First Armored Core 6 gameplay may be more Souls-like than you’d expect

This Summer Game Fest is when FromSoftware showed off extended gameplay of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. Unfortunately, it was all behind closed doors, but the developer released a short cut of footage of the build the press and media got to see behind the scenes.

That footage has now made its way to the wild, and it looks like a mix of Armored Core, and Souls games.

The footage above is courtesy of Ratatoskr, who “found it on a Japanese site and claimed it as my own.” It’s only a little over four minutes in length, but it’s quite heavy on the action.

The main thing to note here is that, while we can’t see the HUD, it’s clear that Armored Core’s classic soft lock-on has returned. It appears to work as you’d expect, with enemies in the frame getting soft-locked so the missiles to follow can hit them all.

But there also appears to be a more Souls-y, hard lock-on that fixes the camera. This can be seen in the boss fight, which itself is very reminiscent of the spectacle and enemy design of Souls, even if it’s effectively a machine.

Melee combat plays a major role here, too, with enemies getting staggered when they receive a certain amount of damage, opening them up for major damage. The level design is the most impressive element on display here, though.

There are several paths for the player to take, depending on how agile and specced for flight their mech is. Flight isn’t free, so if you build a heavier mech, it’s going to be more suited to short jumps and ground level combat.

Speaking of builds, the character menu looks to be simplified compared to previous entries, which should make it easier for players to figure out their core stats at a glance.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is out August 25 on PC, PS4, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.