Armored Core VI: YOU DIED in a giant robot

Yeah I like the idea of being able to "re-spec your mech"* or having a sort of arsenal of different builds, and the game experience changes wildly according to this.

*II the Zoo

How is that different from, say, Hades? Just that it's not random?

I've not really played Hades, so I dunno

Yeah, I dunno, maybe that's not the best comparison. I'm still curious how this game, with all its action and explosions and particles and bits and pieces, will run on past generation consoles.

I think it's the opposite of Hades, you get to meticulously build your builds and they're persistent. It seems like a lot of the game is designing & choosing the right mech for different missions.

I really have no idea what I am in for.

Yeah I think it sounds like you build up a little collection of mechs suitable for different situations. And then you're like "Hmm, let's try this tank on this flying boss hmmm nope, that's no good, okay let's try this hovering one" etc...

I watched the Skill Up video on this, and it was a lot more nuanced (and therefore mixed) than some of the aforementioned videos. Skill Up guy is not an OG AC fan, so came at it as someone not ecstatic to have the series back but someone who has literally never played any of these games before. Right off the bat he stresses this game is absolutely not a Soulslike, but also provides some useful perspective that there has not been an AC game since before From's 11-year run of Souls games, so even though it has nothing to do with Dark Souls and its progeny, it does seemingly benefit from all From has learned and developed over the past decade-plus.

Anyway, I respect the guy's honesty. It keeps expectations in check, no matter how well designed the game ultimately is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1PRT-nGI4M

I need this. Unfortunately I am going on vacation tomorrow. :,-(

Lucky for you it's not coming out for a month. It would be ideal for me if it came out right now though.

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

Some 3v3 PvP. Looking good.

On reddit they're freaking out about the hard lock on and tank builds. Whatever, I'm excited.

Although I had a sinking realization that 3v3 pvp will likely involve voice chat, which I absolutely refuse to engage in.

What if you just bleeped and blorked like a giant robot?

Reddit is a great place for people who don’t know anything about game design to gather and criticize shit they haven’t even touched yet.

I imagine you’ll be significantly more effective having comms in group pvp, but no real reason to engage if you’re playing 1v1.

Mostly I don't want my wife to have the image of me wearing a headset and talking to profane children while blowing up giant robots, lol.

I go away for several days on the day this comes out. Dang

We could always set up an Ilxor PvP group, assuming it works that way

I’m into it ^

Let's do it! Apparently the concern now is that it only works that way, instead of having matchmaking yet?

Here's some sensible tech info about the different lock on modes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Nl4Ymnvl4

Reading some of the reviews, I gotta say I'm quite looking forward to short missions and being able to retry bosses from checkpoint without long runbacks.

Btw I'm Mr_Kitka on PSN if anyone wants to try some casual arena pvp. :)

Just got very excited to see I could download the game and then super let down when, after sitting up til 1am, realising it wouldn't actually let me play it for another 24 hours.

I'll add you Jordan

I'm clubstoic

Can't wait to get your reactions. The way I've always played the Souls games is to basically pick a character path and stick with it, with a few minor tweaks here and there. This game seems to not just encourage but demand tweaks and customization, with tons of options, before every mission/boss, which is a little daunting to me.

In lieu of not being able to play the game yet, I watched a few promo gameplay videos on my nice big OLED TV and it was jaw-dropping

Josh, I'm guilty of that too, I tend to find something I like and stick with it without trying out all the other weapons I'm picking up. Souls games make that harder though, since you've committed to your character stats and upgrading weapons takes a lot of resources. For this one I'm promising myself that I'll experiment with lots of different builds, and I'm hoping it feels freeing to be able to adjust for different levels and bosses.

These seem like helpful tips...the weapon bay is interesting, being able to choose between either having shoulder weapons at the ready vs two alternate arm weapons that you can swap out at will.

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

Coming in with my inevitable "If I didn't like Bloodborne, should I still play this?" post.

I'll let you know once I actually play it, but my impression is that there's really no comparison. Buuuut from what I've gleaned of your tastes, it might not be your thing? It seems to mostly be about combat mechanics and building mechs, not much emphasis on the story, world design, etc.

Coming in with my inevitable "If I didn't like Bloodborne, should I still play this?" post.

