There a 3 things to love about this game. The story, gameplay and V.IV Rusty. Every time that man called me buddy I had a huge grin on my face.

I love this game so much, I genuinely respect this director as much as Miyazaki after this game and Sekiro

Completely agree about the story. I felt more invested the longer I played, even after reaching the credits multiple times. More and more context being given and more characters showing up

This game definitely made me confident that if/when Miyazaki truly steps back and stops being the lead director on Fromsoft games, we won’t experience a drop in quality of the games.

Im with you about the story. I was fascinated by it. I find it odd so many people didnt like it. I even went all over the levels trying to find ac wrecks to get extra lore.

I’m legitimately so in love with this game its hard to explain. I hadn’t even heard of the Armored Core series before this game, yet its utterly ensorcelled me!

Crazy how I had the exact same feelings about it all. The combat was so instantly satisfying it felt like I'm playing in an action movie, but unlike those cinematic games that focus on set pieces, I'm fully in control here, it's not in some cutscene or a pseudo cutscene with illusion of control where I can't die. All of it is in my hands and rewarding my trained muscle memory to pull of those impressive looking shots and combos.

I really wasn’t prepared for how hype the story was going to be going in. I mean I was expecting something decent but I was not ready for how emotionally invested I ended up being with more or less the entire cast. Not only is everyone great but there were a ton of cool and impactful character moments that honestly blew me away for what I was expecting. The best part about it all is that NG+ layers the story in a way that kept me on my toes to see what else changed and make me go “oh shit, it wasn’t like this last time”. All this apart from the new missions which straight up give you more story.

And also, Balteus and specially SEASPIDER (for me atleast) really serve to remind you of the amount of tools you have at your disposal. If you're having difficulty with a boss, change up your build, its like making a car for a race if you really think about it. Depending on the length of the race, the type of tracks, if it will be rainy or not you will have to change and spice things up with your car, or in AC6's case, your mech.

The story script is not revolutionary by any means. But the atmosphere of this game, the art direction, the scale, the presentation are all insane. The game never loses that story tension. The factions were interesting, i genuinely cared about the characters in the game, they might be cringe sometimes but they feel alive. One of the best parts about this game for me were the mission briefings/notifications. The "story" is incredible!

I did the "bad" ending first and I feel that was the best choice. You get the most cash for their missions so you can build without grinding too much and you’re not really attached to the characters yet. Then the good ending to better focus on story more. Then might as well do the true ending. It’s only gonna take a few more hours any way lol

Shout out to the voice acting, tho! When I first found out that you don't really see anybody's faces, I was worried that I wouldn't get involved in this story as much. But the personalities portrayed by the voice actors are just perfect, and more than make up for it.

Beating Balteus made me “get it” the movement, the quick boost, the flying. It really empowered me that the rest of the main bosses were only as difficult as Balteus. It made me feel so badass being in full control of the insane and epic set pieces the game puts you through. It’s not on the rails or a QTE, and it gets such a huge plus for me. Definitely my goty:)

I have minor gripes with the game. But they are very minor. They absolutely nail all the important stuff. It's an incredible game.

The story was awesome. I actually felt for the characters even though never actually seeing them.

You summarized very well the way i'm feeling toward this game Building something from scratch then tinkering to improve or adjust a bit more to your playstyle. Controlling the mech, the way its moves, the way you blast the weak mobs and the satisfaction of connecting hits to deal the criticals. Its all so fun, genuinely and raw fun

The mech customizing is the most fun I've had in ages. Fromsoft delivers another banger!

