An Honest look into Armored Core 6's Flaws 

I feel like ricochet should have been limited to just specific close range weapons like shotguns, or at the very least disabled on long range guns like linear rifles.

Tbh removing ricochets and increasing specific weapons' velocity will make combat so much better overall.

Started with For Answer, if there's one thing I miss, it's using double melee. Sure it's horribly impractical but it's fun to just turn brain off and unga bunga with swords lmao.

Failing a mission due to randomly going OOB is one of the most infuriating things in the entire series. I *do not* miss that. I'm with you with the music but as a fellow long time fan I'm happy with most modernizations

I really miss how the old lock-on system really defines the engagement of different weapons and the new lock-on appears to just do away with that wholesale

I think the assault boosting is fine and dandy without any additional cost. But give it a cooldown. Jeez. You can practically harass people with kicks if you are close enough.

As someone who's played the series since AC3, I really agree with all these points. In particular, the checkpoint/lack of failure states stood out to me, as (unless I'm going crazy) I recall some of the earlier games had alternate missions that came up when you failed a mission, rather than just letting you restart. I feel like that was a missed opportunity for branching mission paths. There weren't really a lot of branching missions in AC6 overall, just occasionally an "A or B" single mission, save for the last 3 missions at the end. And while checkpoints did allow for more interesting and challenging boss fights, which I love, it kinda got a bit tiring how so many bosses have big, sweeping, map-traveling attacks. It was a complaint I had about the enemy design in Daemon X Machina (don't play it, not worth it), and it's really the only area where I feel like the game genuinely became more "soulslike" (and wasn't just a mechanic that existed in prior games that people were crediting to the Souls games). As far as stagger and assault boosting, I feel like an easy fix for some of the latter issues might be to lower stagger resistance / defense while assault boosting (after all, bullets are coming in at higher relative velocity, so they'll penetrate harder). It'd make assault boosting more a risk-reward mechanic, that you counter by being aggressive yourself. I heavily agree on the music too. It's more grounded than before, and I wish that there were more parts of the soundtrack that just let loose.

I wanna note that Over Boost still has one big advantage over Assault Boost, and that's that, at least in Gen 2 and 3, you can Overboost Strafe. Pair that with quick turning, and you can dash circles around your opponent like Nineball Seraph. That's how I beat Unfettered. And thank god you can't strafe in Assault Boost, only dodge or fully change direction, because nothing could threaten you anymore if you could do that.

As a lifetime fan of AC going back to gen 1, I agree with all points. I think the economy and music is probably the least important. Range and part variety biggest complaints from me. I think the game is exactly what the developers wanted. It was modest in scope and hopefully it enables more ambitious games in the future. Overall this fits in perfectly in a year with a ton of banger games being released one after another. Solid 8/10 game overall, only complaint is that it leaves me hungry for more.

I would've liked more detailed deaths, like dismemberment of AC's at critically low health like in the trailer, and ammo cook offs, high speed crashes. You or your opponents AC just blows up in a relatively generic way. You're on point with everything and I hope there's more to come from this game.

A thing that I was thinking related to the early parts of the video is how Armored Core has been shifting from making moment to moment difficulty better at the expense of long term consequences and I think that showcases with AC6: Ammo isn't much of a concern anymore outside of a few missions/weapons but reload times have a bigger impact than before, bosses are generally harder because they can be seen as their own isolated thing due to checkpoints without having to rely on making a mission just for them when you want to turn up the heat etc...and as a result the long term considerations like the economy feel vestigial outside of hitting S rank requirements. It's an issue (if you want to consider it that) the series as been having the more we move from game to game and became really noticeable from Last Raven onwards. Glad you also talked about OS tuning because even excluding how it isn't actual tuning and is pretty much a skill tree it feels like a weird addition to the game and I think the passives unbalance the campaign too much, 15% more for both attack and defense stats and +6000 extra AP heals is big for a game like this and would recommend people turning at least passives off if the game is feeling too easy on NG+ and NG++. I agree with you on the stagger and assault boost, they only need some tuning but the concept is great (I personally love stagger and the setups it encourages and isn't as one dimensional as I have seen being described). My problem with assault boosting is the lack of weaknesses, even just increasing stagger damage we get and have weight impact its speed more would make it more interesting. Also big agree at stuff like refuel stations not being that necessary and I feel like from soft agrees cause NG+ and ++ exclusive missions don't tend to have it, it's stuff like it that makes me wish NG missions got the 4th gen hard mode treatment cause clearly from soft understood how powerful our endgame tools are and how to challenge them a bit in those exclusive missions, maybe fan mods will give us those crazy missions in the future. One thing I disagree a bit is with the bosses, not because of what you said about them more than the series has always had these build check bosses or at least bosses where certain setups just wouldn't work (MoA's nineball seraph without big damage weapons is a pain, ultimate zinaida would turn any AC with boost speed below 450 into swiss cheese) so I don't think 6 is unique in this regard, just probably more noticeable cause we have more bosses than usual. And the part cohesion thing I'm a bit 50/50 on cause most parts do fit our core (except nachtreiher, that core feels like it was made to make rusty's AC look cool while making everyone else look goofy), it's the RaD and institute parts that can look out of place but I think it works for both showcasing Carla's fondness for weird designs in the case of RaD which is good characterization and to also sell institute parts as exotic and alien but it does comes at the expense of fashion. Good video all in all, even if I think some of these work within the context of AC6 I do agree with some of it too and will be interesting to see how From Soft will look at the observations the community has been having about the game and apply it to patches/expansion/sequel moving forward.

Interesting to hear a long time AC fan's opinion on the soundtrack. There's like 2-3 amazing tracks (like Balteus imo), but I was also quite underwhelmed by the music and "vibes" in general. I was chatting to some friends and we were all saying "imagine if Armored Core had the music of Ace Combat", and it seems like previous A(rmored)C(ore) games did have more energetic, exciting, and memorable music like that.

