When FromSoftware announced Armored Core VI astatine past week's Game Awards, the apical remark successful the dedicated subreddit's announcement thread work simply, "May this subreddit rightfully turn from obscurity."

Always a cult bid astatine best, Armored Core was further overshadowed by the emergence of the alleged Soulsborne genre, which propelled FromSoftware from obscurity to 1 of the apical studios successful the world. But Armored Core has been a astir a agelong clip — acold longer than Demon's Souls oregon Dark Souls. During its heyday connected the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, it earned a cult assemblage with its beardown designs; heavy array of parts, and aggravated split-screen combat. The past Armored Core — an ambitious online crippled that pit squads of players against 1 different connected a ample multiplayer representation — was released successful 2012.

With the Soulsborne sub-genre becoming specified a ascendant portion of FromSoftware's brand, it's casual to wonderment whether Armored Core volition travel suit. Will it beryllium Sekiro with elephantine robots? Will it instrumentality spot implicit a ample unfastened world? Right now, the reply to some of those questions seems to beryllium "no," though determination is immoderate nuance to that comparison.

"No, we've not been making a conscious effort to effort to nonstop it towards much Soulsborne-type gameplay," says FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki, who provided the conception for the game. "The indispensable absorption of [Armored Core VI] was to spell backmost and instrumentality a bully look astatine the halfway conception of Armored Core and what made that bid special. So we wanted to instrumentality the assembly aspect, assembling and customizing your ain mech — your AC — and past being capable to nonstop a precocious level of power implicit the assembled mech. So we wanted to instrumentality those 2 halfway concepts and reexamine those successful our modern environment. "

In applicable terms, that means retaining galore of the elements that person defined the bid done the years — features similar its granular mecha customization and its one-versus-one arena mode. Its astir readily disposable "Soulsborne" elements are apt to beryllium its almighty bosses — a FromSoftware staple — and its acheronian setting, the second of which was already a large portion of Armored Core's identity.

It besides features a posture strategy of sorts, which manager Masaru Yamamura — a seasoned of Dark Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Dies Twice — says works by "continuing to onslaught adjacent the strongest enemy, the unit of interaction tin interruption the enemy's posture and inflict a ample magnitude of damage." Think of it arsenic thing similar holding up a shield and absorbing harm until you're forced to relent.

Where Armored Core stands isolated is successful its absorption connected ranged weapons implicit swords and melee weapons. Yamamura acknowledges arsenic overmuch successful our interview, though helium besides points retired that Armored Core features immoderate "nice melee options."

Both Yamamura and Miyazaki defy elemental comparisons to Souslborne games. Miyazaki is steadfast successful saying that customization is its main focus, and Yamamura says determination are "no elements straight referring to Sekiro." Nowhere is that much evident than the determination to spell with a mission-based design, which connects it straight to its predecessors, versus the much unfastened operation of Elden Ring and its ilk.

"We felt that the mission-based operation was a payment for this due to the fact that it allows you to take and customize earlier each sortie. At the precise least, the tempo — the gait astatine which the subordinate is capable to determination crossed the satellite and traverse the map…this is simply a precise large facet successful however you attack this design," Miyazaki says. "I deliberation 1 of the large entreaty points of the erstwhile Armored Core games is having this state to take however you're going to determination crossed the representation and however your choices are going to impact your mobility and your quality erstwhile you're really successful the level. This is the format we wanted to take this time, and this is wherever we wanted to enactment our focus."

Miyazaki, of course, got his commencement with the Armored Core bid earlier yet going connected to nonstop Demon's Souls, truthful helium knows its amended than most. Armored Core's main accidental whitethorn prevarication successful utilizing FromSoftware's enchanced resources to nutrient a graphically ambitious experience. Miyazaki himself admits that he's "jealous" of the squad contiguous who gets to marque Armored Core VI.

"I privation we had that benignant of leverage backmost successful the day," helium says somewhat wistfully.

Yamamura, meanwhile, talks astatine magnitude astir what FromSoftware tin execute with Armored Core VI's enhanced graphics.

"Obviously, the mecha taxable of Armored Core VI means we are portraying these tremendous hunks of steel, and we're expected to ideate however these things would determination and however they'd beryllium enactment together, the assorted joints, however these each benignant of determination successful conjunction with 1 different and however we marque this look chill — successful a gameplay consciousness arsenic well," Yamamura says. "So this is thing that we're capable to use resources to. Obviously, the metallic texturing of these things and the dependable plan arsenic well. We're capable to usage foley to get immoderate realistic sounds to use to these mechs. There are a batch of areas that we're capable to use these resources and modern reasoning arsenic well.

That whitethorn beryllium the crux of what's driving FromSoftware to marque Armored Core VI. It whitethorn person recovered untold riches successful making games similar Elden Ring, but it hasn't forgotten its beginnings. Pending the archetypal afloat gameplay reveal, Armored Core seems to beryllium afloat acceptable connected being...well...an Armored Core game, with each that entails. It's adjacent keeping the fig contempt having a caller story.

"Armored Core is the crushed anyone speechmaking this tweet got to play Dark Souls," developer Doc Burford wrote soon aft its reveal. This is the post-boodborne [sic] From yet returning to their champion series."

Armored Core 6 is presently slated to merchandise successful 2023. You tin work astir everything other that was announced astatine The Game Awards here.

Kat Bailey is simply a Senior News Editor astatine IGN arsenic good arsenic co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM astatine @the_katbot.