Armored Core 6: Taking Inspiration from the Souls Series
Armored Core 6 is taking notes from the Souls series, according to the game’s director and producer, who explain how the combat design has changed, and what inspired its approach to level design. PC Game Spotlight attended an event for the upcoming mech game, where we got to play a couple of missions and check out the new direction Armored Core 6 is taking.
The battle design in Armored Core 6 has shifted noticeably. Whereas previous entries in the series encouraged players to strike from the background and pick off enemies from a distance, AC6 places a heavy focus on observing enemies and reading their actions on the screen. Learning enemy attack patterns and strategizing how to defeat them is now a core part of Armored Core 6’s combat.
“There’s a lot of inspiration from Dark Souls,” director Masaru Yamamura says. “The biggest change is maybe boss battles, where you have to learn their attack patterns and try and seize opportunities to strike at them.” Yamamura cites boss battles in Dark Souls 2 and 3 as particular favorites, noting their more deliberate pacing than other games in the series.
While the influence of Dark Souls is especially evident in boss battles, it’s not limited to them. The game’s open-city structure draws inspiration from both Dark Souls and Bloodborne, according to producer Yasunori Ogura. “We’ve always been doing open cities,” Ogura says, but the studio’s experience with Soulslike games helped refine the structure and approach to level design in Armored Core 6.
As you might expect from a game that’s drawing inspiration from the Souls series, AC6 is shaping up to be pretty challenging. Both it and the Souls series have earned a reputation for being punishing and difficult, but the studio has made some concessions for newer players. “We’ve always been known to be challenging and a little bit punishing,” Ogura says, “but we’re making some changes this time around.”
Refining the controls was a primary focus for development, as the team sought to make them more intuitive and manageable. “We’ve added a lock-on assist feature so you can just focus on aiming,” Ogura says, “but we’re not compromising on the demanding nature of the game.”
Armored Core 6 is set to launch on August 25 for PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC. Check out everything you need to know about the upcoming launch.
