BOOST KICK 2023: Let's Play Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

[Fyonn]

After the relative failure of Armored Core: Verdict Day and explosive popularity of Dark Souls, Armored Core 6 is a game I thought was never going to be made. After it's announcement, it's a game I was worried would be a disappointment. After all, Armored Core is a franchise full of games I generally think largely fall into the category of "this is almost good if not for..."

So, I was pretty happy when found out it's good. Like really good. How happy?

It's a serious contender for my favorite game of all time, and the only competition on the board is Elden Ring and Fallout New Vegas.

I still want to play more Armored Core 6, and it's already built up a reputation for being notoriously difficult. So I've done what anyone else would do: create a secondary Steam profile to replay the game from the start. This time, I've installed a second seat in Loader 4 so you can come along too. That said, it's kind of going to be a long trip to get to Rubicon.

Ah damn, forgot my interplanetary Mercenary Rewards Card. Well. I'm sure it'll be fine. Wake me up when we get there. Thanks.

Wake The Dog Up

EDIT: Now with louder audio!

 

[Fyonn]

This time around, we engage in the game's most important element: painting an Armored Core!

We also do some on-the-job training, talk about why I try not to use machine guns, briefly talk about the politics around having a giant robot, and we meet one of our best friends: the Curtis Linear Rifle.

On The Job Training

 

[Fyonn]

The opening of this episode spiraled into a relatively in-depth explanation of what the internal and external parts of an AC do. Why do you jump that high instead of this high? Why is your scan button so bad? The answers to these questions and more await you.

On the actual gameplay front: we do some run-of-the-mill mercenary work to build our reputation, Walter decides some platitudes are basically just as good as therapy, and we listen in on Walter reaching out to a particularly militaristic corporate contact.

It's Just A Job, 621. All Of It.

 

[Fyonn]

In an unexpected turn of events, Armored Core VI has received its first balance patch. I've recorded a fair chunk of the game already, so this won't affect anything for a while. Some bosses have been made less dangerous, and the Assault Rifles, Burst Rifles, MGs, and the Curtis have been made more effective more-or-less across the board. Just wanted to acknowledge the changes.

 

[Fyonn]

Attention! Gun 14, Talking Tyrant! It’s field trip season! Here’s the sitrep on expected threat profiles: wearing new pants, hunting battle logs, starting a sewing club with the Redguns, learning a rare bit of useful intel from a briefing, and we’ll finish our morning warm-ups by getting fooled into thinking the Nachtreirs are reverse joint legs! Over! And! out!

Rubicon Sewing Club

 

[Paul le Fou]

I don't have much to add right now except

 

[Fyonn]

Yeah, early Chapter 1 is very Standard type stuff, not that much to talk about.

 

[Cadenza]

I'm not usually into mecha stuff, but I'll follow along with this thread!

The protagonist being called 621 is funny to me, for reasons I will not explain and that you shouldn't look up if you don't already know.

 

[Fyonn]

The true yaoi starts here with Operation Wallclimber as we meet everyone’s favorite buddy, V. IV Rusty. We find out how climbing the wall went for the Redguns, we learn about having four legs or no legs, and we graduate from Warcrimes Kindergarten.

Introducing The Internet's Boyfriend

 

[Fyonn]

We put our education at Warcrimes Kindergarten to immediate use, we get permission to do hands-on opposition research, we ACQUIRE BOOST KICK, we kick a guy in the face, we kick a different guy in the face, we kick snipers in the face, we kick Simon Belmont in the face… Listen, Boost Kick is just what we do now.

BOOST KICK 2023

 

[Fyonn]

It's time. For the real wall. The filter. The hardest boss in a From Software game. From Software going "You know what's cool? The Itano Circus." The guy you'll fight in New Game+ and go "Wait did I just win that first try in under 1 minute???"

We get recognized, we die against the game’s first major difficulty wall on purpose, we then nearly die not on purpose, and finally meet a very special friend.

Welcome To Itano's Circus

 

[Fyonn]

Good news: I have updated my workflow to be sensible, so now I can edit mic audio separately from game audio!
Bad news: The benefits of that change is gonna show up in, uh, Part 18, sorry.

As for this part: We reveal our first properly named AC, we talk about Basho parts so we don’t have to talk about how we murdered Little Ziyi in cold blood, Allmind pats us on the back for doing such a good job at fake pretend murder, we contribute to a stormy forecast with our second properly named AC, we get our first legitimate death in real pretend life, and face off the game’s second difficulty wall. Already.

Ayre Time With Initial Contact

 

[Fyonn]

We do some busy work for Cinder Carla, Walter doesn’t get mad at us, we speculate on Carla’s age, we meet the game’s third difficulty wall, and then speculate on Ayre’s age. I was not kidding when I said Armored Core 6 is relentless.

