Those of us who loved FromSoftware's titles from before the days of Dark Souls were extremely excited to see the developer going back to its roots with the announcement of Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. All we've gotten to see so far are some CG trailers, with a new one released during the Taipei Game Show 2023. Fortunately, producer Yasutaka Ogura also gave an interview to add some important new information for the upcoming game.

Armored Core is a different beast from the Soulsborne games. Producer Ogura went over what he thinks separates Armored Core from FromSoftware's other titles. The largest element is freedom. The Soulslike games have plenty of character customization, but Armored Core allows you to customize every element of your mecha, and those customizations significantly change how the machine functions. Armored Core VI is aiming to keep that sense of freedom and flexibility, and it will make designing your own custom mecha the defining feature of the game.

Ogura explained that the biggest differences from the previous games in the series begin with FromSoftware's greater experience — and greater budget — in the wake of the Soulsborne titles. The massive success of the other games in its other series means that it could argue for a bigger and better budget than ever before, which means that the niche series has the chance to be a lot more polished than ever before. The amount of experience earned from working on its other games also means that it's a more experienced and confident team taking on the beloved mecha series.

That said, Ogura is quick to explain that Armored Core VI is not going to require you to know much about the previous games to understand. The goal is to make Armored Core VI more accessible to newcomers without losing the central pieces that make the franchise work. They are working to make the act of building robots more simple and intuitive. There will be plenty of new toys to play with, including tetrapod legs and the classic mecha weapon, the Pile Driver, that you can use up close.

Armored Core has never been a franchise that is shy about having challenges, and Armored Core VI isn't going to change that. According to Ogura, the major difference from Souls-style games is that your mecha customization is going to play a major part in how challenging the title is. Creating the perfect mecha for each situation allows you to overcome challenges as much as your twitch skills. Boss battles are also promised to be some of the biggest and most exciting moments of the game, but it sounds like there will be some Souls-style design to the bosses.

Ogura also provided more information on some of the other elements. The full title, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, is a reference to the planet on which the game is set, Rubicon-3, where players take the role of a mercenary doing missions. The campaign is going to be single-player only, but they are working on a battle area where players can go head-to-head with one another. You'll also be able to design special emblems for your own machine and trade them online.

So far, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon looks incredibly exciting. It's clear that FromSoftware hasn't lost touch with what makes the franchise special, and everything it's shown and said speaks of it being exactly the game that fans have been waiting for: cool robots, cooler customization, and fast-paced challenging combat. It's absolutely a title to keep your eye on, especially since it's scheduled to come out later this year for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.