 So let's talk about how Armored Core filters players honestly, because despite being a meme at this point, I think it's actually an extremely important topic right now, especially if you're a new and aspiring game developer. Like I said before, I've been playing Armored Core all my life, it's my favorite series ever, and when Armored Core 6 was announced I was extremely curious to see how the devs were going to prepare for the influx of casual gamers that no doubt had no clue what they were signing up for. There were some fans that were worried that FromSoft would water down the game for casuals, but most of us old vets knew the game would be made for us, because the last 15 games were made for us and we happily saw no evidence that they were all of a sudden gonna make a 180 turn and forget about us in favor of casuals. But what I didn't know was how they were gonna handle the massive new casual demographic. So the main question for me as a dev looking from the outside was how are they going to adjust the difficulty of the game for the casual players? Because historically, Armored Core has officially only ever had two difficulty settings. They had normal and hard. Because f*** easy mode I guess. But if you've ever played older Armored Core games before, you knew it wasn't gonna be a walk in the park, and they even had Carl Urban tell you in their promo. Maybe you're in for glory, for fortune, either way it's not gonna be a walk in the park. So how in the world were they going to make the game at the same level of difficulty that the veterans expected, but easy enough for casuals to get into? Well, it turns out that FromSoftware's answer was they don't. They just decided it was not worth the resources to make a game that appeals to both casuals and hardcore, and filtered out all the casuals in level one. But it wasn't just a filter. It was also a mini demonstration and explanation of what you will need in order to play the entire game. Because literally everything you learn in the first level, all the techniques, skills, combat maneuvers, and strategies that are required to beat the first boss are the exact same skills you will need in order to effectively fight all the bosses in all the missions for the rest of the game. Now I've heard people complain and say the first level is poorly designed, it's unfair, it's not very well explained. And I respectfully completely disagree. And I'll talk more about why in a later video, but for now, just to put it simply, Armored Core knows exactly who their hardcore audience is, and they know exactly how their audience likes to overcome challenges. Armored Core has never been a game where the exposition and the story is shoved down your throat, holding your hand taking baby steps while turning on slow-mo bullet time with a tutorial message saying, press X to win battle. No, none of that. The game respects the player's intelligence, creativity, perseverance, and determination to figure things out without being told. What most Armored Core fans love about the series is, unlike many games out there that are made for everyone, this one is not. This game is not afraid to kill you. Aside from a few hints before the boss, the game doesn't really tell you how to play. You decide that for yourself. The Armored Core series comes from an age where players were expected to figure it out. That's one of the few games that still does that today. And if you think there's too many hints or messages in the first mission in Armored Core 6, you should try play the first mission in some of the older Armored Cores like Armored Core 2. Or in the beginning of the game, you literally get zero tutorial instructions or messages to show you how to play the game. The game just starts you off in the middle of a fight and they don't even tell you the controls. Back then, we literally just had to press all the buttons to see what they did mid-fight before the boss shows up. That's what most of us old-school players are used to. And if that's not what you're used to, and if that's not what you want to play, then listen, that's cool. That's totally fine, I respect that decision. Not all games are made for everyone and you should be glad that from software straight up showed you their true colors in level 1. So you could know immediately that the game was not for you and you just get your refund and move on. I actually believe that's the most ethical way that you can use a filter as a game dev. Because the worst thing you could do is water down the beginning of the game to try and trick casual players that the game is for them and then sneakily switch it up in the middle with the real difficulty, leaving the players confused as to why all of a sudden they suck at the game and can't beat anything 20 hours into it. Also, when you try and trick people with easy difficulty at the beginning, you drive away your hardcore audience because they assume that the game is too easy and has been watered down permanently for the casuals. So in actuality, the most honest thing that you can do as a dev is just be straight with the player in the front, then let them decide for themselves whether the game is worth investing in continuing or not. The entire game revolves around mastering what you need to learn in mission 1. The skills you learn here are the exact skills you will need to beat the final level. So this is probably one of the most honest filters I've ever seen in a video game and I think they did a great job. My stream had a lot of fun watching me have my ass handed to me while I was fighting the first boss too. Even as an old school ArmourCorp player, I had to make some huge modifications to my fighting style in order to get used to the new combat system in ArmourCorp 6. But I kind of knew that was going to be the case going in, because that's always the case when you get to a new ArmourCorp game. And honestly, that's part of the fun, because I love that cathartic feeling of finally making the right adaptation and overcoming the challenge in front of me. Figuring out what part of my game plan wasn't really working, making that change and then realizing, oh, that's what the problem was, now I got this. And if it turned out that the game really wasn't for me anymore, at least from software had the courtesy to let me know in the beginning right at level one. So I think they did the right thing by putting the filter in the front. But what do you guys think? If you disagree, let me know how you would have changed things if you were in their position. Thanks for watching. And as always, hope you have a fantastic day and I'll see you around.