Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (アーマード・コアVI ファイアーズオブルビコン) is a 2023 mecha-based vehicular combat game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is another reboot of the series, set in a distant future on a remote planet where a war erupts between corporations, the government and the local residents for the control of a rare and valuable resource only available there.

The game is the first entry in the Armored Core series since Armored Core: Verdict Day (2013) and was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on August 25. It received generally positive reviews from critics and is the highest-selling entry in the series, selling over 2.8 million copies by October 2023.

Gameplay
The gameplay in Armored Core VI emphasizes mecha-based vehicular combat. Players in this game take on the role of expert pilots in control of strong mechs known as Armored Cores. The huge flexibility for modification of these mechs with the use of various parts allows players to enhance and sharpen their capabilities.

The option for players to arm their mechs with a range of weaponry is a standout aspect of the game. One on each arm and two on the mech's back are available slots for these weapons. The players' broad arsenals grant users strategic freedom as they participate in combat.

The arena concept from the game's predecessors remains in place and appears through a "combat aptitude evaluation program." Players engage notable NPC mechs in a combat simulation, and earn "OS Tuning" chips which allow for certain abilities and upgrades to be unlocked. Additionally, players may engage each other through online play in 1-v-1 or 3-v-3 matches; initially, only private lobbies were available, but ranked matchmaking was added in a later update.

The in-game currency, credits, is awarded to players that complete missions successfully. The amount of credits earned for these missions is influenced by the several factors, which include bonuses for completing additional objectives as well as expenditures for repairs and ammunition costs.

Armored Core VI did away the debt system from earlier games in the series, which caused players to lose money as tasks fail. This time, players have the ability to attempt missions as many times as they want with no concern for lost currency.

Setting
Armored Core VI is set in a future where humanity has developed an interstellar civilization. On the frontier planet of Rubicon 3, a substance called Coral was discovered that could be used as both an energy source and a data conduit. Coral was hailed as the key to humanity's technological advancement, but instead it caused a cataclysmic event known as the Fires of Ibis, which engulfed the planet and the surrounding star system in flames and left behind a lethal contaminant. All Coral in existence was thought to have been consumed by the disaster. Fifty years later, however, signs of Coral are once again detected on Rubicon 3. Corporations flock to exploit the planet and control the Coral, heedless of the cost and harm to the inhabitants, and mercenaries follow to profit from the conflict. The player is an augmented human designated "C4-621" who is in servitude to an infamous handler named Walter, and fights as an Armored Core pilot on the promise of earning a new life by taking on mercenary jobs. After illegally landing on Rubicon 3, C4-621 steals the license of a deceased mercenary and assumes their callsign: "Raven".

Synopsis
With the new identity, Raven inserts themselves into the war raging on Rubicon's surface between the megacorporations Balam Industries and Arquebus Corp, the anti-corporation Rubicon Liberation Front (RLF), and the Planetary Closure Administration (PCA), who are all racing to find or protect the Coral. During numerous battles, Raven ends up befriending V.IV Rusty, an elite AC pilot working for Arquebus's Vespers unit; "Cinder" Carla, leader of RaD, a black market arms dealing company; and G1 Michigan, the leader of Balam's Redgun unit who treats Raven as an honorary member. They occasionally provide assistance directly or through comms. In addition, Raven encounters G5 Iguazu, a Redgun AC pilot who envies Raven's exploits and develops a one-sided rivalry with them; and V.II Snail, the leader of Arquebus's Vespers who looks down on Raven due to his superiority complex. Later, Raven assaults the PCA facility and is caught in a Coral surge, resulting in them making contact with an entity named Ayre who can speak directly to their mind.

In the wake of the Coral surge, Walter detects Coral converging on the Central Ice Field, suggesting a massive deposit hidden there. As Raven heads over to investigate, Balam and Arquebus follow as well. This triggers the PCA into action, who send their military forces as well as recovered Coral superweapons to suppress the corporations. Faced with the threat of the PCA, Balam and Arquebus decide to join forces, and direct Raven to attack the PCA directly to weaken them. After the corporate alliance destroys the PCA's trump card, the Ice Worm, Ayre reveals to Raven that Coral is a sentient lifeform, and that she is a Coral-based entity.

After suffering numerous crippling losses, the PCA are forced to withdraw from Rubicon. Without a common enemy, Balam and Arquebus resume hostilities and the three-way war between them and the RLF continues, though Arquebus quickly gains the upper hand due to capturing PCA technology. Meanwhile, Walter sends Raven to explore an underground facility, and discovers the ruins of Institute City, the site of the Coral deposit as well as the Vascular Plant, which is designed to extract Coral and send it into space. Balam forces led by G1 Michigan attempt to seize the underground facility but are stopped by Arquebus forces, leading to G1 Michigan's death and Balam withdrawing from Rubicon. With their dominance solidified, Arquebus forces led by V.II Snail seize Institute City and capture Raven; Walter is presumably killed or captured. Carla helps Raven escape, explaining that she and Walter were part of a group called Overseer, who realized the threat Coral posed and swore to destroy it. Carla has Raven help her commandeer the Xylem, a massive colony ship, with the intention of ramming it into the Vascular Plant to destroy the Coral, even if it means creating another disaster like the Fires of Ibis. Ayre however refuses to allow her fellow Coral be destroyed and believes in the potential of both it and humanity coexisting, and asks Raven to eliminate Carla instead.


