Armored Core 6: The In-Depth, Four-Hour, HANDS-ON Preview 

Bro went from a newcomer to a full-blown raven. You love to see it.

For all newcomer Ravens, you DO NOT need to have played the previous AC games to get into this one, very similar on how Final Fantasy dev teams create its titles.

I'm glad you got to play for four hours and record it and not myself. Viewers would get roughly four hours of garage footage.

The fact alone that armored core 6 got so many people to go back and learn what made the old games so special already makes it a success in my eyes. And I don't just mean youtubers. I've encountered numerous people across youtube, twitter, reddit, etc talking about going back to gen 4, 3, and even 1 sometimes.

The "mid-mission checkpoints only let you swap out equipment you've already bought" was one of the biggest questions I had and I am shocked I haven't heard more people clarify that point because it is the most important balancing feature I think they could have made around the use of the checkpoints. I had speculated that those are how they would work, thinking that it was a good way to give you a sense of progression through the game as you amass a larger arsenal and therefore have a wider variety of options to choose from when you get stuck on a particularly difficult encounter, rather than just being able to always build whatever the most expensive mech you currently have access to at any time, and I am *so glad* that they did end up going with that format.

Your description at the start of the video mirrors my thoughts on the series as a whole. Part of Armored Core's identity is its evolution between each entry. Each game in the series has its fans, and everyone was hyping themselves up that AC6 was going to be "just like their favourite Armored Core". The fact that they've taken the best elements of the five existing generations of Armored Core as a base, then evolved from that is probably the single best move they could have done. Is this going to be my favourite Armored Core? Probably not. But that's fine- I never expected it to cater specifically to me. This will be someone's favourite Armored Core. This will be the game to get someone to try the series and find another one they love. And either way, it looks fantastic.

The bond between the pilot and their custom built AC is a special one.

Writing On Games is so well-spoken. There's such a flourish to his use of words. But more than that, I really appreciate how he's one of the few creators who get to talk about the series who actually speaks to the audience as though we're all Armored Core fans. Where a lot of other creators I've watched spend minutes at a time getting their Soulsborne audience up to speed on such fundamental concepts as "Energy" and "the Garage", Writing On Games gets right into direct comparisons to moments in other Armored Core titles.

AC has always been late capitalism meets big robots, but I love the tone. It's the best non-WH40K grimdark setting.

Looking forward to playing this, I've never played an Armoured Core game before.

I can't believe AC hardliners were worried that FROM SOFTWARE of all devs would make this an easy game for babies

Gonna offer a counter-opinion Re: Bosses- I never felt like the unresponsive meterless flying bullet sponges reeling back and forth like a cardboard structure on a wire offered much menace. I felt menace from other ACs, but the 'boss' type enemies were just obnoxious, and not being able to tell how much damage you were doing to them or if they had any feedback to your damage hardly at all due to way more basic coding than AC enemies had made battling them a mind-numbing DPS chore. It lacked strategy and payoff. I, for one, welcome the more spectacle based mega bosses here with a focus on how much you actually need to wittle them down via the health bar. It lets you get out of the mindset of 'are they dead yet?' and focus more on the present and threatening challenge before you, or at the very least enjoy the high flying spectacle of it, and still feel like you accomplished something at the end. The more information being provided also permits a greater variety of challenge, such as having to find weak points on the enemy which would have otherwise not been communicated to you clearly by older approaches. I enjoy innovation, and AC has changed drastically age to age, without losing the 'core' of what it is, so I don't think things like more complex and interesting bosses with health meters, or lock-on is going to ruin the experience. ...not being able to double fist melee weapons might tho!

2:41 Amen man, exactly how I framed it in my impressions as well. Of course there's room to debate the nuance, but ultimately it was just a blast to play.

I for one am looking forward to striking an enemy in the BAWS

Friend recommended your vid to me and this was a very pleasing listen. Your enthusiasm is infectious!

21:41 This observation is only true if one forgets about all the MT bosses you have to fight in many of the games, from Massive MT's that spam missiles while separating in two, to a giant one that blocked an entire tunnel, to a towering humanoid MT, to even a submarine boss, and of course that's before the various Arms Forts.

