Armored Core VI and The Weight of our Choices

Armored Core VI is the latest entry after almost ten years of FromSoftware's series of dehumanized big robot contract killer pilots. At the beginning of every game you are put into the role of a nameless dehumanized pilot who has a representative getting them contract jobs from either governments, military entities, or big corporations, which are constantly at conflict with each other, hiring freelancers such as yourself, who are slaves to their debts and are put into big robots to kill other freelancers for their political or corporate interests. 

One of the common themes that Armored Core games share is the growing freedom to choose the protagonist obtains as the plot develops, and Armored Core VI is pushing this theme front and center. 

The nameless, voiceless, and dehumanized protagonists in this series slowly but surely prove their value to all the corporations and political entities playing a role in the stories in these games, and the player develops an increasingly more important role in Rubicon III, a planet known for its rich concentration of a powerful and self-replicating type of fuel called Coral--the thing is here though, Coral is not only very important to the survival of Rubicon III's natives, but is also alive itself. As you play through the game you realize that there are very high stakes between the outsiders--corporations and the government itself--who want to control the Coral, the natives, and your representative. What makes the story interesting is that all of them have fairly compelling arguments for what they want to do with this conscious, living fuel. 

Your representative, a scientist called Walter, has detected that at the rate that Coral reproduces it will lead to it imploding and contaminating space itself; so he hires you into jobs to profit and fund a final plan to contain and burn all the Coral. The natives consider Coral to be sacred, and it is their source of sustenance, as well as important to their religious beliefs. The corporations are in this weird state in which the resources to sustain humanity are just not enough and the fight over resources is tight for the survival of their businesses and people. 

The fact one pilots a giant, flying tank with legs and never sees a single human throughout the whole campaign is a really artistic choice too. Not seeing a single person, but being able of hearing many is a really compelling way to level down the understanding of what is and what is not worthy of being considered alive or not when the Cora itself speaks to the player just as much as all the other entities do. 

In the end, it is the player who has to answer which path is going to lead to the most ethical result--whether it is to submit to fear, to submit to the system, or to try to protect the right to life of an ethereal living thing which sounds more ethical until you realize it comes at the expense of everyone else? 

You might think I revealed quite a lot of Armored Core VI already, but the characters you will meet and the moments one goes through in this game are ones that are worth experiencing by themselves. One might think of the argument differently, or may choose sides based on who they are more biased towards, and in the end it is the player that has to see through the consequences of their choice. So give it a try! Let us know if you are interested! If you played it already I am sure us and members of the community would be interested to see your thoughts! 

Thank you for reading, and keep on experiencing life and its treasures to its max--Even from the comfort of your coach!