FromSoftware held a pre-release stage event for ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON on August 18, which was broadcast on PlayStation Japan’s YouTube program PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! The show included a special challenge segment, where one of the attendees was selected at random to play a mission on stage. The chosen player put on a showcase that surpassed the expectations of viewers, and social media was awash with talk of this “grizzled old veteran.”

Billed as a special episode of PlayStation Japan’s PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!, the ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON SPECIAL BRIEFING was a pre-release stage event that showed off the appeal of the new game. Host Hatsune Matsushima was joined on stage by the game’s producer, Yasunori Ogura, as well as its director, Masaru Yamamura. The event included a number of different segments, including an introduction to the concept behind Armored Core VI’s development, a Q&A section which revealed a variety of new information, and gameplay footage of an online multiplayer match. Forty lucky fans who were selected via a lottery had the chance to attend the event in person. And it was one of these fans who unexpectedly caused a bit of a frenzy.

As part of the event, Ogura had created a special challenge for the attendees. This segment involved one attendee being selected at random and then being brought on stage to tackle a never-before-seen mission. This mission had never been featured at any prior demo event, nor in any trailer or PR release. If this player successfully completed the challenge, then every fan in attendance would receive a special not-for-sale, limited edition T-shirt, courtesy of the development team. The challenge no doubt places a great deal of pressure on the selected player, who has the hopes of all the other fans at the venue resting on their shoulders.

The player—selected through a raffle on stage—was an individual hailing from Shibuya who went by the handle name, Fireworks. While being interviewed prior to starting the challenge, Fireworks said that they had played every game in the Armored Core series. Their performance in the challenge, described later in the article, was so brilliant it earned them the nickname: the Irregular “Fireworks of Shibuya.”

The only information revealed about the challenge before it began was an outline describing it as a mission to “support the launch of long-range missiles.” The objective was to protect designated targets from a great number of incoming enemy attacks for a total of five minutes. Furthermore, Ogura limited the time for Assembly, where you customize the parts and weapons that are equipped to your mech, to only one minute. Ever since the first Armored Core game was released 25 years ago, Assembly has been an incredibly vital aspect of the series, so it’s no exaggeration to say that being limited to one minute in a never-before-seen mission from an unreleased game makes for a grueling challenge. However, Fireworks completed the Assembly within the time limit and set out into the unknown, carrying the hopes of their fellow attendees.

In order to successfully clear the mission, Fireworks had to defend three missile launching pads from waves of fierce enemy attacks until launch preparations were complete. From the moment it began, Fireworks tackled the mission in the way that you would expect of a highly experienced series veteran. Their skilled piloting, keen judgement, and rapid demolition of the enemies were all sights to behold, but nothing was as impressive as the dramatic events that unfolded at the end of the mission, when the massive assault ship that serves as the mission’s boss came flying in.

After firing at the assault ship for a while, Fireworks quickly ran out of bullets for his main weapons—the gatling guns equipped to both of the mech’s arms—and it seemed like the only weapon they had left were some missiles. Possibly due to the fact that they were out of ammo, Fireworks suddenly purged (discarded) both gatling guns before heading up towards the assault ship barehanded. Arriving at the ship’s bridge, they stuck close and began to unleash a violent barrage of punches and kicks. After some fisticuffs reminiscent of Bandai Namco’s own Tekken series, the massive ship was sent plummeting towards the ocean, while Fireworks used their remaining missiles to aid in clearing up the last enemy stragglers. Despite failing to protect two of the missile pads, the last missile was successfully launched, and Fireworks completed the mission.

While watching on, the FromSoftware developers expressed admiration for Fireworks’ uncanny skills during the challenge, saying things like, “This is unreal,” and “We can tell you’ve played (the Armored Core series) a lot.”

Despite claiming that they weren’t very good at Assembly when being interviewed after the challenge, Fireworks’ choices were very impressive. When starting the Assembly, they quickly chose Gatling guns as their two main weapons without hesitation. When you consider that they were taking on a defense mission with an unknown number of enemies for the first time, selecting guns with a high number of Total Rounds (bullets) was a logical choice.

Also noteworthy was the way Fireworks then immediately customized the Legs and Generator, which form the foundation of the mech’s mobility. They chose parts that seemed to strike a good balance between Load and mobility/maneuverability, possibly in the anticipation that a defense mission may require swift movement as well as the ability to carry load. This mobility also served Fireworks well when it came to taking on the assault ship barehanded.

The challenge gameplay begins at around the 1:03:00 mark.

With the successful completion of the mission, Fireworks won the limited-edition T-shirts for themselves and the rest of the event attendees. After the event had finished, many drew connections between the effects of the missile exploding at the end of the challenge mission and Fireworks’ name. Further incorporating the fact that Fireworks is from Shibuya, many began posting messages that referred to Fireworks as the “Fireworks of Shibuya.” Others called Fireworks an “Irregular,” which is a special term used in the Armored Core series to refer to individuals who are too powerful and disturb the power balance. What’s more, Cinder Carla, a character who appears in the mission, also likened the operation to a “fireworks display.” We imagine that Carla was more than satisfied with the explosive show that Fireworks put on for the viewers. With a wealth of new information about the game being revealed, and Fireworks’ impressive gameplay, the Special Briefing stage event ended on a high note.

Armored Core VI marks the first new game in the series since Armored Core: Verdict Day was released almost 10 years ago. It was also revealed that the game’s online multiplayer will feature 1v1 single matches as well as 3v3 team matches. Once the game is released, it will be interesting to see whether other skilled players will earn themselves nicknames just like Fireworks, be it in the competitive scene or through solo challenges.

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON is scheduled for release on August 25 for PC (Steam)/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S.

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-08-19 15:57 JST)