I think the ost fits the main character so much. Oppresive as they are devoid of feeling emotion due to the 4th gen Augmentations. Steel Haze and New Era are my personal favorites from this game

Range/ricochet and part variety are my biggest complaints and I agree completely with your points on that. I think “no hard lock while assault boosting” is actually a genius change that would make combat a lot more intricate and expressive.

I really think this nails the issues tith armored core 6. By no stretch is it a bad game, but imo its being bogged down by lots of small things thats preventing it from reaching its amazing potential. I think the most important points mentioned were deffinatly part varity and range viability, and how the lock on applies (or doesn't) to both when mixed with richochet. I do feel that AC6's soundtrack was a bit on the safe side. Ive always valued AC soundtrack with unique and experimental tracks. And i deffo agree that theres an issue with missions from the healing (theres litterally no point to it existing, just x3 my health) to S rank having a tangable effect.

Interesting thing about part cohesion, Shoji Kawamori is back in AC6. He designed nearly everything in oldgen.

The soundtrack and part cohesion part has been bugging me since day 1, thank you so much for bringing it up! Although, i would be lying if i said i wasnt regularly listening to the ambient tracks for AC6... The death of long range combat was also pretty disappointing as I was hoping to recreate my sniper builds from previous games Overall, pretty well thought out video. A lot of the points made here i pretty much resonate with 100% as an oldgen player, you've got a sub from me

I think the only thing that really bugs me is OS tuning just being a flat upgrade system, I don't think that really fits Armored Core at all, otherwise I see a lot of the complaints as differences that don't really make the game better or worse in my eyes, although more long ranged options would be nice, I'm definitely very excited to see how Fromsoftware responds to the criticism and how this style of Armored Core evolves

About the Soundtrack, while I know what they were going for with a cold and dark setting, we still got Rusted Pride and Stargazer which feel very much like Hoshino classics. Like, even if they wanted to have exclusive atmospheric ambient synth for the entirety of the game, we still got songs like these. What I want to say is, if they would've given Hoshino full reigns on how the OST needs to be, he would've incorporated the ambient soundtrack AND would've had more opportunities to really let the AC soul shine. ACVIs Soundtrack isn't bad by any means, it's different and that's okay too. It successfully accomplishes what it went for. I just wished something like Morning Lemontea would've played in a Arena battle or two.

The difference in camera turning speed, not AC turning speed just the camera, between PC and console is staggering. Even with my camera sensitivity up to the max my camera speed is still only about half that of PC and mouse. So players on PC don't really need to use hard lock that much, but on console hard Lock at times is just necessary because even slow tanks can outpace the camera. If your fighting anything closer than far mid range it's an absolute chore desperately trying to keep the camera on the enemy for soft lock. So it pushes console players to only use hard lock

I think the ammo resupply and checkpoints may be to discourage players to use melee for everything until the boss.

COMPLETELY agree with part cohesion. The RRI and ALLMIND line of parts are so insanely alien and downright Zone Of the Enders-tier that they're insane to try and fit on other parts. Not to mention the frame Rusty uses giving you a virgin neck

This is also an armored core that I feel will greatly benefit from expansion down the road. I know Fromsoft said they weren't considering DLC right away wanting to smooth out the base gameplay and give us a finished product, but can you imagine some of the classic weapons they could bring back if they decided to? They have a very solid engine to work with that I feel is just begging for them to make more parts for the game down the road.

Agreed on pretty much everything. My biggest issue so far has been how heavy builds are simply more effective in almost all cases. The amount of mobility they give up in exchange for multiple times over the level of firepower that ""fast"" builds get feels like it skews things heavily out of balance. Not to mention the defensive benefits either. I haven't been able to get into PvP because any time I tried, I had to buzz around these heavies at warp speed and play perfectly because one single mistake and they would just instantly delete me without any effort. And I mean LITERALLY one mistake. For example: I flew all around this heavy tetrapod one game, hitting it from all angles and dodging between its shots it just sprayed around randomly. Nearly had it up to an acs stagger so I could land a good melee hit. Probably would have gotten it to 50% hp or so, so I'd have to do it all again after. It hard locked and landed one assault boost kick. Made me stagger, which instantly stopped me in place. Song birds to the face, staggered again. Charge shot to the face, acs stagger. Stun needle to the face, stagger. Rocket to the face. Dead.

I knew in my heart when the game was coming out, it would be extremely unlikely that fromsoft would keep some of the more hardcore elements of previous games, I love armored core 6 to peices though, because I tempered my expectations correctly, my hope is, that they just used this game to put the series back on the map, and then introduce the more hardcore stuff in sequels/dlc. I love your video though, all of your points are very respectfully delivered, and at the end of the day, we all just want whats best for armored core

Great video. Glad there are still some old AC fans left. As a hardcore AC fan, AC6's biggest loss is not having a ranked ladder. I'd live with all of the other issues if it just had a ladder. But stagger needs to be nerfed in pvp. 1v1 pvp feels pretty bad due to it. Fights can end in literal seconds as you can shoot all your weapons in rapid succession after staggering. Master of the arena was the perfect AC game. As an old man now, AC6 is the perfect game. It was very easy to s ranked everything (except the bs 2 AC snow level, I still don't understand how I S ranked it). I can no longer play AC 6-8 hours a day, everyday.

AC6 is my first AC game, and ever since 100% completed it I have been playing the old games, namely AC1, PP, MOA and AC2. I definitely agree with your sentiment on hard lock. I think HL should only be used for tracking the enemies during fast maneuver while the aiming should be done manually with SL. To that end, nerfing HL targeting, separating camera speed and turning speed are brilliant ideas. On a side note, how you vets were able to adapt to the ps1 control is beyond me. I gave up on it and used the modern control scheme and yet the missions were still hard af.

My main gripes is the part we have is really really really limited part counts hopefully the G edition (ya know like FA, LR and the likes) we get more part and Please addd more arena fights Edit: I meant I want more part due to lack of it

My top 3 complaints: 1- Tunning worst than previous games (OS tunning & parts variety) 2- To easy to stagger 3- Bad long range But i love the game, loved more AC FA but this is my second in the list.

