed *thriving* arcology. It definitely had a greater population than modern day Earth. Then consider the extraplanetary infrastructure and nearby colonies required to support galactic scale trade of coral as an energy resource. I figure the death toll would be in the hundreds of billions

[@leonides1527]

One small detail i like from the bad ending is. After the explosion we see 621 run from the explosion. But rather than just full sprint. They're struggling to get the boosters going cause they just got through fighting ayre (who of course gave em one hell of a beating)

[@Mestari1Gaming]

And we don't know if 621 survived that or died. But the "legacy" of 621 lives on, right? Also frick Ayre, humanity rules, flesh is the best. 🦴🥩

[@bobsonny]

You can say "fuck" on the internet. Nobody is going to tell on you.

[@ChopinNuzlocke]

My interpretation of the RLF isn't as optimistic as yours, mostly due to their full hymn: "Coral, abide with Rubicon. Coral, endure within us all. For none of us will cast the die." This, along with the Dolmayan Writings of 3, 4, and 5, indicate that the RLF doesn't actually want the symbiosis that Coral Release would provide.

[@crimson-foxtwitch2581]

If anything, ALLMIND said it best immediately after you kill Thumb Dolmayan. “The Rubicon Liberation Front’s ‘symbiosis’ is nothing more than exploitation of Coral”

[@thorinhannahs4614]

Yeah RLF have settled on using the Coral to feed the mealworms so the people of Rubicon can eat the mealworms. More of a circle of life deal.

[@warcrimes390]

I saw the RLF as more of the 13 colonies declaring independence, they just want autonomy from outside tyrannical forces

[@techissus7449]

​@@warcrimes390more like the PLA, considering they literally have liberation in their name. And they're against large corporations looking to exploit their land for profit

[@CheeseWithMold]

So glad I was confused by the story. Happy to have found this channel!

[@skeltaldelegate5408]

Glad to know you're dedicating an entire video to Walter. He is the best part of the story for me. From his unmatched foresight, planning, and genius, to his resolve and selfless ambition to achieve his lifelong goal, to his tragic sacrifice despite the loss of his friends, Carla, and the betrayal of 621 (in the Liberator ending). His post-mortem message in the Fires ending is sad and makes me really dislike the other endings for how pointlessly 621 betrays him. Most people seem to trust Coral when as far as I'm concerned, its no different than the markers from the Dead Space universe (imaginary gf included).

[@massaosaito4084]

A planet with a unique natural resource that can be used to enhance humans? I see that the writers of Fromsoftware have also read Dune

[@davidgreen3001]

Sci-fi goes beyond what just came out last year. If that's your idea of "oh that's dune" then nearly every sci-fi piece in existence is inspired by dune with this logic.

[@SudsyMedusa53]

​​​​@@davidgreen3001Dune didn't come out last year, it came out in 1965, and almost *every* science fiction story made after 1965 is in some way influenced, if not directly inspired by Dune, from Star Wars to Warhammer 40,000. Furthermore, the parallels between Rubicon and Arrakis are very obvious. A desolate inhospitable world with an extremely valuable and dangerous resource that only exists on that world, with the power to dramatically enhance human physiology and psychology, The planets natives have organized into a guerilla warrior cult with significant spiritual and religious ties to the substance, multiple powerful off-world factions coming into exploit the resource whilst waging full scale wars with each other and the natives, a hero comes from off world and joins forces with a native woman to wrest control from the occupying forces and usher in a new golden age of humanity using the substance, and last but certainly not least, a giant sand worm.

[@davidgreen3001]

@@SudsyMedusa53 I didn't see any connections until you mentioned the Sand worm. It's all coming together now. But in all seriousness, that's a much more fair response and my initial comment was potentially a missed shot from the hip. I don't know the original commenter's intention but generally most people that reference Dune only know about it because of the movie but you clearly know what you're talking about here beyond the average "oh em gee latest movie I saw was the best movie ever everything created after this movie must have been inspired by it". There is a very large crowd out there that's like this and that's the image I set in my head when I made the original comment. You're very reasonable, level headed, and make a compelling argument. Have a nice day.

