History YMMV / ArmoredCoreVIFiresOfRubicon

* TheWoobie: The trainee pilot for Dafeng engaged early in the game as a taste of AC battles, where you're tasked to destroy the Tester AC he's in. He speaks like TheHero that refuses to go down when the Redguns need his AC, but he's out of his depth against [[OneManArmy 621]], and is utterly thrashed in no time flat, bemoaning in his final moments that [[IJustWantToBeSpecial he just wanted a callsign of his own.]] Shortly after, the Redguns hire 621, and their leader, Michigan, unwittingly gives them a nickname callsign in their ranks implying the position "just opened up" -- [[ShaggyDogStory you literally just stole the trainee's potential position with none the wiser and the pilot forgotten.]]

* TheWoobie: The trainee pilot for Dafeng engaged early in the game as a taste of AC battles, where you're tasked to destroy the Tester AC he's in. He speaks like TheHero that refuses to go down when the Redguns need his AC, but he's out of his depth against [[OneManArmy 621]], and is utterly thrashed in no time flat, bemoaning in his final moments that [[IJustWantedToBeSpecial he just wanted a callsign of his own.]] Shortly after, the Redguns hire 621, and their leader, Michigan, unwittingly gives them a nickname callsign in their ranks implying the position "just opened up" -- [[ShaggyDogStory you literally just stole the trainee's potential position with none the wiser and the pilot forgotten.]]

* WinBackTheCrowd: About a month out from release, marketing for the game saw a ''major'' increase. Not only did Namco release a new story trailer and 13-minute gameplay preview, but held several major playable demo events and lifted press embargos. All of these combined to remove almost all concerns about the game, draw in more people than ever, and generally cause anticipation for the game to skyrocket.

** The ''[[WakeUpCallBoss tutorial boss]]'' of a security helicopter readily became this for many, many players right out of the gate. You're armed with a basic rifle, a four-shot missile pod, and a laser blade, fighting against a large chopper that has miniguns, a series of homing missiles that can stagger you in no time flat, and a rocket pod that barrages everything in front of it with massive [[AreaOfEffect AoE]] damage. Anyone that relies on Target Assist and sticks themselves in a head-on gunfight with the chopper will just about always lose unless you either stay beneath or behind it, and its WeaksauceWeakness of the Assault Boost plus liberal laser blade combos or charged attacks is rather obtuse for some given the bare minimum the tutorial's taught you, never mind the chopper [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules freely flying out of mission boundaries when it feels like it]] which can prevent such an assault entirely. For an idea of how nasty this fight is, the true and proper tutorial for a proper play-by-play of all the mechanics and how they work together is available as soon as this mission is complete; the starting mission has only taught players the very basics of movement, weapon usage, your Target Assist lock-on that's something of a newbie trap for this specific fight, and the Assault Boost by comparison.

** In the weeks after, the next sentiment that emerged was a disdain for Namco's lackluster marketing. By early July, Namco had released a grand total of just 4 videos for the game on their youtube channel: the initial reveal trailer, a gameplay trailer, the above gameplay footage[[labelnote:*]]Which, it should be noted, they officially released ''weeks'' after it had begun circulating online.[[/labelnote]], and... a short video of content creators giving their initial thoughts on that same footage after a private screening[[labelnote:*]]Again, third-party channels had been doing this for nearly a month by then while going into far greater detail[[/labelnote]]. Considering this is radio silence by internet standards, many fans have been worrying if Namco is leaving ''Fires of Rubicon'' out to drown or expecting it to get by on [[Creator/FromSoftware FromSoft's]] reputation.

** The Balteus at the end of Chapter 1 is the first challenge for players who have settled in and become familiarized with the controls. Between its relentless [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile spam]], [[DeflectorShields pulse armor]] that mitigates damage until it is Staggered, and its [[LightningBruiser lightning-quick maneuverability]], players are going to be in for a very rough time if their builds are not equipped to counter the Balteus' advantages.

