Armored Core 6 looks spectacular, but we’ve been very curious about one particular aspect of the upcoming mech and robot game. With developer FromSoftware’s legendary pedigree of world design, narrative, and lore built through the likes of Dark Souls and Elden Ring, we can’t help but wonder what the Armored Core 6 story looks like. Well, now we know, as the first story trailer gets us all excited for the Armored Core 6 release date to arrive.
“You again. You know, I’m not exactly craving company here. So… What happened to 617 and the others? Fill me in, Handler Walter.” Those words, spoken as we see flashes of war raging between the giant mechs, kick off the reveal. “This one is functional, but don’t expect much more,” the voice remarks as a man consulting a tablet computer looks over what appears to be a body strapped to an operating table, covered in a film as though vacuum-sealed.
“I’m not here to talk,” the man responds, “wake it up.” We cut back to the grinding of metal on metal, the crunch and groans of giant mechs bending and crumpling under one another’s weight, sparks flying and flames rising. We hear “620 – signal lost” among the cacophony. The shell of one mech opens to reveal a device, crackling with electricity. “Updating target parameters: phase three, pattern E…”
An explosion rocks across the canyon, silence falling as a beacon tower crumbles and smoke billows from the impact. As we return to the figure on the table, we hear a voice calling in its report: “617 down. Reporting to Handler Walter: mission complete.”
The devices clamping down the figure withdraw, cables are pulled from the body, and another voice booms out, seemingly from a mech looming over the figure: “621. I’ll give you a reason to exist. Let’s get to work.” Red lights fire up, and we cut to title card.
It’s certainly a great tone piece, and while it doesn’t give too much away (we’d expect no less from a FromSoftware intro) it certainly sets things up nicely. It seems like we’ll be following up on a lost unit, and uncovering what happened to the squad. Who is Handler Walter? Who carried out their mission? Did unit 617 destroy itself to complete its objectives? And are we the figure on the table? That’s my guess.
It certainly nails the vibe, with immaculate sound design to match, and manages to find a personal tone among the more detached nature of the mechs. With FromSoftware showing that they absolutely can tell a more ‘up-front’ story than the likes of Dark Souls with a game like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, not to mention its previous Armored Core installments of days gone by, I’m very eager to see where AC6 will take us.
While we wait for more news, find out exactly how Armored Core 6 was almost more like Elden Ring, and take a look at the other biggest upcoming games in 2023 to see what else will be taking up your free time this year.