[@SudsyMedusa53]

@@davidgreen3001 Woah, reasonable, non vitriolic arguments? In my KZbin comment section? What kind of bizzaro world is this? Thanks dude, have a nice day yourself!

[@jooot_6850]

@@davidgreen3001"New sci-fi or Dune again" "Dune" every time man. 40k, Star Wars, now Armored Core, it's all just Dune

[@shmo7708]

I really wasn't that interested until ng++ where I was suddenly insanely curious

[@VictorIV0310]

A lot of elements from Dune can be seen in this game: Both stories involve a war being fought on a distant planet over control of an extremely rare and valuable resource (Coral/Spice melange), while the planet's native inhabitants (Rubicon Liberation Front/Fremen) try to fight off the invaders. One of the bosses is essentially a giant mechanical worm similar to the Arrakian sandworms. There is a third party (ALLMIND/Bene Gesserit) that is manipulating the various factions in order to advance their own agenda of uplifting humanity. Finally, in the "Liberator of Rubicon" ending, 621 ends up becoming a rallying symbol for the RLF to drive the corporations off of Rubicon, much like how Paul ended up leading the Fremen against the Harkonnens at the end of the novel. Being extrasolar/interstellar organizations with significant financial pull and hefty stakes in a valuable resource at the expense of the natives, the Corporations duking it out on Rubicon-3 are pretty much the Great Houses of the Landsraad. Between their religious reverence of a valuable resource unique to their planet, and their status as a native resistance struggling against interstellar conglomerates attempting to exploit said resource, the RLF bears more than a passing resemblance to the Fremen. With its heavy firepower, strong enforcement of order around Rubicon-3 and sense of authority, the PCA comes across as a tad reminiscent of both House Corrino and the Spacing Guild. Its powerful arsenal is also akin to the Sadaukar in terms of threat-level compared to what the Corporations and RLF have.

[@mdd4296]

Coral also has this element of being a hivemind that potentially incorporate a lot of consciousness from the past into one similar to how spice can awaken ancestor memory in certain people. RLF's symbol also contain attire associated with the desert even when there is no proper "desert" on rubicon.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

Having just read through to God Emperor of Dune, I have to agree. There are a LOT of parallels here between Dune and AC6. Perhaps the biggest difference really is that there simply is no deeply conservative lead like Leto the 2nd, who tries to figure out a way to use the spice/coral and the native alien biology to the planet to preserve humanity without fully destroying the coral/spice in the process. The ALLMIND ending is rather the opposite, with a faction working very hard to alter humanity instead.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

@@mdd4296 The area you destroy the STRIDER in is definitely a desert. They even call it the something Dunes, if I recall correctly. Also, technically frigid tundra regions are deserts, because even though they're usually covered in ice, they don't receive much rainfall, which is the defining feature what makes a desert, a desert. So a lot of the ice sheet area you run around in during Chapter 3 might be considered a desert.

[@singyiulim]

the reason why we are able to get passed the satellite defense system on the orbit is because of the independent ACs from the "Branch" and especially Raven. That's why we got his license. they had a heated battle with the PCA to have weakened them

[@vice.nor.virtue]

I love that you chosee the Metroid Prime 2 soundtrack for the Torvus Bog as the background for this. So much nostalgia! ♥😻😻 I really wish that you could have included some more Metroid Prime music in this video as there are 3 games and the soundtracks are all stellar. ⭐⭐⭐

[@KTheStruggler]

The idea of an alien so outside of our conception of regular life that it can force a sort of cooperative evolution that results in a single evolved form of life is wild.

