Armored Core VI: What Went Wrong? | A Review with the AC Community

Have had this on the backburner for way too long now, glad to finally get it out.
Special thanks to everyone who participated in making this video possible in every aspect, especially with the community submissions, this video would not have been possible without you.
Join the discord:
discord.gg/armoredcore
Thumbnail by:
/ @snesnerd3988
With assistance from:
/ @lia_lia381
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:46 Basic Gen Comparison
02:10 Deeper Gen Comparison
05:10 Kreate a Kombo
08:44 Multiplayer
12:51 Interlude
14:44 Campaign
17:27 The Community
02:41:54 Outro
02:44:52 The Truth
Community Submissions:
17:49 ‪@FromCheng‬
21:18 ‪@FightinCowboy‬
24:02 ‪@rreckinreturns‬
26:00 ‪@armoredcorelore‬
26:43 ‪@invyt‬
28:46 ‪@celticspear‬
29:34 ‪@KinQQz‬
32:38 ‪@JC_Rascal‬
33:46 Kohaku
34:12 ‪@WankMk2‬
34:44 Sallet Ruffian
37:22 ‪@Oroboro‬
38:51 Kipsz
41:49 ‪@imaltux‬
43:04 ‪@BEZEL_fA‬
44:27 ‪@TMRaven‬
47:19 ‪@Penguin_Deus‬
50:20 Benjiman Zelnick ‪@benjaminzelnick3983‬
52:55 WorkInProgress
56:06 Irelephant @Irelephant.Gaming
56:32 Y A R A
59:32 Mobius ‪@U9B‬
01:09:29 Appleeatpie ‪@Appleeatpie97‬
01:10:19 KaptianofFuso
01:11:24 Pacobell ‪@pacobell1307‬
01:13:44 ‪@thejeherx7747‬
01:15:52 Attack Slug ‪@howdoyouchangeyournameonhere‬
01:19:11 Th3_L30N
01:25:11 CEOofOogaBooga
01:26:23 Aemenol ‪@aemeneol8569‬
01:31:22 Silver Glint‪@SilverGlint‬
01:32:19 Starcanum
01:33:11 Kanoa
01:35:31 OrangeDream
01:37:07 Disc-OH
01:38:48 Renekage
01:41:46 strikerhutassa ‪@strikerhutassa‬
01:48:41 The Real Takafumi Arasawa ‪@realArisawaHeavyInd‬
01:52:21 Boles ‪@Boles_‬
01:56:22 DerkDonk ‪@DerkDonk‬
01:59:26 hollow
02:00:57 Cleric ‪@ClericArmoredCore‬
02:08:17 SGTROSS
02:11:34 Tooz (Skrimiruh)
02:13:09 Rich Crisps ‪@richcrisps‬
02:14:36 Demon King
02:15:54 Nix8888 ‪@NiX8888‬
02:16:49 LynxTetsu ‪@lynx_tetsu988‬
02:19:20 Lightnn ‪@TheRefrigerator‬
02:23:11 Pridax Pride ‪@pridaxpride7937‬
02:24:32 Hamedo
02:26:07 SirBucketKicker ‪@sirbucketkicker‬
02:28:51 Ne'er Do Well
02:33:51 Phantasmar ‪@Phantasmar‬
02:35:59 Sash Perennial ‪@PerennialSash‬
#fromsoftware #armoredcore #armoredcore6

[@discipleofsound4565]

My main issue really was the stun mechanic. Before, it used to be possible to end a fight just by damage alone. Now, if a unit isn't taking advantage of stun counters, it's not doing damage. That's frustrating.

[@eherden2169]

True, I would not mind that bosses where more vulnerable to being stunned but against ACs stun becomes secondary and the build up of it not being so extreme.

[@cyanyde4950]

I feel stagger mechanic should have been left to boss fights only or just kept out entirely, it more often than not puts the flow of AC to a full stop killing combat momentum. and removes that skill margin of out maneuvering the target with your piloting skill to get the advantage, where with stun all you have to do is kick somebody or a rocket to their feet and they or you end up a sitting duck for a few seconds to just get bullied by a spam of rockets or shotguns point blank, that kind of halt removes the skill needed to successfully flank and out pilot in engagements.

[@KiteeTheFox]

Original stun mechanics were neat, I mean staggering from incoming fire, they only slowed you down for a second if you kept throwing a barrage.

[@klortikterra4423]

i'm an AC6 player, and have never played the older gens, but i think i understand why you say this. from what i've seen, movement used to be WAY more important to combat then before, which is still kind of the case but for entirely different reasons. now if they pulled a Gen 4 style "you take more damage, but you can still move" that i think would make people be less angry about it. however Pilebunking people is really fun.

[@cyanyde4950]

@@klortikterra4423 Pilebunker was in older gen games as well, so even without stagger it'd be viable with skill, all comes down to positioning and movement management, I also do miss the booster mechanics of 4 and 4A as it allows you to quickly break enemy lock on your AC while still being able to be offensive at the same time, I am glad you're having fun with AC6 along with many others diving into the series though, and I feel as long as FS continues improving mechanics all the new players to the franchise will be in for a really good time, it really is a lot of fun and lawd do the soundtracks absolutely slap if you haven't given them a listen yet.

[@valwill5247]

This basically boils down to a Gen war. New players are gonna love the game. Old fans are gonna hate it or feel indifferent. The problem is there were never many OLD fans to begin with. And now theres more NEW fans. Personally i think had they included Indepth tunning to counteract the ASL it would have been better.

[@emperorhadrian6011]

Frankly I didn't enjoy the series past last raven, but I enjoyed 6.

[@skyprior3866]

I am an old fan, played since 1, definitely not a armored core game exactly, no union busting, none of the good values I used to rely. But it's fun, and as much of a transformation of 3-4 or 4-5. The series is a evolving and it's still my favorite mecha game series and it never did advertise this as a return to armored core form.

[@valwill5247]

@@skyprior3866 I think It'll be looked back on fondly. People forget a lot of old fans started at 4. And people HATED 4th gen. Its just a matter of preference and the old games are always there to return to.

[@joshuamagruder2241]

Yeah it's tough to say. I've been playing since the first, and I absolutely love 6.

[@colbyboucher6391]

I'm a new fan and I largely agree with oldgen fans on ACVI's fundamental problems. I played ACVI, went back to the original and was immediately like oh, shit, now it makes sense.

[@PerennialSash]

Really cool to hear all the different observations and opinions about the game. The way different people reminisce about the series sometimes can tell you what their favorite titles are. It was also nice to hear from some of the people who mostly only played AC6. I think it is important to talk about why players like certain elements of the game, because a lot of the things older fans of the series didn't like seem to be things that newcomers very much enjoyed. Thanks for putting this together, I hope folks come to appreciate the contributions made by community members to keep their passion burning long enough for the next entry in the series, just like old times.

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

As a story, this game is GOATed and it's an easy A tier for me personally. My personal S tier games in the series are Silent Line, For Answer, and Verdict Day.

[@chuckec]

The PVE is goated. The PVP is goat shit. And now that Fromsoft has abandoned balance changes and further support, it’s going to remain goat shit. It falls on the community to manage things now, but I think there’s a rot at the heart of the PVP community that won’t go anywhere anytime soon. In the early ranked matchmaking days, multiple cordpullers easily made it to S-rank, and many of them still remain in the top 100. If that doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what to tell you.

[@-Mothy-]

I don't know why people keep trusting FS to make good PVP, even less why they keep trying. From netcode to balance to desing, it's all shit, everytime. I certantly didn't miss it one bit while playing Sekiro. The only time in the recent years they did an alright job was in Dark Souls 2, but sadly that game as whole was pretty meh compared to what they usually put out.

[@LuceoX30]

Funny, seeing how there's going to be a new update, soon.

[@chuckec]

@@LuceoX30 lmao what update? enjoy your ranked 'reset.'

[@shmshare3868]

​@LuceoX30 how is that new update?

[@bouncybubble]

I like the pvp but I can never find a match which is my main problem

[@_abby_miles_]

one thing i hate its that there is no option to make charged weapons shoot as a toggle, i mean one button push so it charges and maintain the charge by itself, then another push to shoot. Having to maintain from 1 to 4 weapon charging by continuing pushing the buttons feels really awfull when you also have to manage your movement

[@varnix1006]

They had this in gen 4, kojima cannons are charged with one press and fired with another press.

[@segeus]

Charge shoulder weapons when you are getting close to stun your opponent. As a charge mainer I can say that it is nearly impossible to dodge with four weapons charged. The game doesn't not allow you to do so. I play with pro gaming keyboard but if I hold more than 4 buttons, it seems that game engine starts to ignore additional commands. So you can try to charge and discharge your weapons in succession if you see that your opponent is too mobile or has high stun protection. Also it seems that playing this game with mouse and keyboard is much easier than with gamepad. For me at least.

[@Plus_Escapee]

@@segeus I can do this with a custom layout on a gamepad. Easy? Hell no. Possible? Absolutely. The undertext here, please don't take it too seriously; get gud.

[@segeus]

@@Plus_Escapee cool! Maybe I will give it a shot) I have few programs that allow me tweaking gamepad input and drivers. Maybe it will solve some of my problems. I just thought that game engine doesn't allow you to have multiple input. But if it only works for keyboards and mouses that a game changer for me!))

[@playmsbk]

@@segeus I'm on controller and charging 4 weapons simultaneously and shooting them consecutively is certainly possible for the game engine and fairly easy to perform. But if you let go of two or more buttons at the same time, only one will fire, so you have to be careful when you release each button.

