just got AC6 on my PC after going through NG++ (got allminds ending) and this shit still hurt, I didn't cry, nor have I cried at anything let alone a game in YEARS, but I could feel a tear coming. the music, the story, walter.....these are the kinds of moments I want to keep with me for the rest of my life just to spite my normally terrible memory
The worst part is Ayre desperately begging both of you to stop during the fight. At this point she's 100% aware Walter wants to burn all the Coral but she still doesn't want 621 to kill him.
You know what really *sucks?* Had he not gone through this horrific Arquebus re-education and somehow were able to hear the Corals, I do think that despite all his tremendous fear, Walter would've eventually come to like Ayre too. 😢 One of my favourite passtimes recently is just trying to picture their interactions and what usually comes up as their relationship is a father and daughter sort of dynamic. A slightly mischievious "good girl" daughter, who likes to go off and do her thing occasionally but would instantly jump back to help with anything, and a usually calm, stern, no-nosense father who is usually duty focused, but isn't exactly harsh on her disobeying orders and can oddly be caring in his own way.
This wasn't a betrayal. Walter always wanted us to live free. Yes, he had his mission, but it was his mission, not ours. Walter needed to use us and we needed Walter at the start. Now at the end our paths have to separate. Walter died proud of us, proud we found our freedom, proud we found a friend.
He wanted us to live free after we do his mission, so he respected our choice even if it's going against his mission, and he let go of his mission that he was trying to do for his entire life, seeing the reason why us chose to separate and went "Guess you were right and I was wrong after all." Walter is a badass.
@@therandomlaniusedward2140 I believe the reason walter did this mission was out of fear of coral and guilt (either for his fallen comrades or his mad father, either way) but when he sees that 621 has found a "friend" and freedom, his worries were unfounded and died peaceful. I love this writing, where their whole character doesnt just revolve around a single sided goal but also individual thoughts, though it was very well put here.
@@fauxgodlingcorrect. He was re-educated, by Snail no less. However, as V.II mentioned, he was recalcitrant, he didn't entirely fall in. He still believed in the Overseers goals. But he was essentially made a shell of the former man by Arquebus.. 😢
@@bigyiggamingexcept if you use coral generators, since the ground has a slight curve you end up most of the time like a cm from the ground and they are a hassle to recharge if you are not touching the ground
Thanks to his va I immagine him cursing like hell when no one is in earshot Why Look up Ragna the bloodedge Same Va Their design is simmlar Both have red green eyes Red main body Big ass sword Bullshit attacks (carnage scissor/coral oscillator) Both are harasses with an soft heart for an low number
Best fight in the game, I’m still depressed from the fact that we couldn’t save Walter, he deserved so much better than what he got, even if he was cold to us in the beginning. All he wanted was to honor his fallen friends’ wishes and burn the coral, making your betrayal hurt even more.
I wouldn't say we betrayed Walter, he wanted us to be free. Free to choose, the freedom to choose what we fight for. I think while it did go against his wishes and goals, and his dreams...he was proud of us in his final moments. The last line hits home and drives that point hard. "Look at you...621....you found...a friend..."
What hurts the most about that that makes the wound fester is that you already took out Snail, making avenging Walter feel impossible. It's like in the end, Snail's one last plan ended up and death scream may as well been his final laugh to you. Too add salt to that festering wound, he also used Walter to kill V4 Rusty. V2 Snail was truly the worst of the worst in Rubicon 3@@R-XI_Sulla
@@R-XI_Sulla I was okay with Arquebus until Snail started talking shit about 621 and Walter was quick to jump to 621's defense. The farther I went in my second run, the more furious I got with Snail. What he had done to Walter absolutely broke me. Michigan might be more coarse than Snail, but he's still a somewhat honest sort and I honestly didn't like having to betray the Redguns; though I did like kicking Iguazu's ass.
Even in the Alea Lacta Est ending he wasn't exactly mad at us, he accepted the fact that we made our choice. I truly believe Walter in the end just wanted 621 to find happiness and freedom.