[@kasuraga]

44:25 Another thing to mention about this mission, arquebus gives you AND rusty the same job. "A lone merc went in unauthorized, we don't allow this, kill them" It doesn't matter who gets there first, they both will be pinned into a fight to kill one another to complete their job. I wouldn't be surprised if arquebus had their suspicions about Rusty, and with Raven being so powerful as well, either one of them being dead is going to be a good thing. Even better if they both die.

[@TheSnaveeelPlaysGames]

That’s what I thought at first but I think the preferred outcome was 621 coming out on top. When Raven reaches the hidden city and fights the Vesper and turncoat Redgun, the Vesper repeatedly calls for back up. In NG+++ we hear Snail say he’s intentionally left them to be killed by Raven so that he can destroy the Ibis unit protecting the coral. Rusty being an RLF member, would not have gone after the Coral, but Snail himself, considering the likelihood that his cover was blown.

[@Hyperdisk]

That mission made me stop wanting to be Rustys "buddy". On ng I gave him the chance to not fight, wondering if it'd be like swineburn and a choice appears. Then on ng+ Flatwell even shows up and tells Rusty we could be allies. Rusty actively choose to try and kill us. Then after we've killed our friends he tries to act all friendly like we never stopped being buddies. His one fight with unlimited energy was really cool though

[@TheSnaveeelPlaysGames]

@@Hyperdisk Yeah, that was a weak point in the story. It was an opportunity for Rusty to discover what our true intentions were as individual. Are we for or against the corporations. During the fight, when he figures out we’ve both been double crossed, he should’ve gave us a choice to end the fight like you said. I was utterly confused why Flatwell was attacking me! While telling Rusty to stop 😅 It would have given us more opportunity to double down on The Fires Of Raven ending or change our mind, eventually joining Rusty and him saying “I knew you’d come round… Buddy.”

[@Rubbly]

Looking forward to more videos on the story here! Great vid! G1 Michigan especially ;)

[@vermil4894]

Ayre may be lifeform born from coral, but she is too human to be alien honestly. And Coral is not as intelligent as its mutations, like Ayre. Coral is as it stated not only an energy souce but data conduit too. I think that in the fires of ibis when a lot of people died coral absorbed some of the data from humans and it allowed coral mutations to become someone like Ayre.

[@krokenlochen]

Glad I wasn’t the only one, I thought that’s the whole deal with human evolution/symbiosis.

[@crimson-foxtwitch2581]

ACVD did confirm the existience of certain mechs being able to interact with human souls, and Ayre implies ***immediately*** the ability for Coral to absorb human souls.

[@larrymunn5279]

Sure makes a hell of a lot more sense to me. I initially assumed Ayre was a human consciousness swallowed or copied by coral. But she seemed? To refute that later. Still makes more sense to me.

[@gunnarschlichting9886]

@@larrymunn5279 This makes the most sense to me as well. It never made sense to me to consider her literally a human consciousness that was absorbed by the Coral, but the idea that the Fires of Ibis absorbing a bunch of people's minds (remembering when we first meet Ayre she is talking about our consciousness being "scattered among the Coral flow" or something to that extent), and all those scattered thoughts and memories providing the potential for new, human-esque minds to develop within the Coral seems the most likely outcome.

[@skeltaldelegate5408]

A non-human organism appearing "too human" is more than likely an act of mimicry either to evade predators (humans using Coral) or as a form of predation itself (if Coral can interface with machinery and control it, then who's to say Coral that can interface with a human's nervous system can't control it).

[@LVmobster27]

Okay now I understand why this and Evangelion are some of my favorite things. Because they explore the terrible risks and potential costs of artificial evolution. Guess there’s really no shortcuts to being a better person

[@Triannosaurus]

I find it hilarious how the PCA can make these crazy AC’s but their starships go down in one shot 😂

[@gamedominatorxennongdm7956]

The starships are more like carriers really, they're there to bring there actual main force which are the specialized mt's.

[@tarikhuremovic1211]

They are made to shoot you from way higher up so the topside is never supposed to be reachable. Thats why the topside is also way less armed. They were never intended to face opponents anywhere near their equal. I heard someone explain it as they are not military but space cops, there just to subjugate.

