Highlights
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will not feature a debt system, which may be seen as positive or negative by fans.
- The removal of the debt system eliminates a layer of anxiety and allows players to fail missions without losing progress.
- The decision to exclude the debt system aligns with the game's efforts to balance longer missions and make death less punishing with the addition of checkpoints.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is fast approaching its August release date, and this means that FromSoftware is showing more of what the mech action game is about. With about a decade dividing the releases of Armored Core 6 and Armored Core 5, the former will no doubt have changes implemented to suit contemporary tastes better.
Many fans will likely not be surprised about the latest game having a radically different feel from Armored Core 5, let alone earlier entries. One thing prominent in the earlier titles is the prospect of going into debt and potentially being forcibly included in programs like Human Plus, which increases functionality in one's core at the cost of most of their body and humanity. This idea of debt was scrapped in Armored Core 4 and Armored Core 5, and will not return in the latest game, which can be seen as positive or negative.
Negatives of Not Having Debt in Armored Core 6
The debt system in Armored Core makes it unique to FromSoftware games and unique to gaming in general. Its ramifications were an effective bit of storytelling for how brutal this form of Earth ruled by warring corporations is. Not only that but there are tangible gameplay benefits that make the game far easier to manage while also allowing players to keep the same mech from the previous playthrough.
Since Armored Core 6 is far longer than its predecessors, having debt force players to reset the entire game would be a far more brutal punishment and any boosts would not make up for that. Should it have returned, it could have been used to allow story progression to remain the same but potentially lock out certain events or special rewards.
The concept of having to balance one's finances in between missions does also play into the theme of the protagonist's life practically belonging to the corporations. It would have been interesting to see how modern FromSoftware could have implemented its return in a way that contributed to the gameplay and story.
Positives of Not Having Debt in Armored Core 6
The most apparent upside to Armored Core 6 not having a debt system is that the game will have one less layer of anxiety to contend with since players will not have to worry about potentially resetting the game if they go deep enough into debt. Players can fail missions without any worry about the drawbacks unique to other games in the series.
Given that Armored Core 6 has roughly 60 hours of content, making it the longest game in the series, having to worry about losing weeks of progress thanks to a debt system can be draining. Most From Software games have a high difficulty level, with Armored Core being no exception, and having this fail state return would likely make many either drop the game or not pick it up.
Having debt return will also feel like its clashes against the changes implemented in the game that are meant to balance out longer missions to keep their challenge while not feeling like a constant endurance test. The most notable of these is having checkpoints in Armored Core 6, making death a seemingly forgivable mistake compared to previous entries.
While deductions resulting from repairs and refilling ammo have always been a part of the series, it has not had a proper debt system since 2006's Armored Core 4 removed it, and figuring out a way to meaningfully bring it back would have been a daunting task in and of itself. Although its return could have been reworked, FromSoftware decided its inclusion was something to be left behind and have the game's challenge be made evident through other means.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon comes out on August 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
