Don't get me wrong, I love Daemon X Machina, but it's the poor man's Armored Core.

Now that I've 100%ed the game, I wanted to come back and revisit my review of the game. There was a lot to love here, and nearly from start to finish, it left me wanting more. There were some really challenging fights throughout, and some bosses I couldn't get past for days. Ultimately, it was just down to setting up builds that would counter what I was playing against.

The game has a lot of depth in terms of customization and regarding the story. Anyone I've see talk about how the story is nonexistent here is, quite honestly, full of ♥♥♥♥. It would take someone ignoring all in-game dialog, messages, mission briefings, and cutscenes to arrive at that conclusion. The story was phenomenal, and the NG+ system was the best I have ever seen from FromSoft.

New Game + doesn't simply let you replay the story again. Each playthrough (Up to NG++) provides brand new missions and decisions to be made in order to work toward different endings, of which there are three in total.

It's a great experience through and through. Don't let people dissuade you because they personally found it unbalanced or lacking in storytelling. The game does not hold your hand, but teaches you everything you need to know. You just have to pay the tiniest bit of attention. I'll give an example:

The first mission, which many initially stated was too hard, it actually a cakewalk. The tutorial mission does just that: It teaches you the mechanics of the game before the boss fight against the PCA Aircraft. The game explicitly states you have an Assault Booster, that basically fast-tracks you to any target. The dialog of Walter toward you facing off against the shielded MTs in front of the first license location explicitly states you have a melee weapon. The game actively tells you about all the tools in your arsenal so that you can square off against the PCA aircraft using those things, and the mechanics the game taught you, primarily AB and melee in the case of this boss.

Not holding your hand isn't a bad thing, and just because you don't have TLOU-style cutscenes with character models chatting to each other doesn't mean the game doesn't have a story. Armored Core VI is deep, and I had a blast every second I played. You will too, if you get past the first hurdle, and pay even the slightest bit of attention to the story.

It. Is. Amazing.
Let me start by saying that. Let me also iterate. I am a really story-driven person, to the point where there can be no gameplay if you have a story that moves me enough. That is why, despite it not actually being a game, I loved Dear Esther.

To compare this game, in my book... It is as good as the Anime Clannad was. It had as much heart in it as the anime movie Summer Wars. It had as much character depth and emotional play as Katawa Shoujo. This game joins all of those titles at takes the spot of #3 as one of the Best Stories I have ever had the courtesy to play through (Clannad being Number 1. Katawa Shoujo being Number 2. The Too the Moon, Summer Wars is tied with The Eureka Seven Movie: Pocketful of Rainbows).

I recommend this game. No. I declare for the world to know: If you haven't played this game, then you don't know what story in a game is all about. You have to right to judge the stories of other games if you have not played To The Moon. So I recommend it.