[@Triannosaurus]

@@tarikhuremovic1211 true I mean yeah that’s the explanation, but I can easily counter with how the pca specializes in the shield tech, I feel like that can easily be implemented to protect the control center. Lol I’m nitpicking obviously tho

[@jooot_6850]

I agree. For balance purposes, I kinda get it, but even then, they feel way too weak. And for believability reasons.. a ship full of hundreds of men and tens of MTs is an extremely valuable asset, and would be fiercely guarded.

[@mistermann4163]

The thing that always gets me about this game is that a select group of Fromsofts staff left them and made their own AC like game Daemon X Machina back in 2019 on switch to also release it on PC in 2020. Looking at 6 it felt like they took some notes of what AC6 was going to be and incorporated it's own sentient Red Matter that had valuable applications but at the cost of a massive explosion to discover it. I haven't gotten that far in AC6(near the end of Chapter 2 with life being top priority currently) but the first trailer about AC6 came out that was the first thing that came to mind for how similar the two stories are. But there are massive differences like DXM feeling like it's retreading the first/third AC's plotline with a lot of story gumming up the gameplay with stopping you mid mission to talk instead of show.

[@DuxSupremus]

I've addressed this in a bunch of separate comments, but I'd like to point out to everyone imagining that there's a big government somewhere in the Armored Core VI universe, that there has only once ever been a government entity of note in the Armored Core franchise, and that was the Central Union of Earth in Armored Core 2: Another Age. (You could make an argument for DOVE/The Controller in Layered in Armored Core 3, but that was an AI that was failing; and for Father ruling The City in Armored Core V, but considering he needed The Corporation to rule, he's more just a warlord.) Every other game has centered the corporations as being ascendant, in typical cyberpunk fashion. (But not Cyberpunk, the franchise, as states like NUSA and Japan are still more powerful than Militech and Arasaka.) I'm not sure what part of Armored Core VI doesn't *scream* cyberpunk at people, when it's the most cyberpunk installment ever with human augmentation (Human PLUS) being put front and center, but it is. To draw an analogy, the Subject Guard are like NCPD in Night City, and the PCA are like MaxTac. They're not a military, they're cops. This is why their "high-ranking officers" are First Lieutenants and Captains. Those are nothingburger junior ranks in an army. They are high ranks in a police force. Just like the NCPD and MaxTac don't really answer to a government because Night City is an independent city (and really run by Night Corp, not a mayor's office), neither do the SG and PCA. You can tell because: 1. the PCA name all their stuff after ancient Greece, Ekdromoi (ancient Greek light Hoplites), NEPENTHES (a potion given to Helen of Troy), CATAPHRACT (commonly heavy cavalry in the Eastern Roman Empire but first coined during the early Roman Empire from Greek roots), which was not a very centralized place, Alexander the Great be damned; 2. the PCA never gets reinforced after taking heavy losses despite saying any defiance was "a declaration of war" in their own intro, meaning they are their own actor and not acting on anyone else's behalf-they are their own boss; 3. the PCA continues to negotiate in the Fires of Raven ending despite having been abjectly disgraced and humiliated, which would result in any government above it stepping in to negotiate in its place, if any such government existed. It doesn't exist. There is no government above the PCA. There is no evidence of any government above the PCA. There is no reason to believe from either the allusions or the observational evidence that any government exists above the PCA. Armored Core games have never, with one exception, centered governments. Armored Core VI is inspired by franchises (Dune in lore elements, Blade Runner in visuals, music, and themes) that do not center governments. If you're going to allege that a government exists, you need to do a lot better than just imagining that one does. It is vastly simpler to presume the PCA was originally set up by but has become independent from the corporations, than it is to imagine some government which we never see or hear about that is somehow at once all-powerful yet also completely powerless. Come on. Do better. Actually engage with the lore the game is presenting you in its allusions to history and other media.

