How to make Mecha mainstream again.

[@svenabel2987]

Honestly a pretty good take. Adding on that, Mechas also invite a whole lot of other story genres to mix and mingle, like for example the setting of the Lancer tabletop RPG where Chthulu showed up briefly, fucked off again and got some of its remains stuck in nearby electronics, and now the pilots can use eldritch AIs to assist them in battle, either by literally prediciting the course of a battle or by mathing so hard you can say nuh-uh and force the enemy to use a different dice role (Sysiphus, my beloved). And there is an entire faction that essentially uses eldritch Mechs just for the fun of it (H0rus)

[@BlitzkriegOmega]

Horus is just Space 4Chan and I love them dearly.

[@HollowedKnight66]

I used to play the Lancer TTRPG and one of my mechs in Armored Core 6 is my one from the last Lancet session I played

[@svenabel2987]

@@HollowedKnight66 I tried to come Up with anything resembling Armored Core, what was your built?

[@HollowedKnight66]

@@svenabel2987 My mech in Armored Core 6 is a medium/heavy weight biped with a linear rifle and pulse blade, back weapons are 10 cell missile launchers or Songbirds( Lancer mech was similar to this)

[@PositiveBlackSoul]

@@svenabel2987 I created a number of loadouts based on (and named and color schemed after) Lancer Mechs. I have: Metalmark: Medium-Light Reverse joint Double Ludlow, Pulse Blade Weapon bay and flex back slot for whatever "heavy" weapon I want (usually Songbirds) Sherman: Medium-heavy biped Sherman with a double Medium Laser Rifle, Plasma Cannon back and Laser Handgun Weapon bay as a backup. Monarch: Medium-Light Biped double Pulse Missiles and 6 Cell Back Missiles. (or generally, whatever 4 Missile Launchers I feel like). I wish there was a stealth module for the Metalmark like the enemies in that one mission have.

[@BlitzkriegOmega]

How to bring Mevha back to the West in three easy steps: 1) Capitalize off the success of AC6 And normalize derivatives (See: Dark Souls) 2) Force Bandai Namco to bring the actually *good* Gundam Games to the west, Instead of watered down bootlegs of their own IP. 3) Bring back classic Mecha IP That would fill in niches for this new market (and force PGI out if their monopoly on the Mech Sim genre)

[@cptncutleg]

Gods I wish we'd get PC games that aren't SD Gundam or turn based isometric strategy

[@BlitzkriegOmega]

​@@cptncutlegThere's that problem, yes, but moreso that the very best games that BandaiNamco has made for the Gundam IP are either Arcade Exclusives (ExVs2 Overboost and Gundam Kizuna 2 for example) or that they were brought to the west, but in a significantly watered down form that is not reflective of how good these games can be (Gundam Versus and New Gundam Breaker, both of which are *reviled* by the larger Gundam community). There are lots of games and concepts BandaiNamco could revisit: Fast-paced action games like Gundam Battle Universe or Gundam Breaker 3, mecha sims like Blue Destiny or Gundam Kizuna, slow and deliberate games like Zeonic Front. They could even give true 3D-Combat another try, like with Encounters in Space or Fromsoft's Gundam Unicorn. the ideas are there, BandaiNamco just needs to not obsess on overmonetized mobage and out-of-touch trend-followers like Gundam Evolution.

[@lucianjaeger4893]

PGI really needs competition to motivate them into trying.

[@BlitzkriegOmega]

@@lucianjaeger4893 GOD, they fucking do. BandaiNamco could absolutely make a STELLAR Mecha Sim with the Gundam IP that utterly blows PGI out of the water, but they don't because...reasons?

[@lucianjaeger4893]

@@BlitzkriegOmega hell imagine the armored Core series in that format? Hundreds of systems to visit held by governments and corporations where your an actual mercenary who takes jobs for them. Your missions will change can influence the borders, you actually have to earn reputation and pick sides to earn parts during that campaign picking one corporation over it competitor might lock out of the competitors best parts shop for that campaign. Your own upgradable ship and crew who rely on your money for a salary. I better stop before I get carried away xD . PGI are fucking lazy they blamed their bare bones customisation on "Console limitations" which is just developer code for we couldn't be fucking bothered so we'll blame console. Armored cores past and present tells you that's bullshit lol. I don't know why Bandai don't do that shit they could smash into the mech sim like a freight train it's something that's always annoyed me with armored Core there's so much potential there. However I do know western developer's / games journalists used to have a thing about down playing Japanese games that entered western market's. That shit stick that hosts the game awards admitted it it's not like it used to be the competition is weak Bandai and fromsoft should absolutely capitalise which would force PGI for instance into doing better or submitting getting trounced.

[@Shooom-or9mk]

My barrier to mecha was always the suspension of disbelief. The mechs often look too humanoid and too blocky for me to believe they're actually the optimal solution for any kind of warfare. To me, they always looked like big goofy action figures jogging around and slashing at each other with impractical swords. So I credit AC's incredible mech design for pulling me into the genre. The mechs feel less like a designer purposefully tried to make a giant human and more like a designed was forced to mold a weapon into a vaguely human form so it could be intuitively piloted. My favorite frame is the Firmeza. The giant knee/calf area makes it look like the pistons in there could believably cushion a fall from a mile up, or accelerate the mech from a full stop to 500mph in an instant. The arms have multiple pistons and giant stabilizing shoulders that I can believe would be optimal for holding firearms steady. And the whole frame is so aerodynamic! The arms are legs are super flat so they have almost no profile from the from, but enough mass to be strong, and the chest and head are angled to break the air in front of them. That thing just looks like it goes fast. And reverse joints, tetrapods, and tank legs go a long way in bringing the design away from "human shaped robot" to "death machine forced into a vaguely human shape." I love the option to transcend human anatomy and limitation--and isn't that a central idea in mecha anyway?

