From Software’s latest title, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, is a new entry in a long-running series of mech action games that originated in 1997. Even though there’s been a ten-year hiatus — the previous title Verdict Day came out in 2013 — some people may still wonder whether they should play past titles before getting into Armored Core 6. We hereby weigh in on the considerations to determine whether newcomers should play prior series entries before jumping into Fires of Rubicon.
The first point of consideration would be the story continuity, as FromSoftware released more than a dozen games in the series. However, the developer is known for creating a new timeline for almost every core iteration, and that also applies to this latest entry.
Armored Core 6 Producer Yasutaka Ogura revealed at Taipei Game Show 2023 that the new game would not have a direct story connection to Armored Core 5. That means you can jump straight into Armored Core 6 without having to worry about missing any plotline from past entries.
Furthermore, no prior Armored Core games are legally playable on the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, or Xbox One. Even though FromSoftware released Armored Core 4 and 5 on the Xbox 360, none of them made it onto Microsoft’s list of backward-compatibility support for Xbox One and Series X.
If you do not have physical copies of the past entries, only a handful of them are still available for purchase digitally on legacy platforms. The first Armored Core is available on PlayStation 3 and Vita. Fellow PS1 titles Project Phantasma and Master of Arena are also purchasable, albeit only in Japan. The PSP versions of Armored Core 3, Silent Line, Last Raven, and Formula Front are purchasable on the Vita’s storefront. Armored Core: Verdict Day is available digitally on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and For Answer is somehow purchasable on the Japanese Xbox Marketplace.
FromSoftware also added a new feature in Armored Core 6 designed to help newcomers get into the game. It implemented a hard lock-on system that lets the camera focus on a specific enemy even during high-maneuver bouts. In most of the past games, players had to manually control the camera and make sure the enemies were inside the targeting area for the shots to home in.
We can therefore conclude that you do not need to play past games before Armored Core 6. On the contrary, From Software produced Fires of Rubicon as a beginner-friendly title that you can play first as an entry point to the mech action game series.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