[@ajtf8691]

This is a very well thought-out comment, and you're probably right, but "come on, do better?" Really?? On an hour long video with this kind of thought and production? Touch grass, man.

[@DuxSupremus]

@@ajtf8691 As I said in another comment, the video is good overall, though it has some glaring errors that stand out precisely because it's otherwise good, especially the omission of discussion of Branch, who set the whole story of the game up. This particular remark is not about the video per se however so much as it is about everyone (as addressed) in the comments who takes the particular conjecture about government as an article of faith, not merely the video author's opinion. As for why I say it that way, the clues are right there, and the bar on FROMSOFTWARE lore analysis is high. Missing something basic like, "Hey, why are these special forces dudes called something really weird like 'Ekdromoi' anyway?" isn't just the video creator's omission, it's everyone's omission in paying attention to and appreciating the story, as is missing really basic plot points like Walter and Carla openly discussing eliminating the PCA's System AI, something else I see a lot in these comments. I'm telling people to do better because it's kinda weird to want to engage with the lore of the game while also just ignoring things it blatantly puts right in front of you in deference to the video alone. That's all.

[@ajtf8691]

Fair enough, but I feel like I'm probably not the only person who would have read that the wrong way.

[@DuxSupremus]

@@ajtf8691 Hey, no problem, I get it, and I can see it now too. I went off too much. My only real defense is I love the game and the series being back, and I've seen before how early lore/meta analysis can take root and persist for years in other fandoms. Went too hard trying to set the record straight as I saw it. Thanks for being understanding though, and I'm glad what I said did at least make sense.

[@Karlswebb]

Love your vids, great one! Amazing how intricate the story is, just like doom eternal and 2016 the lore is there if you want it but you can totally ignore it for gameplay and go boom boom if you want

[@nyxebit8200]

I feel like the first two endings were ALLMIND's simulations with us, 621, being the central figure leading to those two endings, and the ending for NG++ is the true ending with ALLMIND deciding to make sure that our purpose has ended

[@tomlynmathewsjr7514]

Daemon X Machina gave me a LOT of trust issues with AI leading mercenary groups for all mercenaries. Thanks to Four I had ZERO trust in ALLMIND, and thus was not surprised when it turned out to be doing its own thing. Iguazu being crazy enough to supersede ALLMIND? That caught me off guard.

[@Dysxnix]

Finally, the video I've been searching for as a daily routine for the past two weeks.

[@BigB70]

I knew AC6 was special when i found myself simply enjoying the time spent in the garage tinkering n designing. The menu theme is also GodTier! Nice vid 👍

[@landonmurray3814]

The PCA enforcement scenes were so badass the first time. Really made me feel like a bug

[@Raziel_XIV]

Awesome and concise. Humanity has thrived through change, adversity and innovation, Let not the old guard infantilize Humanity. Throw the die and watch them flourish!

[@tortugagreen9924]

I should observe that it's confirmed the PCA's System is located on-planet, as it's remarked by Walter that, after you blow up the reactor in Underground Exploration Depth 3, that it took PCA's managing system with it. This is also why, while you hear more from the PCA after chapter three puts them on the back foot, you very much *don't* hear any more from the PCA after the loss of watchpoint Alpha - because the PCA's command and control infrastructure goes with it.

[@jancevaughn8539]

well from the final ending it seems according to what ayre says that coral can't just use ac's but can use coral powered ac's and it seems the coral took control of the ice worm to take it over from the pca the pca ordered it to kill raven and rusty but it went against that to defend the convergence which is exactly what cel 240 was doing

[@jancevaughn8539]

major spoiler's however the foreshadowing for allmind is amazing the seemingly random stealth institute weapons everywhere only to have missions from allmind on the same exact missions and how the allmind weapons you unlock are extremely similar and seems to be finished versions of the institute weapons you unlock only to have the final boss to be a modified 😢version of the ibis series sure uses and the arena research showing that allmind between the fires of ibis and current time allmind got its hands on institute tech controlling it as well