[@Arkar-pl9ku]

Afaik, Armored Core’s designs have always been reminiscent of Race-Cars, Aircraft, and Insectoids (Tanks, IFVs, Artillery platforms for the heavy weights) than truly human forms, and I love that about it. For instance, Armored Core : Verdict Day’s design feels like they’re Gulf War/Cold War equipment in mech form and I love that about it. Check out the AC: VD opening cinematic and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

[@acethemain7776]

ac4 mechs remind me of vehicles. Like the white glint and lahire mechs remind me of aircraft, the aaliyah frame reminds me of a racecar, etc.

[@robertmacfergus9288]

I very much agree, both on AC having great mechs, but also with digitigrade mechs looking a lot better and being more functional/believable then the plantigrades. I would love to see more digitigrade mechs even going as far as hoping that outside of Gundam they could become the standard.

[@Arkar-pl9ku]

@@robertmacfergus9288 or better yet, Quad/Spider mechs. Relative profile of tank-legs, better redundancy/stability than Bipeds.

[@Nalan_LLP]

Mecha communities these days are few and far between with most of the community stationed in creative/sandbox based games with basic or more complex mechanics, but with AC6 comes a window for us small mecha communities to have a chance to stand out Personally I hope that this time mecha would have a bigger impact then what we had before

[@Njin8492]

Ive been clamoring for more mech based games, what other titles are out there besides the mainstream ones? I only know DxM, and the turn based strategy ones like into the breach. Sandbox mech game seems to be fun.

[@Mord12gp]

The mechs will RISE again!

[@Nalan_LLP]

@@Njin8492 these sandbox games are more or less in the name, mechs are not meant to be made but we just willed them to existence Though not really a popular option, roblox got some really good sandbox technical games that allow such things As long as the game is physics based and have simple mechanical joints that you could program

[@MemeLordCthulhu]

We need less mech games that are just walking tanks. Shit bogs down the whole genre with their slow game speed.

[@CommanderBohn]

For starters mecha should explore some really fun concepts. Both narrative and setting-wise. In case of setting I'm still waiting for a Gundam AU where humanity spread itself outside the Sol system into a good chunk of the Milky Way Galaxy. Would've been fun to see Mobile Suits fighting on different planets and in orbit of them. Had an idea of one such setting, but the MC is literally a sentient AI in a Gundam body.

[@BlitzkriegOmega]

I'd like to see that concept as well. With humanity so spread out, their MS design philosophies wildly vary due to different planetary needs and divergent evolution of technology.

[@aaronluisdelacruz4212]

By AI piloted mobile suits, you mean the S-Gundam Series. Alice is the pilot and not the human inside. Or maybe a far more fleshed out Stargazer story, we didn't see the AI used that much especially when the alliance attacked.

[@jamalisujang2712]

That will turn gundam into a super robot show. 😂😂😂

[@totomzn]

I have been developing an idea for a mecha graphic novel and the themes and tips in your video really flesh out how to handle more naturally the genre. It helps me as a bridge that connects the idea in my head with the genre that is coming back to live out there. Great video, you earned yourself a new follower c:

[@mandasenna4290]

Don't forget the emotions of the pilot characters must be integrated properly into the plot. I recommend works such as Gurren Lagann, The Big O, and Area 88 (Fighter pilots, but very similar) since they explore the emotions of the pilots very well.

[@datcheesyboi4112]

I feel a good excuse for mecha would be the ergonomic aspect, one of the larger trends in modern times we are seeing in the development of weapons platforms is the simplification of the controls. Humans are not evolved to control a vehicle from a cockpit, managing the different switches and controls necessary to pilot any machine takes up a large portion of the pilot’s mental capacity, decreasing reaction time and inhibiting decision making. We are already seeing modern militaries look into the usage of eye tracking and even brain-computer interfaces as methods of controlling weapons systems. Potentially under the right circumstances (most likely being a switch towards close combat) we could see that being taken to the extreme, with a brain-computer interface being used to control a humanoid frame. In this case it might be better to consider the mecha itself as a giant suit of power armor rather than something analogous to a tank or a fighter jet, with the mecha platform being used to enhance the abilities of skilled soldiers. Imagine putting John Wick in the War Machine suit from Marvel and then growing him up to be 30 feet tall.

[@jtho8937]

Pacific Rim Jaegers?

[@datcheesyboi4112]

@@jtho8937 I think those used an Xbox 360 Kinect system

[@boigercat]

You have given me an idea for a mecha story. Have a world similar to patlabor but i want to see restricted ai use for mechs. So basically ai mechs are required to have an human handler who keeps them in line. Maybe they have a special tool that can disable them so you have this power balance play of ai being stronger but the handler can disable it with ease. The ai mech are used liek swat or something, focusing on rouge ai. I feel naturally like in ghost in the shell/blade runner it would explore the themes of what makes us human and can ai be human etc

[@boigercat]

Just a random thought so feel free to break this apart and be critical if needed lol

[@mario-yt1cu]

I like this idea. If this was mine I'd have Rouge/corrupted ai to show the dangers of having programs assist humanity

[@jtho8937]

So... 86 but without the lying about having AI?