It doesn't make sense that a machine of war has weapons that can't hit a target at 150m, I'm sorry, but even tanks are effective at ranges far more than this. Aircraft, are effective at ranges WELL beyond this. For ACs to be this combat ineffective at these ranges, questions the very need for their existence. Ricochet is a half baked decision at the scale AC6 wants us to believe it's in. In ACV gen it made sense as ACs were MUCH smaller, and the scale of caliber on weapons was tiny by comparison. The weapons in AC6 are exponentially more powerful. They should not be bouncing off of other ACs if farther than a football field.

I think the very high payouts for missions make a lot of sense from a story perspective. You're not just trying to eek out a living like in other AC titles, you're on Rubicon chasing after the most valuable resource in the universe, trying to make the real big bucks. And so are the corporations, therefore it makes sense, that they'd be willing to pay unusually high amounts for missions, since it'll ultimately be worth it, if they get their hands on the coral. If you were just trying to make a living, you wouldn't need to risk your life even just attempting to land on the planet. You're also not really independent in this game, you are more or less the property of your handler, which ultimately means, making money from missions isn't really your main priority, the priority is reaching the coral. From a mechanical perspectinve I get where you're coming from, though I think debt simply doesn't quite fit in, given the storys premise.

I agree with most of the points, especially to features in older games past AC Gen 1 I never played. Part cohesion, I'd say its the curse of high fidelity and increased polygon count. I'd say if old gen AC designs were modelled today accurate to the art, it would also be noticeable. For the music, a friend has this headcanon that From was holding Kota Hoshino back with the current OST as to not scare the newcomers. I'd compare the shift to ambient and atmospheric music tracks similar to C&C Tiberian Sun moving to Tiberium Wars. That said, some of the most memorable AC6 tracks appear late in the game, and you really appreciate those. Stargazer, Rough and Decent, the Bad Joke version that goes harder, and the ALLMIND bgm that is basically a dark reprise of Shape Memory Alloys for a few pick favorites. As for things that would've been nice: - Cross platform code sharing, or at least the decals. - Let Kota Hoshino go all out for arena combat music, maybe give each arena pilot their own theme. What we had was still nice. - Some form of basic AI tuning that lets me fight my own builds, and can be appended in build sharing so other players can do some kind of mock 1v1.

I feel like I've had a different experience to you in some respects. But I can definitely agree that the nostalgia and effect of Artificial Sky is perhaps only rivaled in the new soundtrack by the man who passed the torch. But crucially two things I must contend. I find it strange that you say Balteus enforces you away from using bazookas, because bazookas were precisely what I found most comfortable for fighting it. What changed for me in my struggles against Balteus was reattaching my knees... Only to chop 'em off again because I found tank drifting too fun. And because of the details on parts and the careful balance of parts of niches I feel like most options are purposeful. AC3 might have had more machine guns, but one had 1000 ammo and wasn't terrible. And lastly... My biggest complaint about Hardlock is that it's in my way. Manual aim is useful, but it's trapped behind a delay of holding a middle mouse button and returning to good aiming is then trapped behind clicking through bad aiming. My experience of Hardlock lead to me missing more shots because my FCS was taxed more and it didn't do anything to help maintain a lock on the hard to track targets or the AC surrounded by MTs.

range and ricochets are the big ones for me especially since ive always ran mid ranged builds and run one here, another thing with range is that projectiles are also kinda just slow

AC6 is my first foray into the series and largely agree with your criticisms. Boy I wish debt was part of the game. All tension vanished once I realized I was turning a profit no matter how bad I was playing or how much ammo I used. Hopefully debt gets implemented if we get an expansion/DLC. Also S ranks feel way too easy to get. Like I just attempt to win and bam! The requirements could be a little tighter imo. It's also hard to ignore how hard the game funnels you into close range and arguably high-mobility ACs (at least from my perspective). I was having rough fights with a ranged mid-weight AC until I switched to a lightweight AC with dual shotguns and a melee weapon and suddenly the game got much easier. All AC/Boss encounters pretty much boil down to building stagger and then punishing with a high damage attack (melee, laser cannons, ect.) and close range weapons and melee build stagger and do damage much more reliably. Also if that wasn't enough reason to go close ranged there's ricochet. I hate ricochet. H A T E. That said I plan to experiment with more builds now that I have all parts unlocked. That being said, the part variety isn't bad but still left me wanting more. I also wish there were more mix n match part combinations that were fashionable or at least weren't absolutely hideous because there is no point in piloting a mech if it just doesn't look cool. Maybe a nitpick but I also hate how weathering effects are just a mirrored texture. It's not always obvious, but when it is it just looks too artificial to be real, proper god-fearing rust, grime and dirt. Now that all that whining is out of the way I'm going back to messing with the colors on my AC for a couple hours.

To help with range We Need To be Able to overboost backwards from to oppo while keeping the oppo in visual site , the assault boost locking ur vision forward is the issue

Unpatched Balteus made ultra instinct gamer awaken. No shottys(as I thought they were useless on day two), just me, my 10 cell missiles, the basho set, laser saber, and the Turner AR. I was so determined to prove I could make my set work(without even knowing what the Basho's hidden stats were), that I just kept trying to muscle through it. Balteus made me understand that if you aren't going to change your loadout, you need to understand the attack pattern. I had basically the same loadout, just with the whip, for the Cel240 fight. The Turner, Basho, 10 Cell, and Whip combo made Cel240 the most fun fight I *ever* had with Armored Core, and that's saying a lot with just how much fun I had getting the legendary 100% complete achievement The "Fires of Raven" fight, though. That was the first fight I was forced to swap off my loadout. One Ten Cell, Bunker on hangar, and two SPAS shottys(not the Zimms, as I found it made the fight too trivializing), paired with the 3 nozzle booster

The massive imbalance spread across weapon and body parts, the lack of basic matchmaking qualities, the ancient netcode, the lack of modes or ranked…. I love this game too but I also hope FromSoft has the awareness to fix these major issues

completely agree on all points Fromsoft played it way too safe with this one, hopefully Miyazaki takes full direction of the next one. I NEED more missions with poison swamps, you can't comprehend how disappointed I was with that lame ahh cave mission being the only one with poisoning element. 6/10 no Actual poison swamp mission.