[@OperationRedFlag]

There’s a lot of discovered lore and context that’s missing in this video and could very well change your outlook, such as the fact that king, chartreuse and nightfall aren’t “independent mercenaries” like our character and some others such as cold call are. They’re actually members of a merc organization called “branch” and are basically a front that the overseers used to bring the corps to rubicon by leaking info about the coral thus making it easier for overseer to track down the coral well. And the merc working for branch that leaked the info about coral to the corps for overseer was nightfall raven

[@OperationRedFlag]

Also nightfall raven didn’t die during either of our encounters with them, they even say that directly by saying that they’ll watch and see if they properly hold the title of raven. A raven doesn’t have to die to pass down their title they just step back from being a force of change and influence and instead trust a pilot from the next generation to take on the role

[@NoLifeKing_0]

Branch isn’t a group of mercenaries, it’s a Hacktivist group. There’s no proof that they’re working for overseer either

[@StrikeNoir105E]

3:00 And yet, the Log Entry "Professor Nagai's Log (1)" explicitly mentions that "Coral is an organic substance capable of self-procreation". Also the term "Liberation Front" has been used a lot of times throughout modern history by a lot of groups, including the one I'm most familiar with, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (aka MILF. The jokes write themselves), which was a thorn in the side of my nation's government for years. It's an easy enough name to tack onto a resistance movement and be immediately recognizable as freedom fighters.

[@joebyron2984]

Man, I love games like these that say so little but have sooo much

[@absilabadi5121]

I feel like the burn everything ending doesn't really uphold the status quo but violently ends it, just like in Dune the planet keeps an addiction that holds a lot of power over humanity. Burning away everything forces that change like a wildfire bringing new life to a stagnated environment in some places.

[@edenwarr9670]

It just returns humanity to the status quo from before the discovery of Coral. There is no new as you literally removed the new variable that was Coral.

[@McDudes]

WTH I'm used to fromsoftware stories being better then what you think at first glance but damn this is way better then I thought, every faction/character have their own goals and motivation and no one is really black/white morally and you can sort of understand everyones point of view. Also really good video well done explaining everything so clearly. Subscribed! :D

[@chucheeness7817]

I can't help but liken AC6's story to Eureka Seven. The player character Raven (Renton) partners with an alien being native to the planet's power source/lifeblood Ayre (Eureka) to stop another fires of Ibis (Summer of Love) and prove coexistence is possible. Teaming up with RLF (Gekkostate) along with other corpos battling PCA (United Fedration). They even have the old man that interfaces with Coral Thumb Dolmayan (Norb, has a partner Coralian)

[@thorinhannahs4614]

The difference for me is that I actually supported Eureka. In AC6 I let the last cinders burn.

[@oratank]

Monk in Eureka teach people how to coexist with Coralian but Father in AC6 said don't do it. they are not the same

[@egoalter1276]

The simple fact they called coral coral is enough of a paralell to make the connection obvious.

[@edenwarr9670]

@@thorinhannahs4614 Doesn't sound like you learned anything from it. But then again it turns out not even the author supports Eureka. At least the og anime is what it is.

[@thorinhannahs4614]

@edenwarr9670 I saw Eureka in my more formative years. A decade and some change can change perspectives.

[@brettgattinger3338]

I just wanna say not only good job on the video but also that I like your Channel name, I too am a fat Brett

[@nikko_suaves3423]

I think the RLF definitely are the least terrible faction. But, consider that All-mind sees symbiosis as simply another form of exploitation. As Dolmayan hints himself, the RLF has these cultish/nationalistic slogans they spout ad naseum without a second thought. They don’t understand the potential that Coral represents like Walter, All-mind, or Dolmayan do. Their main concern is liberation of Rubicon, Coral is simply the vehicle and motivation the RLF uses to achieve that. I don’t think any faction had a balanced enough view of Coral to come to the best decision. The humans failed to see Coral as anything besides something that can be exploited or should be feared. All-minds deterministic goal of furthering humanity meant that it did not understand the need to respect the burgeoning individual nature of Coral itself- the very thing that made humanity great. Instead, opting to assimilate Ayres brothers and sisters. Ayre has always represented what should be the most peaceful integration between two sentient beings. Edit: oh and Branch just fuck about and do whatever they want, honestly. They are agents of chaos.