[@osakanone]

Removing turn-rates basically collapsed the combat geometry. Freecam is still good, but ACs need turn-rates in order for the distance and footsy game to survive. This had a knock-on effect where long-range had to be removed to keep short range viable, and in turn stagger had to be introduced in turn. Combine this with a game which biases DPS over chip or popshotting and high level tactical play and the strategic demand of constant pressure and the feeling of trading blows and of distinct turns or passes vanishes. Combine this with really short innings and the game being more about monitoring your own cooldown rates as much if not more than your movement state... Its very flat feeling. AC6 PVP as a result is mostly build-check unless you play at a very high level and even then, its still kinda flat feeling. The game is commercially streamlined, because it had to be highly commercial, because its competing with other highly commercial games and it doesn't have big name recognition. It needs to say "hey, this is what I am" to an audience to give them a taste. The question then is, what will we regain, and what's gone forever. The truth is, I just don't think combos are very interesting.

[@grinchgamingofficial5141]

i think its very boring and one-dimensional how the combat forces you to build around having a “stagger into nuke” combo of some sort. older gen was more interesting where it was actually a matter of keeping up pressure by shooting and stagger was more of a tool to slow down your opponent rather than the foundation for the entire combat

[@invyt]

Holy shit, he made a feature lengh film

[@lizrengaming5133]

I don't like 3 main things in this game. 1 stager 2 OVER tanky builds 3 no sniper rifles Stager isn't fun to get had and then deleted if you can't get out of stager. Even though there was a stager in AC4 it was rare and never a bar to indicate it would happen. Heavyweight ACs are not fun to fight since I come from AC4 a heavy isn't really HEAVY they're fast and just take a bit longer to take out. In AC6 it's almost not even fair to go up against a heavy as a light weight, I have a tank build called 'Aggravated Assault' and 99% of the time it wins even though it really shouldn't. And no true snipers, this is what really make builds feel very repetitive it's all CQC or mid range and any long range builds is just a missile boat.

[@segeus]

Actually you can snipe with several weapons, but you have to adjust your aim manually because you are going to fire out of target lock range. Be mindful of picking proper weapons because some of them have different effective range. If you see notification of armor deflection that means that you need to move closer to a target or choose another weapon.

[@DatAsianGuy]

@@segeus then it's not worthwhile to play sniper at all. if you have to manually aim your weapon in a game where basically everyone uses at least soft lock, has crazy movement capabilities and projectiles overall are extremely slow. manual aim has basically zero purpose in this game. and the handful of clips of people "hitting" manual aim shots don't really count, because those people probably have 100 other clips where they don't hit anything.

[@segeus]

@@DatAsianGuy you shouldn't play as a sniper in pvp 1 vs 1 because it is not fitting concept of how sniping works in all games. There is exceptions but this makes your life just harder and skill demanding (like playing with Kraber in Titanfall 2). But in pve it works perfectly well and in 3 vs 3 PvP you can attack other players while they are distracted by your teammates, changing position and hiding. Just adjust your aim according to player's speed and positioning + don't forget about projectile speed it differs from gun to gun.)

[@DatAsianGuy]

@@segeus Why are we judging snipers in the AC franchise based on games that barely have anything in common from gameplay design perspective? Why does it matter how Snipers work in Titanfall? Or how they work in Call of Duty? Do we need to take into account how Snipers work in Squad or Arma as well?

[@segeus]

@@DatAsianGuy Concept is the same for all games. It just depends on how it fits game mechanics in a particular game. I used TF2 example with Kraber only as a reference to a shooter with high mobility that focused mostly on mid and CQC engagement. Limitations in TF2 are the same as for AC. I just emphasized the fact that it skill demanding but not impossible.

[@cryogenicstardust9245]

Another Age was my first ever video game. As someone who's played all the games to completion, 6 is my most in-depth experience with PvP. 400 hours of gameplay later, having to bend the knee to meta builds to make it to the S Rank in Ranked... I think this game would benefit from a redefined/having no stagger, and I strongly agree with the hard lock criticism; as someone who uses it 98% of the time, it's fun for 'cinematic' engagements in PvE. But because this is FromSoft and there's never a consistent PvP/PvE balance (Dark Souls 2 is my favorite Souls game and even when it's touted as the best for PvP it's not exempt from this balancing issue), so you're left with the ill-defined 'Soulslike' experience when the real interaction begins at 200m. Armored Core is still my favorite IP ever. Ever. I will continue to pour hours into the game I've been waiting a decade for. Anyone can buy the game and Kadokawa will only see the sales numbers, but the community feedback is the most telling experience. PvP is the 'official' longevity, and even if at this point it's not AC6 anymore, mods that do more than change skins and make it more like 4 are just as, if not more engaging than the constant stat-check point ladder dredge that is the horribly imbalanced PvP. It sucks that I'm playing 6 sometimes and I think I'm fighting Zinaida again. Part of the reason why AA Seraph was so difficult was the steep learning curve at the very end of the game to turn as fast as he flies by you, lest you get punished for being too slow to react. I hope the next game has more single player meat. More missions. More parts. Extentions. Optional Parts. Tuning, not OS Upgrades. And even when there's room for improvement, this is still everything I'd have wanted from a new Armored Core. The issue is... even if I can still chew on this bone, I want more. No matter what the future brings, Armored Core is still here.

[@SilverGlint]

Glad to see this project going live, big ups Stryker! Can't wait to see what you cooked.

[@BEZEL_fA]

There are some thoughts I feel I couldn't fully convey in the video, so I'd like to write them down here. I believe ACVI is a great work that revived the Armored Core series. Without this game, we wouldn't have been able to hold on to hope for the future. ACVI is an amazing game for achieving that. Now, we can look forward to remasters of past titles or new entries in the Armored Core series. While this may not be the appeal of ACVI itself, it is perhaps the most important aspect. The biggest takeaway for us is that FromSoftware has shown a strong commitment to the Armored Core series. Another remarkable aspect of ACVI is its story. The story is exceptionally well done. As far as I'm concerned, it's even better than ACfA, the game I loved the most. The dialogue and situations filled with respect for past works stirred my heart. Regarding the stagger system, I do have some complaints. Since I enjoy SEKIRO, I wished ACVI could replicate the exhilarating stagger system that SEKIRO achieved. Although I don't play Souls-like games at all, SEKIRO is an exception. I was drawn to SEKIRO's stagger and parry system. However, I couldn't quite get into ACVI's stagger system. I believe I've discussed the reasons for this to some extent in the video.

[@yeboi2379]

How would a sekiro stagger system even work in armored core? People need to stop comparing every stagger system to sekiro because the armored core version is more akin to final fantasy and elden ring.

[@BEZEL_fA]

@@yeboi2379 I believe there is clear value in partially extracting and comparing elements from SEKIRO. This is because it seems that FromSoftware, having achieved great success with SEKIRO, is considering adopting elements of its game system. I don't think Armored Core needs the same stagger system as SEKIRO. What kind of system would be ideal? I don't know, and it's probably a question that most people can't answer. In my opinion, action games need a system that allows for seamless reflection of the player's movements. Therefore, I think a system with few ways to recover from stagger is not ideal. However, this is just my opinion and might be a matter of personal preference.

[@user-uh8eg2cm3b]

@@BEZEL_fA staggerした際のリカバリー方法は何かしらあっても良いのかもしれません。 ただし今作は『一定以上の攻撃をたたみ込むことができた者への報酬として、重い追撃チャンスが与えられる』というシステムなので、成功者から報酬を奪い取るほどのことはできないでしょう(対価も無く硬直から抜け出せるなど) death strandingをやっていればイメージしやすいと思いますが、『よろけた方向の逆方向に移動入力すると、stagger時間が比較的短くなる』というのをベースに、過去作でいうレーダーにあたるパーツを装備していると、stagger耐性とリカバリー性能が上がるなどassembly次第で調整可能にするのはどうでしょう？

[@ClericArmoredCore]

Took a while to listen through this properly, I kept getting distracted. That being said, well done, this is A LOT of community input, from a wide ranging set of opinions. I can appreciate the level of effort this must have taken. Thank you for including my voice.

[@stryker5055]

Thank you for contributing 💪

[@DerkDonk]

Only 10 minutes in and already off to a great start. Good song selection too. Now I see why this took so long, brother made a LOTR Director's cut 4k remaster.

[@andrewrogers3067]

AC6 is my favorite game in the series, I think its story and gameplay perfectly fits for me and I do love it. That said, it is NOT a perfect game, and having a critique from an Armored Core expert like yourself is fucking immaculate. I haven’t watched the video in full yet, but I do think it’s a fair critique of the game overall. I’ll also say that while I do love this game, and possibly is my favorite game ever with how much I adored it throughout all my playthroughs, I do NOT think this style suits future games, and I think that I would have preferred 4 and FAs style of AC gameplay long term. Thank you for this video, God be with you.

[@skeltaldelegate5408]

I have cataloged and graphed part data for years on ACfA, and after having done it for AC6 as well and comparing the internal value disparities, you will find that despite have a 48% smaller speed gap between the heaviest and lightest, there is only a 5% decrease to the AP/Defense gap between heavy and light. The argument of "well fA was a faster game" is negated by the reality that you could be relatively slower in fA than in 6. And none of this takes into account new functions like hard-lock and the removal of flares. The community needs to look at the discrepancies between 6 and older games with a more quantitative lens if they want to make better judgments.