** The ''[[WakeUpCallBoss tutorial boss]]'' of a security helicopter readily became this for many, many players right out of the gate. You're armed with a basic rifle, a four-shot missile pod, and a laser blade, fighting against a large chopper that has miniguns, a series of homing missiles that can stagger you in no time flat, and a rocket pod that barrages everything in front of it with massive [[AreaOfEffect AoE]] damage. Anyone that relies on Target Assist and sticks themselves in a head-on gunfight with the chopper will just about always lose unless you either stay beneath or behind it, and its WeaksauceWeakness of the Assault Boost plus liberal laser blade combos or charged attacks is rather obtuse for some given the bare minimum the tutorial's taught you, never mind the chopper [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules freely flying out of mission boundaries when it feels like it]] which can prevent such an assault entirely. For an idea of how nasty this fight is, the true and proper tutorial for a proper play-by-play of all the mechanics and how they work together is available as soon as this mission is complete; the starting mission has only taught players the very basics of movement, weapon usage and the Assault Boost by comparison.

** The Balteus at the end of Chapter 1 is the first challenge for players who have settled in and become familiarized with the controls. Between its relentless [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile spam]], [[DeflectorShields pulse armor]] that mitigates damage until it is Staggered, and its [[LightningBruiser lightning-quick maneuverability]], players are going to be in for a very rough time if their build's are not equipped to counter the Balteus' advantages.

** The Balteus at the end of Chapter 1 is the first challenge for players who have settled in and become familiarized with the controls. Between its relentless [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile spam]], [[DeflectorShields pulse armor]] that mitigates damage until it is Staggered, and its [[LightningBruiser lightning-quick maneuverability]], players are going to be in for a very rough time if their build isn't suited to counter the Balteus' advantages.

* ThatOneBoss: The ''[[WakeUpCallBoss tutorial boss]]'' of a security helicopter readily became this for many, many players right out of the gate. You're armed with a basic rifle, a four-shot missile pod, and a laser blade, fighting against a large chopper that has miniguns, a series of homing missiles that can stagger you in no time flat, and a rocket pod that barrages everything in front of it with massive [[AreaOfEffect AoE]] damage. Anyone that relies on Target Assist and sticks themselves in a head-on gunfight with the chopper will just about always lose unless you either stay beneath or behind it, and its WeaksauceWeakness of the Assault Boost plus liberal laser blade combos or charged attacks is rather obtuse for some given the bare minimum the tutorial's taught you, never mind the chopper [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules freely flying out of mission boundaries when it feels like it]] which can prevent such an assault entirely. For an idea of how nasty this fight is, the true and proper tutorial for a proper play-by-play of all the mechanics and how they work together is available as soon as this mission is complete; the starting mission has only taught players the very basics of movement, weapon usage and the Assault Boost by comparison.

* ThatOneBoss: The ''[[WakeUpCallBoss tutorial boss]]'' of a security helicopter readily became this for many, many players right out of the gate. You're armed with a basic rifle, a four-shot missile pod, and a laser blade, fighting against a large chopper that has miniguns, a series of homing missiles that can stagger you in no time flat, and a rocket pod that barrages everything in front of it with massive AoE damage. Anyone that relies on Target Assist and sticks themselves in a head-on gunfight with the chopper will just about always lose unless you either stay beneath or behind it, and its WeaksauceWeakness of the Assault Boost plus liberal laser blade combos or charged attacks is rather obtuse for some given the bare minimum the tutorial's taught you, never mind the chopper [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules freely flying out of mission boundaries when it feels like it]] which can prevent such an assault entirely. For an idea of how nasty this fight is, the true and proper tutorial for a proper play-by-play of all the mechanics and how they work together is available as soon as this mission is complete; the starting mission has only taught players the very basics of movement, weapon usage and the Assault Boost by comparison.

