According to Ogura, the continuation of the Armored Core franchise was never in doubt as some employees were interested in creating a new title. The team wanted a shorter gap between 2013’s Armored Core: Verdict Day and the new game, but with so many other games in development over the years, the team felt they had limited resources to work with. Some other games include: Dark Souls 2 and 3, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring. The developers took each of the lessons learned from their time on those games and used those experiences to create a new kind of action for the Armored Core series. However, this doesn’t mean the game will be completely different for returning fans, Ogura said Armored Core: Fires of Rubicon’s gameplay is intended to give players freedom and aim to keep For fans of free assembly and customization love.
That customization will be key to overcoming the game’s difficulty, which is said to be slightly different from the difficulty of other FromSoftware games due to the trial and error process of trying different combinations of pieces. The mech assembly is also said to be more intuitive this time around to be friendly to those new to the series. The story is also newbie-friendly and not tied to any previous titles.
Regarding Miyazaki’s involvement, he serves as Fires of Rubicon’s original game director. Miyazaki, along with co-director and producer Kenneth Chan, worked with others to create the game’s map design, action, and many other core elements of the game’s foundation.
