Armored Core VI: YOU DIED in a giant robot

I wish I didn’t splurge on Baldur’s gate and waited for this (not that I’m not enjoying baldurs gate!) too many games to play, Tears of the Kingdom and Pikmin 4 still taking my gaming time too, I’ll wait for this one to go on special but I am looking forward to playing this. Seems like a perfect steam deck game with the its four back paddles.

I'm so torn, because I love From games and this looks really cool, but a lot of the things that keep popping out at me in reviews and descriptions (mech suit, flight simulator, build management) are just not in my wheelhouse. Like, Balder's Gate, that one is easy. I don't care how good the reviews are, I know I have absolutely no interest in it. But this one is trickier.

I'm loving AC so far, although the boss at the end of chapter 1 is a bit of a wall. Prior to that was the first time I seriously had to build a mech just for that level (the four stealth ACs where one of them has the energy shield, and I think that's the deal here. I'm still getting used to the idea that not only is it not an admission of defeat to go back to the garage in order to beat a boss, but it's the whole point?

I tried the first Remnant game and it felt good to play, but I bailed because I didn't like the rogue-like elements in this type of game. When I die in a Soulslike I want to throw myself at the same scenario and learn it, not have it changing under my feet. But people seem to be loving Remnant 2, it's probably good, haven't looked into it at all.

I watched the digital foundry video for remnant 2 and it seems like a very pretty game, was tempted to grab it for that alone

the boss at the end of chapter 1 is a bit of a wall

So when that guy is swapping out, like, a dozen different specific components to complete his boss-specific cheese build, is that as complicated as it seems? All those (in a sense) moving parts to keep track of? That seems super challenging, like 4D resource management that rewards obsessive attention to detail. With the Souls games, the whole "get good" concept underscores that you get better the more you try something, but this seems different, demanding you constantly tweak and adjust not just your approach but also your robot build.

Swapping parts is definitely not a cheese, it’s part of the game.

From Soft is not known for elegant user interface, but I have to say they’ve done a great job this time around. It’s very easy to customize everything and swap out and experiment.

I wouldn’t say you really have to “keep track” of anything. It’s all there in your inventory or the store. If you’re hitting a wall, you can go into the inventory and slap some different stuff on to see if it makes your life easier.

All the parts that aren’t weapons or legs are less significant. Will give you some edge or another depending on the situation, but your guns and mode of movement are the important things. The inventory menu looks more intimidating than it actually is.

By "keep track" I mean remember what all the different parts and weapons do and what their particular application is. And by "cheese" I was just invoking the literal words of that youtube dude posted right before me, when he said there was a particular combination of parts and weapons that makes that boss battle easier (an introductory boss battle, I should note, that seems to be taking some people hours to win). That guy, too, seems to suggest that constantly buying and selling and swapping equipment is, yeah, part of the game. I'm just personally trying to figure out if that kind of trial and error battling seems fun. I know it sure is for some people; a lot of gamers already love this one, but there are a lot of types of games that others love that just don't click with me. Like I said, my instincts are that I would probably like this, but my conflicting instincts are that it may hit the spot for a certain type of person and not others. Just like the Souls games do.

So yeah, I guess I'm ultimately trying to gauge the difficulty and complexity level. I've seen accounts of Souls fans struggling with this one, because it requires a more involved/intricate system of trial and error than what From typically requires.

It seems like you can ignore most of that stat complexity, at least in the early game. When you're making a new build it's mostly about the legs and weapons, and then putting together whatever else that doesn't put you over the weight/energy limits. It just takes a few moments, although I'm sure there will be more flexibility later in the game.

And the other parts are surprisingly intuitive for the most part, like picking an FCS part that is better for short vs medium vs long range, depending on your weapons.

Anyway I was reluctant to use a YouTube build, but I arrived at a similar one out of necessity. I wanted to use pulse weapons to take down its shield and laser cannons for high damage, and tank legs are the only ones capable of carrying that weight. But even though I've gotten closer, I still have not beat Balteus, that phase 2 is brutal.