[@playmsbk]

That's interesting, could you share some more data? Those percentages are a little vague on their own, and the disparity could be explained by ACfA's wildly bloated AP counts compared to Ac6.

[@NineNovem]

I mentioned something like this on a Silver Glint video ages ago, but I think AC6's greatest strength gameplay wise compared to the the older games is how fair it is PvE wise. Nexus and Last Raven infamously gave OP-INTENSIFY to everyone but you, allowing them to ignore the new heat system while pounding you with cannons you can barely get any use of unless you were a tank or a tetrapod. Then there's Zinaida who defied the rules entirely on top of having all of the aforementioned abilities. She was difficult not just because she was a skilled pilot, but because she was not piloting an AC. She was piloting a superweapon that superficially resembled one. AC6 does have a meta, but this is absolutely nothing new, even in the context of Armored Core. If you happen to be an old fossil like me, you remember the fact that the KARASAWA MK2 was banned back then, is banned now, and will never be unbanned as long as people are aware it exists. But, if you don't care about the PVP scene (as I never have), you'll happily annihilate the AI with the KARASAWA and feel no remorse. Why? Because the top-ranked pilots are PLOW units with better aim than a human could ever have AND Ares and Matthias use the KARASAWA themselves. You have no reason to show them any mercy.

[@Horotoma]

Its been a good 3-4 months since i last touched the PVP in AC6. And I've thought a lot about why I gave up and a lot of the points you mentioned are things i agree with. I'll just share some thoughts from a person who ran a perma flight dual rifle lightweight up to A Rank. (I love movements a lot) Stagger - For me, this is not so much an issue. Done well, this mechanic could make it a stand out for the 6th gen, I mean, the Single player campaign has shown us how fun it can get. But in multiplayer, it is highly obnoxious. Having control taken out from you is very jarring, and with how easy it is to one shot people with a stagger lock, it becomes very frustrating. And it encourage people to push stagger weapons that deal high damage too. Netcode - This is normally not a big issue, but with stagger, every shot counts. So does dodging every shot. So when netcode lies to you and you get phantom hits land on you despite missing on screen, the game suddenly becomes more difficult to predict. This means that players are not incentivized to be evasive, and simply aim to win the DPS and Stagger race. Energy Regeneration - Each AC series has their own "feel" that is defined by movement. And a large part of the movement is affected by the energy. 4th Gen has the most freedom in terms of energy generation, allowing for insanely fast fights. AC5 has more limited energy supply, encouraging players to play between buildings in a more tactical, but still high pace way. In the AC3 you are more restricted, but also mean that every boosted movement is that much more meaningful. AC6's energy restrictions forces people into close-range fights. This means everything forces you into a close-range fight which means even more DPS and Stagger Race. Aiming - We are brought back to a mix of Gen 4 and Gen 5 aiming, but hard lock.... it totally destroyed the game. Previous gen requires you to get used to turning and aiming of your mech, and work your movement around that. This means mastering your build is meaningful. But Hard Lock changed that, it removed the entire need to master it, or even keeping track of your enemy, making it even more of a DPS and Stagger Race as people just need to throw out more hits than the other. Range and Richochet - The last nail that made the game unable to escape the dps and stagger race. By enforcing a minimal distance to deal meaningful damage the game is now once again brought much closer, where evasive movements are harder. Pair it with hard lock making evasive and flight patterns even less useful... we are stuck deeper in the stagger and dps race. All in all, this series had an amazing and phenomenal campaign. We all love rusty. But the PVP is severely hampered by the mechanics that work in campaign. The stagger is a fun mechanic, but ruined by the fact that everything evolves to be a close range brawl. Build and skill expression became difficult and you would not climb far without participating in the dps and stagger race. Limiting hard lock may be the best way, removing it entirely in Multiplayer is probably best. And we sincerely need to increase range of the other weapons to allow more room for people to work, and it may even mitigate the network issue slightly too.

[@linkkicksu]

the aiming isn't a mix of gen 4 and 5 gen 5 aiming was a lock box just like the old gens AC6 just has straight up gen 4 aiming and I hate it with a passion

[@TheTrveMothlord]

As a fan of Armored Core since AC2 on PS2 and the modern FS games since Dark Souls in 2011 I feel I have a balanced enough view on AC6 but there are a few things that irks me. None of these are game breaking and I loved AC6, but they bothered me nonetheless. - I don't like decoupled camera, it's clearly there to accomodate new souls fans as well as accomodate a souls esque lock on that automatically turns you around. The camera style of 4th gen worked perfectly fine for fast responsive gameplay and it felt like you were looking around through your AC, not hovering some camera around your AC. I'm sure this was because they wanted to emphasize melee more in 6th gen also which MAY be a point in decoupled cameras favor. I worri we will never get a more grounded and connected camera system moving forward. - No leg turn speed and the AC turning as fast as a "character" rather than a machine looks weird at times and lowers immersion and tactile feeling significantly as well as limiting build options and variety. I feel that 4th gen's controls were still perfectly suitable for what 6th gen could have been, where you can have fast and intense gameplay action not needing the kind of lock on they adopted and being able to manually aim your AC towards things. Not to mention quick boost turns rectify the possibility of enemies getting behind you and needing a souls style lock. I know it kind of reverts to gen 3.5/4 style controls when you are boosting and can strafe but losing that while normally moving outside of combat feels weird. I prefer being able to strafe by default and turning by aiming. - I think removing part tuning and stabilisers makes sense to a degree for newcomers and yet I think it could have very easily been explained and seriously, many new fans were souls vets so essentially having a "level up" or "upgrade" system to make granular adjustments to stats is totally their thing. I feel that the OS tuning really doesn't feel like OS tuning and it's a replacement for "inside" parts or extensions, both of which could have been left in place. A lot of these upgrades could and should have been in a proper performance tuning system. Hell they could have and should have kept optional parts, treating them like "rings" in souls games. - The stun mechanic is sort of a holdover from old AC games, but it feels more like souls games. It works, but builds are way too heavily built around stagger in the same way that some of AC gen 3 went too hard at overheating. I actually think we should have kept radiators to alleviate certain AC status' but also we should have kept heat as a "poison/toxic" status, just dial it back from gen 3.5 lol. The issue with stagger is that unlike older AC games, it feels like your weapons barely do damage UNTIL you stagger someone... it ruins the immersion of the power fantasy, though of course regular enemies are still pretty much fodder. - The story of AC6 was incredible, but I felt quite pushed into the linearity of the story and like there was less mercenary work to do. This isn't necessarily bad, AC6 is the most cinematic AC game and it is phenomal for it. But I do feel we've lost a little bit of the mercenary sim element. - I miss emails being a thing. Voice messages shouldn't totally invalidate them but I like the world feeling more alive and interactive as the player. - On this, I hope moving forward AC has an arena that is actually filled with humans that banter over email, appear in missions, die as a result or have a grudge against you in the arena later on after they've rebuilt their AC. I'd totally take a total AC spinoff game like formula front merged with nine breaker but improved where it's all focused on AC's as a sport with various leagues and a story attached to it (think Zoids New Century where your team has an ulterior motive) and other modes like king of the hill, capture the flag, races etc - I also think that the aesthetic of AC6 is "weird" and I think it's weird on purpose. Some AC frame parts have wonky or unusual proportions as a first issue but some look great. However, due to having all these companies making parts and having distinct aesthetics... AC's end up looking patchwork way more than older games. Gen 3 is still the gold standard for having a HUGE range of parts for tweaking the minutiae of performance but also, pretty much all parts looking cool and blending together really nicely. - I've touched on it already but certain part categories and styles are missing that could and should have been in the game. Fingers crossed for an expansion or sequel. - Lastly, while the cinematic scoring was beautiful... the lack of any harder or chaotic breakbeat or rhythmic industrial touches to the score was a bit dissapointing. I personally am not a huge fan of the Jrock style, but I think breakbeat is at the core of AC's musical heritage and having ANY kind of harder and frenetic beats absent is a lot of lost impact. My thoughts upon beating it several times that are in line with what a lot of prior non fans wanted and think funnily enough are while I don't ever want an open world mainline armored core (with roaming trailers or garages as bonfires lol) and want the structure of the game to stay the same way. I wouldn't hate it to have a slight sandbox feel of radiant and generated missions alongside story missions kind of like Mechwarrior 5. It's hard because they would inevitably affect factions in a way that should affect the story, but it would be nice to have a bit more of a grind. Hell, you could have a slight influence rating going up for factions upon their completion too, but it would always end up being offset by the variety of missions being offered. I'm actually into the idea of co-op missions too, and these radiant missions would be the best way to do them. Consorts in gen 3 were great so I don't see why we shouldn't be able to have that back for certain missions again. Also I didn't play gen 5, but I think having a warfare mode makes perfect sense too where you not only have large teams of AC units fighting over territory, you could even have resources put into buying MT's to assist the battle too as a cool extra bit. I think the future of AC looks bright, all of the above critiques come from a place of love for the franchise. It was a lonely time as a 10 year old AC fan to now being 31 and AC is MASSIVE now! I have high hopes for what they do next.

[@IntrusiveThot420]

I think overall AC6 has the best campaign story in the series. It also contains the best bosses, though NOT ALL BOSSES are great. My biggest gripes are definitely: 1) turn speed is gone (hardlock would be fine with turn speed, because then you could still outmaneuver people) 2) the mech customization is deliberately shallow to not overwhelm newcomers. I expect this to change in the next game. I think we'll get inside, shoulder extensions, etc in future games or dlc. I also expect to get a ton more parts. 3) multiplayer is an afterthought. The pvp is alright but the pve is great, so a fresh game mode, like a 4v4 moba-lite where you fight streams of creep across different lanes of a large map, occasionally doing team fights, would be super fun.