The part variety is definitely the thing that I'm most disappointed with. I feel like there are some gaps that need filling like a machine gun type for shoulders. I also agree that stagger is too strong right now to the point where energy weapons with lower base impact can make the game seem harder in comparison. In my first playthrough on PC I went purely energy weapons because they felt more interesting because of different types of projectiles or managing overheating. It was very apparent for me until Sea Spider that I tried explosives and felt that stagger was so consistent and quick that my energy weapons felt inferior. It wasn't until my first playthrough on PS5 (yes I bought it on both) that I beat Sea Spider with energy weapons but it was a much longer fight in comparison. I had to learn the fight better with energy weapons than with other types because staggers were harder to come by. Ibis just reinforced this for me as I struggled but overcame it with my light RJ with dual energy pistols, 3-cell plasma missile, and pulse blade after many hours of learning my openings. Then trying it again but with the impact kings zimms and needle launchers and felt like I didn't have to think just fire.

I agree with most of what you're saying here. I played a ton of AC 1 & 2 back in the day and missed everything in between. I'm like halfway through chapter 3 and it finally is starting to "Feel like AC" to me. I think my two biggest issues with AC6 are pacing and inconsistent game logic at times. Pacing-wise, it feels like the standard missions aren't really tough enough or teaching enough skills to help get you up to speed for the bosses; in that way, repeating missions doesn't help you really hone your skills, and the bosses are a huge jump up in challenge. I'd probably feel like I was getting more from standard missions if we had more elite mobs with the combo of tankiness and high attack rate. Game logic, sometimes the missions are best done by doing the smart, real world type thing ("I can get past most of the defenses by flanking this area, that makes sense") then there's missions where it turns to videogame logic ("If you get seen just kill the enemy within 2 seconds, and they can't tell anyone. No one will seem to notice when 48% of their folks go offline."). I didn't mind early AC "it's hard because you need to figure out the build and experience whatever mid-mission problem appears" but this kind of inconsistency makes another layer of artificial difficulty that feels cheap and it's only because it swings back and forth. Anyway, because I know modern FromSoft design, I can't fully judge the game until I get a second playthrough, so we'll see how I feel when I get around to pushing through further.

Dude this video was amazing! As a fellow Armored Core old head I'm glad someone did this kinda comparison. I love the game all in all. While it isn't exactly the old games, it isn't stuck in the rut of 4A or VD. A new Armored Core with a fresh story and background. While the sweet music like lynch law is gone it definitely still has that dark, human plus, black market, corporate vibe that I know and love from the OG story arcs.

I think the best sort of fail conditions are those that don't make the game unfun. I think restarting entire missions is unfun, but I think being penalized for not achieving certain objectives, losing stealth, or your allies dying would be better since they're connected to how the player actually interacts with the game.

I think one thing they did really well was with the booster/generator/core combinations and how those parts interconnect. There isn't always one clear best combo and the generators leaning into different playstyles is a great direction. Of course, heavy builds will just use the Buerzel booster, but that's an issue with AB being completely OP at the moment. Also, I'm surprised you didn't comment on every FCS having the same tepid max lock range of 450m. That just feels way too short, especially on these pretty large and open maps. And it further nerfs the idea of long range combat. I hard disagree with the criticisms of the economy changes though. In my experience of playing through all the old-gen games, once you learn how to play one of the games, debt will never be a real issue for the rest of the series and after you get like 10-20% of the way through the game, you can afford pretty much any build you want anyways. Hell 6 of the games let you import your garage, all bit circumventing the economy anyways! (PP, MoA, AA, SL, NB, and LR)

My biggest complaint; PvE enemies can,at will,freely cancel out of an ACS break. Even if I don't hit them with a rogue shot between breaking their ACS and cashing in on it,whenever I move in to cash in on an ACS break,it's typically a coin toss on whether or not the enemy would actually remain disabled for the full five seconds,or if they'd either instantly cancel out,or cancel out at the single most inopportune moment for me. Peer ACs are the most guilty of this,and they tend to cancel out eight times out of ten. I love the ACS system,but if a game wants to include a system like this,then it needs to be consistent in following its own goddamned rules.

I think the only part of this I hard disagree on is the music, but that's a taste thing. As much as I love previous OSTs, atmospheric music is my jam and I'm always happy for more of this high quality. I'm definitely more critical of AC6 stagger system too, and it's hard for me to see the comparisons to AC2 like the example you used. Just because you can use the same word to describe both things doesn't mean they're functionally the same. That said, I definitely agree that the solution can come from tuning and tweaking some things rather than a huge overhaul or cutting it altogether. Also since we don't have all the same opinions I'm putting a formal request in the System to raise your threat level. Escalation is the only solution.

Yeah, going from Verdict Day's incredible selection of bangers to AC6's very quiet and tame OST was sad. Also my biggest gripe outside of hard lock is that the game just outright gutted a ton of the depth of customisation for the sake of making the game approachable. Heads and arms are basically just cosmetic spare a few particular specialised arms (RIP weapon arms), cores only matter for output adjust and AP, and outside of bipeds, there are only one of each weight class for RJs, Quads and Tanks. I'm at least thankful they brought back hover legs, but it's only one single part. Compare that to generation 3 where heads were super specialised with different radar shape, speed and range, bio sensors, night vision, and each head even changed the voice of the AC's main system. Arms had a lot more variety not only in balance of weight, EN drain, accuracy etc, but we had weapon arms too to forego some AP and versatility in exchange for superior firepower. Cores had the considerations of selecting between Standard, Overboost and Exceed Orbit, each with their benefits and drawbacks, and each having a number of choices that varied with the inclusion of the VS MG, weapon hangers and optional part slots, and each leg type had a large variety of choices with different stat balances for minmaxing to perfection. Weapon variety is boring too, especially back weapons with missiles taking up the majority of the selection. The lack of dual back weapons, chainguns, linear guns etc. was just sad. And to top it all off, they swapped out tuning for a flat overall stat upgrade system that only works in PVE anyway.

