A prequel to the Zeno Clash games from some time ago, with a lot of queues taken from Dark Souls.

In most ways, this is an excellent game. The combat flows fantastically and so many moves and techniques are thoroughly satisfying. Hits all feel like they have impact, and there's a high skill ceiling. Much like Elden Ring, the difficulty is in what you choose to use, and you can make the game much easier by mixing health brews and using weapons, or you can slam your skull into enemies exclusively.

The visuals are fantastic, every character design is interesting and unique and even the most bizarre can still move and fight. The hatching shader is a wonderful thing that accentuates the entire world, and it's just lovely. The voice acting is superb with well written characters you can easily become attached to, and though the story itself is rather simple, everything surrounding it is unique, and the emotional points are delivered excellently. There is a lot of bird suicide to punctuate that point.

However, the main villain, Gemini, is not fleshed out enough. The focus of the story is kept on Pseudo, the player character, the entire time, so we're not given much of a feel of what Gemini is going through the entire time we're denying her anything.

Once you really get good, there isn't much of anything that can challenge you either, no NG+, no hard mode, no challenges. While others complain about how difficult Moon-Sun is, I kind of just knocked him around and it left me wanting.

All in all, a fantastic game. I look forward to Pseudo's next adventure.

AC6 is challenging, demanding of flexibility, versatility. Failures must be met with persistence and an open mind to back out entirely and change your approach completely. I've been a fan since the start of Armored Core, and though this game is far more simple than all the options there once was, this is by no means easier. If anything, it sure feels harder.

The story is portrayed well, things can be figured out ahead of time or never understood at all if you don't make an effort. The world is grim and dark with interesting and diverse characters. The plot is spaced out well and constantly driven forward by the need for more money. Even in NG+ and NG++, things change, some stuff in subtle ways, others in new missions that decide a new path for you, and each path having an important lesson to teach you: there is no right answer.

The gameplay may very well be the best Armored Core has ever had to offer. Customization has always been a massive part of AC and every little difference in parts chosen make the experience unique and different. Creativity is encouraged for new means of violence. But ingenuity is just as important. It's no secret the first real boss has been filtering bad players, but just being smart enough to know Pulse Armor is disrupted with pulse weaponry flips the fight upside down, making it fairly easy in comparison, taking advantage of dealing bonus damage with Direct Hits.

The missions themselves are all quite diverse as well. No two are the same and even similar ones have vastly different layouts. All of them build out the world nicely and make for incredible visual spectacles. Some are a walk in the park, and others will snap you in half with how much they ask. Make sure you have enough ammo for the mission you're eyeballing, lightweight ACs can only carry so much after all.

What I find truly fascinating, however, is there is clear inspiration from Daemon X Machina in this iteration. And that's wonderful.

Definitely my Game of the Year, by the way.