The name FromSoftware is synonymous with the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring. That is why players and fans alike are always excited whenever the studio announces new stuff. They just know it is going to be epic and will always meet expectations. After all, the studio has yet to put out a garbage game since its inception.
After a decade of developing critically acclaimed titles, FromSoftware is diving back to its mechanized roots with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. For those expecting the new iteration to follow the Soulsborne approach to gameplay, then they will just be disappointed because the studio wants to highlight the very element that makes the popular mech series so special.
In a recent interview, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki explained that they have not been making a conscious effort to direct the Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon toward a Soulsborne-type of gameplay.
“First of all, let me just make that clear," Miyazaki said. "The essential direction of [ Armored Core VI ] was to go back and take a good look at the core concept of Armored Core and what made that series special."
According to the executive, this approach would include the assembly aspect, with players having the freedom to customize their titular armored core. Of course, FromSoftware would be reexamining these ideas thoroughly and from a more modern lens.
Miyazaki believes that by allowing players to freely assemble and customize mech in Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, the game would feel “more liberating.” This is obviously more satisfying than just swapping out armor and equipment and also means that each decision players make in customizing their mech would have a significant effect on how the game world changes around them.
It is worth noting that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice lead designer Masaru Yamamura, not Miyazaki, will be leading the development of Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. Yamamura was quick to suggest that Armored Core VI will not directly refer to Sekiro, though he mentioned that these games share the "same essence of battle" such as aggressive and high-speed action.