** In the weeks after, the next sentiment that emerged was a disdain for Namco's lackluster marketing. By early July, Namco had released a grand total of just 4 videos for the game on their youtube channel: the initial reveal trailer, a gameplay trailer, the above gameplay footage[[labelnote:*]]Which, it should be noted, they officially released ''weeks'' after it had begun circulating online.[[/labelnote]], and... a short video of content creators giving their initial thoughts on that same footage after a private screening[[labelnote:*]]Again, third-party channels had been doing this for nearly a month by then while going into far greater detail[[/labelnote]]. Considering this is radio silence by internet standards, many fans have been worrying if Namco is leaving ''Fires of Rubicon'' out to drown or expecting it to get by on [[Creator/FromSoftware FromSoft's]] reputation.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_9PYUXQ9Qw The initial gameplay footage]] pretty much caused the fanbase to explode in civil war. While it was assumed there would be some ''Soulsborne'' influence, most didn't expect features like a hard camera lock, mid-mission adjustments to armored cores, or any sort of equivalent to [[VideoGame/DarkSouls the Estus flask]]. All of these changes led to an ''extremely'' vocal minority proclaiming that the game was a lost cause that had forsaken everything the franchise stood for, which persisted and drove most internet discourse for several days. While cooler heads ultimately prevailed, most of the community agrees that the first demonstration left a relatively sour taste in most hardline fans' mouths.

** One of the infamous Handler Walter's hounds [[labelnote:Explanation]] a line uttered in the gameplay trailer. Fans used it to refer to a selection of [[PreciousPuppy cute dogs]] and [[https://www.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/1350ugb/since_the_whole_collared_dog_theme_is_coming_back/ other animals]]... including [[https://reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14htkl4/meet_one_of_walters_hounds/ one from another Namco-owned franchise]] [[VideoGame/AceCombat that goes by the abbreviation of AC.]] [[/labelnote]]

** One of the infamous Handler Walter's hounds [[labelnote:Explanation]] a line uttered in the gameplay trailer. Fans used it to refer to a selection of [[PreciousPuppy cute dogs]]... including [[https://reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14htkl4/meet_one_of_walters_hounds/ one from another Namco-owned franchise]] [[VideoGame/AceCombat that goes by the abbreviation of AC.]] [[/labelnote]]

** "You gotta take Rubicon's blessings raw…" [[labelnote:Explanation]] When [[https://esrb.org/ratings/39417/armored-coretm-vi-fires-of-rubicontm/ ESRB released their T rating of the game]], the rating summary included references to fictional drugs. One of the example quotes used ''instantly'' began making the rounds thanks to its rather... provocative wording. [[/labelnote]]

** In the weeks after, the next sentiment that emerged was a disdain for Namco's marketing... or rather, the lack of it. By early July, Namco had released a grand total of just 4 videos for the game on their youtube channel: the initial reveal trailer, a gameplay trailer, the above gameplay footage[[labelnote:*]]Which, it should be noted, they officially released ''weeks'' after it had begun circulating online.[[/labelnote]], and... a short video of content creators giving their initial thoughts on that same footage after a private screening[[labelnote:*]]Again, third party channels had been doing this for nearly a month by then while going into far greater detail[[/labelnote]]. Considering that this is radio silence by internet standards, many fans have been worrying if Namco is leaving ''Fires of Rubicon'' out to drown or expecting it to get by on [[Creator/FromSoftware FromSoft's]] reputation.

*** One of the infamous Handler Walter's hounds [[labelnote:Explanation]] a line uttered in the gameplay trailer. Fans used it to refer to a selection of [[PreciousPuppy cute dogs]]... including [[https://reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14htkl4/meet_one_of_walters_hounds/ one from another Namco-owned franchise]] [[VideoGame/AceCombat that goes by the abbreviation of AC.]] [[/labelnote]]

* TaintedByThePreview: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_9PYUXQ9Qw The initial gameplay footage]] pretty much caused the fanbase to explode in civil war. While it was assumed there would be some ''Soulsborne'' influence, most didn't expect features like a hard camera lock, mid-mission adjustments to armored cores, or any sort of equivalent to [[VideoGame/DarkSouls the Estus flask]]. All of these changes led to an ''extremely'' vocal minority proclaiming that the game was a lost cause that had forsaken everything the franchise stood for, which persisted and drove most internet discourse for several days. While cooler heads ultimately prevailed, most of the community agrees that the first demonstration left a relatively sour taste in most hardline fans' mouths.

* TaintedByThePreview: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_9PYUXQ9Qw The initial gameplay footage]] pretty much caused the fanbase to explode in civil war. While it was assumed there would be some ''Soulsborne'' influence, most didn't expect features like a hard camera lock, mid-mission adjustments to armored cores, or mid-mission healing and ammo resupply. All of these changes led to an ''extremely'' vocal minority proclaiming that the game was a lost cause that had forsaken everything the franchise stood for, which persisted and drove most internet discourse for several days. While cooler heads ultimately prevailed, most of the community agrees that the first demonstration left a relatively sour taste in most hardline fans' mouths.