U know, that section u had on checkpoints gave me an idea what if u had to actually work for them. Like minutes before a checkpoint location the handler notifies you: "Heads up 621, clear the area marked ahead and we'll be able to send u a resupply". More skilled players who want the S rank and not have to pay for it can just ignore the location, but new players might actually take the extra time to clear out the area to het a convenient checkpoint

I've already watched like 4 of these videos, but I can't get enough armored core content right now.

I subbed because both this video was beautifully made and written and also from your amazing comment in reply to skillups video.

I think it's also important to note that death and respawn during boss fights also affect mission performance. So if one is opting for an S rank, their best bet is to gitgud and not die.

It was the sheer speed of AC4 that made me finally get the AC games once I got over the hump - the absurd skill ceiling and hefty skill floor to use the entire controller at once demand you stop thinking about piloting once another NEXT shows up, and simply act. It was a struggle to do anything outside of flow state, but when you realise that this is intended design to get you into flow state as completely and as long as possible, the game makes sense. I don’t even usually care for action games and this one had me gladly seeking out the super-hard final NG+ mission in For Answer. I’m glad it looks like AC6 is willing to push players into that state because I’ve been chasing that high for nearly a decade now.

Oh fuck, Writing on Games AND Vaati got a hands on? Fuckin christmas in July, boys!

I find it extremely interesting how both this review and SkillUp's are clearly about the same game, but your different context around AC than he has means you come out with very different views.

omg I love the fact you got exclusive preview hands on access to the game! Someone from From Soft must've noticed your amazing AC video - welcome to the family, Raven!

Armoured core of the Colossus? I'm excited! ❤ The point of AC bosses is that you sometimes you have to rethink your mech design entirely! I'm looking forward to this one.

I'm on the fence. I've never played Armored Core but it looks like it has the elements of something I might like. Your video was the first one that seriously convinced me to try it. I'm particularly interested about the story elements you described.

Dude the game just looks SOOO GOOD. I actually can't wait to play!

Amazing preview!

Mission successful, we've got them now.

Fantastic video, as always! Really love your scripts and what you focus on in your videos!

It's funny how the "AC6 plays like ____" conversation depends entirely on what the viewer's favourite is. To me, it looks like a blend of LR and Verdict Day. But there are others who say it looks like 4A, 2 etc.

It's weird to have to say how glad it makes me that NEXTs and LYNXs are gone. We're back to good ole fashioned ACs and we're called Raven. I absolutely love it.

Watching this after watching Skill Up's video where he talked about how underwhelming he thought that short mission against the other AC that's built up is and posing that as a negative without mentioning the narrative implications at all seriously makes me question the legitimacy of all his takes on the game. This, on the other hand, is one of the best videos I've seen about the game so far. I'm so incredibly hype for it.

Impeccably thorough video, thank you for your insight! I'm very interested in exploring the Vibes of this world.

sorry cant watch it mr. black - I'm afraid I'll explode from hype

Im impressed that Fromsoft has gotten so many content creators involved with the preview of the game its amazing and I hope they continue to do it its awesome to have so many different channels getting a heads up and breaking down their time with the game and what they did and didn't like about the game so far

This is the first time I've been excited for a game since Destiny. I've been a long time fan and it looks like everything I could possibly want in a modern take on the franchise. I'm so glad From Soft is back to making a game I genuinely enjoy instead of games I can convice myself are entertaining.

Welcome back, Raven.

Im ecstatic people like you are joining the Ravens. Welcome to our world

So down for this!

Great video! ❤

I've never played one of these but I'm super excited to try this one

"Ask 10 Armored Core gamers the best game of the series, receive 10 different answers"

Thank you for getting us all of the great information! The game won't be perfect, but what is? Some of the Awkward S rank conditions in Silent Line and Last Raven made part hunting a bit arduous. I'm super excited for the end of August, can't wait to strap into the cockpit and see you all on The Wall.

20:53 The example you showed was of the resupply right before the juggernaut where it was explained in the brief that you would have to kill that thing and where. In other words Walter knew you were about to boss fight. it is reasonable to assume that he knows about boss fights before they happen in most cases. Though a surprise boss is different I feel that the general process is that he can adapt to your failure in such a case

Makes me happy that Chapter 1 was able to get you up to speed and impress to this degree.