[@boigercat]

@jtho8937 what's 86?

[@jtho8937]

@boigercat A light novel turned anime about two countries at war. One side gains an advantage by using AI mechs called Legions. The other eventually manages to develop its own AI-controlled mechs commanded by human handlers, of which the female lead is one of them. However, it is revealed early on that the defenders did not actually manage to develop AI, but is using undesirables and expendables instead, of which the male lead is one of them. The attackers meanwhile are rogue AI that are continuing to fight even in the absence of human oversight.

[@metalwolfzx]

Armored Core-likes have been a thing *before* AC6, with the most notable one that comes to my mind being the now ironically named "Project Six", a still in-development Indie/Doujin game by Surumemanzyu which seems to be inspired by Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer.

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

For what platform?

[@metalwolfzx]

@@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793 For PC, not sure if it's coming to Steam though.

[@lesslighter]

@@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793 PC as its a 1 man team game done on freetime

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

I think I would like to tell you that there is a Gundam Mecha game called Exvs2 Overboost and Battle Operation 2. Both these games are good, but for Overboost, it is only available in Japan, and for Battle Operation, while it is better in detailed gameplay (fixing using welder, a little slower movement like it is a giant robot, boosting process), it is a gacha game (in order to get components and robot, you must gacha or something like roulette)

[@rayquazajumper4468]

The music at the start is deamon x machina one nice lol

[@constantinebratanata]

I'm just going to say mecha aren't restricted to humanoid robots but I think you just misspoke since you included Metal Gear clips. There are plenty of examples that are not humanoid but no fan would dispute are mecha such as those from 86, Metal Gear, Heavy Object, or any of the mobile armors or transforming mecha from Gundam or Macross. I'd also like to mention since this seems to be a common misconception (not saying I'm accusing you of believing this) that while mobile suits seem big, they're mostly as tall as fighter jets are long. Personally I would consider traditional military vehicles as mecha. There's a well-regarded series called Sentou Yousei Yukikaze which is about a fighter pilot and his fighter's AI which is considered to be a mecha series by the Japanese. The benefit to humanoid mecha is like you said, you get the narrative benefits of both machine and man while breaking the narrative constraints of both. You made a good point with mecha's durability and mobility, I'd just like to add that today's warfare increasingly include more sophisticated defense systems that could and should absolutely be written into futuristic settings such as jamming, decoys, low observability, as well as soft and hard kill active protection systems among other things. I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing increasing use of lasers in combat at least in a point defense capacity. Franchises like Muv-Luv and Gundam often use many of these at the same time to justify the doctrines and form of combat that happens with them. One last note is that Game of Thrones is heavily based on the War of the Roses. I'm just not sure to what extent since I haven't researched it.

[@MarK0-D4c]

Happy New Year, I wish more mecha games show up in the future!

[@hyperfixatedd]

Great video! Made me realize how For example, in star Wars, there's the gun action, saber action and then starship dogfighting action And mecha unifies these 3 things in one package Great stuff to think about

[@dragonspartan9031]

Interesting, in a data log, it was stated that mechs were AI controlled for a long time and hinted that with the introduction of coral augmentation, human pilots became superior to AI controlled mechs.

[@AORaiMechWork]

GOLDEN AGE WILL RETURN AGAIN!!!!!

[@LukeMidnight1]

Amazing video. But I do disagree with your point about having to sell the concept of mecha. Armored Core 6's story works just fine despite not doing enough to justify the use of mechs nor provide proper reasoning as to why human pilot are flat out better than AIs. Yes, cybernetic augmentation does exist, but the best in-universe pilot - Vesper I. Freud - is still a normal human. And by all rights AIs should do better than even augmented pilots. To say nothing of the G-Forces a pilot should be exposed to while inside an Armored Core's cockpit. There is simply no reasonable reason as to why anyone would ever use a mech. Even without scifi materials, you still have to play fast and loose with the laws of physics and the more rigorous 'muh realism' nerds, if you're to pander to them, would never be satisfied no matter how good of an explanation you could come up with. Despite that, mecha stories still work. Depending on what you're going for, trying to justify the robots can help and your audience will appreaciate the effort, but you don't REALLY have to bother as long as the work has internal consistency. Just take the superhero genre, for example: Superheroes became the biggest mainstream trend in the story of forever and they genre conventions are as ridiculous as anything found in mecha. Yellow sunlight somehow gives Superman heat vision and flight! A regular soldier wtih standart equipment should be far more effective than low tier heroes like Hawkeye and Batman, and even capable of taking out high tier glass canons like Dr. Strange and Scarlet Witch. Audiences accept those gaps in logic just fine because they NEED to accept them for the story to work. Likewise, mecha stories take place in universes in which human piloted bipedal giant robots are the most effective weapons known to man. You have to either accept it at face value and give it a chance or walk away.