** "You gotta take Rubicon's blessings raw…" [[labelnote:Explanation]] When ESRB released their T rating of the game, the reasons for it included references to fictional drugs. One of the example quotes used ''instantly'' began making the rounds thanks to its rather... provocative wording. [[/labelnote]]

** In the weeks after, the next sentiment that emerged was a disdain for Namco's marketing of the game... or rather, the lack of it. By early July, Namco had released a grand total of only 4 videos for the game on their youtube channel: the initial reveal trailer, a gameplay trailer, the above gameplay footage[labelnote:*]]which, it should be noted, they officially released ''weeks'' after it had begun circulating online[[/labelnote]], and... a short video of content creators giving their initial thoughts on that same footage after a private screening[[labelnote:*]]again, youtube channels had been doing this for nearly a month at the time[[/labelnote]]. Considering that this is radio silence by internet standards, many fans have been worrying if Namco is leaving ''Fires of Rubicon'' out to drown or expecting it to get by on [[Creator/FromSoftware FromSoft's]] reputation

** In the weeks after, the next sentiment that emerged was a disdain for Namco's marketing of the game... or rather, the lack of it. By early July, Namco had released a grand total of only 4 videos for the game on their youtube channel: the initial reveal trailer, a gameplay trailer, the above gameplay footage (which, it should be noted, they officially released ''weeks'' after it had begun circulating online), and... a short video of content creators giving their initial thoughts on that same footage after a private screening[[labelnote:*]]again, youtube channels had been doing this for nearly a month at the time[[/labelnote]]. Considering that this is radio silence by internet standards, many fans have been worrying if Namco is leaving ''Fires of Rubicon'' out to drown or expecting it to get by on [[Creator/FromSoftware FromSoft's]] reputation

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Also a case of ItsTheSameSoItSucks. In June, 2023, ''[=FromSoftware=]'' showed off five minutes worth of gameplay footage to certain media parties, which were then released to the public shortly afterward. Some fans took issues with the changes to gameplay taking cues from the ''Soulsborne'' series, such as being able to change your loadout mid-mission or even heal; features not included in any ''Armored Core'' games until now. In short, complaints can be summed up as ''Fires of Rubicon'' being too different from past ''AC'' games and looking far too much like a mecha-styled ''Soulsborne'' game.

** "You gotta take Rubicon's blessings raw…" [[labelnote:Explanation]] When ESRB released their T rating of the game, the reasons for it included references to fictional drugs. One of the example quotes used ''instantly'' began making the rounds thanks to its rather... provocative wording. [[/labelnote]]

*** "One of the infamous Handler Walter's hounds..." [[labelnote:Explanation]] a line uttered in the gameplay trailer. Fans used it to refer to a selection of [[PreciousPuppy cute dogs]]... including [[https://reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/14htkl4/meet_one_of_walters_hounds/ one from another Namco-owned franchise]] [[VideoGame/AceCombat that goes by the abbreviation of AC.]] [[/labelnote]]

** The quote "You gotta take Rubicon's blessings raw…" has begun making the rounds as a source of memetic material thanks to its rather... provocative wording.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Also a case of ItsTheSameSoItSucks. In June, 2023, ''[=FromSoftware=]'' showed off five minutes worth of gameplay footage to certain media parties, which were then released to the public shortly afterward. Some fans took issues with the changes to gameplay taking cues from the ''Soulsborne'' series, such as being able to change your loadout mid-mission or even heal; features not included in any ''Armored Core'' games until now. In short, complaints can be summed up as ''Fires of Rubicon'' being too different from past ''AC'' games and looking far too much like a mecha-styled ''Soulsborne'' game.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Also a case of ItsTheSameSoItSucks. In June, 2023, ''[=FromSoftware=]'' showed off five minutes worth of gameplay footage to certain media parties, which were then released to the public shortly afterward. Some fans took issues with the changes to gameplay taking cues from the ''Soulsborne'' series, such as being able to change your loadout mid-mission or even heal; features not included in any ''Armored Core'' games until now.