We Have Achieved... EYEBALLS!

This is your sign to buy and play Titanfall 2.

I’m very sorry, Laura Bailey, but my pal Thermidor asked me to kill you and your friend.

Four girls

One of the things I liked about Armored Core VI is how it really shined a light on how corporations exploit their workers, particularly by the “we aren’t a company, we’re a family” mentality.

You can really see this with both Arquebus and Balam, particularly in the Vespers and Redguns.

On the Vesper side, you clearly have a lot of dynamics going on. O’keefe cares about the people under him, as evidenced by the way Pater speaks about him in the true ending. Plus Hawkins and Pater’s relationship. There’s also Maeterlinck, who respects Snail as her superior and looks up to him. And Snail, as the firm company man who see himself as the embodiment of Arquebus, exploits ALL of this. He knowingly sends Maeterlinck to die by your hand, exploiting her loyalty. He constantly throws those under his command out on useless missions just because he can (as evidenced by the dialogue between Hawkins and Pater). He doesn’t care about anyone or anything but himself and sees himself as the true future for Arquebus.

On Balam’s side you have the Redguns. A fucked up military family lead by Michigan. Michigan knows the names of those under his command, even the grunts in MTs. He cares about everyone under his command and Balam exploits the shit out of that. The Redguns are sent on suicide missions constantly. They clearly seem to be underfunded compared to the Vespers and Balam tried to rush out ahead of Arquebus to their downfall to make up for their financial shortcomings.

The corpos don’t care though. They see the family dynamic in their Ace AC squads as another tool in their belt. ACVI is good.

There have been many good video game bosses. Most of them in Soulsborne games if we're being honest... But nothing will ever make me forget the first time fighting Spirit of Motherwill in Armored Core: For Answer (incidentally, also a game by From Software... go figure)

The fact that the battle begins as soon as you load into the level, how you have to dodge its long range artillery before you even get in sight of this mechanical monstrosity while you're doing mach fuck across a desert. Then once you're actually in close enough to start shooting, it's so big. IT'S SO BIG. it's only ("only") the first boss, but by now you're used to your mech needing an entire 10 lane highway to stand, towering over buildings and literally crushing huge tanks underfoot. But Motherwill... It actually takes a long time to fly around her. But of course, you won't really have time to check because there is a CONSTANT barrage of AA guns, missile salvos, tiny mechs (in comparison to you but still bigger than a Gundam) flying out of her two hangers. You need to be constantly moving in two directions and using your limited (!!!!) supply of flares to survive the onslaught, all while chipping away at her superstructure. She doesn't even have the decency to display a health bar, none of the AC:FA bosses do. But if she did, you'd realize right away (instead of 15 minutes into the fight, like me) that you literally don't have enough ammo for this. You HAVE to bring a sword because your guns, missile launchers, grenade cannons, railguns, and more will simply run out of bang bangs before Motherwill stops trying to kill you. When the victory cutscene plays, and your mech poses next to a piece of wreckage with "Motherwi" written on it, the rush comes to an end and you finally realize you were holding your breath for way too long. The mission complete screen loads up and you get paid, despairing at the repair and ammo costs, and then. Instead of returning to the hanger like usual, the chapter end cutscene plays, and you get another tidbit of lore.

And THEN, two hours later, you fight the SECOND BOSS OF THE GAME and get absolutely rinsed because oh yeah. The folks that made this game went on to create Dark Souls.

Spirit of Motherwill was the best video game boss I've ever faced, and she was only the warmup for Armored Core: For Answer. Over a decade later, I've yet to play anything that comes close to giving me such an experience.

What, the forest-dwelling entities with imperfect human mimicry who insinuate themselves into groups of hikers? Yeah, we had one of those. Clocked it immediately, of course. Honestly it kind of fell in that so-inept-it's-kind-of-charming range. We just played along until it'd had it's fill of marshmallows and shambled back into the treeline. We might have been violating some kind of killjoy wildlife contact best practices but what the hell, can't plan around every little thing. Why, what happened to you guys

Armored Core 6 plays with names a lot.

Your main comms partner, Handler Walter, treats you as nothing more than a tool. In time he starts treating you with some slight kindness, maybe even taking pride in your performance under his directions, but he never stops calling you by your serial number: 621. You hear that there's been people before you. You're just a number to him. Distanced. Disposable.

Ayre, your other main comms partner, urges you to care about the locals of the planet you're fighting on. She calls you Raven, a moniker you stole, but later find out is a word that signifies a freedom fighter. She doubles down, hoping you'll live up to the name. Trying to impart those values on you.

The corporations both try to claim you. To the Balam Redguns, you're Gun 13. One of them. Part of their squad. Meanwhile, Rusty of Arquebus consistently calls you his "buddy." Both corporations want to endear themselves to you, convince you to fight for them. But they're exactly the same.

Then there's the Dosers of RaD. Cinder Carla, Chatty Stick and the other Dosers only ever refer to you as "tourist." You're a guest in their territory. First they spit the word at you, but later on it starts sounding almost like a term of endearment. You're not one of them, but you're not necessarily an enemy.