The flaw you listed are pretty fair in my opinion. I also appreciate how you ordered and explained the flaws in a way that shows how all these systems (especially combat) are interconnected with each other! In some way or another, Fromsoft definitely needs to tweak some of the values on a variety of stuff, like raising the "Ideal Range" on weapons like Rifles so they ricochet less at farther ranges (my personal wish) or cutting down a weapon's Impact damage to bring it more in line. There's probably a lot of things they'll need to look at before making improvements but I believe they're up to the challenge, even if the changes come in small batches. Personally, I like AC6's OS Tuning as a means to ease into the game's various systems, I can't deny that I also would've preferred fine tuning your AC's stats rather than be given a bunch of damage percentage bonuses. While the OST gives a nice ambience to the game, I definitely would've liked some moments where a bumpin yet outlandish track would start playing amongst the tension of traversing a mission (In My Heart from AC3 living in my head rent free). Low key I feel like the times when FreQuency would step out on stage to put out a new track have now gone but here's to hoping that Kota Hoshino will get the band back together someday! Thanks for the great video, SG! I think you did a great job articulating your concerns, at least enough to help me finish sorting out my own! lol

1. AC6 tracks are still extremely mechanical and catchy. They also fit the theme and characters they represent well. You CANNOT say that the tracks are mediocre let alone bad or flawed. 2. AC games are best when you have as much customisations as possible, so I do not miss the debt system that prevents me from getting parts 3. Smaller missions are there to let you breath in between big missions and let you earn money without farming a specific mission to get parts for the bosses. In those smaller missions you don't have to use checkpoint, and some of them don't have checkpoints in the first place. And I surely don't want to replay a long mission to reach the boss that I die to. That's already your middle ground. Shorter missions don't have checkpoints while longer missions do, especially those with a boss fight. 4. If the bosses don't force players to switch builds, they will complain that the game give no incentive to do so. If the bosses force them to switch builds, they will complain that they want to fight them with their favourite weapons and don't want to change. PICK ONE 5. Although I do want more parts, I understand what FromSoft is doing here. They make the quantity of each archetype just enough to make each part feels unique instead of bloating the game with slight variations of the same thing. So, I don't want more parts as reskins of the same things, but more categories like the double shoulder weapons or gun arms. However, the devs will have to come up with ways to make them feel different instead of being the same as putting the same weapons on both shoulder or just holding a normal gun. One thing that would be quite funny is if they make purging weapon a throwing attack 😅 Agree on the next three points. The ACs are designed to fit into a specific schematic, so switching them around can make absolute abominations 😰. The OS tuning also feels half-baked. Seems like they just threw it there to make you feel some progress. Ricochet is too... idk but it just forces you to play at close range and limits the build variety and playstyles of the game. At the time I'm writing this, Assault Boost had been nerfed, and light ACs had gotten a massive buff to their speed and stagger recovery, so they threat of them not being able to kite heavier ACs is pretty much gone or at least very small. Uhh hard locking benefits controller players more imo. It's extremely hard to keep the lock on with M&K because the slightest movement of the mouse will break the lock, and holding it still is really hard. The shoulder weapons being tied to E and Q also makes it awkward and limiting to move around while firing them, especially when you need to charge the things. M&K can benefit from manual aiming accuracy or fast speed to keep the soft lock on the target, but it does not get anything from hard lock. Or maybe it just because of my shaky hands

My biggest gripe is the refused maps. It's pretty obvious they only made a few, large, maps to use.

Not to mention the lack of online features! I’d love to see a matchmaking mode with a ranking system. Being able to see the top online NEXTs in ACFA was amazing. There’s a lot of potential for new online modes overall.

The main flaw is the lock on system and lock on range.

I've only played ac 6 and really agree with the economy point, and it really makes me wonder why its still in there besides tradtion with the way theyve implimented it. Theres a penalties section on the mission report but i cant think of a single mission where there was a penalty applied. The base pay for all the jobs was so high expenses never came close to depleting half of it. Ive only seen a screenshot of a report card in the negatives and that was the ayre mission with no base pay and where the guy deliberately didnt scan the wrecks that pay out and expended all his ammo.

The flaw I’d like to add is how you can’t help Balam win

but i hope they will recognize the things you point out, AC:6x could be truly next level if they see what worked and didn't in AC:6

I'd say this vid def shines a light on many of the paper cuts AC6 has on the whole One of the more succinct approaches out there

You know what I did to get all the parts acheivements? Bought all the frame parts, sold them to buy all the weapons, sold them to buy all the internals. easy. money was no issue.

as a newcomer who was honestly pretty skeptical about the series coming into it, i kind of liked that a lot of the systems were simplified. I think if everything was as complicated as it seems to have been in previous games i might not have bothered trying it out. but that being said, now that im into it i would definitely welcome more complicated building systems and other mechanics going forward

I started out with 4th generation, less than a year before the first announcement of AC6, so that's my main point of reference. I miss tuning, but mainly part variety. There are no snipers in AC6. No basic rifles (not burst and not linear), no old-style pulse guns, no railguns, no physical shields, no FINGER, no radar, no weapon arms, and no shoulder weapons/attachments (I see the joints on the shoulders, GIVE THEM THEIR WEAPON). Also, as much as I like the moonlight in AC6, it acts less like a sword than it should, and more like a weird short-range gun. Also yeah there needs to be more frame parts. To be honest if from decided to just remaster the parts from 3rd gen, maybe sprinkle a couple from 1st, 2nd, or 4th gen that would probably work for most people. (could work with 5th gen, but some parts seem too bulky to fit in, imo) I also agree with enemy variety. Maybe because I wasn't looking too carefully, but for the most part the MTs used by the corporations and the RLF all have the same design. Wish there were more variety.