Throughout the theme. Theres a repeating signal beeplike sound that plays in 3 separate but equal beats albeit diffent tunes to match the music. And I'm no expert in music or morse code, but it sounds like an SOS signal to me. Which is fking genius. Almost like Walter is pleading for help.
When listening to it with headphones I can hear it too. It's not morse code tho (at least not SOS, which is . . . _ _ _ . . .) which would have been an incredible detail to be honest.
@@laillahilaallah001 Honestly I couldn't tell, I'm very tone deaf when it comes to specifics. I tried figuring it out earlier but to me it sounds like it would be repeating "i i o o". If thats the case then you could argue that it's I/O as in 1 and 0 which would make sense considering the machine theme of a mech game. But again, I'm not very good when it comes to musical details like that.
@@laillahilaallah001 I mean, it's all just speculation and most likely we're both just reading too much into it. But then again, I wouldn't put it past FromSoft to put these tiny hidden details into their soundtracks. They already did it with Gwyn's Theme from Dark Souls 1 where all the notes were played on the white keys only for example. So it's kinda nice to speculate about these what-if's. ;)
I’m no hardened man But it is very very hard for anything fiction to make me emotional. This theme along with the context of your relationship with Walter stirred me and my eyes were close to watering up.
God, this fight. I betrayed his trust, his legacy. Even though I objected to what he wanted to do I still understood why he wanted to do it. He placed his trust in 621, and we let him down. And he truly cared about 621 too. He always did. But it's too late to say it now. All that remains is a meaningless fight to the death between a husk who was once a person, and a person who was once a husk.
this is what fucks me up the most. he wasnt even himself enough to be mad that we betrayed him. he should have been angry. he should have resented us. but he died without ever even knowing why we did it. he died with love in his heart for us. fuck!
@@tombombadil7714 I like to think that, at this moment, he sort of knew 621 wasn't on his side anymore. Not just from the brainwashing, Walter always wanted 621 to make his choice, and that included that it could mean the two of them would have to fight... Walter always knew his hound could choose another path, and was ready for it...does that mean he hates him for it ? I don't think so. I think that, in the end, Walter was driven by his strongest emotions for us, not hate for choosing our own way according to his will, not angry at us for taking our wings and fly higher. But love, care and happyess we found our own way... He died with love in his heart, and joy we found a friend...what better death ?
"Whatever they did... You're in danger. We have to defend ourselves!" Walter planned an escape for you, not for him. "Raven...! Walter! This has to stop!" Ayre just wanted to live, to save her family. She didn't want this. She can't stand seeing you kill each other like this.
When the "aaaaaaah" Part came in and intensefied and Ayre shouting "Raven, Walter, this has to stop!" I got tears in my eyes. It was a betrayal worth making. But it was hard cause I liked Walter (and learned to like Carla). And SPOILER FOR BAD ENDING it wont get easier cause i already know that now in NG+ I have to betray Ayre😢😢😢
I went with the Fires of Raven on my first playthrough. Doing the Liberator feels like a sort of "redemption", still felt bad because of happens with Carla and Walter. Even with NG++ they all still die.
Walter is definitely one of my favorite characters. He is one of the only people who truely cares about you. He even is about to spill the beans to you just so you can have the choice to keep following him. But he stops. And in his "death" he gives you the choice. He tells you the plan. He lets you decide for yourself if you want to burn the planet and end the coral scourge or find your own way
This was the fight that absolutely broke me. I'm used to sad moments in video games, particularly FromSoftware games, but while Fires of Raven is the bad ending, Liberator of Rubicon is the ending that had me sobbing. I was in tears the whole fight, especially when he would talk and when Ayre started pleading with us to stop fighting. I was fully sobbing after the fight was over. Hell, even when going for the S-rank it was still upsetting. Knowing what Arquebus had done to him is horrifying. While I was glad I didn't have to fight him directly when I was going for the Alea Iacta Est ending, I was still pissed at Allmind for killing him offscreen all the same.
