Armored Core VI will not be “Soulsborne”

When it was first revealed at the Game Awards, many FromSoftware fans wondered if Armored Core VI would be a “Soulsborne” style game like the company’s previous output for the past decade. Now, the people behind the game have stated that this will not be the case.

“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,” stated FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki in an interview with IGN. “So we wanted to take the assembly aspect, assembling and customizing your own mech—your AC—and then being able to exact a high level of control over the assembled mech. So we wanted to take those two core concepts and reexamine those in our modern environment.”

“No, we’ve not been making a conscious effort to try to direct it towards more Soulsborne type gameplay,” he adds when directly asked about whether it would borrow from those titles, such as Elden Ring and the Dark Souls series.

Miyazaki, who directed most of the company’s “Soulsborne” style titles, made his directorial debut with 2006’s Armored Core 4.

That said the game may share some similarities with at least one previous FromSoftware title—2019’s Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice. This is according to Armored Core VI‘s director Masaru Yamamura, who also directed the latter.

“There are no elements directly referring to Sekiro, but I feel both titles share the same essence of battle such as aggressive, speed change and action-oriented fighting,” stated the Yamamura. “For this title, by continuing to attack even the strongest enemy, the force of impact can break the enemy’s posture and inflict a large amount of damage—a critical hit.”

“This is the starting point for the slow and fast speed change of the battle, and when combined with long-range firefighting and close-range melee combat, the enemy and his machine engage each other violently, creating a more aggressive and dynamic battle that only mechas can engage in,” he adds.

Yamamura also added that, despite the series’ traditional focus on ranged combat, they do want to “put an emphasis on melee” as well.

In addition, Yamamura also stated that they’re looking to incorporate some of the epic boss battles that have become FromSoftware’s signature with the “Soulsborne” games.

“Boss battles are the highlight of the game in this title,” stated Yamamura in a separate statement. “The essence of the battles, in which the player reads the enemy’s moves and then plays games with them, is of course provided, as is typical of FromSoftware. In this title, both the enemy and your own machine are aggressive and violent in their attacks. We are developing the game so that players can enjoy the dynamic and intense boss battles that only mechas can offer, along with the unique aspects of AC, such as how to assemble the right parts to take on the strongest enemies.”

Of course, it remains to be seen how all these will come together. Will Armored Core VI be able to capture the fans of the “Soulsborne” type games FromSoftware has focused on in recent years, or will it appeal only to the Armored Core faithful? We’ll have to wait until the game releases on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles in 2023.

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