[@Punishthefalse]

The in-story justification for AC pilots being human (most of the time) is basically summed up by Freud: the AI is too predictable. Then there's also the part about how ACs are usually customised for the pilot's favoured style of combat. With how many permutations of AC there could be, it's probably considered too complicated to code an AI to master use of all the permutation of parts. This is also further justified by what happens in the ALLMIND route, where the theme of the primacy of human will takes center stage. With some additional jabs on the subject with the quirks of the ALLMIND parts (especially the Karasawa rifles) being rather unintuitive as though put together based on a checklist than having any actual pilot input on how the part should work in practice (hell, the Karasawa rifle even looks like ALLMIND just bolted and linked up a laser and a plasma rifle together). Also to note that ALLMIND tried to get around that issue through all the extra Arena fights meant to test design philosophies (with the mismatched AC parts after every Mind Beta fights being further jabs on AI not really understanding how AC customisation and piloting works) and the Arena data ALLMIND is using to learn how to pilot, which also culminates into the NG++ ending.

[@TheAzureGhost]

​@@Punishthefalse next to allmind (and her alterego merc) there is also chatty as an sentien AI and the PCA uses drones but they all have some problems eith the unpredictability of humans and in cases of the drones being hacked. I think i also remember so.e datalog about about how coral augmented humans surpassed AI advantages in reflexes ect.

[@LukeMidnight1]

​@@Punishthefalse ​ @Punishthefalse "The in-story justification for AC pilots being human (most of the time) is basically summed up by Freud: the AI is too predictable." The issue is that isn't much of an explanation. It's like saying mechs are used because a bipedal structure is better suited for difficult terrain, when in actuallity it wouldn't be and would have a plethora of issues practical and logistical issues that would make conventional hardware a better option. Even if we were to accept a civilization that mastered space travel couldn't develop AI models with unpredictable fighting styles, predictability wouldn't account for the massive gap in reaction speed and superior tolerance to G-Forces that would make an autonomous model far superior to Freud. ALLMIND is not the only one with a unintuitive build. Honest Brute's sucks and Volta is a low tier pilot despite having one of the best builds in the game.

[@Punishthefalse]

@@LukeMidnight1 On ALLMIND, it wasn't the *build* that's unintuitive, it's the *parts*. Karasawa has a tiny ammo pool and a very lengthy charge time because for some reason, ALLMIND thought she can start and stop with 'this rifle shoots plasma and lasers and thus combine the advantages of both' without doing anything about the drawbacks of such a weapon. That might be part of the reason Kate Markson has such a hard time shooting escaping transport helicopters past five of them. I bet she even charged the weapon fully just to kill those helicopters. Edit: On the subject of the builds: The pilots with mismatched parts are often high as a kite. The ones ALLMIND put together as test samples are just straight up bizarre with no game plan put into them. At least the MIND BETA/ALPHA builds are actually put together properly.

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

Can we bring up the Macross game or anime? Even if it's japanese language, it's fun to play, especially the Artdink's Macross game series, including the PS3 Macross, Macross 30th Voices Across Galaxy, giving an Armored Core like limited ammo on special weapons like beam cannon and missiles, but we can buy a pack of them to fire, while the ammo for gunpod is unlimited. Anime wise, looks good for me

[@lesslighter]

I personally don't like the artdink games due to their grindy nature of a game :X its like my main gripe with IF games in a way, fun sure as I finally played Delta Scramble but ya know....

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

@@lesslighter Grindy nature? IF games?

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

I hope Artdink studio can create more good memorable games

[@lesslighter]

@@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793 idea factory games

[@heraadrian7764]

The Gardes from Knights of Sidonia are the best justified mech fighter I know in Mecha-genre.

[@TheAzureGhost]

Mecha also does not need to be SiFi Magic infused piloted golems are also a sort of mecha bringing in the limitation to technology of a swords&sorcery world.

[@lesslighter]

We already have that with Escaflowne and Knights and Magic being its more "recent descendants" magitec mecha

[@TheAzureGhost]

@@lesslighter yeah there were quite some manga/anime in that direction (breakblade being another example that jusr springs to mind) Which is why i mentioned it here since the video only talks about sifi mecha.

[@dann9300]

I always like this kind a idea. A mecha that powered by magic and the medieval knight is the pilot.

[@iceydicey77]

Once AC6 started popping off piranha games immediately decided "challenged accepted" and are now working on a mech warrior after so so long probably older since the last AC game

[@MetalFalcon99]

Fun fact you fought a 90 year old in armored core 2

[@PillowTheHiveQueen]

hot take, mecha and mech games genre weren't niche it just wasn't mainstream.

[@notimportant768]

Mechabreak was probably planned before the release of armored core and does not appear to really be an immitator.

[@Rayfireful]

I also thought that, honestly after AC6 dropped, I start to hearing other mecha titles as well while previously, it's very hard to find for me

[@PSC4.1]

This is honestly how I have felt about Mecha to a T, however I believe that, like you said AC6 would have been more successful with a Co-Op mode, by doing harder versions of campaign missions or like one of the previous Ace Combat games did, have made up missions to do something, for example take down a prototype and make it extremely maneuverable or give it minions that have to be dealt with or can be ignored or do both in a boss fight. Or in another case like the "Excaliber" mission from ace combat or the Stone Henge mission from ace combat (not 7, that stone henge mission was a little bland) and you have to destroy the weapon/facility and make it competitive where the team that does the most damage or completes their mission first wins, or even better, both teams are on the same side but the enemies are a bunch of ad enemies, maybe sprinkle in a mini boss fight and the team or individual that does the most damage wins, and make resupply nodes for the mechs available.

[@TheAzureGhost]

DaemonXMachina has some coop gameplay (sort of an older Armored Core Clone) and has its sequel announced.