Anyone notice how all the boss fight themes are all remixes of the main theme? As if its their own perspective of the events of rubicon given voice. They all view think and feel differently about all the things happening to them. The same event inciting different emotions in all it effects. Yet it is all Rubicon. Coral abide with Rubicon...
"You've earned all the credits. Undo the surgeries... and become normal again." Pretty much all of his lines, muttered in brainwashing and in despair, hit like a truck; but this one hit me like a quadruple ashmead on stagger. He was a slave to arquebus, just like we, at the beginning, are slave to the mission. When he put his coral rifle down, and told us we found a friend (referring to ayre), i truly realized the uselessness of the fight, and how he really didn't want to fight. Anyway, ACs moving when destroyed are always cool af.
For anyone that thinks this is a betrayal: It isn’t. This is the product of the reeducation camps used by Arquebus. After Snail uses the stun needle on you after the CEL 240 fight he says he’ll be sending you for reeducation, and Walter will be dealt with. When the fight officially starts, Walter says something along the lines of, “The corporations…no, my friend’s dreams…” This is the result of the reeducation, and him believing that this is what his friends want from him. Of course, this could very easily be a betrayal, but he sounds very conflicted throughout the entire fight. He takes large pauses between sentences or phrases so this got me thinking about that
This is spot on, he was 100% brain washed through Arquebus's reeducation, his intention for us was always for us to be set free from our surgeries and reverse them when we got the credits we needed, its even said in the middle of the fight when you get to the second phase.
He was re-educated. If you find the combat log near the Tetra Pod during the MIA mission, it contains some information about re-reducation. The image shows the HAL AC and snail saying that next time you should leave a torso so im guessing they're already experimenting how to use it and walter is the final product.
Out of the three bosses I found Walter the most difficult. I think part of the reason is becuase I felt the most connected to him for some reason. It was like killing a dear friend. While I do like Ayre, I had more of a connection with Walter. He took upon the sins of his father and tried to ensure what happened never could again.
For me he was difficult because of all the red. The lower health he was, the more aggressive it felt he became. With your screen being covered in orange and red, it was hard to keep track of him. Sucks that they brainwashed him. :/ Never a happy ending in AC.
Yeah, Ayre was fine, but I've never been as attached to her. The Fires of Raven, while technically the bad ending, really didn't bother me that much. Liberator of Rubicon was the one that had me crying. It hurt so much. As for Alea Iacta Est, I was so pissed at Allmind and Iguazu that I was ready to tear through them. I'm pretty sure I was swearing at Iguazu the whole time. I already knew what was up with Allmind, but by that point I was even more angry because she'd killed Walter and Carla off-screen. I'm glad I didn't have to fight them again, but I was pissed with how Allmind talked about them.
By the end of the game, Walter definitely saw more than just a means to an end in 621. As you progress deeper into the game, he will more often speak out for 621 and even tells you to get rest if he knows 621 pushed themselves too hard on a job. Its more heartbreaking that in the final fight, he can't hold back his inner thoughts as a result of extreme torture and reconditioning. All his hopes, his dreams and wishes are laid bare to us. You realize that he grew to care for you like a son. And though you are in his way at the very end, he is glad that you found a friend after he is gone. My favorite fight in the game. I'm always partial to boss fights with emotional punches.
I am so proud of Fromsoftware for managing to make me feel REALLY well how fighting Rusty and, specially, Walter hurts. While Rusty was more of a friend in a way, he was very open about how he didn't like having to fight us, there was an understanding about that. But Walter was very closed off, even if you could tell he started caring. So him finally saying nice things (even when he is being forced to go againt his feelings) hurts more. We finally found a friend It also makes sense we only get this fight in the good ending. An evil Raven (or at least one that didn't care to lose it all) wouldn't feel as bad about having to kill Walter than a Raven who has been trying to save as many people as possible would.
Fun observation: Walter’s theme has the same piano key used in *all* fights related to the RRI. Definitely due to being truly the *last* cinder burning from the past.