 * Fires of Raven : If Raven chooses to side with Carla, Ayre breaks off relations with them. Raven breaks the Arquebus blockade around the Vascular Plant and is forced to kill Rusty, who is actually fighting for the RLF. Ayre then attempts to stop the Xylem by taking control of Rubicon's orbital weapon satellites and an unmanned Institute mech. Raven is forced to confront Ayre directly and destroys her. The Xylem successfully rams the Vascular Plant and ignites the Coral stored within, creating an apocalyptic firestorm later dubbed the "Fires of Raven". In the aftermath, Raven's survival is left uncertain while the PCA and corporations completely abandon Rubicon, the planet having been completely scoured of all life. A recording left behind by Walter then plays, congratulating Raven for destroying the Coral and fulfilling his last wishes.
 * Liberator of Rubicon : If Raven chooses to side with Ayre, they attack Carla while her forces are distracted repelling Arquebus forces. Carla is killed, but this triggers a failsafe program that automatically sets the Xylem on a collision course with the Vascular Plant. Ayre then tasks Raven with sabotaging the Xylem to cause it to crash harmlessly in the ocean. She also sends a request for assistance to the RLF, who rise up en masse to overthrow Arquebus. Rusty joins forces with Raven and they manage to disable the Xylem generators and ramjet engines. Rusty then destroys the Arquebus blockade while Raven kills V.II Snail. Walter, who was captured and brainwashed by Arquebus, arrives in his own Institute AC, killing Rusty and attacking Raven. Raven defeats Walter and narrowly escapes the Xylem before it crashes. Ayre thanks Raven for protecting both the Coral and Rubicon, and promises that they will ensure a future where Coral and humanity can prosper together.

In a New Game Plus campaign, Raven can take on newly unlocked RLF missions instead of corporate ones, while the mercenary support AI ALLMIND contacts them, giving them an opportunity to battle AI controlled ACs for analysis.

Alea Iacta Est : If both endings were unlocked in previous playthroughs, then the third campaign and ending route will be unlocked. Ayre discovers classified data related to ALLMIND's AC analysis, while ALLMIND recruits Raven into the Coral Release Project, an artificial human evolution which seeks achieve complete symbiosis between Coral and humans. ALLMIND directs Raven its own missions in order to further the Release Project. Raven sabotages the corporations and PCA and kills "Father" Thumb Dolmayan, the leader of the RLF who also experienced the same Coral connection as Raven and Ayre; and V.III O'Keeffe, ALLMIND's double agent within the Vespers who has become disillusioned with ALLMIND's goal. The latter two, fearing for the human race, warn Raven not to pursue the Coral Release Project. ALLMIND prevents Raven's capture in Institute City by directing Raven to V.II Snail's location. Raven kills V.II Snail and G5 Iguazu; the latter was implied to have been tricked by ALLMIND into pursuing Raven. ALLMIND seizes control of the PCA's and Institute's leftover weapons and slaughters the corporate forces. The Overseer and RaD forces seize control of the Xylem to ram into the Vascular Plant in a last ditch effort to stop ALLMIND. Raven disables the ship while ALLMIND eliminates Walter and Carla. With Raven's role complete, it is revealed that the AC pilots that died had their consciousness absorbed by ALLMIND into a collective intelligence as part of the Coral Release. ALLMIND attempts to forcibly assimilate Raven and Ayre into itself by dispatching Iguazu, who had his consciousness uploaded into a powerful Institute AC. Iguazu usurps ALLMIND's control to kill Raven but is ultimately defeated. ALLMIND surrenders control of Coral Release to Raven and Ayre, who initiate the Coral Release themselves. Coral spreads throughout the universe, while Raven and Ayre, having achieved symbiosis as Coral intelligence within their AC, wake up in a distant planet. Both of them witness a new age dawn as other Coral intelligence ACs begin waking up.

Development
In September 2016, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki mentioned that a new entry in the Armored Core series was in early development. In January 2022, the development of a potential new installment of the Armored Core series was leaked due to a focus test. The game was formally announced at The Game Awards 2022 in December. Armored Core VI was directed by Masaru Yamamura, his debut in the role after being a lead game designer on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. He took over from Miyazaki, who led development initially. Yasunori Ogura was the game's producer. Many FromSoftware staff members wanted to develop a new entry in the series but had to wait in order to properly allocate resources into the project. In 2018, the game entered prototyping, with Yamamura taking over as director once the gameplay was set in stone.

Kota Hoshino served as the lead composer of the game. During development, Hoshino was given keywords by Yamamura in order to set the game's tone and evoke a "sense of loneliness and nostalgia." Hoshino was given freedom when it came to composition based on the keywords, with tracks being adjusted according to the game's flow. Additional music was composed by Takashi Onodera and Shoi Miyazawa.

Critical reception
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.

Sales
In Japan, the PlayStation 5 version of Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon sold 115,393 physical copies, making it the best-selling retail game during its first week of release in the country. The PlayStation 4 version sold 47,949 physical copies, making it the second best-selling retail game in Japan throughout the same week. The PC, PS4, and PS5 versions sold a total of 700,000 units in Japan.

The PC version sold over 1.3 million copies in over two weeks. By October 2023, the game had sold over 2.8 million copies.