I think you nailed it with the movement. I'm an old gen simp, and in those games it's more like a puzzle. It's not really fun to move around. You move around as part of solving the puzzle of the mission, but the fun comes in successfully figuring out the best way to build your AC for a given mission and then seeing how well you did (with the old control scheme it was often particularly NOT FUN to move around or aim at ACs flying above you.) It's just fun to move around in AC6, even jumping around fighting MTs. My only complaint is there isn't enough, and non-boss encounters aren't challenging enough. About having to customize your mech, and not to toot my own horn, but that's exactly why I cringed when you started with AC4. It's by far the least necessary of any AC to even touch your build. They start you off with a mid-tier build that can beat the entire game. They never should have messed with the tradition of starting you off with an absolute junker. Even 4A isn't much better in that regard, but at least there are better and longer missions that might actually require you to try something different once in awhile. To be fair the story takes off towards the end. Like most ACs, the beginning is a lot of shallow political squabbling between random entities you're not likely to care about. When you first met Rusty you had no idea what he would become to you. Same for Walter. Same for pretty much anyone and anything in the story. Balam, Arquebus, Ayre, Flatwell, Carla, Chatty, Michigan, they're all just names that mean nothing to you until the story actually develops them into something for you to care about, and that is when the NG+ system actually rockets this story into the stratosphere, because next time around you actually know who everyone is and care about what's happening. No more "This is probably some random person who's going to disappear," no now it's "This guy will betray us later," or "This guy is going to lay down his life for us." I think it's the best AC story so far with some really memorable characters.

The story for this game was so incredible, I absolutely adored the npc's, and the twists were amazing. My mouth was honestly agape during chapters 3-5 for every single cutscene. FromSoft really added another masterpiece to their roster with ac6.

The story becomes surprisingly more compelling during the third ending. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet, but it had me questioning my whole life at one point.

I couldn't agree more. I had no idea what I was walking into - and I actually did play previous games in the series to try and get a taste first. But the moment you pick up the controller and move and shoot as the mech, everything instantly clicked and within 30 minutes of play time, I messaged my friend and said "I was not prepared for how much im about to love this game". Savoring every bit of this. This might even be so good I go back and play the prior games with new appreciation, we'll see...

Finally someone who nailed it, this game needs more love and alot of people dont accept its unique traits that are there for a reason.

This is a GOTY contender in my opinion!

The best thing is the stat of part really influence your mech behaviour, like speed, the tracking system, stamina consumption,jump power etc it makes refining your build to suit your playstyle is really satisfying.

Balteus and the Ice Worm were my favourite bosses not just because they were hard, but because they made me change how I approached the game. Balteus forced me to experiment with the Weapon Bay in order to make a build that could competently strip his shields and deal a lot of burst damage, and the ice worm showed me the virtues of manually aiming my weapons when my FCS couldn't keep up or lock on.

It's unbelievable for me how much I COMPLETELY agree with you in every single topic in every single one of your videos. It's crazy. Also, thanks for not showing things past chapter 1, I see you always care about that too and it confirms how much you care about others not getting spoiled.

Look at you with almost 125k subs. Glad to see your still doing well on the channel and hopefully in life.

I completely agree with the point made at 3:48, this has been the hardest game that has taken me the least amount of time to get "competent" at. Furthermore, unlike dark souls, bloodborne and elden ring, this game feels super polished from start to finish, not a single mission feels "rushed" or "incomplete".

One thing I find myself not really liking about the game is how strong some loadouts are in general, that they dominate the entire game in PVE. But it's also tuned the way it is so that guns feel good, so not really sure what the solution is. In the back of my mind for every encounter though, I think to myself, "Man, dual zimmermans and stun needles would probably crush this encounter"

He always focuses on the negative, and he didnt find any. That is huge. Proud of you armored core

I very much agree on there being a big difference between playing it yourself and watching gameplay. It's so odd how you really feel that the mech, or Core has weight to it immediately as you start playing and it's just really satisfying. That took me by surprise. Yet, the movement doesn't feel janky at all but instead very fluid and responsive. I honestly couldn't even begin to try and tell you how they've managed to make it both really fluid and nice but still feel weighty, but that is exactly how it feels and that really makes it feel so satisfying. When you thrust dodge around, it feels almost violent, the hits, impacts... How you can change one part, like a booster and comparing video between those few parts wouldn't really tell you anything of difference, but you FEEL that difference. You feel that little bit of weight you added and it can even throw you off that you're not as light as you were in the previous mission. That in itself to me is a crazy achievement lol. Edit: Oh and what I also quite like is how in my opinion there are no "OP easy mode picks" in this game. A lot of people are saying that gatling guns are it, combined with a heavy hulking build. But I can't make that work for me, my playstyle is just so different. Infact, when I've struggled the most and I've kept on trying to give myself more AP by heavier parts, to make myself hit harder with bigger and larger cannons, I've done worse... then I've returned to an ultra light build with two fast firing assault rifles and sufficient missiles to punish once the enemy is staggered - that is my road to success. Was in Balteus, was in the Sea Spider thing. Just managing a constant pressure with rifles while focusing on dodging everything... 10/10, definitely my jam. Though, some enemy might still become a roadblock, who knows as I'm not quite through just yet. Oh and in Balteus I couldn't even describe how I won on the run. First day, got my ass kicked, quit the mission in the end to replay old missions to get some parts. Second day, did it on the second run and I just stopped thinking, started reacting and it went suddenly so well I had 2 repair kits when it died. A part of me wished I was on PS5, as I would've loved to hit share and record the last minutes to really watch what I did right. But that's my advice on anyone stuck. Get confident in how your mech moves and doing a lot of mission replays just for fun is a good way to do so. So that it kinda becomes second nature. Then go in confident and just pay attention and react. Getting frustrated and disheartened is the biggest debuff. If that happens, back away, replay other content, try again later.

