This Armored Core 6 lore video is the best mecha movie of 2024

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon was one of last year’s best games, and a fitting return for the franchise after a decades-long hiatus. It’s a game you should enjoy yourself for its lightning fast mecha combat, bottomless level of customization, and meticulously plotted sci-fi story. But if you just want to skip all that gameplay and ingest a captivating FromSoft science fiction tale, then I’ve got just the video for you!

“The Entire Story of Armored Core 6” is a completely comprehensive, five-and-a-half-hour video from legendary FromSoftware lore chronicler VaatiVidya. Known for his Dark Souls boss deep dives and epic Elden Ring story breakdowns, this time Vaati gets to share in his love for one of FromSoftware’s oldest franchises and it might be his best video yet.

Not only does it take into account every voiceover line, part description, and combat log to weave together all three of Armored Core 6’s timelines into one sweeping epic, but Vaati and his collaborators uncover cut dialogue tracks, animate still images from the game, and record audio tracks for characters who don’t have a voice in the game proper. In between Vaati’s gracefully narrated sections of lore are immaculately captured sequences of gameplay that required a custom built free-camera capture mod.

Even someone as AC6 obsessed as me (it was my personal GOTY) learned so much from watching this video. For example, I’d originally enjoyed Iguazu’s storyline as the classic Gundam rival archetype — basically, someone who is constantly big mad that the main character is so awesome all the time, but also someone the main character doesn’t really think about. So I thought it was hilarious when Iguazu turned out to be in cahoots with the final boss of the game’s NG++ ending. This time, when my extremely angry rival gave his big speech about how long he’s been planning to take his vengeance blah blah blah, I genuinely thought “Igua-who?” before remembering him as the whiny punk I’d thrice beaten before. It felt a bit like an in-joke reward for beating the game three times.

Now I understand that his being a 4th gen augmentation and one of Allmind’s chosen makes him a mirror image of my character. The fact that my coral ghost ally, Aer, actually causes him physical pain any time I’m present. The way he’s constantly made a pawn by pretty much everyone. Just under the surface of his nearly comical revenge tale is a classic FromSoftware tragedy. Based on cut dialogue and part descriptions, it’s implied his rage and envy are powering his armored core. Which actually makes him even more like a Gundam character, just not in the way I realized.

Watching this video gave me an even greater appreciation for one of my all-time favorite games. If you enjoyed Armored Core 6, it’s a must-watch. You can even break it up into smaller pieces with the video’s chapter markers if the long runtime intimidates you.