If you spend 6 hours on a boss, you’ll be grateful for a YouTube build. And it’s not cheating!

Fightin Cowboy did an in depth review, and in the comments someone says the one detail he didn't offer was the difficult level, and his reply: "Most reviewers are getting stuck on bosses, if that's any indication."

This must have been what it was like when "Dark Souls" came out and no one knew the tips and tricks yet.

I can honestly say I’ve never met a game that made me this blindingly angry.

Whewwww, I did it, by the hair of my chin. The old step away, come back and win on the third attempt. Ended up using pulse gun + machine gun and two laser cannons, with the tank build.

If anyone's interested (accidentally included the penultimate attempt in there too)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQopZLKKJ6I

That looks utterly batshit.

How do you reload? Is there tons of ammo?

I can honestly say I’ve never met a game that made me this blindingly angry.

That's still Fall Guys for me.

That vid really makes me want this Jordan

Reloading is automatic, although you can do it manually (like inbetween engagements). And the energy weapons don't reload, but overheat and need a cool down.

Oh and ammo hasn't really been a problem, I've gotten low but it's usually near the end of a mission or before a resupply checkpoint. Except when I tried using handguns, those ran out of ammo right away and I had to finish the mission by punching things. But I think even the description tells you they're meant to be a backup weapon.

Sometimes you just have to step away. Beat the boss I was raging against. Two heavy spider boys duking it out. Ran out of ammo for my shoulder grenade launchers at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvaCitRUKds

That’s kinda on the slow end of gameplay though, most of the time it looks like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHsaUZjufNQ

The one on one mech sorties are kinda my favorite, might dig the pvp in this whenever I feel ready to open it up.

Same, and I also prefer a light build when not fighting bosses with a million hp. Currently experimenting with the laser handguns.

I’m a big fan of the sword. Need to try out the other melee weapons.

Jordan and Dog Latin, I’m sending you ps friend requests. My ps name is the same as an old ilxor’s screen name, but we are not the same people.

Do you have trouble aiming the assault boost sometimes? I have trouble aiming the assault boost sometimes (even with hard lock?) and go careening off, so I've been a little leery about melee. I should mess around with it more though.

I still haven’t mastered the assault boost. And different boost attachments seem to alter the timings.

With the Edge controller I re-mapped things and took the assault boost off of the the left stick click (which I always accidentally hit) and onto a back pedal. Much better.

But yeah, I can’t say I know the ins-and-outs of how assault boost works yet. I love it, but it definitely feels a little chaotic.

I thought the Iron Pineapple review was good. It's coming from the perspective of someone that loves all the Souls games but who has never played an AC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM1MzSzMus8

If there's a criticism I have of his review, it's that reading between the lines some of it boils down to "play the game blind to get the best experience." Which of course a lot of people say/said about all the Souls games, advice I mostly disagree with; those games are long and challenging, and in some cases imo literally impossible, or at least significantly more confusing/challenging, without looking stuff up. Here, though, I guess I see where he's coming from. This looks faster and shorter than the usual Souls games, so he's saying give in to the rush of battle and enjoy the experimentation, as as you do that the complexity because more second nature and the battle become more fun. Fair enough. I suppose that's another way of saying that losing in this game is maybe more fun than it is in the Souls games. Would any of you agree?

I'd agree with that, because getting back into the action is so fast, and you can retry with a different build from checkpoint. So far it's just been that one boss that's given me trouble though.

I'm heartened to see that people are beating it with a variety of different load outs:

For those of you who got Armored Core 6, have you beaten the final boss of chapter 1, and if so, how many attempts did it take? pic.twitter.com/SCPf32ezLK

— Iron Pineapple (@IronPineapple_) August 25, 2023

With Armored Core and the Souls games in general, I 100% approve of looking things up. Just makes your life significantly easier. And it’s kinda fun in its own way. Remember my brother and I texting hot tips to each other when Dark Souls 1 came out. Like sharing the arcane knowledge found in a Nintendo Power magazine during recess.

I have spent hours on some of these bosses and it went from fun/learning to utter annoyance and anger. After looking stuff up I’d clear it in a few tries.