Wow he manages to make a 25 minutes video without mentioning souls Thats an achievement!

Advise for newcomers: Legs are one of the most important parts of your mech, because they determine how much weight your vehicle can carry. Your power engine / energy source is on other one as it modifies the amount of energy available, as well as how slow or fast your energy bar will recharge.

MORE ARMORED CORE LETS FLIPPIN GOOOOOOOO

Thanks for the vid

We're back Ravens!

My only hope for the game is at least having a hopeful ending being the closest to being the canon ending because the last thing I want is "Corpo bad, and you just made them god"

I couldn't care less what the community thinks. I've seen so much whining and it just makes me lose respect for them. I preordered the collector's edition and I'm gonna play this game to death regardless of what those neckbeards think

I am going to take the extra second to check each map for legendary gear & optional AC battles... Often linked together. Hope they keep sneaking in that kind of stuff... Really enjoy discovering secrets for the first time, going in blind.

Glad to hear the game is looking good so far. Was thinking of going on a similar journey of playing these games in order, but wasn't able to find the time/energy to give AC1 my full attention. Decided after seeing this video to let Fires of Rubicon be my intro to the franchise the same way Witch of Mercury was what got me into Gundam. Despite Rubicon's disapointing lack of space lesbians.

Thank you, fellow Scotsman, for highlighting the absurdity of BAWS 😂🤦🏻‍♂️

My hype is so out of control man, i first played AC:Nexus when i was in middle shool on the ps2 and friggin loved it but was never able to beat that friggin flying MT thing in the final level. It was one of those games that really shaped my interests and helped cement me as a mecha fan. When AC6 was anounced i decided to try and replay as many of the games as i could and man has it been great. I gotta say personally i love the 3rd gen games, maybe it's just noatalgia (although i gotta say Nexus is my least favorite of them) and finally understanding bunny hoping and like how to build an effective AC but man I just love them. I'm trying to 100% Last Raven now, almost done with my second story path.

I feel like what you said at the beginning of the video is not just exclusive to Armored Core. Other long running series do seem to have that kind of attitude about some of their entries. Battlefield is a great example of this as well. People who didn't like 3/4 because they loved 2 and 1942, people who didn't like 1/5 because they loved 3/4, and everyone hating 2042 because it wasn't enough like "their Battlefield". I'm not trying to defend 2042 here, it is a bad game, but it's kind of interesting to see the different groups argue about why it's bad by comparing it to their favorite entry. Hope this doesn't happen to AC6 tho!

I grew up playing AC, first playing 2 and 3 that I rented from blockbuster, then sinking hundreds of hours into the 4th gen. To see AC6 be a this hyped up is amazing. I don't care what kind of AC game I get, I just like AC

Seriously thank you like the only video about the game I've seen that doesn't spend most of the time trying to compare the game to a souls game 😂.

I think Armored Core 3 oddly enough is the one I'm most fond over. It was one of the first games I got when I got a PS2 way back when. I remember getting Castlevania Lament of Innocence, AC3, Maximo, and Jak and Daxter.

My personal favorite is IV answer but I love the series as a whole

BAWS LOL XD, I looked up what it meant a few seconds after you said it, I am happy.

Reminds me of the final fantasy effect. Every entree is different so everyone had a preference

Cameras that zoom out? That is the real FromSoft innovation there.

Every Armored Core fan who has seen the AC6 playview should feel, "This is Armored Core!" I think this is the answer. translated by DeepL

Did people forget this is still fromsoft? Why are people bitching so much? This looks incredible

This is my Tears of the Kingdom

Never played an Armored Core game but heard good things from a friend who discovered the series a while ago. I'm excited for this one, I hope that I'll be able to use my HOTAS (Logitech G X56) on PC. Would only be fitting to use one in my opinion. Regarding difficulty, the game can always ramp up difficulty but the beginning of a game needs to be accessible so people aren't overwhelmed, I can see a lower bar of entry only as a good thing. Knowing how to move, now how to sverve the camera, then combine, then add hand weapons, then add shoulder weapons, then the boost, now combine that, and fly to dodge some stuff. I'm sure I'll be overwhelmed the first 2-3 hours and insanely giddy afterwards.

