Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is rated 'Mighty' after being reviewed by 59 critics, with an overall average score of 85. It's ranked in the top 5% of games and recommended by 91% of critics.
@TheChancePants they don't compare at all to the souls games. Armored Core existed alongside King's Field and they were nothing alike. You could relate that to the comparison of the latest Armored Core and Elden Ring. They are by the same developer but completely separate. --edit typo
They are mission based and very fast paced. AC games are generally pretty challenging and designed to be replayed a lot for mastery and for trying out different mech loadouts as you unlock parts and weapons over time.
Difficulty and weirdness in the story wise? Very similar.
How the game actually feels to play? Totally different. AC is more of a hardcore arcade action game. One part MechWarrior, one part bullet hell shooter. I'm surprised to see it hasn't really changed much from AC2, the last AC I ever played.
Some of the levels are fucking epic as hell. One of the missions I've done so far, you have to take down this massive building sized tank on legs, and it's like the size of a level in and of itself. You're already in a giant mech that dwarfs a human, and this structure made me feel like just a regular dude fighting a skyscraper.