[@lesslighter]

My counter arguement for AC6 complete lack of a co-op mode was how the 5th gen AC games were viewed due to the fact those games have chromehounds backend which was more MMO than "co-op"

[@TheAzureGhost]

@@lesslighter AC gen 5 issue wasn't rly the coop part but the massive change in gameplay though. The whole game was designed around competive multiplayer, massively changed how combat played out and mobility behaved (even more so than gen4 did) which is a big change for a game with (at that time) such a niche community.

[@PSC4.1]

@lesslighter yes, but I am not talking about making it an MMO, I am just simply suggesting some Co-Op missions that could be loaded onto the game using old designs from past games, and legally, they have access to that old tech and designs because they were published under Bandai, they could have left that Co-Op piece of code open for use at a later date in order to put something like a competitive pve or just a simple pve into the game, something to attract more attention and pull pve players into the game.

[@alastor8091]

You need to be very physically fit as both a war plane pilot and even more so as a mecha pilot due to the G forces at play. The more fit you are, the longer you can endure having your body slung back and forth. You absolutely need good endurance to pilot a mech, so a Space Marine looking guy would be much better suited to piloting a mech than a teenager.

[@VRGUILE]

There's also a cultural hurdle that has to be cleared as well. In the east (japan mainly) mecha is a widely accepted concept because, well, it was largely home grown and carries historical roots in one form or another (i'm no history buff so I can't think of many examples but the RX78-2 Gundam was designed after a samurai). The west, however, culturally accepts high fantasy more (lord of the rings etc...) because they carry historical connections to periods like medieval times and knights etc... To the west, mecha is still an alien concept thats viewed more as a gimmick. Whilst the east are creating universities, corporate initiatives and attractions all with the purpose of making mecha a reality.

[@zenivinez]

There is so much ground to explore in the genre. Battle Tech has not had a good game in decades now but could really be revived as a slower pace strategic style (not rts) introduction. Gundam and its kin could dominate the super fast paced arcade side of genre. Armored Core has always felt like a good middle ground (except when it got a little to fast paced). AC6 has lost a little bit of that strategy and that amazing game play loop from its earlier games. I could see a budget return to that (failure simply means we give you a handicap) game loop. So many aesthetic options in the genre to Imagine a AC game where you play a 40k warhammer titan on endless planetary battlefields. Such a game would do well especially since henry cavill is about to revive that genre. I see the mecha genre as having endless horizons to explore.

[@nitesy381]

Not RT's? I want mech commander

[@dominiccasts]

@@nitesy381 well, Supreme Commander/Planetary Annihilation/Beyond All Reason do have you covered at least aesthetically, if not in terms of mass customization.

[@zenivinez]

@@nitesy381 I just meant that battletech RTS has had some good titles already. I want some mechwarrior revitalization

[@nitesy381]

@@zenivinez MW clans is coming soon. Mech commander has games since before I was born

[@Neffariousnyc]

I've been doing my part to bring Mecha to mainstream audiences by working on a mecha comic book series with Hector Trunnec (Astrobots) that's coming out this year (2024) called MAVRICS.

[@ZurakciEntertainment]

"Gundam is still popular!" Shows off the one Gundam game that closed down after a year of poor development.

[@metru2185]

is that daemon x machina ost in the background ?

[@StrelitziaLiveries]

in the world of 86 the mechs are surprisingly effective holding a more arachnid shape and more grounded but more maneuverable than a common tank, long range communication and controls are jammed by waves of origami cranes that block out the radar and disable aircrafts by interfering with their jet engines. and in the tight urban warfare, the arachnid type mechas dominate since they are able to maneuver around buildings and firing grappling hooks to get up on top of them leaping across the rooftops or dashing through the streets while they fight hordes of a rogue AI seeking to decimate all of humanity. these spider mechs are equipped with a large gun very simmilar to a tank's that shoot APFSDS and are also equipped with high-frequency blades should the pilot get into close quarter combat. i think the writing here is beautiful since it doesn't make too much shit up to have a reason of having mechs but instead limiting the other options to make mechs the viable option since in a fast paced urban environment, tanks get quickly surrounded and overwhelmed since they usually lack the maneuverability to make use of the buildings while aircrafts are completely negated with their weapons being blocked and these tiny expendable birds getting caught in their engines and maybe also a lot of surface to air missiles that make aircrafts impossible to fly. so the choice is lighter faster and 3 dimensional moving spider mechs that have less protection than a tank but can accelerate faster and change directions faster than a tank.

[@KASHYENKA97]

Hell yeah!

[@najlitarvan921]

one niche in a niche i am a fan of are walkers, aka non humanoid mechs, 86 has awesome looking ones for example

[@yushion5804]

AC6 maybe the first AC that makes melee that viable and exciting, be honest the melee fights in 4FA and 5VD are just scratching mosquitoes.

[@Sejikan]

This video really shows how good the writing in dune

[@pris5133]

I would say they revive mecha in gaming department If we talking purely entertainment, then mecha has been going strong for like decades now There isn't really any decline in hype and engagement for the gerne since the release of the first Gundam anime

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

I really hope Mecha makes a come back, such a under-utilized and great genre wasting away in obscurity, what did we have before AC6? the biggest thing in the genre was MW5, which was underbaked and kinda dissapointing (if only it had warband conquest features and wandering outfits/armies) Besides that we had Daemon X Machina, which was serviceable but very limited and extremely anime coded. Thank fuck for AC6 possibly reviving the genre.

[@MvRcscIsM]

The transhumanism with the ontological/epistomoligal nature of the story with a nod to alchemy; it's one of the games ever.

