Armored Core 6 is an absolute blast to play by means of, which actually contributes to gamers combating by means of to the ending. From the fight’s blistering tempo to the depth of customization, that is undoubtedly among the best mech video games in a very long time. It additionally has a strong narrative about combating in opposition to the percentages on your beliefs and survival.

The supply is extra direct than most works popping out of FromSoftware since its video games typically hold the floor narrative mild. Armored Core has at all times been this fashion, even when the most recent entry is extra dialogue-focused than its predecessors.

Additionally like what got here earlier than, Armored Core 6’s ending come from branching paths relying on missions chosen at key factors. It presents two endings on a primary playthrough, with a 3rd one unlocked after ending the sport.

I wish to return and get the opposite endings in Armored Core 6, however the one I selected scorched my coronary heart. It’s been per week since I completed the sport, and this harrowing conclusion has stayed with me due to how terrible I felt after. FromSoftware video games have a tendency to incorporate bleak endings chosen by the participant, and I really feel like a monster.

Burn Raven, burn

My Armored Core 6 ending known as The Fires of Raven, and for good cause. This implies betraying Raven’s Coral companion Ayre to facet with “Cinder” Carla’s thought to destroy all of Rubicon’s Coral. Coral in Armored Core 6 is a dwelling species with at the very least human-level consciousness and feelings. Regardless of its exploitation as a useful resource, Coral is an clever species absolutely able to communication. In different phrases, we’re committing genocide.

I began down this route not absolutely conscious of my motion’s ramifications, and in addition as a result of it paid means higher. My blissfully ignorant self didn’t assume we have been eradicating a whole dwelling species. At worst, we might drive all of the people out of Rubicon! Ayre didn’t see it this fashion and left my consciousness.

To return to these halcyon days once I was harmless and naive, solely involved with trendy mechs. It didn’t even register why what I used to be doing was evil, even when Rusty stood in opposition to me. He was the idiot for not realizing that the Coral needs to be left alone on Rubicon.

Killing him was once I realized that no one was surviving this plan of action. Rusty had been a typically supportive individual to Raven and somebody who needed what was greatest for the planet. It was too late to show again time as a result of there was nonetheless an enormous Coral harvesting machine to destroy.

Rusty’s loss of life damage, however my coronary heart tore aside seeing Ayre stand in opposition to me. She was a comforting presence to Raven, and the sport featured a number of moments of real care from her. Since she was a Rubiconian, her precedence was defending her individuals, even when it meant killing the individual she cared for many.

Setting the world ablaze

Ayre isn’t the toughest boss in Armored Core 6, however she took essentially the most tries for me. Part of me couldn’t give it my all. It instantly hit me that I used to be the villain as a result of I appreciated Ayre, and she or he cared about Raven. She really believed in them and needed to construct a future the place people and Coral may dwell alongside one another.

Every line in her combat lower deeper than her laser sword, and I knew Bolt Spearmint wasn’t utilizing a really perfect construct for this combat. Anytime I may change my loadout to one thing that’d devastate her, however I simply couldn’t.

Not after the primary try and positively not after the tenth. Some have been simpler than others, however ultimately, I stored falling as a result of I didn’t have it in me to play optimally.

I used to be delaying the inevitable. The Moonlight sword was not working for me, and I knew victory was achievable with my VE-67LLA laser lance. Ayre’s loss of life was absolute once I made the change, and she or he was defeated on the primary try.

Her total species rested on her shoulders, and a single resolution formed her failure. Ayre spent her dying moments nonetheless believing in a hopeless dream the place people and Coral may dwell collectively earlier than lastly letting go. Raven then watched wordlessly as Carla drove the Xylem colony ship into the Vascular Plant harvesting Coral, destroying it and scorching Rubicon. It’s unknown if the protagonist survived the blast, however historical past cemented them as a monster that started The Fires of Raven.

Some could defend Raven’s actions, however I can’t. Happening this path made me really feel just like the monster historical past will bear in mind Raven as.

A coronary heart turned to ash

As a complete, the Armored Core sequence doesn’t have many completely happy endings. Armored Core: For Reply arguably has the darkest ending, as one doable route concludes with humanity’s eradication carried out by the protagonist. Humanity could not have been what was worn out, however doing the identical to the Coral is equally as horrible.

I just lately wrote about how Armored Core detaches gamers from the individuals they kill as a result of they’re all behind mechanized machines. The inverse impact might need occurred once I completed Armored Core 6. Killing Ayre felt terrible, and I feel a part of that stems from her having as a lot of a physique as anybody else.

Raven and everybody else fought and died of their mechs, and Ayre was no completely different. Her precise kind could have been as part of the Coral, however she spoke with such emotion that she felt extra human than many different characters. She positioned her total belief in somebody who betrayed her on an apocalyptic stage. The damage she experiences within the combat feels uncomfortably actual as a result of it’s additionally clear she nonetheless cares.

Armored Core will be learn as about humanity’s gradual crawl to loss of life. Whether or not over beliefs or assets, the video games are pushed by intensive conflicts that worsen the world. The participant’s beliefs are moot on this sequence as they go from one job to a different, perpetuating a warfare between two or extra terrible factions. It’s a special taste of terrible understanding that this newest entry drags one other sapient species into humanity’s egocentric conflicts.

I don’t know if Armored Core 6‘s different endings are extra hopeful. For all I do know, there’s one the place the principal solid put aside their variations and band collectively to eradicate the corps, however I doubt it. All I’m hoping for is that I’m much less devastated.