One of the big features of older Armored Core games was the option to customize your mech, and for Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, developer From Software is once again placing an emphasis on constant fine-tuning, swapping out parts, and building the right machine for the right situation. Compared to previous Armored Core games, Armored Core 6 will take a more relaxed approach to mech assembly between missions, as From Software sought to hit a perfect balance of tinkering with their favorite loadout and pushing forward with a mech that has served them well.
“This is actually an area we spent quite a bit of time trying to balance and figure out where the sweet spot is,” game director Masaru Yamamura told GameSpot. “We do want to put a lot of importance on assembly, but we don’t want it all to just be about number crunching and min-maxing. We wanted a big part of it to affect the play feel, for example, when you switch up the leg types, it affects your movement, when you switch up the weapons it affects how you shoot and how you recoil–things like this.”
Yamamura added that the studio wanted to emphasize the mercenary aspect of Armored Core 6, as diving into the nuts and bolts of a mech loadout will allow players to feel like a professional gun-for-hire in the game. At the same time, the studio also drew upon its work in its previous games, as the game will give observant players a fighting chance if they can adapt their tactics on the fly.