[@lesslighter]

Is Ace Combat a mecha game? If it is does that mean outside of Harmony Gold's shenanigans Macross is a mecha?

[@MrToastyYT]

There are many good mecha games out there, one game Im particularly fond of is Mechwarrior Online: Legends, a free to play 12v12 shooter mech game that I only really know of because my dad was a huge fan of a board game called Battle tech back in the day, the game is relatively popular, but still small, hanging out around the 500-1000 player range, so it's easy to get a match, but if you're interested come check it out, should you end up in the higher tiers of play you'll probably find me since i play everyday

[@K7TZ]

Speaking of mechs and cars I think initial D is one of the best mecha stories out there. Those cars just need to transform into mechs

[@Voitan]

Still waiting on a good Chrome Hounds style game, ironically made by FROMSOFT also.

[@Njin8492]

Maaan, me too. I realllyy want a mech game in a world of tanks kind of gameplay, but with sick customization. Thats what chromehounds got right.

[@lesslighter]

Isnt that just MAV? A somewhat kinda spiritual successor to Chromehounds

[@Njin8492]

@@lesslighter MAV?

[@lesslighter]

@@Njin8492 yes an indie game

[@xechs88]

I think from soft is king at rivalry. At first you think man all these AC are chatty bunch, you never see their faces. But you get to know v snail, rusty, walter, carla, ayre etc very well. Even people like Igazu, pater, G1 michigan, chatty etc etc. Then you learn more insight on the repeat pays, these people that you only hear voices from all a sudden you know their lore and motivations. The fight with them engrave them into you memory. I remember poor tester AC as an early farm.

[@LordOfElm]

I would love to see more mecha games, but I feel like the genre lacks a clear cut definition. To me the biggest selling point is near-unlimited customization. I actually think Mecha is more realistic than most other genres. Why does anyone accept games like metal gear where you can get shot multiple times and just slap on a med kit and instantly recover health? I'm reminded of the old bushido blade series, brutally hard, only one or two hits and you died. This is significantly more realistic than a health bar and instant recovery tools, but it's hard to make a fun game where you die in a couple hits. So mecha is possibly the most realistic, you are inside a heavily armored war machine. I think it comes down to the fact that most people have never experienced war or been shot, so they don't have a way to relate, but it also comes down to making a fun game, so game developers have to find ways to suspend disbelief. I would argue that gundam games are not mecha games. They are more akin to street fighter and overwatch as they do not feature customization but rather "character" selection. While the series are certainly mecha, I would argue that many of them are less so. They feature young often underaged protagonists, and several of them have "school" arcs as part of their story. They are more of a political war story featuring mecha. Imagine being able to mix the set of moves from Ryu and Zangief, and that's closer to the idea of a mecha game. Interchangeable parts. In fact I would say that the idea of interchangeable mechanical components is also significantly more realistic as a game mechanic. The design of robots such that parts can be swapped out is incredibly realistic, kind of like how nearly every electronic these days uses USB. Worth noting that even in the gundam series the mechs were generally AI-assisted, not just a human pilot inside a vehicle cockpit with analog controls. The human modification happening in armored core is thus a very realistic idea. I do love the idea of looking back on old epics to tell modern stories. However this is something being bastardized by the invasion of politically correct culture, so I don't hold out any hope for most western triple A releases.

[@borb5353]

i have always loved mecha, though personally im not on the darling in the franxx and gundam side, but the pacific rim and titanfall side. i dont like it when mechas fly around like fucking flies and slide on the ground like wheelchairs. i like going all the way on the "big metal human" thing and the endless utility and implications of it. i love the mechanicality of the mechas in the first pacific rim, how you can feel all their weight on screen. while armored core is cool, it feels much more "anime". like you can still do flying mechs and all but if you first build it off of a more physical and grounded approach it feels that much more impactful, compare it to top gun maverick. imagine we had such scenes with the audio and believable functional military design but its fucking mechas instead of jets.

[@SoulbreakerNB]

you can't mix and match mech parts in mecha break which sucks. it doesn't compare to Armored Core since AC has full customization. basically its a completely different mecha game from AC. Mecha break is focused more on pvp and AC is always focused on full customization and solo mission-based gameplay

[@demus89]

Decided to play elden ring hopefully AC6 goes on sale by the time I finish 1000 years from now

[@Mechpilot0790]

"Shingi, get in the AC"

[@jessewhite1679]

A new custom robo on switch would be cool

[@CrashD6]

"aCtUaLLy" ☝️🤓 mech pilots not being fit in your "anybody could pilot a mech" could make the story less grounded and less believable. Sure, mechs aren't "realistic" at all, but in Armored Core they aim to make the grounded and believable, with inertia, cooling, overheating and so on, unlike Gundam, Maverick (Tom Cruise) needed to be fit enough to withstand the harsh G forces of the maneuvers he was asking from his pilots, that's why you see he struggle so much, that tells people that "it's not that easy" and instills a sense of respect over his skill. Pilots in AC6 are either heavily augmented or (presumably) fit like Freud, the only non augmented human that sits at the very top of the arena. You need quick reaction times and a tough body to withstand the insane G forces that these mechs produce in fast paced combat.