Everyone keeps saying Iguazu is such a tragic character, I disagree. I think he was a little bitch to the end. Walter's ending resonated with me the most and sorta messed my emotions up for awhile. He dedicated his entire life to destroying the coral, but at the very end, he saw that there was more to it. That coral was not just an energy source, but one of many ways for humans to evolve, and he wanted to eradicate it.
This fight didn't change anything. You had already accomplished your goals by this time. There was nothing to lose and nothing to gain. It was unnecessary in the extreme. And there was no avoiding it. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people. You just have to deal with it. The twists and turns in your life may seem unfair or arbitrary but you should never stop fighting.
@@serikaonoe6493 less nineball inspired, more white glint in design. literally, and Kawamori only confessed his involvement after the game's release, and HAL 826 parts, particularly the core and the legs, bears too much resemblance to Kawamori's recent works that it's actually painful how much his latest works looks too similar to one another across different franchises
I’m really mad at this fight because he got staggered early on and I ended up deleting the last 3/4 of his health bar in one hit with the pile bunker. Barely even saw his moveset.
I didn’t even realize that killing Walter WAS the good ending on my first playthrough. Fromsoftware really does have good storytelling, and I’ll always be a fan after Sekiro
oh shit...the philosophers stone....coral is red, red is the final stage...coral is the end all be all substance.....fromsoft playing the long game as usual lol
@@TaigaNine Ayre turns into a FUCKING Jet tho, is far more mobile than you and also is arguably the hardest boss in the game. ALLMIND just takes more endurance, and the melee attacks in the last phase have less room for error and hit harder than her's do.
honestly, the liberator ending should've been the one to unlocked in ng++, i felt that Alea Iacta Est is extremely underwhelming especially considering that it took two playthrough just to get it unlocked.
Alea Lacta has a better outcome. With Liberation ending there is more uncertainty and feeling that everything could go wrong, despite Ayre's hopeful speech. But as a piece of emotional story telling it really lags behind. There are no emotional highlights in that ending. What really hurts is that Walter's and Carla's death were relegated to Allmind just saying "they've been dealt with", at least with Rusty we got this hurt breaking call with masterfully done sound of him being shotdown. But i got to admin Iguazu's story is done great.
@@Altmer353 I do agree that there are barely any emotional highlight in that ending as the only memorable moments to me are just g6 cursing you for the downfall of redguns and thats about it. i understand what they wanted to do with iguazu but yeah... i didnt feel much about his character. What really disappointed me was that everything just feels rushed and fell flat. i was expecting that the last two ending and the changes to the mission is setting things up for the grand reveal of allmind being the true villains, real raven and his operator having something to do with it (since they still didnt explain much about why they leak the corals existence and the rest of their mission), us saving the redguns, even more back story about walter, the corals and the institute, or even his friends. and you know... us finally reaching an ideal ending where walter (+rusty) is still alive and you with ayre beating allmind, etc . but nope... what instead happened was a rushed mess that leaves a less impactful story. theres so much cool narrative choices and things they can explore for these final ending to leave one hell of an impression.
@@Altmer353 Literally Walter would've went "Really? You want to kill 621 by yourself, you dumbass? Guess Humanity will not be enslaved at least!" And did some epic last stand in that ending, I guess.
Eh, I don't want an ending where everyone just magically comes together to fight a big bad. Doesn't feel right. Game sets it in stone that every character is apart of one side, or the other. Its up to the player to choose which side they should be on. Its like Carla has said, "Sit on the fence. You gain no enemies... Or friends." As for the NG++ ending, I liked it personally, ALLMIND is a great villain, and Iguazu was also a good edition. They've been building those characters up for two whole playthroughs, and once I've made it to the finish line I was proper hyped and ready to drag Iguazu along the dirt one last time. I pity the guy, really do. Ayre coming in later was incredible too. Though, what I wish was explained, was the fate of our good buddy. Was he also dealt with by ALLMIND? Or is he spending time with his buddies over at the Liberation Front?
@@care8071 that's fair, i'm just a sucker for happy ending, especially in one that deserve it. guess its just cuz across the 3 playthrough, i grew to like em and expecting that a well deserve fate is in store for them in the 3rd ending.