Want to preface by saying im a series newcomer, but there was a definite turning point for me when I was thinking about my weapons and eventually realized that the ammo count didn't really matter, because the level would either end or I'd get handed more when I needed it. In four runs of the game, I think I've run out of ammo maybe twice using a variety of different builds and weapons.

My biggest complaints is the hyper-focus on aggression. Low range weaponry across the board with no long range choices except for missiles, hard-lock over performing because of said low ranges, emphasis on stagger with crazy direct hit damage, weapon combos that can 100 to 0, no way to put distance between you and your target if they OB towards you, and the handful of overtuned weapons and builds thats typical if fromsoft pvp. I finished the main game, S-ranked all missions and got all achievements before I tried pvp. The more honest matches were fun, but my builds were next to useless against hardlock tryhards. Ignoring the lag, it was really frustrating. Not really intrigued to play more. I pretty much agree with your entire video as well. Youre definitely an AC veteran if you have these gripes, especially about the awesome tracks!! My poor bazookas need a buff. Rip you cant hit a damn thing

I’m sure playing only AC3, ACFA, and now AC6 shapes my perspective on this, but I don’t really agree that the economy system is so far out of line with previous entries. To me it felt like AC3’s economy had the illusion of scarcity but as long as you weren’t failing missions you couldn’t re-do you would never go anywhere near debt, and my finances only constrained my build for the first like quarter of the game. ACFA seemed to completely do away with the notion in favor of feeling like an arcade more than a sim, which I liked for ease of use but didn’t like thematically. I do think it would be really cool to have an actual debt mechanic as in 1st gen, especially with the whole human plus system, but as with the devs I’m not sure how that could work.

You touched on a number of issues I have with the game, but one of my biggest gripes is how much better quad legs are, and how bad reverse joints are. This largely comes down to vast differences in stability, and how critical stagger has become to the game. This should be optimized so that there isn't a best choice overall, nor a worst choice, but what is best for the particular style of play the player is utilizing. Under the current conditions, that's just not really an option that can be met. Also, I that hard lock can be knocked off just by touching the right stick. Many of us have spent countless hours in FPS play where muscle memory has locked into us to keep our thumb planted there. I'd rather it go dead stick until it is pressed again than having any movement on the stick register as an off button.

Agree with everything here you nailed it. If the old parts tuning returned, I think it should cost COAM to give a reason to spend them and do missions after you've completed the game.

Been playing since last raven and not being too have viable mid to long range options was noticed immediately and sorely missed. But i do also still enjoy the fast paced, aggressive style they were going for

i love this game, but the fact that when you are in soft lock the ac doesn't follow the camera like it did in older games is the biggest flaw imo, sometimes it felt that hard lock was required to finish cerntain encounters and i didn't really like it.

I totally agree with your points about the economy. After playing several stages at the beginning and realizing that I didn't need to save ammo anymore, I was shocked.

Hardlock doesn't have any inherent penalties other than making fighting chaff a pain, softlock gets a mild increase to tracking while also nerfing your movement by disabling strafe and making shield/melee usage a pain. I do expect assault boost to end up being affected more by the weight of the AC so heavier ACs have a harder time chasing things down with the ease they currently have, like the amount of time the combat wheel chair can stay in the air is just gross. I expect sniper style weapons to change a bit too however I think there'll be a few DLCs to give us more gear variety down the line.

It would be good if in next game there were different types of missions, something like Small contracts missions where you just go in on a short mission like previously ACS, no check point, no resupply, if you fail you lose the contract and have to deal with the consequences. And Expeditions/ Main missions : long missions with side content, big missions where if fail you just go back to a checkpoint. I think with these you can have the mercenary fantasy of previous games and the big story moments where from soft can go for the big hard and refined fights they are know for without compromising the experience.

My biggest issue is how on top of dealing with stagger, you can get stunlocked by your own loadout. A lot of weapons have this alleviated by tank/quad legs... but that just further pushes the dominance of ultra-heavy ACs. I also miss rapid-fire weapons and a lot of the lighter-weight shoulder weapons. We have like... 3 machine guns and the weird bubble pulse guns that overheat in 2 seconds and then take forever to cool down. I do like the shoulder pulse guns for boss-fights, but that's about it. I think in hindsight I side-stepped a lot of my complaints in order to enjoy the game. Some of my issues were solved by unlocking more gear, some by just getting better, but there's definitely some junk I swept under the rug that I hope gets improved in the future. I don't want the game to become as fast as AC4A, as the speed jump even from 4 to 4A was insane, but I'd like it to be a little... smoother and more responsive to open up more weapon combo opportunities. You get stuck in a lot of attack animations and then your other weapons won't fire, or you'll try to switch to a shoulder weapon and nothing happens, etc. Give us a little more control and you can like-wise up the challenge a little for those who think it's too easy. I'm hoping we get a AC6 follow-up. AC4 was criticized for it's lack of parts, and I definitely felt it having played AC4A first... but AC4A DID have the variety, so here's hoping. AC6 was still great though, and it was a big generational jump, so I can forgive the somewhat lower variety as them setting up a new foundation and universe after so many years away.