[@theliato3809]

Feels like liberation gives the RLF breathing room to understand Father Dolmayans teachings went they’re not fighting a desperate war for survival at all times

[@nikko_suaves3423]

@@theliato3809 probably more breathing room than allmind, who’s only interest are the cream of the crop ac pilots that are exclusively augmented and easily manipulated/have no goals of their own. Whose grandiose idea of human evolution would fall flat to the Rubiconians who are starving and struggling to survive. I think Dolmayan was too jaded and guilt ridden from his contact with coral. for the RLF to lionize him as their leader and their savior would be too much for them if they knew the truth. In the prison rescue mission, Dolmayan scolds and outright warns the RLF of coral and they just dismiss him/don’t take him seriously. Furthermore, if there’s ever an outcome where the RLF comes out on top, there’s no reason to believe they wouldn’t confine coral to rubicon- they see it as something that belongs to Rubicon. It’s the fundamental issue with their slogan “Coral, abide with Rubicon”, for the die will never be cast.

[@theliato3809]

@@nikko_suaves3423From what I see ,liberator of Rubicon is ultimately being the best outcome. Once the corps arent ravaging the planets or the PCA keeping the coral contained. It can flourish within the planets ecosystem. Allowing the Rubiconians to properly commune with the Coral and understand its true nature in a healthy way.

[@CYI3ERPUNK]

dude , these video essays are excellent ; subbed

[@kingscrump]

The point of the obscurity is that you are a mercenary who is just doing jobs in a world much bigger than you. You simply can’t know everything because of who you are.

[@sirflapfla97]

I stand by walter, the coral must be burned

[@bludclone]

this is a great analysis, it deserves more views. maybe armored core is still a nice topic.

[@creamboyfuengshwei]

Speaking of scientists delving too deep being a motive in FromSoft games rings true in Armored Core 4 too - the discovery of Kojima particles (and the rest of Kojima technology)

[@Crimson_Samurai-h8q]

I think what ayre wants is to have the coral merge with humans so everyone has a coral voice in their head making it easier for humanity to develop technology and build things together

[@superbrian7997]

27:12 “Change is by nature destructive. Change destroys the status quo.” Well said… I also liked your line about, Life is about change.” Thor Odinson said the same to Loki Laufeyson in Thor Ragnarok. Which so happens to be my second favorite movie in The MCU behind Avengers Infinity War. Black Panther completes my Top 3 Marvel Studios Films.

[@hedorahh]

Great video! I totally support your points and just want to add how close the story is to first Ghost in the Shell movie. I won't explain as someone might not have seen it, but I really do see lots of similarities, especially when it comes to merging and becoming something - a higher form. Also, I want to say that I am in absolute love with the story in this iteration of AC. I felt the burden of choices, whenever I had to make a choice against my will (on my 1st playthrough ended with RLF/protecting the Vascular plant/downing Xylos) so other playthroughs were sometimes hard, cause I knew I'll lose someone I'd rather not lose. Looking forward to more of your videos! Cheers, Tom (your new sub)

[@jancevaughn8539]

"we're going to watch this together so here it is" "why does dollar shave club give such a clean shave" that couldn't have been more perfect timing of that add

[@SuperDarkmasterX]

That last storyline with allmind is litteraly a readaptation of the end of the patlabor first movie. The destruction of humanity who was the wish of Oba is finally happening with the Babel virus inside all mechs lol.