[@Light_Buster]

This is what I was thinking too. We live in a world where the average gamer can't handle FromSoftware games. A lot of the customization was toned down to prevent information overload and PvP is an afterthought. Maybe in a future update or AC 6.5 that can all change.

[@DatAsianGuy]

yeah, if turn speed still was a thing, then it wouldn't be such a pain. They could handle it how Helldivers 2 (the most recent example I can think of) did it. where your camera is responsive and as quick or slow as you need, but the weapon handling or in the case of AC it would be turnspeed, determines how much your actual muzzle would lag behind.

[@-Mothy-]

​​@@Light_BusterYet their games still sell like hot bread. Stop with this special club bullshit, we are just into games that are a little more obtuse and challenging than the average

[@IntrusiveThot420]

@@DatAsianGuy me when mechwarrior has better mechanics than armored core somehow

[@Light_Buster]

Just saw this in my feed by random so I wanted to give my perspective some design decisions. The biggest theme on these decisions is accessibility. There were going to be a drove of gamers who would want to give AC6 a shot and if it felt like previous games, a lot of gamers would've given up on it day 1 or not even before then. A good example is hard lock, it would've been a pain in the ass to try to turn the camera and maintain lock on an enemy target without it. Not to mention how many hands it would destroy without it. I would say that having the camera speed be dictated by the weight of the AC would be a good starting point, but that's a whole another topic. Another thing that isn't present in previous games are other customization options (shoulder parts, optional parts, tuning, etc.) and that boils down to information overload. If such parts were to exists in AC6, the amount of researching the players have to do in order to optimize their build would be staggering and many players are not going to do that. I've played games where optimizing builds would be the difference between failure and success and most players would fail because they fail to do their research due to time constraints in real life. Most players do not care and will not care and just want to play, which leads to failure and then blindingly blame the game or the community. A good example of this is Destiny 2. FromSoftware probably realized this and dialed down the customization to minimize this. As for PvP, it was more of an afterthought and FromSoftware is testing to see what could they bring to PvP for the future. It also begs the question, how do you make fighting other players more interesting? It's a question that is hard to have a definite answer to as it can be interesting to one set of players but not so much to another set. This is what I think about the current state of AC6 at the moment. It's not perfect, but it did bring in a new set of players from this generation.

[@DatAsianGuy]

Is this whole soft lock vs hard lock on console-argument made up? Genuinely? All these years highly successful shooters have released on consoles with usually minimal aim assist often, but now suddenly, when AC comes around and your entire screen is basically your reticle and lock on area, suddenly the console bros complain how hard it is to aim? I have played AC6 with both controller and M+KB, I have actually started out gaming on consoles, most of which shooters. And despite offering the most forgiving aiming method I have personally ever played by console standards, console players still make it an issue? I genuinely can't see how this is possibly a serious argument and I am by no means some crazy player who can land every shot in a traditional shooter. Don't get me wrong. Hard lock would be fine and dandy, if turnspeed was still a thing and seperate of camera movement, but it is not... so hardlock just makes pvp too easy and skill less required, which is not really a good setup for "ranked" matchmaking.

[@TGM-Videos]

​@@DatAsianGuy Hard Lock was definitely a misstep the way it's currently implemented. You technically have a better FCS when soft locking, but it's basically impossible to break someone's hard lock. With soft lock, the enemy can go behind a wall and if they're not scanned, you'll lose lock. That's good. But with hard lock, even without a scan if someone goes behind an obstacle and blocks line of sight you will STILL lock on to them. You'll lose missile lock, but that's secondary to not being able to actually break someone's lock. And of Course, someone hard locked will automatically turn and track you faster than even the highest controller sensitivity option allows.

[@SightLock]

​@TGM-Videos well said brother, well said!! I'm a pure softlock user, and it sucks to lose my missle lock just because I lost the target for a split second, while with Hardlock, that's never case.

[@playmsbk]

I'm not really getting any of the two sides of the soft VS hard lock argument. In a 1v1 pvp setting hard lock surely has the edge, but that's mostly because the meta wildly favors close-medium range builds for 1v1, which is where hard lock shines the most. However, it's not impossible to break, in fact most of the hardest bosses do it and lightweight builds can do it fairly easily too in pvp. Your FCS is also much more effective in soft lock, which makes it the best choice for long ranges and ideally you'd switch between the two in mid range as well.

[@louie-louie]

Amazing vid that had to be done! If there's any through line over these three hours, it's a desire for the game to better than it is now so it can be enjoyed for many years in the future. There's many reasons why that after almost thirty years people still continue to enjoy playing the previous titles, and a lot of those reasons are given here in this video! I hope that FromSoftware will keep these assessments in mind moving forward with the series.

[@InfinityZwei]

Many of the mechanics you mention (preventing opponents from attacking in the first place, etc.) in earlier AC games is actually part of a real-world concept called the Survivability Onion, and I concur that From Software did not incorporate this element with the latest Armored Core very well. AC6 combat lacks the chilling effect during moments in fights between bouts of advantaged fire or crossfire, and I feel this affects the pacing in a way where pressure becomes the all-encompassing combat strategy.

[@deadair101101]

Hopefully AC7 will be the big return that people that criticized it really wanted.

[@motorsporttj1689]

You mean “You” wanted? ACVI despite its flaws was a very successful return to form so saying this doesn’t really make sense. Please acknowledge that not everyone thinks like you. I know Many AC Veterans who actually enjoyed VI. Cause At the end of the day this isn’t really a “Community Perspective” more of a “Me and my Buddies think” Perspective.

[@deadair101101]

It was always going to be "buddies" since the AC community isn't massive. So everyone knows everyone. Did you even listen to Cleric talking about the player size for pvp? They are also still part of the community so I don't get your point with that. The video also had people that still enjoyed it. People get very touchy whenever it comes to Fromsoft criticism. I probably should've phrased it better though "What people that criticized it wanted". There were also people in the video that only played 6 as well. They still take part and play the games with other people and talk about it on twitter and Discord I think that makes them part of the community.

[@motorsporttj1689]

⁠@@deadair101101 It’s all good man. I understand Apologies if I seemed “offended” Me personally I only found out about this Video cause of some small AC Account on Twitter which is why I said that. The Community has gone a lot bigger since VIs announcement and Launch. Hence I consider this video more of a “Me and my Buddies Perspective” I’m all for ACVI Criticism but honestly the game isn’t fundamentally flawed as the others seem to think imo. The Biggest Problem is mainly just the Stagger System since it reduces the skill. if they rework it to be more like the Older Titles and Nerf Assault Boost a bit. Improve the Multiplayer Along with more parts and I think the Next Game will be better.

[@francesco3772]

​@@motorsporttj1689return to form? kek

[@motorsporttj1689]

@@francesco3772 It sold the most Copies and Introduced a lot of new people to Armored Core. So yes it was a return to form. Idk what to tell you man.

[@TrickyMellow]

My main gripe with this game is the hard lock, lack of turn speed and lack of radar. Also oversimplification, and stagger. I rather have stability back. I said before release, that this will be problem because of how lock on can't be break and I feel like heavy will dominate the game, then I was told by a guy there are 15 old game to go back to. The guy who defended fromsoft choice prerelease later complain that AC6 pvp is not worth it sometime after release. I don't understand why we can't criticize design choice that clearly will heavily affect the game. People got consumed by hype and forgot that modern Froms hasnt touch AC in decade and all of their game prior to 6 follow a certain style even if its not the same genre. If you dare questioned their choice, you will get call hater, doubter and oldgenner and stuff. Personally, singleplayer of AC6 is really good, it have boss fight that i like, and cutscene as well. But as a whole package including pvp and ost, I'm disappointed in the game. Honestly, its feels like playing character action game in mech skin than piloting mech.

[@varnix1006]

In their defense, dual Zimms are not supposed to be that powerful, laser cannons should miss when they miss mid travel, and heavy weights should have more AB penalty, a trade off for better ACS management. Not to mention the lack of flares or missile interception to hard counter missile boats. The fact that in gen 4 you can shoot missiles out of the sky with your own guns still amazes me.

[@ni9274]

They wouldn't have been able to make a new Armored Core game without doing a lot of changes to reach wider audience, a game like AC6 could cost more than 100€M it's a miracle that Kadokawa allowed Fromsoft to go back to a franchise as niche as Armored Core.

[@Rays326]

The vets knew to worry from the first gameplay trailer leaks. You saw an AC do a lock-on 180° ala Elden Ring and it just felt like pointing it out was blasphemous.

[@rreckinreturns]

Stryker dropping a feature length video out of nowhere! I'm gonna make myself some breakfast and watch this epic! Thank you Stryker505!

[@Leonhardt04]

The bit about hard lock is funny because it was actually a big feature of ACfA ACfA will actually aim for you and keep the target locked on if you stop trying to keep manual track of your target The only thing AC6 added was the ability to toggle it at will

[@CodenameMood]

Your passion has come to fruition. Very well made video.

[@acceptablecasualty5319]

I have my own gripes with AC6, and they mostly track with yours. Really great video, and a full 2 hours and thirty minutes of community backup is telling.

