I’ve never been a huge fan of New Game+ modes in FromSoftware games. While it’s fun to rip through progressively harder versions of the game, the balance eventually starts to get wonky, your chosen stat progression means less, and you’re left wondering whether it would’ve been more fun to just load up a new save and enjoy the more intentional difficulty curve of a first playthrough.
Armored Core 6 changes this tradition for the better, as fans—including our friends over at Gamesradar—have been discovering for themselves. A PSA by user Razhork hit the Armored Core Reddit earlier this week, offering a mostly spoiler-free hint at what you could expect, including new missions, spins on older ones, new story choices—we’re talking NieR:Automata level stuff here.
This is somewhat of a blessing, considering the game’s regular runtime sits at around 12 to 15 hours—unless you’re like me and you’ve spent way too long hunting down combat logs or making stupid meme bumper stickers for your cursed mech. Razhork takes note of the third playthrough being “especially spiced up,” which is making me a touch more nervous about my ramshackle setup. Maybe I’ll be ready if I just run Operation Wallclimber a few more times.
You should also be keeping track of which “decision” missions you selected on your first playthrough, as you’ll want to choose the opposite missions the next go around to unlock certain parts, battle logs, etcetera. Not to mention, experiencing different levels will help keep things even more fresh on your second visit to Rubicon 3.
Ultimately, from the whispers I’ve been hearing—and the potent memes that visit my internet browser like cryptic visions from an angry god—a full Armored Core 6 experience really does involve chewing your way through three laps of the game’s story.
This kinda rules, and it makes me wish the other From Software games had followed suit. Granted, these kinds of shenanigans would be far less palatable in a 100+ hour long game like Elden Ring—so it makes sense to throw a little more spice on repeat playthroughs.