I don't really miss the old control scheme from 1 and 2 (the only classic ones I played), I would just make a heavy AC and hug corners so people wouldn't shoot me in the back. There's a special place in heaven for the person that decided mouse and keyboard was a good idea I agree with most of your points tho. Part variety and some fine tuning to numbers would fix a lot of the issues people have with this game, particularly bosses and PvP. I hope they find a middle ground between the more hardcore financial penalties from past games and the more lenient ones in 6. I like the Souls-like bosses and the mid mission healing, and I don't think I miss missions just vanishing when you fail them (I just save scummed in 1 whenever a mission went away), maybe an optional mission system, with inconsequential missions that you can fail, while keeping obligatory missions that you CAN'T fail NG+ and NG++ are great, but I wish they tweaked every mission instead of just a few. Some missions are just filler when you have an endgame AC. More MTs would be great. It's a great game, and it's just a few updates away from legendary status imo (not in the recent "release now, fix it later" trend of triple A development)

I will agree on the soundtracks. The soundtracks for Rubicon felt... Felt a little weak when compared with FreQuency and Kota Hoshino's other works that are so robust, full of energy and a lot of drive. The AC4 and 4A soundtracks were in my opinion his best because they had a strong and unique sound. The moment I hear the "oooohhh" I immediately knew it was Thinker. The way I hear the guitar ringing with a few notes. I knew it was Remember. The way I hear the first few keys on the piano, definitely someone on the surface. Violin? Day after day. Hear a loud drum sound? My first thought would be Artifiical Line It feels like Rubicon's soundtrack doesn't have a certain sound signature to it, if that makes sense? The specific ways to beat bosses is what I somewhat agree with. Mainly because of the build aspect. 50 to 70% is won within the garage and the rest is skill. My only issue is that weapon wise. It feels weird how I need to stick to an enemy like glue with a pair of assault rifles and rail guns when I can be at a distance. The ricochet mechanic has to be tweaked better. Because If I'm in the effective range of my weapon. It should cause some damage not just bounce off. Example. I did tests with rifles and I see that within the effective range, you need to adjust to drop it by 10 to 15. So if something is at 260? Then you should keep in mind that it'lll be useful at 245m. And I agree with the part cohesion nitpick. It does feel like some parts suffer a lot from it *Basho* especially. It's like the lightweights and midweights can blend together easily but the others are just complete jank if left alone. My main complaint is the weapons. Plenty of weapons feel a need for rework + a bit more variety to twhat we have owuld be great. A sniper rifle would be useful and long range kinetic weapons would bea game changer with an FCS that can handle it. *Cries in lack of energy machinegun and pulse rifles that dont look like microwaves*

It may be a bit of hopium but I "suspect" that having few parts may be a way to introduce Armored Core to the mainstream before going all out with future releases of 6th gen. Let's see if this game is just the seed or is the direction they want to aim for.

Sure I suppose the honeymoon phase may be over with AC6 but I am still in love with it.

This game needs bigger Field of View or just a transparent AC. Its really annoying when you can't know what your enemies are doing when your ac takes up a 1/3(normal) or half(assault boosting) of the screen and had to just rely on auto targeting, compass and sound cue for everything. Also, invisible walls like the one on helicopter boss, snailteus, michigan, firework mission, ibis, etc. It just ruins the experience when you are (especially on speed and melee build) chasing down those enemies, only to be blocked by game constraints and have them attack you in a range where all your weapons are useless, when you know damn well that they would be dead if this wall is not blocking you. How is that fun? They could AT LEAST make those enemies not able to leave the tiny tiny combat arena like us and this wouldn't have been a problem.

It's the range. Sniper was always my jam in Armored Core, and having straight up no options with which to play long-range really took a lot of the wind out of my sails. Still love most other aspects of the combat though, and I'm about to start NG+.

after finishing the game multiple times, I kinda hope there's more enemy variety, especially the MT, I wish that the MT for every corp is different like the Arquebus is more agile and more into energy based weapons while Balam MT is maybe more bulky, tanky and more firepower to fit each corps characteristics of AC parts, weirdly RaD got the most variety on their MT variety, the PCA got decent lineup of variety of enemies, but kinda hope the encounter of their spaceship is like the first one, deploying drones and maybe dropping troops instead of just being a mild inconvenience in your next encounter I do hope perhaps they can give a "hard mode" but instead of upping the enemy damage and health, they spice it up a bit, like giving each faction more AC in the field that act like the trainer AC or the AC that accompany the main boss in the coral release route final boss, they don't have repair kit and don't exactly equipped to the teeth

Ac6 is a 0/9, not enough Nine-Ball This post has been made by the NB nation! (Seriously tho, I'll give my thoughts on AC6 after I get to it, which will be after gen 4 and 5)

This is my first AC game, so I can't relate to many of the things on your list. I am really enjoying the game though and am halfway through NG+. That being said, I 100% agree with you about the Stagger mechanic. I like that it exists but I'm not a fan of the execution. Also, I'm referring only to the PvE aspect of it. There were several encounters where I was just constantly chain staggered, which made it feel unfair and not fun. One encounter that really stood out for this (spoiler ahead!) was the fight with Carla and Chatty. I'm trying to keep track of both of them, but I would basically get staggered every other hit. Very frustrating. I eventually wound up shoving myself under the upper ledge and behind one of the pillars since Chatty didn't seem like he ever wanted to come down from there. But still, the few hits he managed to land just instantly staggered me every time.

IMO, S ranking can be the middle ground for the stage difficulty. You can still beat the game -like a casual- intended for new audiences with checkpoints, but if you want the S rank, you have to go in knowing what need and cannot use the supplies and check point. But right now it still needs refining. Most missions are still too short and has an over reliance on time limits instead of actual performance. But we can trust that next games will at least have more readily available assets to supplementmaking bigger and longer stages, even ac parts.

I think something like turn speed should apply to Quads perhaps but definitely tank tread builds. There is currently no real upside to playing a lightweight build at least in PvP when you get all the positives and not too many negatives for just going all heavy.

My only complain is the weapon variety honestly. I hope fromsoft brings back chaingun, slug gun and adding more energy and coral variant to existing weapon types

My own main personal gripe with it so far is mainly to do with the UI. I definitely preferred the more informational UI with things like the ace combat style radar display over the compass, and the UI elements near the center of the screen can and should be cut. You don't need a reticle unless you're manually aiming, and the lock-on reticle can be hidden until it becomes relevant. Honestly, though, I think hard locking was a pretty good addition because it lets you single out targets from groups and focus them down, it's just that turn speed needs reintroducing to hard cap your rotation without quick turns.

