This Armored Core 6 Lore video is the best mecha movie of 2024
Armored Core 6: Burning Rubicon was one of the best games of last year, and a fitting return for the franchise after a decades-long hiatus. It’s a game to be enjoyed for its fast-paced mecha combat, endless level of customization, and carefully plotted sci-fi story. But if you just want to skip all that gameplay and hear a compelling FromSoft science fiction story, I have just the video for you!
“The whole story of Armored Core 6‘ is a fully comprehensive five and a half hour video from FromSoftware’s legendary chronicler VaatiVidya. Known for his Dark Souls boss deep dives and epic Elden Ring story breakdowns, this time Vaati gets to share his love for one of FromSoftware’s oldest franchises and the power his best video yet.
Not only is every voiceover line, part description, and battle log taken into account to put all three together Armored core 6‘s timelines into one immersive epic, but Vaati and his collaborators discover excised dialogue tracks, animate still images from the game, and record audio tracks for characters who have no voice in the actual game. Among Vaati’s gracefully told portions of lore are impeccably captured gameplay sequences required a custom free camera recording mod.
Even someone like AC6 obsessed as I am (it was my personal GOTY) I learned so much from watching this video. For example, I had originally enjoyed the Iguazu storyline as the classic Gundam rival archetype – basically someone who is constantly angry that the main character is always so awesome, but also someone who the main character doesn’t really think about. So I thought it was hilarious when Iguazu turned out to be in cahoots with the final boss of the NG++ ending of the game. This time, when my extremely angry rival gave his big speech about how long he had been planning to get revenge blah blah blah, I really thought “Igua-who?” before I remembered him as the whiny punk I’d defeated three times before. It felt a bit like a joke for beating the game three times.
Now I understand that because he is a 4th generation augmentation and one of those chosen by Allmind, makes him a mirror image of my character. The fact that my coral spirit ally, Aer, causes him physical pain every time I am present. The way he’s constantly made into a pawn by pretty much everyone. Just beneath the surface of its almost comical revenge story lies a classic FromSoftware tragedy. Based on brief dialogue and partial descriptions, it is implied that his anger and jealousy power his armored core. Which actually makes him right more like a Gundam character, just not in the way I realized.
Watching this video gave me an even greater appreciation for one of my favorite games of all time. If you enjoyed it Armored core 6, it’s a must watch. You can even break it up into smaller chunks with the video’s chapter markers if the long running time intimidates you.