Is Armored Core 6 too easy?

Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon, despite being a very niche title, one that sees the revitalization of the long-forgotten mech-action genre of games, is easily among the very best releases of 2023. However, much like any other FromSoftware release, the mech-action game got embroiled in discourse among players regarding its difficulty.

While a majority of players found the game's opening section and bosses to be extremely difficult, others found the entire game to be a tad too easy, especially with certain builds and weapons. While Armored Core 6 isn't marketed or even developed as a souls-like, it does share certain elements from FromSoftware's previous titles.

FromSoftware and their games are no stranger to such difficulty-related discourse, with most of their releases usually getting panned by select group of players and even some critics for the lack of hand-holding and tiered difficulty options. However, with Armored Core 6 being called easy, it feels really counterintuitive to a "FromSoftware experience".

But the question remains: Is Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon really that easy, or are there some caveats to that statement? Well, having spent more than 100 hours with the game, I think I have a conclusive answer to that question.

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Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon is neither too easy, nor is it bone-crushingly difficult

When I first got my hands on Armored Core 6, before its release (during the review period) I knew it'd get panned by many players for its difficulty, especially for the handful of boss fights in the game's opening chapters. Being someone who usually enjoys FromSoftware's games much more than other AAA offerings, I really didn't mind the rather steep difficulty curve of the game.

However, I knew the majority of players would find it somewhat overwhelming, especially newcomers to the Armored Core franchise. Still, I personally think the discussions surrounding Armored Core 6's difficulty are a bit exaggerated. In my opinion, FromSoftware's latest mech-action game isn't too easy, nor is it too difficult. It's somewhere in the midst of two extremes.

While some players were taken aback by the game's bosses and difficulty, others found the game to be a regression of what FromSoftware's games usually stand for, i.e., punishing, yet satisfying boss fights and enemy encounters. Now, let me be clear, Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon is not a cakewalk, especially when it comes to the boss fights.

However, it's not a souls-like either, and judging the game on the merits of FromSoftware's past titles, is not something that makes any sense. Armored Core is and has always been about the power fantasy of piloting a towering mech and demolishing anything and anyone coming in the way of you and your objectives, with extreme prejudice.

And Armored Core 6 delivers on just that, letting you loose on missions, where apart from a few handful of enemy types and bosses, most of your adversaries are nothing more than a pushover. Another major aspect of Armored Core is customization and creating your own mech, using the various frame parts and weapons available to you right from the get-go.

In lieu of a traditional leveling system, your stats in Armored Core 6 are dedicated by the weapons and mech parts you choose to install. And if you spend just a bit of time with the mech-building aspect of the game, you can come up with some really overpowered and broken builds, which can essentially one or two-shot most enemies and even bosses in the game.

In a traditional role-playing game, this would be an inherent negative since it breaks the flow of combat and funnels players into a singular playstyle. However, Armored Core isn't a traditional role-playing game. It's a mech-action game, and one that prioritizes creative build crafting and an engaging mech combat system above anything else.

If you find the game a bit too easy, that's due to the kind of build you're using. There's a reason Armored Core 6 allows you to buy and sell parts and weapons of the same price.

It wants you to experiment with different builds, and not get comfortable with a single playstyle. There's nothing wrong with sticking to the "unga-bunga" Tank-build and mowing everything down without much hassle.

However, doing so and then complaining that the game is easy and is a disgrace coming from a studio like FromSoftware, just feels hypocritical. It's like using a high-poise strength build in Dark Souls or a bleed build in Elden Ring and then complaining about the game being too easy.

Throughout my multiple playthroughs of the game, it was made apparent that Armored Core 6 isn't going for the traditional "FromSoftware" experience that fans (including me) have come to expect from the studio. Instead, it's a love letter to fans of the series who've been waiting for over a decade for a new Armored Core game.