[@TacticalBaguette]

Not to mention that even with all the dampening equipment I doubt landing an AC from a mile high free fall can be good for your body, especially if you aren't in shape

[@CrashD6]

@@TacticalBaguette I love these details because they enhance the storytelling, another example is that old Ace Pilot from Ace Combat 7, Mihaly A. Shilage, he was the best of the best in his time, but due to his age, he had to be put in recovery every time after an intense dogfight, his body couldn't take the G forces as he used to in his prime.

[@TacticalBaguette]

@@CrashD6 It's even more interesting when you realize Mihaly's flight data was copied near exactly to the ADF-11 drones and they do the same recovery maneuvers too even though they don't need to

[@MvRcscIsM]

There's also a minor degree in engineering to understand and find hidden stats for optimization.

[@DaxterL]

bruh, i NEVER liked mechas, it just didn't speak to me, i never understood the appeal. This game made me fall in love with mechas. They're freaking badass!

[@StrelitziaLiveries]

that being said, we also need more aircraft content thats not top gun

[@doomspud6302]

The thing is, though, I don't think we really want mecha to be mainstream. Just look at what has happened to every other nerdy thing that got mainstream attention over the last several years, like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel. If Hollywood starts making mecha movies, they're going to be incredibly stupid, like Pacific Rim: Uprising. And if "AAA" companies start making mecha games, they're going to just be microtransaction riddled, live service garbage. Heck, that's what Mecha Break is looking like its going to be. I REALLY want it to be good, but I don't have much hope. I certainly don't want mecha to be completely dead, like it has been for the last decade. But I fear it going mainstream will only make us all wish it was dead. I don't want Armored Core to become yet another soulless yearly release like CoD or Assassin's Creed. I don't want to see the VOTOMS live action Amazon adaptation, but now with more DIVERSITY. I just want it to remain in a healthy niche, where it can actually flourish, and be made with love. Luckily, I don't think mecha is actually capable of becoming truly mainstream. All the things you describe in this video are why mecha is great, why we all love it, and why it will never appeal to the mass market. Because it requires all that nuance to be enjoyable, but nuance has no mass appeal. You would have to remove all that, and literally dumb it down to get those mainstream audiences. And, like removing the meat from a steak, that would ruin it. Like anything nerdy, enjoying mecha stories requires investment. And the average mainstream audience member doesn't want to put in any work to be entertained.

[@jaromswenson7541]

We need a war based mecha game.... When i say war, i dont mean a few mechs fighting each other, i dont mean child pilots disobeying orders, i dont mean one mech single handedly destroying hundreds of enemy mecha. I want a war mech game. There should be lots of mechs on the screen, and they should all have relatively the same performance and firepower. Call of duty didnt become popular because your character can all of the sudden fly and shoot nukes from his eye beams, no, CoD and battlefield became popular because they imersed the players enough into a war like setting. With a lower time to kill you end up fighting smarter or increase your skill instead of just relying on some super technology mcguffin that makes you so much better then everyone else. I like AC6, i like mechwarrior, but neither of these franchises make you feel like you are fighting an actual war. You are either a god among other mechs or you are fighting small skirmishes. Titanfall came closest to the feeling. But we need more. More mechs, more brutality. More risk. Maybe peole have a hard time seeing mechs in potential combat because all the game makers and all the anime makers still treat mechs like they are special snowflake super weapons instead of actual fighting vehicles. We are likely gonna see walking drone robots in the next decade that will probably replace soldiers in combat because you can keep the soldier alive while he plays FPS with the drone robot with a rifle halfway across the world, and if the robot gets disabled then the soldier just connects to a different drone. Now just take that premise and just make the drones 2 or 3 times bigger (not massive like gundam, but closer to titanfall), and all of the suden you have a more realistic future war story. Just anything besides the games where only 4 mechs fight each other or the games where your hero mech decimates an army. Give us CoD or Battlefield....but with mechs. Not a direct copy, but close enough to where you feel like you are in a mech and you are also in a war. One thing i think is holding the mecha genre back is this desire for making mechs feel special. Mechs shouldn't feel special if you want a war story. Tom hanks didnt have to sprout jet engines and zip across the battlefield and kill germans with mini nukes for you to feel like a war story in saving private ryan. Stop treating mechs like special super weapons and i think you can start seeing a wider mainstream appeal.

[@wmouse]

The game you're describing is Heavy Gear. It treats mecha (gears) more like infantry fighting vehicles. They operate in small teams, and they have lighter armor and weapons than MBTs. It's the most realistic depiction of mecha in combined arms warfare, and that's probably one reason it isn't as popular as Gundam, Battletech, or Armored Core.

[@jaromswenson7541]

@@wmouse its probably not as popular because it has old simulation games that are hard to approach (even back then since few had PCs). It was doing the same thing mechwarrior did, with few mechs in actual combat. Not a war as it was more of a skirmish game it seemed. I dont think realism (in the way im talking) is a deal breaker since realistic games sell well and have dedicated player bases all the time. Maybe not as realistic as "squad", but easy to learn such as CoD while also selling a more grounded setting in general. Maybe titanfall might have done better if it wasnt released between massive fps franchises and didnt have pilots. The pilot gameplay is easy to learn but very hard to master, making the skill gaps way to big. But if titanfall was focused more on the mechs and maybe larger battlefields it could have done better as a mecha game. At least that's just my speculation.

[@jtho8937]

The irony to what you're saying is that the real robot subgenre already exists to have mecha as pseudorealistic war machines as contrasted with the heroic fantasy super robots, only for later Gundam and the like to devolve back into the superweapon stuff.