The thing you said about the story is exactly how I felt too. Aswell as the criticism of the game looking bad. Anyone who says those things haven’t gotten to chapter 3-5. There’s no way.

I love turning on my Xbox and Playstation and seeing Remannt 2, Elden Ring, and AC6 all on the dashboards

I've played so many difficult games, endured so many bosses that made me curse out loud. However, in AC6 I never got angry, however many times a boss kicked my ass, and I honestly can't tell you why that's the case. But I do think it is a testament to how fair the game felt to me. Never did I think something was impossible, I just needed to figure out which build would work best. God, I never expected to love this game as much as I do! Just so good!

Nailed it! Thank you! I was thinking about this myself, I've never had faster fun in a game as I did in AC6 when it gripped me. The frustrating parts were a hang up for me cause yeah, no one wants to be as frustrated as I was during some of those later bosses. I at least get why it might have turned people off just by random chance of their experience. 100% a distinct joy of this game was mastering the controls, then the world that opens up with your builds when you realize what you can really do. Shivers! And the take of the story too, The story actually was the glue that got me to keep playing the game. It's so fun, but I've got other games that are fun. I love all of the characters, the coolness in Walter, sheer disrespect in Karla, the arrogance of Snail; every character feels like it embodies personality. They all have something they want and a way they get along with others, maybe even hopes and dreams. I feel like they wrote a book just to find the personalities for these characters.

That "seed" moment you're talking about happened to me as I jumped between both Bloodborne and Dark Souls 1. I nearly talked myself out of buying a PS4 because I just said to myself, "There's no way I'm going to like Bloodborne, I'm going to have the same problem I did with dark souls, what am I doing with my life?" But I went through with it anyway (mainly because I wanted to buy ffxv when it eventually came out) and I *still* needed to quit Bloodborne, come back to dark souls, and then finally when I went back to Bloodborne again, for the second time, that's when it finally clicked. And that was back in late 2015, early 2016, so I was already way behind by the time I figured out I was obsessed. But I got there eventually and it was worth it. I ended up putting in probably around two thousand hours across all from soft titles at this point, mainly Bloodborne and sekiro, though a fair mix of everything. Never did beat dark souls 2 or demon's souls, but I gave them both a fair and honest try. Anyways, I don't think it's possible to really understand what makes from soft the way it is unless you have that seed moment. Sorry for rambling, your voice is very soothing, and thank you.

Playing AC6, I genuinely have not felt so much joy since beating Gascoigne the first time in Bloodborne. You nailed it with the dopamine rush. The speed and heart pumping action had me hooked on Fromsoft games since. Funny it all comes back to AC, which I had played so long ago I had no idea who Fromsoft were. Feels like I'm in a rare state of gaming Nirvana and life is so good right now. 🎉

Thank you for another amazing review Ratatoskr!

Stoked for the story/lore videos. You get a focus on characters in this game that the souls series doesn't deliver and it adds much needed emotional weight.

