As a lifelong fan of Armored Core, since AC2 and playing every single game since, this really feels amazing to play - my favorite in the series so far. The game is optimized and runs like butter on a standard system here, 980ti gpu and 5800X cpu, not a drop below 60fps on high settings 1080p. Haven't encountered any issues like frame drop in hangar or crashes.

Melee. The melee combat in VI is so vastly improved upon the old and as someone who always tried to play with a focus on melee as much as possible, but many times found it rather difficult, this is a whole new experience on that change alone. The combat feels more fluid than ever, and all kinds of builds have been fun -- not finding myself just building a one trick and sticking with it no matter what like I tended to do in other games of the series.

Attitude. A vast change to the combat flow of the game versus ACs and special threats is the attitude control system. You, as well as all enemies, will suffer a crippling stagger if too much impact damage is taken too fast, overcoming your "ACS" system. During a window that is modified by "Attitude Recovery" you or your enemies will take massively increased damage during this time, making this a very key component to the combat that is new for the armored core series. It's the strongest and generally primary way to deal with special threat bosses in the game, and can be a strong (but not as crucial) part of defeating enemy ACs.

The game is very forgiving, despite people saying otherwise. You get checkpoints before bosses, as well as hp/ammo refills on longer missions leading to bosses, as well as ability to change your build and re-attempt the boss without replaying the mission. (And a reason to buy many different parts so you have options to switch to. Just replay some missions here and there to get some extra credits). No massive setbacks like forcing players to take losses on failing a mission or restricting access to funds in a playthrough (you can repeat missions or arena as much as you want for the funds you need at any time). While a skilled player that already knows the bosses can win any mission in any mech with skill, there are absolutely counters in the game that matter much more than previous titles, as the bosses are much more unique and varied. Don't give up on bosses -- if you are having trouble try changing your weapons and build.

The decal and emblem system is expanded from previous titles, now with more freedom than ever, even with new abilities like using layer masks, and you can easily upload and share/download other emblems and decals with share codes. Only downside here is that PC players cannot use codes from console players, but as time goes on there will definitely be lots of things uploaded to choose from. I already spent 7 hours recreating the White Glint emblem. Code: 1P5EB6FAYEP2

Final massive note -- KEYBOARD AND MOUSE. After 20 years of playing armored core with controller, it seemed strange to consider trying KBM for VI, even though I haven't played console in years, there are certain games I simply prefer controller. After a few hours I gave it a shot and will never look back. The game is completely transformed by the freedom you have using the mouse to look around, not needing to worry about turn rate any longer which was a huge part of every single AC game to date. In addition to freeing you up to have access to all movement commands while firing all four weapons without doing some strange claw grip on your controller, I recommend to everyone to give KBM controls a shot.

Definitely an amazing entry for Armored Core and we welcome it back!

[Also a coincidence that the game is 84% positive and only 84% of players have beaten the tutorial? Hmm.]