[@jaromswenson7541]

@@jtho8937 original gundam is hardly what I would call realistic. It might have started the concept of real robot but is barely realistic. But compared to the stupid super hero robots of the the time it was relatively realistic. Also the Japanese audience has proven time and time again they do not like realism, they have proven they dont know anything of actual war. When was the last modern war shooter that Japan has made? It practically doesnt exists since japan has no modern day warrior culture that influences their entertainment. They obsess with samurai etc etc In comparison America has a modern warrior culture. We dont obsess about samurai as much as we do the modern soldier. The Japanese like swords and flashy spells, the american likes full auto weapons and big ordinance (I'm generalizing of course, you will find exceptions in all categories). The truth is that america is probably more likely to accept a mecha franchise that is closer to CoD then they would be of the 50th samurai robot franchise. This is why battletech is a western property instead of japanese, it appeals to american sensibilities. We just need to crank the dial a little further. Again, this is speculation based on general trends I've observed.

[@ronbird121]

if a mecha game has no custom garage, its just not worth my time. i dont want any mech, i want my mech

[@MvRcscIsM]

AC6 is a fever dream, mech infused.

[@melikwalker296]

The only Mecca franchise that I can see that is realistic would be BattleTech

[@jtho8937]

Patlabor?

[@TheAzureGhost]

Funnily enough Mechs aren't rly the best warmachines in Battletech, just the most flexible ones which makes them ideal for the variing warfields of different planets.

[@cybertron1000s]

No lol, don't want normies commodifying and turning to shit a franchise that benefitted from being niche. Control your consumerism.

[@matt-jn7no]

hey buddy

[@fantactics3252]

Bring back Chromehounds

[@maroindefinitlyhuman6857]

Lmfao you can just say there are too many ways to jam the remote control signal, or just like in Gundam witch from mercury you can just say that there are laws that require a human to be the one pulling the trigger

[@TheAzureGhost]

Or Gundam Wing were Dolls (Ai) might have been superior to the average soldier but people who believed in the warrior vode wanted them gone as in their eyes a war fought without lives on the line misses its meaning and repelling gruesome nature to stop people from wanting wars.

[@petercottantail7850]

Mecha genre isnt whats niche, its just presented in unpopular settings 99% of the time. I know it gets a label as unpopular but 'mechs' as themselves have been part of some of the highest grossing franchises. Ironman like it or not is mecha, it had the marvel brand to give it attention plus its catering to a more popular audience. Each of Michel bay's Transformers movies reached billions in box office. Until the laters ones iirc. Before the people who are willing to die on a hill that mecha is niche might argue that transformers aren't mechs, this isnt a time to pretend they dont meet the criteria of what a mech stands for or its appeal of a giant robot with various skills like pilots behind each machine. Not to mention they aestheticly look identical to most Gundam designs, maybe not the newest ones, besides the fact transformers talk with mouths of course. Then we have James Cameron's Avatar also becoming contender for highest grossing film for its time, it sounds like a stretch to add this here but thisnis part of a bigger point, and im not including it for the same reasons, biological mechs do count like evingalion no matter the shape or size. The vulnerability without being connected to the fake alien body captures the same dynamic as a mech giving the pilot more abilities. It doesn't have to be 100% mech focused but rather just having a presence is enough. Kinda like district 9's mech was in the background only to show up near the end for one of the action scenes. It demonstrates just how diverse and how much of a variety the mecha genre can be instead of one particular version of the format. Which allows it's background settings to take more unique premises as well. I personally love the cyberpunk settings the most for mecha but it might be that what i like out of the genre is more of the world of a futuristic dystopia that can be emersed in rather than the machines exclusively while they're presence only adds to dynamic. I think if more mecha games/shows were to display the world over the fact its a game/show about mechs, people would be more interested in it. The mechs become part of the world and are acceptable to the audience, just like all the examples I mentioned earlier. And we can't forget about the sad story of EA's Anthem. It featured vertical movement for a more dynamic experience and everyone was going crazy for that game (unless they were already wise to EAs practices then theur were probably skeptical.) The only reason it died early was because of the bugs and lack of development, that was going to be a big game if it was made in more competent conditions, it's all about presentation and pandering to the right groups to be mainstream. The mecha themselves should never be the selling point just like a fantasy genre is never the selling point, its what is involved that should be highlighted. TLDR; The excuse that mecha is niche is a coping mechanism for a bigger issue and when a game or movie tries to sell its premise as "just mechs" it becomes an alienation to potential buyers but when franchises highlight what make it's contents unique sell much better even tho they have mechs as part of the stoy whether big or small.

[@pedrofernandes1993]

I strongly disagree with you on the idea that mechs/machines only need dexterity to be driven. F1 pilots have necks thick as thighs due to Gforces. 😂 A lot of phisicallity is necessary to operate diferent types of machines in real life.

[@TheMarlz2]

how the hell is mecha break fast paced it’s way slower than armored core 6 bro that’s gotta be satire you cannot have an opinion so objectively incorrect, that’s like saying starfield had more interesting content than skyrim

[@MvRcscIsM]

621 is a coral infused vegetable, iguazu thinks you're a freak.

[@Punishthefalse]

Chattreuse thinks 621 belongs in a museum.

[@bigboi7817]

I want more mecha without the anime protagonist. Theyre war machines and thus they along with their pilots should be vulnerable and mortal.

[@drwilyecoyote5357]

Get in the mech nerd, were coring armor