[@armoredcorelore]

I know you say you feel it was negative, but i think that this is what games like ac need. All these answers come from places of different experiences and can be learned from. As i said I'm not a pvp player myself, so hearing from others that are is interesting as its a side to ac games i rarely touch. You did great work putting this together and its a video all ac fans should listen too. Keep up the good work.

[@ethanspaziani1070]

I respectfully disagree with you this sacrifice to the soul of the game

[@armoredcorelore]

@@ethanspaziani1070 And that's good. Different thoughts and opinions are what allow subjects to be looked at in different light and different approaches taken to achieve a better outcome.

[@motorsporttj1689]

@@armoredcorelore Agreed plus I get weird Elitist Vibes from Ethan. The Way I see Armored Core 6 is more of a Test game if anything. Similar to Ace Combat 7. From wanted to see if people were still Interested in Armored Core. Which is why VI feels a bit dumbed down a bit to appeal to newer Players and to some extent Vets as well as obviously VI takes elements from previous games. As we know VI sold the Most out of all Titles Combined. So The answer is Yes. Miyazaki himself or a AC6 Dev IIRC even acknowledged that the game was flawed. I am certain the Sequel/Expansion will feel a lot more the previous games while acknowledging the New Audience they have gained from 6.

[@armoredcorelore]

@@motorsporttj1689 right and i mean we've had a long time between games, audiences do change and sometimes the bigger market share of consumers are not the same as they where years ago. So see what works, throw some money at it, if it fails we go back to what works. If it does work then we make more. I hope from does use this as a test bed, looks at all players feelings and tries to make ac7 better.

[@ayeaung3527]

I really wish fromsoft to see this video

[@Eggsi__]

Holy w music choice, USUDA? LETS GOOO! Also So far im agreeing with whats being said.

[@Irelephant.Gaming]

I agree with most of what was said and actually meant to add alot more but wanted to keep it as short as possible, I'll add it here as someone who's played almost all AC games (and will play through them all eventually I swear 😂) Armored Core 6 is a great game for many people to dip their toes into and the pve side is great, but I feel like the pvp side does not reach more than waist deep due to movement and the hard lock-on, -Visually AC6 is fantastic and FromSoft did a great job, sfx great, a warning before a high damage/ impact attack is welcome. -Stagger system sucks and is extremely bad when registration is on attacker side (in alot cases you cannot react in time), as someone who played pvp again recently it was bad, I felt like prior titles did it better 5th gen too much in some cases like during glide boosting (basically assault boosting in AC6) getting stunned would knock you straight down as if you'd cut out your boosters (another movement feature missing), 4th gen only needed build tweaking/ tuning to solve stun/ selfstun in most cases and would be cancelable early to a degree by quickboosting (selfstun would break your lock). -Movement is lacking (in part due to a completely different energy system than in all previous titles), could have brought back wall kicking from 5th gen, assault boost however is better than 5th gen I personally like being able to assault boost in the air whereas glide boost (AC5 equivalent) would need to be started while grounded but could also be used in most directions (forward, left, right, backwards, backleft etc) compared to 6 being forward only. For some reason vertical boosting seems alot less efficient than assault booating upwards in AC6. However not being able to break the hard lock through movement like in 4/5 gens makes lightweights feel bad compared to heavies, and this removes a skill that I feel adds depth to the movement system. -Lack of ranged options (snipers, cannons) appart from missile boats causing Gameplay to focus on under 250m range for nearly all builds (melee usable in under 150) -Defenses are fine in AC6, AC5 was horrid for this as some weapons were unusable (correct me if im wrong its been a while but building defenses for 1300 KE( or 2500 vs snipers), 2000CE, 3200TE would make about half the weapons in the game worthless). AC4 has a very different system with PA (primal armour) but had some workarounds such as PA stripping, then using much stronger weapons like grenades (in most cases this required you to pressure opponents continually but was well worth it for damage output), or simply going for weapons with high PA penetration -Where is the tuning? 5th gen had weapon tuning and 4th gen had tuning for everything else other than weapons In short: good game, but lack of tuning, stagger bad (but worse with netcode issues), movement lacking (partially due to the way energy as been redone), lack of depth with pvp.

[@sogagette]

i had no idea armored core existed before 6 released. i played it in september last year and didnt like it much (took me almost a month to do 1 playthrough which is a VERY slow pace compared to how i usually play games !) a few months later, i installed a bunch of gen 3 AC games on my ps3 instead and then proceeded to have some of the best experiences with games ive had in years. ac3 was so amazing and it actually managed to do what ac6 couldnt by getting me completely obsessed with armored core and making me go through more of gen 3 and later on gen 4 as well. i think i can compare my experience with how i view souls games. dark souls 1 is my favourite game of all time, but i mostly played it for the exploration, atmosphere, and joy of discovering the world. which is why i was bored to death with sekiro. it felt like it was mostly just constant intense combat that tests your reaction speed in a monotone world with very little room for discovery. comparing ac6 and gen 3, i think its a pretty similar situation. ac3 has much more interesting combat to me (turn speed, FCS box, minimap radar), a debt system that leads to really exciting tension, and also has a much more special atmosphere + soundtrack. i think the things i played dark souls 1 for that made me dislike sekiro also SORT OF apply to why i loved ac3 and not 6 that said i understand why ac6 appeals much more to souls fans in general and it makes sense that fromsoft took ac in this direction. either way im extremely grateful that ac6 introduced me to the series !!💗💗

[@KinQQz]

Good Job on the video, glad to see the community come together for this great Labor of Love.

[@BEZEL_fA]

This is really great work! brilliant

[@Lyzokiel]

2 hours of Stryker, holy shit I'm being spoiled xD Great work on the video!

[@shiftarmoredcore]

🤝 legend as always stryker

[@WankMk2]

Awesome to see this project come to fruition! Great work stryker!

[@Boles_]

I think i might have slightly have edited my take with recent events but 95% of it I still stand behind. The community part is the only part I would have changed for myself. I shouldnt have had personal beef and some bad apples skew my take. Anyways glad to see the video out. I had zero idea how long this shit was lmao but I'll get through it soon. Good luck mang

[@rreckinreturns]

😂

[@Boles_]

Ye

[@zSTALKn]

*Context for tourists* Boles was recently accused of cheating in community tournaments by fixing matches with Lord Farquaad. Boles at the time was playing on Farquaad’s alt, Smithian, in an attempt to convince people Smithian was not Farquaad. Prosecution states one would be build X, the other using build Y, to rid the bracket of build Z. The evidence presented does not support the claim, as the two individuals never had a direct confrontation, and multiple other factors. Regardless, this has caused damage to their names beyond repair, where both have been banned from a certain tournament organizer, and possibly more as the slander continues to spread. (Edited to get facts straight)

[@ThatOneMan830]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@zSTALKn This reads like the wildest shit. Like I’mma be real I appreciate the context but at the same time I’m imagining Lord Farquaad from Shrek with a gaming setup cursing and complaining to his magic mirror about tournaments in a mech fighting game and the mirror has no idea wtf is going on

[@imaltux]

amazing work, no wonder this takes a while.

[@richcrisps]

Thanks so much for having me! I really appreciate that Armored Core VI exists, cause I only got back into the series cause of the enthusiasm around VI's announcement. Delving back into releases that I missed has been a blast, and delving into PvP at all has been a treat. So regardless of the issues with the game, I'm really thankful for AC VI for those reasons

[@TheGreatRenbox]

Dang, this is why it took so long to come out lmao, good video

[@DeshHolmes]

Great video! I am new to AC with 6 and while now Ive gotten to grips with it I would love a lot of these changes, but with that being said I likely would have never finished it for the first time

[@motorsporttj1689]

This was surprisingly good. Me personally I feel like the main problems with Armored Core VI was that the Multiplayer feels like an afterthought especially for someone coming from V/VD and the Stagger System makes the game a bit too easy essentially reducing the skill of the game as it is essentially a Stagger Contest. I would still say 4th Gen is the easiest though. That being said i actually like how “gamey” VI feels compared to previous Gens and like how it allows for more AC Variety. I believe Armored Core VI was a very nice return to form which is why I still Love it and it’s still one of my favorite AC Titles and Most of the problems the game has I feel could very easily be solved in the next Expansion/Sequel. Also this might seem like a Minor Nitpick but personally I wouldn’t say “AC Community” more like a “Veterans Perspective” I was introduced to Armored Core thanks to V however I only found this Video cause of some small AC Account on Twitter and this isn’t even on the AC Reddit which is a lot bigger than the Discord.

[@toastehisback]

Glad to see the vid is finally out stryker!

[@calangel]

I will say this: your comments on hard lock and competitive play are a bit harsh. Its much harder to use soft lock effectively on a controller than with a keyboard. I dont like the idea that I'm at a fundamental disadvantage because I'm using a console. With that said, the problem with hard lock isnt hard lock. Its the lack of leg based turn speed and auto-quick turn. If your ACs turn speed isnt fast enough to turn you, then the lock breaks. Thats the way it should be. If you dash past them, then YOU have to quick turn. This will let tanks still keep their eyes on lights if you are diligent, but not if you're lazy. If these changes were made, you could break hard lock frequently and lightweights could use their natural speed to avoid lock-ons. I think i mostly agree with KinQQz's sentiments. I think he pretty much nailed my feelings. Fun fact: Yeah, when i was playing PvE at first, i couldnt get Balteus (pre patch) below 40%. I was so frustrated. I thought i was going to just stop playing becuase i was so bad. I jad t played AC since last raven... ...then i turned on hard lock and smashed him on the first try. Seriously.