I know Patrick Seitz has always been regarded as a great VA, but I simply refuse to play AC6 in anything but English because of all of the performances. And by a large margin his work as Walter is the best in a game full of 10/10 voice acting. The whiplash of the tragedy of this fight versus the pure heroic adrenaline rush that was the previous mission really slam your ass back down to Earth and erase any notion of your actions being without any fault or consequence.
You know, the only thing I feel these things miss on is the voice acting, NOT SAYING IT'S BAD, I genuinely loved it. But at least one time, I want one of these character's to scream something at me you know, give me some strong reactive emotion, hatred, fear, pride. I want to feel it.
These "people" talking about *not* , for their first playthrough, taking the side of a possibly deviant agent (Ayre) to what would reasonably be interpreted as a cosmic horror (the coral). Which, notably, conveniently doesn't end with you becoming a mass murderer like the other 'rebel against all major factions' path in Armored Core: For Answer. Pshaw. I did like that the post-credits piece with Ayre is basically her giving you her blessing to pick whatever other paths there are, relatively conscious free.
You mean the ending where you deliberately stop the attempt to disable the machine that will spread kindling across the entire universe? The ending where any bad actor could set that kindling off after, immolating the entire universe? Sure sounds like recklessly enabling some other mass murderer.
The last conviction of a dying brain. The guilt of a man who made a horrific mistake. Walter, you were a horrible person, but in your own way you did try to do the right thing in the end.
@@Cue-Ball. At that time I was using dual shotguns and a Pilebunker... So... I thought he would have multiple phases or something, I was expecting something like the Ibis
The music and feel of this fight is gorgeous but kinda sucked he is by far the easiest final boss and dies way too fast Dont get me wrong he is the best AC fight in the game along with rusty ortus but he is by far the weakest of the final bosses
@@pizzaparker9464 I think that's what they were going for as well since the idea was that he breaks through arqebus's mind control and just stops the fight... But still putting a bit more HP than a normal AC wouldn't hurt
In terms of difficulty Iguazu>Walter>Ayre. Iguazu has an AC fight, then a mega AC fight with 2 bosses, and phase 2 is a super buffed mega AC with what feels like the highest defense of any AC. Said AC alsp loves melee attacks which are hard as fuck to dodge in Armored Core. Walter has some straight up bullshit with the Coral Rifle seemingly going from 0 to fully charged in a second, letting him spam his noodle beam, which I find nigh impossible to dodge, as well as his sword slash, and seemingly an infinite amount of boost to constantly run away. He also seems to get out of stagger way too fast and cancels attacks like its nobodies business. Ayre is one enemy and hardly has any fire power. She uses melee, but its not as frequent as Iguazu and her combos are short. You can also dodge under them because shes so slow.
@@alastor8091 really I found Ayre way more challenging Walters beam was actually easy to dodge most times you can just fly up and he can't keep up with you the melee beam is insane though but he rarely uses it Walter is harder to S rank though since Ayre and Allmind seem to be very forgiving to the point where they can beat you up but still get an S while Walter if you take 2 melee beams to the face you might as well reset
Its even worse than that. He resisted re-education and was sent to the next level. Its likely that the walter we fight is just a torso and head in an ac. Even worse than 621
I like the idea that most of the Vesper emblems/AC names represent what is done in re-education. Body part replacement, lobotomy, infection/medical tests, sterilization maybe (O'Keefe's Barren Flower?), and general experiments, see Snail's OPEN FAITH (which is pronounced the same as OPEN FACE in japanese, hence why his emblem is, well, an open face).
“Use the credits to reverse the surgery… be normal again… look at you, 621… you found a friend…” Walter, against what Snail had done to him, is still looking at our well-being, looking at us not as Raven, Liberator of Rubicon, or His Hound. He looks at us and calls us by the name he knows us by. 621, the *independant* mercenary. He wants us to live on, not to retain his status, or his mission. At heart, he wants us to be free. It may have been a rouse in the beginning, but I think that as he grows with us, it becomes a genuine hope for him.