Stagger should be a fixed stat, not something adjustable in its current form. That way you nerf all the super heavy builds by making them easier to stagger, and buff super lights by making them not insta stagger. Because the current form of super heavy shotgun burst builds, and super heavy mid range builds is not healthy.

I agree with every point you made, especially on the music. The game still has bangers like Contact With You, Fight or Flight, Rough and Decent Rusted Pride and Stargazer but most of it is too ambient for my taste and I'm someone who can get behind mood music or is too "Souls-ish" for what I would want in an AC game. The final boss theme for NG++ was a major letdown for me but at least I got Stargazer afterward. If anyone felt the same way try playing Inherit the Stars from Daemon x Machina instead, it fit way too well especially given what happens at the end of that game and AC6. As for the parts, AC4 had the same problem in variety but then 4A came along and spoiled everyone so here's hoping whatever expansion AC6 gets fills the gaps ( and I really want two handed weapons in a similar style that The Enforcer boss has to fill the Overed Weapon niche).

im gonna add that in the old AC games we had hangar units for smaller backup weapons for when our primary ones run out of ammo, this made it so you can bring enough firepower if a long mission is eating up your ammo. But AC6 removed the hangar units in favor of resupplying ammo mid mission instead.

10:50 there only being two tetrapod legs makes me very sad. still used them for most of the game. absolutely love the playstyle

My biggest complaint is that I never had to quit a mission because I ran out of ammo. In past games, you had to balance a weapon's power with the amount of ammo it had to make sure you make it all the way through without running out. In AC6, there's no such balance. Use the most powerful weapon you can carry with your load limit and blast away! Kinda takes some of the mindfulness out of building and gives you no reason to use certain weapons because they're just direct downgrades with more ammo. I just remembered, Intercept the Redguns was the one mission ammo was an issue.

I agree with the Music bit. The only two times I stopped and even **noticed** the music was vs Balteus and Rusted Pride.

I just started the video but you perfectly described how I feel about the OST! I do adore it and the style but I would have very much liked the older games style of ost composition.

when i think about oldgen AC music "king lear" immediatly starts playing in my head. great video. i agree with alot of your points.

i think one of the issues with the close range and assault boost which i've been researching some counters for in pvp is that there's no obvious counterplay for rushdown - you have missiles designed to hound enemies that are trying to keep away constantly, but you don't really have the opposite i.e. any trap weapons for enemies trying to come close constantly, except for maybe the explosive thrower (which takes up a melee hand slot) and the cluster missiles that i'm experimenting with what i really want in the game though is coop or even a setup like a raid with different branches where one of you gets raven's role and one of you gets rusty's, that would be sick af

Agreed on all points. Especially that of part variety and uniqueness. The fact that you can have 49 combinations of specifically handheld bazookas/grenade launchers but only 4 exclusive combinations in each of automatic rifles, semiautomatic rifles and linear rifles and only 1 pair of chain guns is insane. It wouldn't have hurt to add more differences to each variation as well. Im referring to the Ransetsu rifles, as the difference between the two isn't so bigger bullets with a lower fire rate, but a burst rifle variant.

My only real complaint with the game is the lack of part variety that you brought up, and right along with that, the lack of part "balance". Everything else they changed seems like an evolution that was justified. PVP definitely has brought some issues to light that need to be addressed, like how powerful Heavyweights are compared to Lightweights.

I think the "game pulling you into a certain direction" because of bossfights it's actually a really good way to teach newcomers Armored Core. Older games, like you said before, wanted you to adapt and prepare properly for certain kinds of missions while 6 does this mainly in the bossfights, I think it's a very clever and engaging way of teaching how to think in these games without the frustration of going all the way back. Keep in mind this game was designed with the intention of getting players into Armored Core, so it's fine if this is how they want to do it, just being sure they don't stick to it rather than expanding this kind of knowledge into mission designs. It's not a flaw per se, but I can see how long time vets can be disappointed about it.

I feels like AC6 biggest problems is a lack of Balance, both in gameplay but also in the casual sides of thing: Gameplay wise, you have stagger, unbalanced weapons and parts, a relatively easy series of ission followed by, saddly, build check bosses, ect... But then you have the game trying to be easier to casuals, while doing things that are NOT firendly to casuals (and non-From Software veterans): On one hand, you have the Hard Lock, parts of the gameplay are simplified (easier to access), reduced cost and bigger pays, more ammunitions for your weapons, health bar on all enemies; and on the other hand, you have the First stage boss, the repair kits system, the stagger sytem, and so on (they're most certainly others that i haven't experienced or realised) It feels like AC6 is in this weird state of caering toward a more casual public , but it also bring new mechanics that weren't present in the older games... "Unbalanced" would probably be the best word to describe the game current state. The worst past for me is that... this doesn't feel like the Armored Core i grew up with. ...which to be fair, would be Last Raven.

I think KBM users won't have an advantage if Hard lock is removed if only they made the camera stick to your butt and made quick turning manual and skill based. If the sensitivity of how you turn is locked / capped to your turn rate, it wouldn't be an issue regardless if you're using a mouse or a thumb stick.

i actually used cannons and bazookas for those bosses you mentioned you'd won't though... since i just wait for a pattern where's they'd stop and dish out for a stagger and direct hit adjustments that made all the waiting worthwhile

Man if the music in this game is subpar the older AC games must have some heaters. I cried several times on the way to the checkpoints on some later missions bc the music just got to me As a first time AC player: I really hope the sequel says “fuck you new guys, it’s the old people’s turn to have fun”. All the older gen AC stuff you showed looked so sick

I had some problems with the lack of good long ranged options, i've gotten plenty of times that i tried to make a long-range build and the weapons would simply deal low damage or keep ricocheting out of enemies at long distances, because of that i just was forced to play close-ranged. And about the lack of parts, that's just sad, i got really confused by only having the option to use such small amounts of lightweight legs (there are only 3, i'm not sure), just look all the variety of parts we had in previous games like Silent Line and Last Raven, hope that in the next game or DLC we get these problems fixed.