[@Horotoma]

I believe that removing hard lock in PVP only would put everyone on the level field, and since there is no cross play at the moment, it would not affect the balance too much. And it will put that much more emphasis in deliberate movement patterns, which plays into helping you to aim while moving. This is something in the previous games, especially in Gen4 (which is only on console back in the day) This is mainly to raise the skill ceiling as AC6 at the moment... well lets say the mechanics all made the viable builds in PVP very narrow.

[@donk8961]

Soft lock wouldn't necessarily be easier for mkb with limited turn speed, most top Gundam Battle Operations 2 players use controller for that reason. It has turn speed. I've used mouse aim in games with turn speed before and while I'm quite used to it I can see how a controller might be better.

[@TGM-Videos]

Yeah I feel like no one else has mentioned that PC soft lock is easier because you can move the mouse aim much quicker than a controller. On controller, even the max sensitivity is still slower than a mouse. Hard lock needs more abilities to break lock. Even on soft lock, if line of sight is broken with obstacles, you'll lose lock without a scan, but even without a scan hard lock can't be broken easily by breaking like of sight

[@shmshare3868]

Keep up the good work brother.

[@youngmasterDX]

Great vid bro well said!

[@stryker5055]

Thanks man

[@OPTIMUMELITE]

There's many subtle thing that could see in the next armored Core title. I do hope that there's more details in customization and visuals.

[@Bangcat]

I think whats often not talked about from the bits i looked about here, yet others have, and even modded in, is co op. I've been saying for years it would be nice to see more co op and PvE gaming. And now that this finally shows up well after Helldivers 2 has brought this point to a head. You can have a very invested and immersive experience with co op and not HAVE to have it merely a single player situation. Learning what works here, but some from the past as well, could really come together in a venture of areas that could bring a large continuous map, maybe even continued war aspect, with some compartmentalized level generator stages and mission asset drops with some changed up objectives and missions. Some very constructed missions or campaigns with dialog, but then those generated missions done in images and texts for targets and rough reasonings, could ic be expressed as more live mission briefings vs job board or even 'burst transmissions' of needed options. The input here is GOOD and should be considered, but then how to keep that community going at this point owes it's self as a franchise to do what modders have already done. Bright forth the options of how that community can engage in new options to unified effort, as PvP has been a bit done to death and shouldn't be the only thing looked at. Options still there? I very much dont see why not, but to expand beyond that is something looked in on by other titles by Square Enix, and many more. So why not a grand investive world that can keep rolling a while and keep people talking together about it for something more than just one or three and done. With that noted as well, story and design owes it to itself to keep a nice strong eastern design, but the one thing, perhaps one of the FEW things that should be taken from the western side of gaming is this. Really UNDERSTAND that the world is a big place, and you need the online play to understand those needs of distance. With that said CO OP really helps benefit some of that, but as well its the one thing western gaming has been able to benefit learning from and making online play truly work, test for, and will be a good bonus to the world over in doing what AC was in itself late to get done earlier in it's franchise career that originally split up the community back in the day. Not having online play for the rest of the world when it was looked forward too and ONLY japan had it. We had Nests back in the day like Ravens Nest Nervous Concord and Ravens Nest of Northern California just to name a couple. And many split away the moment the game dropped and we realized, we were looking forward to something we were never going to see for that title, and who knew when we would, if ever, for an Armored Core game ever. It was a shattering effect of demoralization. And now after the likes where people are almost kind of burnt out on the best of offerings, and the mass use of Fortnite, Apex Legends, a desire for Titanfall to get back tot he likes but even back then the fires of the PvE request showing the days where PvP being the be all end all slowing up, AC6 had some VERY high expectations to be compared too. Now feels like a good time for another sequel building on his new AC world, especially with how the third ending wrapped up, everyone forced to a new world. NOW is a grand design time to expand on two different options of co op with pre planned ideals as well as mission generators to explore it, maybe even jump again to one or the other, maybe even user created missions of design or campaigns, and start taking seasons into opening up new technologies, parts variants, and even re opening up some of those inside and expansion parts with the idea you're going to get there rather than starting with them out of the gate. AC6 feels like the perfect starting point. Missing a lot? Sure, but thats perhaps why it's such a good positioning point to really go in on the next title using the same universe, and where it can explore growing upward and onward. Establishing making the online for such a project work can take a chunk of that earned coin with the last tittle towards such, using the otherwise well set frame work to offset having to start from scratch, certainly saving time which this studio has shown it can do what others haven't. A very realistic budget, turn around time, and capitalize on this position. For NEARLY EVERY negative people have brought up here, has just left something that the current game can move forward into tuning those up where those negatives suddenly make sense why we're starting with those lesser aspects and why moving forward from here is just nearly perfect. It may not have been intended for AC6 to be such a lay up title design, but intended or not, here it really is. Accessibility to bring new people in, a bit more streamlined with less things you can do, but now here it is intended or not. the experience, the sport, THE MISSION, is ready to evolve. From Software should get cracking while the iron is hot. Especially as it got in on a lot of nominations and even a significant win seemingly out of the blue where it was able to look down on the likes of Spider Man losing touch with reality.

[@twanwhoever4954]

The first thing i checked for was shoulder weapons and stabilizers. I had to appreciate other things when i realized that wasnt apart of the game. Has anyone mentioned that aspect?

[@Gearsy]

Great video! While I enjoy AC6 the more I play it the more I sour on it. I love the decal customization but the part selection feels very stifling.

[@skeltaldelegate5408]

Nearly all of the issues mentioned here were specific concerns I had before release. I really tried to get people with bigger platforms to notice important details and flaws in the game but the hype got to everyone's heads and often any criticism was shut down or mocked. The month before and after launch was the best and maybe only time that consumer opinion would have had a meaningful impact. If it really took this long for even other longtime fans to acknowledge basic design flaws, then I don't have much hope for the IP. How can Fromsoftware know what to do when the fanbase is so lethargic when it comes to critique?

[@realArisawaHeavyInd]

Almost 3 hours holy shit Did 3 hrs of stuff really go wrong with ACVI? Yeah, I'd say that sounds about right...

[@vietnamabc2290]

Taka patch mod incoming :champ:

[@mallow2902]

Leading up to AC6, I played almost every other game in the series, and enjoyed them quite a lot. Last Raven, Silent Line, and For Answer were my standout favorites. Despite being new to the series, I was kinda worried when gameplay started getting revealed for AC6, but I kinda forgot about those fears completely when I played the actual game. From start to finish the sixty hour campaign was just a blast, and was my favorite new game of 2023 easily. But I did see a few people saying the game didn't live up to the old titles after release which was puzzling to me, because as someone who had played almost every game in the series in the span of a year, and thus had all of them fresh in my mind, AC6 did live up to the hype for me. As the first segment of this video points out, it seems most of the ire for this game is largely aimed at the PvP aspect of the game, which I actually think is a totally valid and fair point. I haven't delved deep into PvP for any AC game, though I have tried them. But AC6, while sorta fun in PvP, is not as fun of a PvP experience as games like Last Raven or For Answer. I'd much rather pop those in for some duels with my buddy since they lack the hard lock and have more parts than AC6. AC6's mechanics are great for a single player focused experience but make PvP feel pretty watered down and one-dimensional. Your criticisms of the game from a multiplayer perspective definitely track. I absolutely love the game as a primarily single-player focused fan, but I understand the disappointment from people who are more into the PvP.

[@ZedtheRedRaven]

Good to see everyone coming together to say something about AC6. Along with telling the truth about the long awaited game we all waited 10 years for.

[@RizkT511]

almost three hours long video, time to dig in!

[@antoniocolon1567]

I love that all these ac creators sent in their audio to support you. Nice video man!

[@val1703]

1K views breached!!!! woohoo!! 🎉

[@lukehighwalker8932]

For answer still my fav. Would love to see more melleeweapons. Some blunt ones like hammer or big bonk sword would be nice.

[@justinriley4063]

I hope future games have coop and while the garage has been made easier definitely for new players like myself i would totally love a deeper custom system like 5 or 4 had.

[@pallaschto1700]

finally an AC6 video for me...

[@Cheapstall]

Press B/O and you can toggle your boosters so you don’t have to evade to start your boosters

[@RebelFNOS]

First AC was 6 but it convinced me to go back to my PS3 to buy VD and play it... I haven't gotten 100% on the story missions but I did beat J 1 on 1 and if I'm being honest I prefer how VD plays the only thing I don't like is the armor system itself and how restrictive it can be (but I will admit it still makes sense lore wise when considering the state of the world during 5 and VD)

[@abeeocta2599]

Try ac4 n 4FA for speed dance

[@mctescotenacious5285]

I feel like this is a base to stand on, like a beginning for a new start and to introduce Armored Core to newer fans and Miyazaki slowly goes back to form of the older games.

[@curbthepain]

This video perfectly illustrates how I feel about the combat in 6 coming from 3-Verdict Day. It feels like a fighter game. Not that it’s a bad game, far from it. But it has a lot less build freedom, especially given the stun based combat.

[@SCF721]

Not gonna lie, a PCA ending (and maybe some PCA parts) would have been cool to have. Campaign is definitely top tier either way though. Multiplayer was definitely an afterthought. I already figured it was gonna be undercooked since it barely got brought up but only 1v1 and 3v3 was very disppointing to hear. Not to mention the lack of basic multiplayer options. No co-op was definitely a let down as well. Hopefully the next game (or expansion) puts more thought in the multiplayer.

