Armored Core 6 players can't believe how tough the tutorial boss is

Armored Core 6 mechs — (Image credit: Bandai Namco / FromSoftware)

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon's tutorial boss is proving plenty difficult for a lot of players out there.

FromSoftware's first Armored Core game in over a decade has just launched, but heaps of players are already struggling with the early hours of it. It turns out that many players are having a tough time conquering Armored Core 6's opening boss, which is considered the "tutorial boss" of the entire game since it concludes the opening mission.

As Automaton Media reports, this boss is the AH12 HC Helicopter, complete with barrages of missiles and relentless heavy machinegun fire. "First boss of AC6 is kicking my ass," attests one player on Twitter. Truth be told, it's not uncommon for FromSoftware "tutorial" bosses to pack a punch, but sometimes they're designed to be overwhelming by nature, like the Vanguard Demon in Demon's Souls.

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Over on the Armored Core subreddit, one post claims roughly half of Armored Core 6's negative user reviews on Steam are from players who can't beat the opening boss. Right now, Armored Core 6 is sitting pretty at a great 'Very Positive' overall rating from user reviews on Steam after more than 3,600 user reviews.

While it's true that a fair few negative user reviews paint a damning picture of the AH12 HC Helicopter boss, with one user calling it "completely unnecessary," the vast majority of user reviews seem to be focused more on the overall design of Armored Core 6, as well as its keyboard and mouse controls.

"This is just Sekiro with an Armored core paint job, and it suffers for it in my opinion," writes one user after more than nine hours. "The only thing that I absolutely can't stand in this game is the corny and terrible dialogue. The conversations are about as dynamic and intense as kids playing army in the backyard," writes another player.

It seems that yes, while some Armored Core 6 players are struggling with its opening boss fight, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to struggle with, this line of thought isn't representative of the overall negative player feedback surrounding the game. If players aren't happy with the new FromSoftware game, which so far has fantastic overall reviews, it's more aimed towards game design and dialogue, if anything.

You can read our very own Armored Core 6 review to see why we awarded FromSoftware's latest with 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.