To each their own, but no shame in doing research.

And if one wanted to go full fantasy, that's how one would approach a battle, too, not by rushing in but by taking the time to see what you need to equip based on intelligence.

as someone who gets the "no spoilers" thing and indeed prefers to go in blind regarding endings, npc questlines etc, the "don't look stuff up/don't ask for help/don't summon" gatekeeping can fuck off, the souls games in particular were clearly designed to encourage communal-arcade-notebook info sharing but even if they weren't who cares, play how you want to

sickos.jpeg:

the 2020s in gaming really are on some level absolute vindication for sickos who loved shit everyone said was terrible ten years ago https://t.co/KzQZdkpjTU

— Julie Muncy (@juliemuncy23) August 26, 2023

wondering if EDF's time will ever come?

“the souls games in particular were clearly designed to encourage communal-arcade-notebook info sharing”

100%, that’s how I’ve always seen it.

Whoa, beat Sea Spider on the 3rd try thanks to circa's tip about using quad legs (and the heaviest weapons I could find, two bazookas, a grenade launcher, and a big missile launcher).

Nice! That guy has like a billion hit points and some nasty ground moves, so staying in the air with heavy artillery really does seem like the best way to do it. It’s tempting to unload when he’s staggered, but I found prioritizing getting your boost meter charged during that window to be the way to go. Gotta stay airborne.

I'm impressed that by all accounts this game runs pretty great out of the box. What do you expect, or hope, From to offer in the way of inevitable patches and tweaks?

I saw some twitter thread about how running the PS4 version on PS5 has a better frame rate etc, but everything seems just fine with the PS5 version.

Really what I (and a lot of people apparently) want is better & easier matchmaking for pvp. I tried the online arena for the first time yesterday and it felt very old school PC -- people create rooms with their own parameters (time, map, number of people in the room, whether winner or loser rotates, etc) and you try to get into them and get into a match. At first I ended up in a room with 10 people and was spectating while other people played, with no option to exit or leave the room during combat. It's not that big of a deal, but it would be nice to have an option to just hop into a random 1v1 without all the hullabaloo.

(I actually won my first match, was about to win the second one when they quit, resulting in a draw, then got absolutely shredded by someone with an endgame build who also knew what they were doing).

Other than that, idk? I do wonder if they're going to nerf some of the bosses that people have been complaining about, but I kind of hope they don't.

Btw that quad build I made for Sea Spider came in handy to pull out for the end of the 'Steal the Survey Data' mission, with all those reinforcement mechs you need to fight. I've started replaying more missions so that I don't have to sell parts, it's better to keep multiple builds ready to go if I want to switch to them from a checkpoint.

finally beat balteus, double pulse guns/double laser cannons, as lightweight as possible. took a long time!!!!!

BLIFIL on psn hit me up

Hell yeah. How lightweight were you able to go with those cannons -- biped legs?

all nachtreiser everything except for legs which were melander c3. needed the big heavy generator for the lasers.

i tried a tank configuration but the extra HP didn't make up for having to eat the flamethrower sword every time

lol apparently someone just beat the game with no weapons, just punches.

Same guy who beat all the Souls games with a broken straight sword, lol

Okay so I finally got to play this tonight after a few days away. Managed to beat the helicopter after 8 or 9 goes, but it felt like luck more than anything else.

Then I spent WAY too long customising my mech to make it look cool. So much fun, even if the decal system is fiddly and annoying as anything.

Still got to get the hang of a few controls. There's a lot to learn, and often I feel like I need more fingers than it requires

I beat this and will roll through NG+1.

Had a lot of fun, but I have to say… wtf is up with the balancing in this? Once you find the right build (or 3) it’s a cakewalk. I beat a lot of these end-game bosses on the first try. 2-3 attempts at most.

Balteus seems to be the actual boss of the game as far as difficulty is concerned and he’s at the end of Ch 1.

I haven't had a lot of time to play so I'm still on chapter 3, near the end I think. The arena version of Carla was nearly as hard as Balteus, I had to break out the tank. What main build did you settle on?