My main issue is that after I found something that worked, it was hard to ever change up my build. I tried out the zimmerman shotguns because they seemed cool in concept. But it kinda trivialized all of my fights. ACS stagger them with the shotties, then melee. Whenever I tried to switch it up to something else the back of my head was going, "Man this weapon either kills stuff way too slow or has barely any ammo." But god, using the zimmermans after a while made me feel like using a magic build in dark souls or elden. Loved the concept of a handgun mech... but then I could never complete any of the longer missions without running out of ammo, and sometimes single AC fights could drain it all. Loved the concept of machineguns or assault rifles... but then they felt too slow to kill anything or ACS break. Found the gatling guns, which felt just as dirty as the zimmermans to use. Tried out plasma guns... same ammo issues as handguns for me. (The only weapon type that felt semi-balanced to me were the laser guns. Which I wish I had realized sooner, but the earliest laser rifle you get was kinda dogwater compared to the other heavier ones.) Even though a lot of stuff seemed cool, they weren't satisfying to use. Either feeling too OP or underpowered. (Though I assume that FromSoft are gonna try to balance the different weapons out more come patch 1.)

The only issue is the lack of body part variability. Getting 2 more tetrapod leg sets, a proper hovertank and some specialised reverse joints would go a long way. Same with integrated weapon arms and utility shoulder mounts. And well, getting a missile radar For Answer style would’ve made the Balteus fight so much more threatening.

I was in the top of the US leaderboard in 4A. I'm an AC veteran from the very first game on PS1. The Story and PVE has always been a hurdle to acquire all items and abilities to compete in PVP in AC. AC6 flips this and actually has a compelling story and difficult Bosses. Now you play the PVE for the fun of it. I am waiting for balance and game type updates in AC6 so that PVP catches up to the enjoyment of 4A.

This is one of the better games I've played in recent years, if not THE best game. It's so incredibly fun. The only thing I hope is that FromSoft makes a dlc or sequel to this ASAP. I'm having almost as much fun in AC6 as I had in Monster Hunter World, which is my favorite game of ALL TIME. And that's saying a lot. FromSoft just DON'T MISS!!!

Best soundtrack and gameplay of the year. Seriously put that masterpiece on in the background. Multiple times I got goosebumps man.

As always, it was an excellent review. You have spoken the words out of my mind.

Basically the ONLY problem I have it weapon balance. It’s almost too easy to end up with a “meta” build. After Balteus I almost never truly changed my build, I tinkered a bit when I got new parts but it was more to refine my existing build instead of making any drastic changes. I wish there was at least one boss or mission that forced me to try something drastically different.

The way you describe the difficulty of Sekiro and the "click" resonates so strongly with me 😂

Great vid as always. You've become among my favorite video game creators

I'm keen for those lore videos to come out. Keep it up boss. :D

It’s really nice to hear you being positive

My only complaint is the lack of long range build options, snipers just don't exist in AC6 currently. But as an OG fan that has waited 9years for the series continuation I am very satisfied with what we got!

Spoilers down here: . . . . Fr tho stop here if you dont want spoilers. . . . . Never thought i'd cry over the fruits of my protagonist's schizophrenia and commit a greater warcrime than blowing up the cradles. 10/10 game.

i wrote a short steam review the other day. it was something like, " if you take a 30 sec slice of gameplay from any game, i dare you to find one better than this." once you get a feel for the controls i dont think anything does it better.

Love this game, love the characters, love the story. Just beat NG++ and now will be going through the gruelling pain of getting S rank in every mission. I hope the success of this game convinces From to make a For Answer style sequel in the same universe as AC6.

Its so good, I really hope it sparks a mecha game renaissance so we dont have to wait another decade for something to come along that's better than Daemon X Machina or MW5. Unironically one of the best games and the most fun I've had in years, I just wish it was a little longer.

My goodness, your take on game journalists was so good 😂

Honestly, my main complaint is just how cluttered everything can be. Its hard to keep track of ammo and cooling when they're on the constantly moving lock on reticle. Plus, some effects fill the screen, making it nearly impossible to tell what an enemy is doing.

Walter's whole dialogue at the end of Liberator of Rubicon story route... I did not expect it to hit me as hard as it did. Ayre begging you two to stop fighting is also a super nice touch. Overall I found the game a bit too easy and underwhelming in very few aspects, but damn am I glad to finally have another Armoured Core.

Look Rata, none of the AC reviews out there tell me the one thing I need to know: How many poison swamps Miyazaki? HOW MANY?

