Longtime fans of Armored Core VI may have noticed something suspicious when a gameplay trailer from last month revealed that the game will have some sort of a “hard” lock-on mode, something that is not a traditional way of controlling the mech in previous titles.

We got a chance to ask Armored Core VI Producer Yasunori Ogura and Director Masaru Yamamura about the inclusion of this hard lock-on and how they came about the decision to add it, even considering it as the “normal” way to play the game.

Related – Read our full interview with Armored Core VI Director and Producer

“We call this mechanic “Target Assist” in Armored Core VI and the reason we wanted to implement it was because, particularly for players that may be new to this series, we wanted them to first and foremost experience this flying and combat within these mechs. We want them to take full control of their ACs and all 4 weapons simultaneously, so there’s a lot going on and the battles can get quite frenetic, so we didn’t want them to be too overwhelmed by having to target perfectly as well.”

“We also want them to keep the enemy in their sights, and this also allows players to observe the enemy easily and watch for its tells and animations, gauge the distance and timing… It allows for a lot more of that learning and iterative processing during battle. This was a big part of the combat design and that’s why we introduced Target Assist in Armored Core VI.”

The pair consider it the “normal” way to play but have also said that it can be disabled as needed. They recognize that more hardcore fans will want to turn this off in favor of complete manual aiming control.

“This is what we consider the ‘normal’ way to play, however, we understand that more hardcore AC fans may want to disable this and have complete manual aiming control, so we expect to see some pretty amazing players come through and show off their skills with Target Assist disabled.”

Ogura-san and Yamamura-san also explained in detail that having target assist active will not mean that players can hit-scan every bullet but rather a way to align both the camera and mech to the enemy.

“And just to add, we want players to understand that having Target Assist on does not necessarily mean you’re going to be hit-scanning every bullet of your attack. This is a way to align both your camera and AC to the enemy, but the actual targeting will be a little bit delayed and this depends on your FCS, or your fire control system, which is part of the assembly aspect. If you are wanting lesser delay between the camera and weapon alignment, you may want to consider upgrading your FCS or consider the distance between you and your enemy.“

In the end, it all comes down to the player and how they will choose to assemble their mech and how that playstyle will fit their needs.

Related – Read our Hands-on Preview of Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Additionally, Ogura-san and Yamamura-san dropped a hint about whether longtime Armored Core fans can expect some legacy items like the Karasawa Rifle or Moonlight Blade to appear in the game.

Without saying outright, the pair said that they hope that players can “look forward to the final game in that regard and see what’s there.” They recognize that fans enjoy having that and they have “tried to include some elements there.”

We won’t have too long to wait now, as Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon launches next month.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is launching on August 25, 2023, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and PC.