[@CrispyGFX]

Damn I can't wait for more from this series

[@Barbaryotaku]

I wish Coral was real. For now I have to pretend the voices in my head are my waifu.

[@g3arsnros3sproduction7]

At least the Coral is one of the limitless energy that doesn't cause a necromorph infestation or invasion from hell.

[@ad1t553]

You know, when i saw the lore of AC6 for the first time, this reminds me of some lore of Warhammer 40k, know as Age Of technologies, which tonbe honest,, AC 6 level of technologies are reaaly cloae off

[@bluenicholasbf2142]

The fires of Ibis also seems similar to the Halo weapon created by the forerunners, a galactic superweapon that wipes out all life to prevent the spread of the flood. (Coral, in the case of AC6)

[@RyuPhrog]

Fucking amazing video, glad I finally finished ng++, can’t wait to watch the rest you made!

[@britishneko3906]

tbh the first Rubicon Raven(yes, that's how I do here) is just really a normal Raven "Oh, we have classified info here about some funky stuff that can make humanity either go poof or go vroom... aight time to chaos" really fits how the community just wanting to see more violence of mechs killing each other with big fucking guns or going mach 20 and killing them with swords

[@zaz122]

I cant wait for your Iguazu vid. He has been on my mind since I finished the game.

[@Charnel_Heart]

I just finished my first playthrough and got the fires of raven ending. Ill come back and watch this when i get the other two.

[@AsaelTheBeast]

I ended up doing the liberator ending first. It wasn't because "Change" or anything so grand. Simply put- the coral lives. I'm not willing to commit genocide because something bad *might* happen. Also, the fires ending specifies that the planet is dead forever- so no, the change of Coral is not Inevitable. It's not like humanity will stop evolving independently- change is inevitable, but what *kind* of change happens is always in question. Coral symbiosis happens to be a *radical* change, a dramatic shake up of humanity- which will change even what it means to *be* human. Will it be for good or for ill? Who knows- Throw the dice and find out. Or don't- Side with the RLF and keep coral sequestered on Rubicon- humanity itself is preserved, the coral lives- though this is also a kind of stasis if you view Coral Symbiosis as the objective. Burn Rubicon again even. Yes, things will remain shitty- possibly for a very long time- but that's also part of the human experience. In time, governing bodies might reign in the corps- I mean, in previous games the government was even weaker than it was here, so they are at least moving in the direction, if slowly. Burning Rubicon is about rejecting limitless potential to abide with the potential humanity already had. Also, the very last line of the coral Symbiosis ending is your combat systems coming online. It's not some peaceful transcendental future- but it sure in the shit isn't going to be the same as it was.

[@nikolajsteffensen6578]

regarding the PCA. I was under the impression they let the corporations in. that the reason they bring in the suppression fleet is because suddenly the corpos weren't doing what the PCA Told them to do and because you're there. I mean why else would there be mercenary licenses specifically listed as Rb. Which i am willing to bet stands for Rubicon. Thus presumably being a license for mercenaries authorised to operate on rubicon. But again that might have just been me misreading the situation.

[@theliato3809]

I figure the break in the planetary closure system or the whole thing went down for a good time giving the corpos time to get entrenched in a way they could extra enough coral they effectively paid for the right to stay so they PCA had to switch their MO from no one gets to rubicon to restricting access to certain parts of Rubicon

[@FSVR54]

I like how you completely forget to mention Senpou Temple in Sekiro

[@Artaxerxes.]

They're obsessed with immortality and kill a lot of humans in the process. Sekiro has a better story than dark souls bloodborne. Sad how the best FS games like Sekiro AC6 are also the least played

[@FSVR54]

@@Artaxerxes. facts

[@TheMIBWORKSHOP]

38:57 Thank you for mentioning this historical association. It means a lot to us - younger Vietnamese, when looking back at our own history. During my first playthrough, I have a feeling that RLF is nearly similar to SVNFFL in their motives, but I'm not quite sure. Now I can actually believe it does.