Sorry for the radio silence. Work has been popping off, I've been dealing with family health issues, and I had just finished my first playthrough of AC 6 last night. But, don't worry I'm at work on the next chapter. In the meantime, I figured I could give a short review of AC 6. Spoilers free of course.

So, what do I think of AC 6 as a member of the Old Guard from a PVE point of view…?

I like it.

But, just that so far. I just LIKE it. I want to love it, but some of From Soft's game design decisions leave me conflicted (Staggering and Ricochet anyone?) and their weapon balancing (Haha zimmie songs go boom). The controls feel amazing, however. No longer will I have to do the infamous Armored Core grip just to have a decent chance of winning an AC fight! Now I just have to stun-lock my opponent with close-range builds…!

MOTHER FU-

So, this is a huge complaint for me. Throughout the whole game, I actually had fun experimenting with new build ideas and weapons I would never bother to try in AC 6 or previous games. Especially the leg types. I love how each type has its own unique quirk. But, as I progressed I realized that mid to long-range builds are just wet noodles thanks to the ricochet mechanic. Once I caught wind of the dual zimmerman shotgun and songbird build, the game became trivial as I noticed all of my shots not getting negated by ricochet. I cackled at the sight of my foes basically getting smoked in mere seconds, but I couldn't ever really go back to using my energy weapons or anything else. It was just too damn effective. I feel if From Soft just nerfed staggering to not be so integral and reworked ricochet a bit we could have some awesome build diversity. Now, if you combined this with the boss fights in the game? OH HO HO HO, NOW YOU REALLY GOT MY BLOOD BOI-

I HATE Smart Cleaner. Fighting the Murder Roomba really sunk the enjoyment high I was having when I first played the game. Balteus was a great and anime as hell fight. His missiles were a little too strong at launch, but I was able to beat him with pulse guns before his nerf (Balteus gang represent!). The problem with Murder Roomba is that it felt WAY too Dark Souls-like. Now, anyone in the AC community knows that game is basically the antichrist/Voldermort to our existence, but during this fight, I realized it played like a Dark Souls boss. It was no longer an elegant dance of old, but just the typical dodge, roll, dodge, roll, wait for the boss to get asthma from his heavy attack, attack weak point. Perhaps this point is a bit…. Unrefined? For lack of a better word. I kind of felt this way with Balteus and Sea Spider as well, but Smart Cleaner was the worst offender of the bunch.

For the rest of my complaints, it comes down to From Soft watering down the "hardcore" aspects of AC and streamlining it. I mean, I get it. Armored Core just came back and From Soft wants to experiment with what worked in past entries as well as their SoulBourne-like games. But, we lost a lot of fluff in the process. Like, it's current year, From Soft, being fluffy is totally acceptable in society now.

Oh, did I cross the streams between Armored Core and my personal life there? Lo siento.

You can't go bankrupt at all like in previous games which kinda removes any sort of punishment from the player. The checkpoint system is great and I love it, but it's also kind of the culprit here. The shorter missions don't really need them. Now, if they were like Grid 086, then I can see them being justified, but it feels like I'm getting my hand held a little bit and I don't want that from From Soft…

That's for Ayre.

The last complaint from me is the soundtrack. Perhaps this is a bit nitpicky, but I really do miss the more upbeat music from Gen 1 to 3. I get what was aimed for here and I love Contact With You and Rusted Pride, but that funky jungle and techno music was the bomb.

Anyway, that's it from me, buddies. I'm gonna get back to typing the next chapter. Armored Core 6 is a solid entry despite the complaints I mentioned. The mecha renaissance is here and I'm glad From Soft gets a break from Souls-like games. Seriously, I think we're getting fatigued from them. I also got a good sense of how to make battles more interesting thanks to AC 6. *Hint hint*.

P.S. My husbando's VA, Johnny Yong Bosch, voices several characters in the game and I squealed like an anime school girl once I heard him.

All Hail Lelouch!