As an American I also looked at that word and went "hehehe balls"

I'm sorry but healing with estus-likes and checkpoints allow fromsoft to make stuff a lot tougher or mechanically challenging, which is always good imo

Currently in Japan. Apparently there will be a demo available here in a few days. Can’t wait to play it!

We need Epic Voice Guy to say "BAWWWWWWWWWWWWS..."

I really enjoyed the gameplay of the first titanfall game, really wish that series was still around.

I loved armoured core and tenchu when I was younger, I also enjoyed all the soul borne ring games, they are some of my favourites of all time. sekiro started out as a new tenchu game and that was amazing, so I have no doubt that the upcoming armoured core will be anything other than good. Fromsoft know what they are doing

I love this dude RU-vid and content I sub this dude I like how he does his videos

Did you (or anyone in the press allowed to demo the game) get any playtime with keyboard and mouse? How does it handle? Is it as janky as Elden Ring? Is controller preferable?

I noticed some of the UI in this was for PC controls. Do you think this will actually control well on PC and actually benefit being played on it over a controller? And is that how you actually played it? On a keyboard and mouse I mean?

As someone who hasn't played any games in the series, I am seriously tempted by this one. Throughout this video and the previous one where you played through the prior AC games your growing enthusiasm for the AC series is clear and tbh it is quite infectious. And as a fellow Scot I hope you gave that tetrapod a right kick in the BAWS

As an American, I find it hilarious that baws is balls

got the collector's edition coming (too late for super duper version...) and took a week off. i've only been a super-fan since 2010ish (after Demon's Souls) with 4 Answer, but have been interested from the beginning (i played the crap out of that PS1 demo, & have a few figures & models)- this is gonna be good.

I didnt manage to get on the armoured core bandwagon despite being a mech fan as I wasnt a fan of slow mechs and my initial impressions of armoured core was that the mechs were slow from the limited gameplay footage i seen of the past entries But the recent armored core 6 is definitely getting me hyped up. Reminds me of the time where i was just replaying levels of Zone of the Enders. Already pre ordered the game and awaiting it to finally release XD

It is so mindblowingly funny to me. I played this game from the first game when I was like 12 up to the third. I always loved master of the arena the most, for me it was the pinnacle armored core. when I later replayed everything again several years ago, I have to say, AC3 became my go to when people asked me about where they should start. It has everything you need and want to get the perfect AC experience.. NOW, the funny part, I NEVER played 4 and 5 and I always saw them and were disgusted at how fast it looked and claimed it became some sort of anime japanese hyper mech game.. after the hype around AC6 and all these videos, I've gone back replaying every game from the first to... 4 and for answer.. after finishing the last raven, I dowloaded a ps3 emulator and just gave it a shot.... and boy, OH BOY... I LOVE AC(4) for answer! from all the games I played I have played it THE MOST. I have done every mission, every story path, replayed every mission to get an S rank, replayed every mission on hard difficulty to get an S rank it was SO Much fun! so many guns are viable, so many parts to paly with, and it really felt like making progress, spending basically talent points as well. The whole game just feels so much more fluid, from missile targeting not taking 3 years, changing weapons, turning and the faster combat felt amazing. And while in videos it looks SO fast, in reallity it isn't THAT fast after all, you can zoom around and be fast and fly forever, BUT you can also aproach the game in a more sluggish slow way and be a force to deal with. you dont HAVE TO be fast. so yeah AC1, AC3 and AC4 are completely diffrent games with the same idea. but ALL OF THEM are great. and no matter how AC6 will turn out. if it is like ANY of these 3 I will be happy