― The Banshees of Ed Sheeran (Leee), Thursday, August 24, 2023 7:44 PM bookmarkflaglink

that's like asking "if i didn't like super monkey ball, should i still play yakuza?". they're very different games, this isn't a sekiro vs elden ring situation

do you like any mecha games?

if you're (rightly) hesitant to blindly dump $$$ on a genre you have no previous experience with, you can always try one of the older ps1/ps2 entries on an emulator, watch an LP, or wait for other people's opinions

having said that i'm sure it will have plenty in common with souls games as well:

ravens we are so fucking back pic.twitter.com/SY6joHbGnx

— helena (@yagihimesama) August 23, 2023

This game is going to be exactly like Elden Ring

lol

Also interesting that apparently the campaign is quite short (for a From game), but with new missions/branching paths/other incentives for playing it again in new game plus and ng+2.

That's okay by me. I am hoping this is the sort of thing I can pick up and put down, come back to, mess about with at will.

I pre-ordered Baldur's Gate III last night on a whim, so I'd rather not get sucked into another super convoluted RPG plot that takes up all my attention.

Obvs I'm expecting ACVI to be very involved, but more bitesize perhaps?

I've never played a mech game but I do like customizing weapons/loadouts and seeing numbers go green.

review: https://www.forbes.com/sites/games/2023/08/23/armored-core-vi-playstation-5-review-welcome-back-raven/

I took off tomorrow. Will be on this shit at 12 am sharp.

It's my mum's 70th this weekend so no say off for me. I just jumped on to check it out for 30 minutes and died twice to the first boss.

Great so far. It's going to take a while to get used to the controls and how it handles. I haven't quite worked out how to stop when I do that speed boost thing. I might have a look at changing some of the controls at some point.

Looks and feels GREAT so far, even after just a quick go

*day

i splurged on a dual sense edge controller the other week. mostly for the two extra pedals on the back. i imagine i will be tweaking my button layout as well, putting some of those face buttons on the pedals to limit how often i have to jump my thumb off of the right stick.

i've gotten so used to the claw-like position i'd occasionally have to put my hand in for some From games.

I got that new controller that has back pedals (the Victrix one), but I'm trying to hold it in a relaxed grip with my fingers kind of extended so as not to aggrivate my tendinitis, and using the back buttons would make me curl my grip on even more (and I seem to hit the accidentally a lot). I'm going to experiment with some control schemes for sure though.

No staying up late for me, but I have tomorrow off. :)

This is like learning a new language. Fighter jet game more than anything. But with multiple more dimensions of movement. Hard to wrap your head around at first, but the classic heavy skill check first boss beats the fundamentals into you.

Amusingly enough the actual in-depth training tutorials are available after him.

This is cool. I can see the high skill ceiling this might have and how satisfying it’ll be to really get to grips with it.

Well put, I beat the first boss but I still feel like I don't have enough fingers, lol.

Nice to see Balam Acab is successfully running a megacorporation in the future

Underrated aspect of this game is that it is priced at $60 rather than $70. And Remnant 2 was priced at $50. Personally, I love this trend reversal.

OT but is Remnant II worth my time? I like the look of the aesthetic - Dark Souls meets Returnal or something. Just suddenly seems to be a lot of new games out after a bit of a drought

I haven't played it yet, but people seem to love it. I bought the first one on sale, but by many accounts the second one offers nothing but improvements. Dark Souls meets Returnal sounds about right, from what I understand, though this one seems to favor co-cop.

Co-op, too.

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

That's what I find most frustrating, or unappealing. The last thing I want to do is constantly swap out 5 million different builds, depending on the battle. To each their own. Hell, there are people that really seem enthused about Balders Gate's character creator, but I couldn't give a shit about that stuff. I've tried watching a couple walkthroughs, and the first episode is almost always entirely creating a character.

UFO otm. I wish it were easier for me to tell one head set from another but it really is like trying to find the exact right replacement screw for secondhand flatpack furniture sometimes

I find From games tough enough without needing to juggle stats and builds.

I really wouldn't worry too much about the details. The main thing is picking legs and weapons (and maybe an appropriate FCS), and then just fill in the rest whatever will let you hit the weight/energy requirements.

I quickly hit a point where I had a few saved build templates that I liked, and I would just switch between those for the rest of the game. With occasional upgrades when I would get access to new weapons or wanted to try a different approach on a boss.

I thought I would find it stressful because I like to forget about stats in Souls games as quickly as possible, and avoid complicated builds. But honestly I found it much more relaxing than being locked into a build. It's fun to try things without having to start a new character and play the whole game over.