Long before FromSoftware gained prominence for bringing brutally-challenging RPGs to international audiences, the former business software developer had tried their hand with a variety of unique series. While the original King’s Field was only released in Japan for the original PlayStation in 1994, its surprise commercial success helped bring the series over to America and Europe due to its groundbreaking 3D RPG elements that would later serve as key inspirations for the development of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. The developer also experimented with horror via the Echo Night series and Kuon, family-friendly co-op platforming with The Adventures of Cookie & Cream, and more straightforward action games with the Otogi series and Ninja Blade. While action RPGs tended to be the studio’s bread and butter, FromSoftware also developed their fair share of mech combat games. From the Ubisoft published Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit to Metal Wolf Chaos, an exaggerated American-themed adventure that never actually made its way to the states untilfifteen years after its original release, many longtime fans associate FromSoftware with its fondness for giant robots just as much as its dark fantasy outings.
Of course, one can’t talk about FromSoftware and mecha combat without bringing up their longest-running franchise, Armored Core. Originally released on the PSOne back in 1997, the first entry was well-regarded for its open level design, branching storylines that encouraged multiple playthroughs and the titular armored core, which serves as the centerpoint for the player-designed mechas. While the series has five numerical entries that were released through 2012, each main title was often followed up with at least one standalone expansion that expanded on the base gameplay and wrapped up any lingering plotlines before the next mainline entry began development. The franchise also released a pair of spin-offs, Armored Core: Nine Breaker and Armored Core: Formula Front that focused on close-quarter arena showdowns as opposed to more open explorable areas, and got several mobile titles during the 2000s that were exclusive to Japan. As the Souls games began to rise in commercial success and the Armored Core games continued to plunge into critical mediocrity, the mecha series released its last two entries to date in 2012 and 2013 with Armored Core V and Armored Core: Verdict Day.
At last year’s Game Awards, FromSoftware provided thefirst lookat the return of Armored Core for the first time in nearly a decade. Even though it’s taken this long for fans to finally get official confirmation, rumblings of a new entry first began in 2016 when FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki mentioned that asixth game was in early development, and reaffirmed theircommitment to the seriesin 2017. Playtest leaks in early 2022 made the game’s existence more concrete, as it was later revealed that prototyping for it didn’t actually begin until 2018 when the developer finally had enough resources to allocate for the project. Subtitled Fires of Rubicon, the new title centers around the discovery of a new energy source known as Coral on the planet Rubicon 3. Although this finding led to a cataclysmic event that enveloped the planet and surrounding star system in flames fifty years earlier, the player now takes the roles of an augmented pilot codenamed Raven who accepts contracts that are geared towards gaining control of this unstable energy source.
Much like previous entries, players will be able to fully customize and upgrade their mech with new parts while managing its power and taking advantage of four weapon slots. Unlike the more continuous open freedom of recent FromSoftware games, Armored Core VI will still rely on mission-based levels that offer their own large spaces to explore, as well as arena battles for those that want to put their combat skills to the test. Directed by Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice lead game designer Masaru Yamamura, the newest Armored Core will end up being a key test in finding out if FromSoftware can capitalize on the experience they’ve gained and mastered through the 2010s to create a non-Soulslike game that can still find critical and commercial success, and restore the prominence of one of the studio’s flagship series. Coming off the heels of their most-awarded game to date, Armored Core VI doesn’t necessarily have to reach the same heights of Elden Ring for it to be considered a success, but those inevitable comparisons will still shape how fans end up reacting to the game when it releases on August 25 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