What a lot of us talk about the skill gap and stuff like that we're not talking about just the challenge of the PVE. We're talking about how you're going to interact with the game when challenging other people as well. And now that we know that the hard lock is fucking damn near unbreakable if at all it does the track from that skill ceiling. And there's a lot of concern with certain weapons becoming very overpowered due to this permanent lock system. Especially since we've heard no hide nor hair of a system to counter some of these measures. And I'm sorry but PVP is the long-term life of this game. PvP is why people like for answers so much the PVP is amazing. And that PVP is amazing because of the high skill ceiling. If you saw someone doing something that looked really cool and you're like how the fuck did they do that. Well it was possible for you to do it but you knew it wasn't easy it wasn't going to be easy to learn that. He's going to take a lot of practice and whoever did it was really good at the game. Making the skill ceiling lower whenever you look at stuff like that and you see people do stuff you're like oh okay I get it he locked on he boosted this way he did this thing like oh yeah all right well that seems pretty easy now. And this new lock-on system is going to either make builds one way or the other better symbol is that either heavy builds or super lightweight builds are going to be pretty much unstoppable middleweight builds are just going to be shit out of luck. Another concern that a lot of people have is that the bosses feel like a cat playing with a toy more than they do another person trying to literally fucking kill you. And that was some of the fun of all that was that you felt like you were in a fight for your life. Like the other person was trying to kill you they weren't just going through an animation. It didn't feel like a robot that have been programmed with a set of moves. The old games the ACs and stuff like that that you fought didn't have predictable move sets. You had to be aware of what was going on because they were shooting right at you they were trying to fuck you up. And they were going to take the most direct route to do that. they didn't do some fucking Popeye style wind up and then slowly swing through the atmosphere and the only thing they've cleaved is their energy bar in half. No it felt like you were really in a fucking fight. As someone who used to fight a lot and did boxing and stuff like that it was cool. Because the old enemies felt like they were trying to fuck you up they felt like you were in a real fight with someone who really wanted to hurt you. And that was a rush

This madlad was working on this game WHILE making elder ring? Jeeeez

That footage of ac5 on emulator really sold the weight of the mechs by also making your framerates feel equally sluggish. That being said, no matter your generational preference, ac6 looks excellent, AND LESS THAN A MONTH TO GO!!!

As a scotsman i had a laugh

An Armored Core game with good controls? Unbelievable! XD In all seriousness, though. It's been a real treat watching all the preview footage. Seeing everyone hopping, boosting, gliding so smoothly is amazing.

I have an issue with the kit situation making my ac feel more glassy and breaking immersion momentaily. hear me out. yes it keeps the combat fast paced, but an ac has armor. it's in the name. I love the creeping silent background pressure of knowing I had to make the whole of my armor last through all combat scenarios and complacency became a silent enemy. would feel more immerssive if it was coral based and took time to actually repair the armor. battles would still be fun but I would get a visual cue of where the other player is during a fight and know to keep pressure on or be prepared to use full evasive maneuvers to avoid the minkers.

Can't wait for this game. Looks beautiful, idk what people are talking about regarding 'muh bad graphics' they are trippin

The only constant in the series is change. Can you adapt and overcome? Can you learn to love failure equally to success? Welcome to whatever remains of our Ark.

During the checkpoint if you die hit a checkpoint can you change your mech ? To better counter the boss your fighting

2:00 can someone tell me which game in the franchise this clip is from and what parts was used as I'm new to this series and though this part in perticuler was really cool. i hope we can get something like this in 6.

Hopefully Fromsoft don't make the mistake of gating classic Cores behind microtransactions, Square Enix did that with Front Mission Evolved and now you can't get the complete set because some have been delisted.

Fromsoft got the BAWS to showcase this much gameplay. I'm excited

Massive applaud to FromSoft though, they really make a game that the masses don't ask for, and still deliver something great.

20:58 It's a really fun game, but the three magic medkits and that flying ammo crate made my heart sink. "Hey hey! its a PS2 game! The nazi boss/dragon/samurai leader must be behind this door" Lootable ammunition from defeated enemies would have been better. It would make you think about "Do i want to go in with my high-tech expensive stuff that could run out of power/ammo before I get the job done? or do i want standardized lower grade guns with interchangeable ammunition belts/storage from the light MT's since it's all mass produced?"

For answer was great it just kind of turned into "all my options for quick kills are now fast twitch melee perma flying perma boost builds" and it turns out that's 1 or 2 builds with only slight variation between them...

There seems to be a large disconnect between the AC battles and enemies from the large dark souls style bosses

I'm new to the game, but it looks like Gundam meets Metal Max