My exact experience with the game, glad you liked it and welcome to the club.

FS continuously amazes me how invested i can get with characters like rusty and ayre with only their voices. Huge testament to the great world building they can create in every game

This sold me on getting it more than any other review

I honestly have one major issue with the game and that's the UI. It's too subtle, it's hard to make out how much ammo you have remaining before a reload and hard to see your weapons being on cooldown or the charge-up for certain weapons. Often it gets very confusing to know if you're on hardlock-on or not.

It took a couple of missions for it to click for me but afterwards I really started to enjoy it. I don't have much free time with my work and family, so the bite sized mission structure is way healthier to tackle than when i lost 3 months playing eldin ring from 9pm till3am every night

I hope they will release a DLC or a branching sequel to AC6 in the future. A new generation would be fine too

Bro, I swear I didn't see your video beforehand, but we are very like-minded on most of our arguments about the game, great to see that you liked the game as much as I did!

Love the vid. Can’t wait for your next one.

LOL, Ratatoskr habitually keeping a tab open while gaming to complain is the most Ratatoskr thing to have ever Ratatoskr'd

My biggest complaint on this game is that the regular enemies sometimes feel very sitting-duckish. Like, a little bit of movement to get out of harms way would be nice but these guys don't give a fudge when they see their buddies disintegrated by a god mech. Perhaps a little repositioning and a more active combat role would turn these guys into actual threats than just level decoration.

This is a high darn praise. People have constantly tell me how good it is, but I've never been so compelled to buy a game before hearing how good you make this game to be.

Lots of good points, but all I can think is man the full Schneider set just looks so sick

This is the first (not) review video about the game that I completely agree with. No other video has commented on that first feeling you get when you move your mech for the first time. It's so surreal, and that's the exact moment the game hooked ne to no end.

Just returned to this game recently and S ranked all missions. What a wild ride. I absolutely adore this game and pray that we get more content or another installment to this franchise.

I find that for me, the best way to get a good handle on a game is to look for reviewers who generally seem to have similar tastes to me, and see if they like it. You are one such creator; in general, the games you say you enjoy are the ones I also have enjoyed, so I know our tastes align. Thus, this review is extremely valuable to me. I've been on the Baldur's Gate 3 train since its launch, but now I'm going to have to strongly consider a derail to Rubicon 3. Much obliged!

balteus reminds me of Genichiro so much as far as in a roadblock sense but instead of testing just your skill at game mechanics it also test how willing you are to change your mech and find the best weapons that work for your playstyle. But they are both the same in the fact that the best thing to do is to be cautious but aggressive.

in the zone sitting there you know the rate of fire for each of your weapons, you are charging the plasma cannon while unloading on a boss just waiting to break his guard to let go of that charge shot and rush in for heavy melee attack. So good man..

What I personally, as a souls veteran, find really cool about the new AC game (which is my first AC game) is the balance between skill and mech composition. First, it reeeeally makes the window for new players broader, since you can always modify your mech for the situation and make the fight, well, not trivial, but much easier. For example, you can always take double pulse guns for Balteus and just melt his shield away in like a few seconds, then finish him with shoulder laser guns. Tested in mission replay, that fella dropped like a dead fly. Second is the challenge for those who like extra difficulty - your skill still matters. For example, I didn't really want to switch my mech composition for Balteus dramatically, so instead I just kept balling with my lovely combo of reverse-joints and blade, mastered his attack patterns (took me like 10 attempts since I'm a big noob in mech games lol) but the result was soo satisfying. However, I never had this feeling that I need to tinker my build in any of the souls games. Yes, bosses have resists, but it's not really too important, while this game actively encourages me to find new synergies and cook with my mech, trying different playstyles, I hope the new fromsoftwave soulslike titles will have a tiny bit more of that.

