While its existence is, at the very least, further evidence that FromSoftware seems incapable of making anything less than a solid game regardless of genre (and reluctant to allow even semi-recent products to be sold at large discounts), it's closer to 'Sekiro' in what it demands of the player than anything from the weird family tree of 'Dark Souls', 'Bloodborne', and 'Elden Ring'. Even then, I only name 'Sekiro' specifically as the closest point of comparison, rather than anything parallel beyond faster combat and a vaguely-similar 'Posture'-esc gameplay mechanic; AC6 is considerably more of a mission-based Action game than the cryptic RPGs FromSoftware is associated with, considerably more cinematic, immensely more heavy on its mechanical crunch in constructing a loadout, and approaching it with the mindset you would a traditional Souls-Like from the devs that created the genre will only turn the game into a frustrating slog.
'Fires of Rubicon' is most-accessible and most-refined the series has ever been, if you're willing to meet it on its terms, and a solid introduction before considering attempting the more avant-garde entries of 'Verdict Day' or 'For Answers'. The amount of build variety, and even moreso the ability to painting your mech with decals and color-schemes, is abundant (a third of my playtime at time of review alone was dedicated to manually placing stickers, plastering writing, and drawing flames on my mech), allowing for minute customization to an extent I have not seen another game come close to rivalling, except maybe the previously-mentioned 'Armored Core' games; with loadout experimentation facilitated via buying and selling mech parts at full price, and differing missions, enemy types, and boss encounters each favoring distinct strategies to be approached with.
Hardly a long game, with its fifty-ish missions each cleared in minutes, excluding time spent trying or swapping parts, but the gameplay loop of customizing your mech begets replayability (and a small amount of grinding to afford more parts), with enough unique content locked behind NG+ *and* NG++ runs that I can easily see myself sinking two more playthroughs into the game to see the 'true' ending, just based on how satisfying the core mechanics feel to engage with.
Absolutely more approachable than the wall of numbers that is the mech-building screen would imply, even coming from Souls-likes, and a superb starting point for engaging with the series, though admittedly the only main entry easily-acquired without now-retro hardware or emulation.