[@Solo_Wing_Rusty-Yo_Buddy]

AC6 is a good fun game. Fromsoft did a good job on making a good game. I love that they try new things and got new players into the series but man it missing that AC soul. I hope the next AC game they get rid of the hard lock but use the soft lock system similar to AC4 & ACFA. Would still make sense with the AC6 lore (human augmentation) Look at Verdict Day’s multiplayer and implement some of the modes and content. Get rid of the invisible walls let players fail for not being aware of their surroundings and limits of their area of operation. Get rid of the stagger bar and the extra damage stats for staggering. Experiment/expand the acs anomaly(stun guns stunning your AC does make sense) Add more parts and allow more options to engage/counter enemies. Allow us to tuning parts. Finally let me turn off my booster so I can just fall. If I hit the ground hard and stagger myself that ok because it my fault for making that mistake.

[@kaly8329]

A month late but, hardlock was actually used in ACFA. What did AC6 add? You can toggle it at will..

[@kaliduncanel3356]

@5:16 is so accurate and why I will never S rank.

[@icecreamnightmare1047]

I appreciate listening to everyone's opinions. I hope we get many more years of AC, and it just keeps getting better.

[@diegoamato9946]

Congratulations for the video very much precise and thorough. Without taking anything away from the observations made, I just wanted to underline how for a new player in the saga, like me, 90% of the defects you highlighted are actually strengths and decisive reasons why I chose to approach AC precisely with this chapter 😅

[@Mike-rt2vp]

I love armored core 6. I want DLC and a sequel. Whatever they are willing to develop in the future. But I have to say I think I agree with most of your critiques. The mobility you showed in some of the previous armored core games looks simply awesome and wish it was in the new release. Good video.

[@EronimusRex]

The Armored Core series has been infamous for it's terrible control scheme, a facet that AC6 finally solved. I've been playing AC games since the first demo disc for the PS1 and I can say with absolute certainty that it is not and has never been a simulator. Fromsoft will continue to advance the series in positive new directions, and those clinging to objectively terrible mechanics of the past will be left in the dust.

[@shepardren8006]

I haven't played the game. Yet. But I love the Lore. World building. Characters. AC designs. Weapon Designs. All of it. However. All that being said. Here's my one complaint. I really didn't want to play another FromSoftware game that has to do with *"Fire"* Or carrying the proverbial torch of any kind. Or another never ending fight between Mankind and the Unknown. And our ability to answer the question to either face the unknown or attempt to hold it at bay. I really wanted AC6 to just do more AC stuff without feeling like another flavor of Dark Souls. But that being said. I still want to play the fuck out of this game.

[@kevo300]

There is only 1 small reoccuring thing from the games and its the moonlight greatsword weapon. Literally nothing else is close to dark souls. Its more mankind and corporations fighting amongst themselves over a resource thats akin to space oil.

[@Phantasmar]

jolly good show

[@calangel]

You are right about one thing, many of the changes they implemented to make things appeal to new players hurt skill expression somewhat and really, really hurt lightweights and any non-burst weapons. There really should have been built in anti-missile systems in the core all the games before 4th gen, seeing as how we don't have shoulder extensions. Some cores would be better at this than others, but that would be part of choosing a core.

[@Sinpapi789]

I wish they did add optional parts like wings that could almost extend air time indefinitely in my opinion stagger is needed to bridge the gap in new players and existing players gives them a chance no one would stay if they just got destroyed my vets on this way it puts them in the same field were it could go 50/50

[@SolutusEversol]

Finally! Someone is speaking reason. AC6 is my very first armored core game. Although I beat the single player and tried the PvP, I was disappointed in how the game played. I did not like stagger, it is relied on religiously that it makes combat and builds favoring CQC, big hit box energy/explosive blasts, and heavy’s (I hate heavy’s). I even told my friends that the game felt like a fighting game without combo breaker. Hopefully they go back to the roots of AC in for future titles. If not then I’ll get myself an emulator and try out the older AC games to finally get the mech experience I wanted.

[@Fratt_Damon]

I was so confused at 7:29 when this man was saying "hissox" instead of hitbox

[@xxXKogasaWe3dL0rd420Xxx]

“🐍 🧦 “

[@nekomancer4641]

I'm a new player to AC series, but as someone who enjoys positional combat in flight sims, what you described that's missing in AC6 sounds really appealing

[@TornaitSuperBird]

I played through a good chunk of the older games in preperation for Armored Core VI... And a few things that really felt lackluster in ACVI (as many in the video have said) are the lack of modular options and complexity, and the lack of ranged options. Concerning the latter, the "long range FCS" are basically bad jokes because the only true long range weapons are missiles, and those FCS options don't even have good missile spec (to discourage missile rats, which is another problem that could be solved by allowing missiles to be shot out of the sky). I love being able to play a long range build in older AC games, to hide behind cover and pop shots at enemies. i never played AC5/Verdict Day, but the Scan Mode concept sounds like it would be much more useful in a PVP setting if there was more cover. It'd also make vertical missiles have more viability, being able to scan and see enemies behind cover and attack them pre-emptively. I also like the idea of having Regulation Patches like For Answer had, having soft patches available in the game so that PvE-focused players can enjoy a patch focused on that experience, and PvP players can boot up the most recent Regulation Patch for PvP. I will say the melee options are all really fun in AC6. Best melee options Armored Core has had in the series. So many different ways to attack in melee... I'd love to see even more variations of melee weapons... but not enough long range options. No dumb-fire weapons either, not even rockets (Truenos are the closest thing to rocket weapons and they have a hard lock like missiles, as well as a weird curved trajectory).

[@ibysdagon4659]

Played a lot of ACV and ACVD pvp and the scanning isn't really used the same way. You have to throw up a bunch of drones to get the info in the first place then switch to scan mode to get info on the target. Issue being is you can't fight back in scan mode, you need line of sight or a drone to get any info, and scan info vanishes as soon as you switch back to combat mode. It feeds into that low tech guerilla warfare feel of the game but scan mode was more for energy recovery as scan mode skyrockets energy regen. But ACV was built around 4v4 combat with a 5th player working as an operator that gets all the drone data from all teammates. So it's just a diffrent idea tactically. Honestly felt AC6 did it way better but V had a much more serious meta problem than 6 did because of the defense problem that game had.

[@wadez1000]

Maybe for the next AC game, they find a balance that has mix of old and new. I have personally only played AC6 and loved it. And i understand criticisms.

[@Pine2142]

It's insane how as soon as both auto lock and the insane tracking was revealed it was almost universally slammed and suggested to change it and yet it wasn't even acknowledged by Fromsoft. Still love the game, still love AC and Fromsoft but as someone who plays Fromsoft games primarily for their unique multiplayer modes such as invasions in Souls games and ofc online on AC it feels like every entry they care less and less about multiplayer aspects.

[@SlayerNerin]

1:56:23 the 2 hour yap session, someone speaking facts 🗣🗣🔥🔥 But yeah, the greatest flaw is simply turn-speed and the overeliance on stagger. A lot of problems would be fixed with some tweaking of these two aspects. It's clear that they emphasized pve above all else, but these issues still effect the balance of these bosses. People struggle far more than they should because hard lock restricts movement against bosses. While stagger mechanics let people breeze through the game.

[@TGM-Videos]

I think it's fair to mention the PvP shortcomings but they were very clear that the game was single-player focused first and foremost. Things like Hard Lock were implemented so it was more approachable to new players, and while i didn't use hard lock in my playthrough, it definitely helps to make a more actiony and "cool" feeling for the player.

[@austin0_bandit05]

You keep mentioning how their design choices are baffling. I think their design intent is pretty clear. They wanted to streamline a complicated and layered combat system for a new audience

[@FusionArmorX]

I don't dislike hard lock itself, it is just a necessity for modern gaming. What would've been a fair way to balance it was by not getting rid of turn speed as a concept, though. I'd maybe consider some balancing for melee weapons, at least in terms of arms. Imagining Melee Specialization not as a damage buff, but as an attack speed and cooldown buff, while having Firearm Specialization being a (weak) damage buff, with values under 100 just not giving you any bonus to damage. Yes, I know that that would probably make Laser and Plasma weapons nightmarishly powerful due to being able to stack damage buffs from both the Generator and this form of the Firearm stat. ...Also, FROM. Why couldn't we have right hand melee weapons, too?

[@antoniocolon1567]

Kipsz's advice for the development team is actually really solid.

[@ilucasz]

17:40 How to improve the next AC game? Make a OST like AC3/Silent Line, make a game with Last Raven movement but with quick boosting and a more developed melee combat, a aiming system that demands actual aiming, no overheating (I always feel I'm cheating when using it), no Sekiro-like stagger system, a limb-damaging system, a branching story with more routes exploring the different sides of the war, a Nine Ball-like final boss and the possibility to join a group like the Red Guns for the rest of the game, make us face many giant fortress-like machines... Or just make For Answer again, that's always a option. Especially if it has more genocidal routes where you unleash all your indignation and rage upon the hypocrite motherfuckers that blamed you for their decisions. Guess I can resume what I want as: Gen3 with Quick Boosting AND without the overheat or For Answer again.