This game is so enjoyable. From building your mech, to piloting your mech, too landing that final blow as your wingman comms "I won't miss." Rusty my boy, what a mission!

that last line about Fromsoftware making any game from any genre into gold made me think about how funny it would be if the made a Madden or a CoD style game

was waiting for ur review bruv :D

Me before 7:13: who is this Rata impostor? Me after 7:13: tears of joy

Leading up to release I was worried about the weight, yeah we play as 6 story war machines but is it going to feel that way. 10 seconds in and just like you described, I got it. It’s amazing how well FROM let’s me zip around with a turboboosted reverse joint bipedal at speeds unheard of, yet it still feels like I’m piloting q 60,000lb machine

I'm late into chptr 3 and this game just gets better and better I'm finally getting it as far as honing in on a playstyle and build I'm so excited to see what new parts I get replay missions ect .... I'm playing through slow kind of obsessed w having everything I love having instant options for failure it's so much easier to see what works and having the peices makes the build process so much easier without hopping around the menus I see what people talked about w the garage being the main part of the game haha love the video

Any game from any genre, huh? Id love to see fromsoft make a classic jrpg lol😂

“You did good on this video….buddy.”

Looking forward to the story, lore, theme videos 👍

I don't have anything too meaningful to say but it's been a while since I've played an AC game and the thing that made the biggest impression on me is how immersive AC6 feels. The minimalistic approach to story telling makes me feel like I'm actually hanging out at the mech hangar while waiting for my next mission during the downtime and makes me feel like I'm actually in a tense combat situation while on a mission. I can imagine it's not for everyone but god damn I love it SO much.

The game is perfect for my schedule working full time. Able to run a mission or two, get pushed in, play in the garage, try the missions again, go to bed, go to work, think about builds, try them when I get home, beat the mission, repeat.

Rat, this is by far the most fun ive ever had with a fromsoft game. Ive over 2000k collective hours over the fromsoft catalog and this game has captured me like none before.

Ratatoskr, I would love to hear your thoughts on the characters V. IV Rusty, G5 Iguazu, and Kate I'll be looking forward to when you start releasing lore videos on AC6

Looking forward to the lore!

I'm glad you love it.

Characters are actually really well made, you don’t see them but you hear them and their personalities just pop off. Specially Michigan, bro doesn’t give af. I enjoyed the fuck out of this game and I usually don’t play games like this.

This game is legit a great game with pretty much no downsides to me. The developers set out to and created probably the best mech game on the market and one of if not THE GOTY.

I OH SO HOPE for an anime adaptation of this story. The plot becomes grander and grander over time, especially on the 3rd playthrough where you get the True Ending - it would be such an amazing Epic Mech(a) Saga! For the gameplay my main complaint is that several "builds" can absolutely faceroll through the whole game without any tweaks, once you set them up, often beating bosses you see for the first time on first attempt, while other builds struggle and feel underperforming even considering the implied requirement to tweak it to fit the situation. Otherwise it is the GOTY for me, getting ahead of even BG3 slightly, which I also absolutely loved.

The only negative I can think of is the balancing of some weapons. Double zimmermans can get you through the whole game with no build change. Also can be applied to 2 miniguns with something heavy on the back. 4 and FA where pretty easy yeah. Played them with the almost same build with minimal changes. Had to change it tho when I did the missions where you fight 4 other ACs in the 3rd ending. But still FA is my favorite gameplay. It is stupid fast but stupid fun too.

Balteus teaches you how to move to avoid missiles but there's nothing unfairly difficult about him Armored Core VI is definitely one of the most fun moment to moment not being able to replay from scratch without deleting your primary save is a big minus to replayability. NG+ is super fun in this one as well but I'd enjoy back going to basics without losing that ng++ experience. I think that's the primary negative about this game, which is sad considering how easy it'd be to fix.

In just two games, Yamamura has already sold me on his immense talent. So much so, that it's actually hard to guess if AC6 and Sekiro would have even been good if it was Miyazaki directing. I hope Yamamura keeps taking on projects and gets even better. And i hope they both live long and healthy, stress free lives so we can get a masterpiece every other year. It's like they can just pass the game of the year award back and forth each year.

"I had to change my build, experiment and learn good counters" Dual Long Range Shotguns and Shoulder Mounted Grenade Launchers: Allow us to introduce ourselves.

My only complaint is that i think there needs to be a balance pass over some of the weapon balances. A lot of weapons feel limp, while a few are just absolutely S tier like dual Gatling, dual Zimmerman, the Stun Needle Launcher, and the song birds. Once I got dual Gatling, there wasn't a boss that killed me more than 3 times tops while I died dozens of times to Balteus