Armored Core 6 - Updated 09/10/25

My Raven prepares their ac as mood and mission dictates. There is no rolodex of meticulous loadouts, a schema for all seasons. He understands how it all locks together, but only grabs a piece when its needed. Once it outlives its usefulness, its back to the shop, and back in the fray. Raven is fluid, shapeless, her form unknown until it your looking down its barrel - Schrodinger's Person-shaped(*) Gun.

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Selling a part in the ac shop is pure fantasy - 100% buy back. My busted ass limps back after bombing my first dance with Balteus and every part is back in the listings “Condition: Like New.” I button through and I’m out on the rink again, as fast as the transaction to get all my new toys. It’s good. It feels good, all of it. The Shops, the menus, the sounds of the thrusters as you juke out of a lock on, the crackle of air searing around plasma and pulse and laser, the kinetic force of firing a symphony in three shoulder buttons (one remapped for comfort.)

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Flying a plane does not feel like driving a car. Driving a car does not feel like playing a videogame. I would imagine piloting a robot does not feel like either of these things, or like moving your body. Why does playing a robot video game mostly just feel like playing a dude video game?

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Now my raven sheds their feathers. Molts as they outgrow the body, skill and needs outpacing the existing paltry hulking frame. She emerges from the soup, a new form - lithe and cutting like a dagger, or a sturdy, stocky and fit to burst with gun. A character is emerging, more than just a collection of pieces parts. Shades of amuro, pushing the rx-78 to limits, outstriping the white devil itself.

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I think Fromsoft has flattened the uniqueness of the control scheme, on accident? Cus like, its the soulslike scheme - attacks on triggers, other major actions and/or more attack on bumpers. The minutiae is a little different, but the shape is the same. And that shape, is fucking everywhere now. They got the assassins creed folks using light and heavy attacks on the shoulder buttons, dude! They got kratos doing that shit!! So I think thats part of the thing here, like, the fucked up claw handing doesnt feel that wild anymore - they changed the way controlling a dude is shaped, and now controlling a robot kind feels like controlling a dude. It’s not as pronounced as like titanfall - in which a robot is simply a bigger, slower dude - but the feeling is there.

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*Squints, reading the fine print*Three times? I gotta do it all three times???? Mmmmmm probably not, boss. I’m having fun and all, but I think I’m rapidly approaching scraping the sides of the carton here.

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I should play fuckinnnn Code Fairy and Ace Combat 7 again, actually use evidence and form cohesive thoughts. I, as always, am more interested in trying to find the twisted truth at the heart of myself - the True, Concrete reason Armored Core 6 is not the beautiful thing so many others see, and that True and Real reason is found in the other more beautiful things.

The lowercase true and real reason, I suspect and admit, but still don't fully accept is I just don’t like games that much anymore boss. Anytime I write about a game, good or bad I bump right up against this obvious looming thing and I’m wow cool roboting the thing, except I’m trying to assign a deeper meaning and “you just don't like these much” flies right over my head.