[@abeeocta2599]

Man hate caloric value in Nexus, my tank cannot using ob without heat, and Blade assit like gen 3

[@kakyoin5713]

Nexus is just burning you​@@abeeocta2599

[@linkkicksu]

Favourite thing about AC6: Armored Core is back, and on PC too Least favourite thing: Almost everything else, but to give some specifics off the top of my head; -Hard lock -Gen 4 style aiming -Decoupled camera with instant turning -Mulitplayer is barebones asf -Redlining is barely punished, if at all -Mobility feels extremely limited and stiff, nowhere near the expressive freedom of gen 4 and 5 -Stagger system is cool for bosses but ass for everything else -Part variety and complexity is nonexistant compared to the depth of gen 3 -Campaign is far too linear, with barely any choices for missions, nowhere near the variety of oldgen -Gen 4 style frame parts that come in 'armor sets' and can look ridiculous rather than the oldgen style where all parts went together well

[@ThatOneMan830]

I admit that I’ve only played two games in the franchise: For Answer and Rubicon. I first played FA in high school and s-ranked it, and finally got my hands on AC6 earlier this month. I’m gonna be speaking from a PVE standpoint (I’ve never really focused on PVP and haven’t touched any of it in AC6 besides invasions in the co-op mod). While I disagree with some criticisms here I have to admit they are wonderfully laid out, and I adore that you have such a large section of the video dedicated to various viewpoints from the wider community. For me the biggest rub comes from accessibility complaints. On the one hand I definitely do get it and even agree on some points; it could do with a higher skill ceiling and deeper techs. On the other hand these should be made at least a bit more accessible, be it via tooltips in the menu, tutorials, and/or other means. If you make these mechanics more accessible, *more people will be positive towards them* since they won’t feel as overwhelming or esoteric. I’m not saying that the game should hold your hand at all times - there should be things you discover organically - but that things as fundamental as, say, quick turning in AC4A should be made clear from the get go, while facilitating the organic discovery of deeper mechanics. Otherwise it’s going to scare off EVERYONE but hardcore players, which simply isn’t sustainable. If we want AC to have continued success, some concessions have to be made. As for hard lock and the whole lock on system, I think a way to fold it in without it being dominant is that it’s a toggle; you have manual and “soft lock on” (base AC 6), but can turn on Hard Lock. Doing so, however, affects energy (or some other stat/meter) which limits how long you can do it for. It does recharge but it’s affected by multiple factors, making using it a balancing act with overuse coming back to bite you. Either that or maybe you could reintroduce turn speed to make hard lock less oppressive? Now, stagger and micro stagger. On the one hand I think that the idea of a stagger to incentivize not being hit is a good idea, but it’s also caused an issue where you NEED to focus on building stagger to beat up the enemy. Sometimes this system combines with enemies who are so ungodly obnoxious to deal with due to endless dodge spam/high mobility (looking at you, IBIS) that it straight up makes the game unfun, especially with the janky melee hit boxes. You *NEED* to focus on stagger to slow down IBIS and then chain a melee (praying all the while that it connects) before doing a fifty millennia song and dance and then an annoying second phase. The only way to stop it is to do full stagger building which isn’t very fun. On top of this some enemies have straight-up instant stagger recover, which serves to turn the mechanic into a player-only detriment. There’s a mod called “Rubicon Armoury” on Nexus which overhauls various things, including stagger; while I have some of my own complaints with the mod I really do like how it de-emphasizes stagger and makes being staggered less punishing. I do think stability could maybe make a comeback, but I’m not sure how. Micro stagger… I hate it. Actually terrible. Most of the time (like 98% of the time it happens) it feels outright nonsensical and/or needlessly punishing. It’s aggravating when I finally stagger an enemy AC and charge in for melee only for the game to go, “oh no, a booger particle from an MT pilot nicked your AC’s left testicle, you can’t move now lol”, forcibly ripping my opportunity away and allowing the enemy to recover from something they should have been forced to endure. It should, frankly, be ripped out of the game excluding huge projectiles or heavy impacts, and there should be a period of time where you’re immune to it to prevent stunlocking. There’s very few things that suck more in this game than the above scenario only it happens five times in a row because you get chain-stunned by bazookas you *CAN’T DODGE DUE TO COMPOUNDING MICRO-STAGGERS.* Legit. Just get rid of all of it outside of things that make sense; if you get rammed by a huge tank leg AC, it *makes sense.* I completely agree on customization, more detailed stats, and weapon range. 100%. I’d love to see a return of old-school tuning a-La 4A, where you mess with the very parts you buy to fit your playstyle. It’d give so much creative freedom! More modular parts, more core expansions, yes please! The lack of long-range in 6 definitely needs to be addressed and limits the game in the ways you and others state in the video, forcing you into a rush/stagger build. Weapon velocity and other stuff, you explained why they should be visible. It’s only an upside if they are brought in. On the player and player side, I just have to say i’m amazed co-op wasn’t baked in or introduced and we need to mod it in. Like holy shit, I’d love to play through this game with a friend acting like a teacher of sorts. The music in this game was alright, some tracks were good, damn good even, but man sometimes I just mute the music and turn on my favorite 4A tracks for certain fights. It makes it feel amazing. Not being able to shoot or kick while quick boosting is dumb. It should be allowed. Loved the story. I’m sure there’s more I meant to say but I probably forgot. Legitimately great video. EDIT: Okay, one more thing. I hope we get more moddability/mod friendliness in the future. I do a lot of RTS games now and those tend to have very active, in-depth, and at times AMAZING mods and modding communities. I’ve found modding to be a lifeblood for older titles which keeps them fresh while allowing for virtually unlimited player expression, especially in the case of more modern titles which can make full use of modern hardware. I know it’s a long shot but man, I would adore having huge modded stuff in AC6, like fully custom missions, entirely new animated parts, or - and I know this is a long shot - custom voice acting and entirely customized models/enemies. I’d love it. I’d love it so much. I think everyone would love it too. EDIT 2: The man at that IGN thing is clearly a Doser and I fucking love him.

[@willyjakob8630]

while click baity title, its pretty reasonable. glad i watch before comenting

[@Sabbathfaax]

Appreciate this perspective, especially on assault boosting. While its undoiutedly a very cool and unique take on OB with interesting movement options its way too damn strong and shouldnt be something nearly all builds have to revolve around

[@toomeyeh1]

@BEZEL_fA Well said amigo. Armored Core may have saved the series, for that i will always be grateful. Hopefully the next installment is the next classic. I remember playing PVP matches of all varieties, with players of all nationalities in for answer and 4 on the old gen consoles. Hopefully the next one will borrow some of the things those games got right, to make AC7; the new goat 🐐🙇‍♂️

[@theneer-do-well3240]

Doing gods work.

[@theneer-do-well3240]

Sash had the best take, it best illustrated WHY people hate the movement mechanics of AC6 compared to previous titles.

[@shira_yone]

They could do what the other AC series do (Ace Combat) and just have 2 movement system/control options: one that is more mechanically in-depth with higher skill ceiling and one that is simplified and more palatable for people who just want to get into the action right away.

[@ethanspaziani1070]

You understand what is missing in AC 6

[@elmohead]

- Mechwarrior is a tank game disguised as a mech game. - Previous AC games are plane games disguised as a mech game. - AC6 is a Gundam game without the Gundam name.

[@a_rat_named_mouse]

As spmeone who adored Chromehounds and, later, Armored Core: Verdict Day, I'm pretty bummed at how little I enjoy this game in conparison. While not my favorites, even the OG, floaty titles and the speed-addled blur that is For Answer better captured the feeling of "mech". That's why I love those games. The feeling of piloting dozens of tons of armor plating, firepower and engine. The feeling of fine-tuning your mecha to best fit your tastes, then master the seemingly unwieldy mechanics to turn what one persons sees as "trash" into a perfectly carved niche for you. In Verdict Day particularly, my build was a paper-thin, high-speed biped with dual gatlings. Despite me having barely 23,ooo AP (less than half of most players), I was able to 1v1 in any map with decent cover, often picking up multiple kills. I was able to take advantage of the game's slower mechs, the map's layout and my teammate's playstyles. Shred into their mech with my guns, dive behind cover, pop out somewhere else and repeat. Strong, to be sure, but it was hardly "free" like this game's missile rats -I had no armor and died without cover, and the increased weight of ACVD preventied even my pure-speed build from just... flying away? And even THEN, the pure variety in builds was astounding! My guerrilla fighter is one thing, but you also had long-range snipers and missileboats, close-range heavies with shotguns which force my kind away, and all sorts of all-rounders, each customized to role compress as many niches as their squad needs covered. Amd then... this game... it just feels like, as you said, a mech-skinned fighting game. I hate fighting games.

[@TornaitSuperBird]

Fighting games have more skill expression than this game. There's more diversity of archetypes in fighting games.

[@motorsporttj1689]

@@TornaitSuperBird unfortunately AC6 Combat is too Close Range Oriented. I sometimes joke around that it’s “Mechiro” (Sekiro but AC) and that honestly seems to be the case. Due to the Stagger System unless ya know you are using Missile Boats. Long Range Builds seem obsolete. There aren’t even any Sniper weapons in this game. If AC6 was a fighting game. It would be nothing but Rushdowns with occasional Zoners.

[@a_rat_named_mouse]

@@TornaitSuperBird I appreciate fighting games, but they tend to be far too complex for how fast-paced they are. It isn't that I hate what they are, I hate that they are far too demanding in areas I am just not suited for. Square pegs in triangle holes, you know?

[@toomeyeh1]

AC6 probably brought in a good number of new players from the souls like aspect it had. Maybe AC7 will go back to the more detailed and customizable like For Answer 🙏🦊