Ayre Doesn't Know People Live Past 50

 

[Fyonn]

We review our main AC’s adjustments, we get to see our first glimpse of the game’s zippiest wheels, we talk shit about Iguazu, and we learn about the ancient Japanese class of warriors called “ninjas.” We appreciate Allmind being there for us, tune our OS, advocate for a National Muscle Tracer Kicking League, then steal some Arquebus data about where we can find ourselves some juicy, juicy Coral.

Playing MT Ball

 

[Fyonn]

Bonus video thanks to a recent conversation: Hey. How the heck does the lock-on in Armored Core 6 actually work?

 

[Torzelbaum]

advocate for a National Muscle Tracer Kicking League

Oh. Hey. There's a guy over here. [in an MT]

*one Boost Kick later*
And now he's all the way over there.

He didn't have a log or anything - that was just for fun.

You're such a good person...

 

[Fyonn]

You're such a good person...

At least they were corporate. This time. Don't worry, there's more Being An Awful Person to look forward to.

Got a long one today.

So the government showed up. They’ve got tech on par with ACs and the corporations don’t quite know how it works. Looks like this gold rush has turned into an all-out war. For us, that means business is good, and we’re more than happy to do business. Meanwhile I talk about never having to face a weapon that an AC I literally just took out used against me. What can I say, Armored Core 6 is very fast.

Tactical Espionage Shotguns

 

[Fyonn]

G4 Volta shows us the door, Allmind congratulations us for our achievements, we get the first repair kit upgrade, pick our first branching mission, Ayre shows us how little she’s paying attention to the brainwaves she synced with, and the Rubicon Liberation Front decides they don’t need our help, actually, after we do exactly one (1) mission for them.

Also, this is the last set of arena matches we will be doing normally. Please look forward to my weird gimmick builds and awful self-inflicted torture when we get the B Rank matches.

The Simulator Has Misled Me

 

[spines]

everything about that mission is one of my favorite bosses in the game. the radio chatter and the dawning realization of what it means in the context of the story, the entire premise of the boss being a gigantic tank frame sitting on the shoulders of an MT, and it just keeps swerving around and shooting you with 8 different weapons as often as it possibly can while you try and maneuever in front of it for a sec to blast giant hits directly into its face. it's too good

 

[Fyonn]

Yeah, I had to break one of my Rules for this play through to get that boss fight on screen because I think it's really important to know that Ayre doesn't know you're not Raven.

Today! We spend some private time with Ayre, say hello (with a sword) to an old friend, we redistribute local defense systems (to ourselves), we meet Chatty Stick, we prove ourselves more effective than two gatling guns that are collectively four times our size, and we watch some happy festival fireworks.

Date Night In Silent Hill

 

[Fyonn]

Shorter one today because the plot break took priority over the episode length. We prove that PCA battleships are paper tigers, we miss a battle log somewhere, we finally explain what “LC” means, we firmly believe in our ability to tell gravity to shove it, we sign up for doubles tennis with Rusty, and Walter reminds us we have an objective on Rubicon. Please look forward to tomorrow's episode, which will include (,as of today, one of) the most needlessly stupid thing(s) I have ever done in a video game.

Just Focus On Staying Alive

 

[Fyonn]

IT'S TIME!
I've been waiting for like a week and a half to get to post this one.

From now on, I’ll be doing our save file’s Arena matches off screen. For the videos, we’ll be hopping over to my 100% complete S rank save file to do the Arena fights, both to show off different playstyles and the fun I’ve had making awful joke builds. Some of these builds will be using common weapons and parts from later in the game, but I won’t be showing any Significant parts or weapons before they show up in the plot. Beyond the Arena matches, we go on a special detour at Ayre’s behest, learning some obscure information about Coral.

Impossible to Know Who Destroyed this Tunnel

 

[Torzelbaum]

So did Missiles George make it back to his home planet?

 

[Fyonn]

Depends on your definition. Missiles Georg did arrive in orbit, but then his home planet suffered a missiles-based accident no one could have foreseen.

 

[Fyonn]

We ascend to Chickendom in maybe one of the most mismatched builds I’ve ever taken into a mission, we fail to find a treasure chest, wait for Honest Brute to run out of energy and land for once in his entire life, and we tackle the game’s second defense mission, wrapping up all the preparation for taking on the Ice Worm.

Borrowed Wings

 

[Torzelbaum]

Don't underestimate 621.
That hound always delivers.

Dog will hunt!

 

[Fyonn]

We roll around in the snow while listening to an audio play, sometimes pausing to punch a giant drill worm in the face unbelievably hard. After that, we handle the Rank A Arena matches.

I Won't Miss

 

[Torzelbaum]

Nice touch on that last arena match. Really showed off your power there.

 

[Fyonn]

We unveil a terrible idea, we fall down a hole, I give you plant research homework, some Balam MTs call us a traitor despite how mercenaries work, we talk shit at Iguazu, we reveal that we are experts in dungeoneering, we Assault Boost to the left immediately, and we finish the fight in style.

Dungeon Crawl

 

[Torzelbaum]

we talk shit at Iguazu

Way to Boost Kick a guy while he's down...