Eternally defying FromSoftware, Armored Core 6 players make their own versions of the game's faceless characters
Ayre is a magical girl now, and somehow it just works
Even more than the likes of Bloodborne or Elden Ring, Armored Core 6 takes developer FromSoftware's hands-off storytelling to an extreme. The whole cast is embodied exclusively by voice comms, pilot emblems, and giant robots, but a total lack of any humans hasn't stopped artistic fans from putting faces to the game's characters, and if you guessed that means turning them into waifus, you are correct.
From what I've seen, a few core characters have gotten the most fan art so far, including Rusty, who's just about the only nice person in the entire game and everyone's new favorite FromSoftware character.
[OC] did a take on Rusty from r/armoredcore
V.IV Rusty #ARMOREDCOREVI #ARMOREDCORE pic.twitter.com/16IQZSfhBqAugust 27, 2023
Your handler, Walter, has gotten some illustrations as well. This creates a moral quandary: would I like Walter more if he was a grizzled silver fox? Possibly.
Walter :) #ARMOREDCORE #ARMOREDCOREVI pic.twitter.com/b8ou2Y30dQAugust 26, 2023
I love this Walter-Carla duo, too. From what I remember, Carla is canonically quite old, but what's age in the era of augmented humans?
[OC] Waltuh and Carluh from r/armoredcore
I've seen some grim renditions of your playable character, Raven (or 621), as well. Come to think of it, I can't confidently say that Raven's gender is ever clearly defined, so maybe they would look something like this after the nightmarish augmentation process. That dour story trailer certainly makes it look like hell.
C4-621 "Raven" from r/armoredcore
Anyway, it's now officially time to put on your surprised face, because Raven's soft-spoken Coral ally Ayre has been waifu-ed the hell up. I don't know what I expected, and honestly I'm not complaining. Magical girl Ayre? Hell yeah.
I had this idea in my brain slot while I was playing Armored Core 6 this is Ayre with a manifestation body just did it in few minutes or so. #art #artwork #digitalart #ARMOREDCOREVI #videogames pic.twitter.com/2mrPoHgnJxAugust 30, 2023
Armored Core VI Ayre Imagined concept. Tried to take the red/coral element (looks like some version of melina/malenia too) #ARMOREDCOREVI #ArmoredCore6 #アーマードコア pic.twitter.com/KASiMktdYhAugust 30, 2023
一周目结局……Ayre#ARMOREDCOREVI #ArmoredCore6 #アーマードコア pic.twitter.com/PDFybZNpOnAugust 28, 2023
Finally, we have probably my favorite piece so far. Illustrator Kubaushi has outdone themselves with this take on Raven and Ayre, which is sitting somewhere between Metal Gear Solid and Yoshitaka Amano's cover art.
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621 & Ayre.#ARMOREDCORE #ARMOREDCOREVI #ArmoredCore6 #アーマードコア pic.twitter.com/ZwHypSwEumAugust 31, 2023
Check out our Armored Core 6 review for a full rundown of what makes FromSoftware's new game so great, and if you're struggling or just theorycrafting, peruse our Armored Core 6 best builds guide.
Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.