Not much has been revealed about FromSoftware’s upcoming Armored Core 6, but the little that is known hints that it will take heavy inspiration from Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. The Dune series is one of the most famous pieces of science fiction ever made, so it isn’t particularly revelatory that Armored Core 6 will draw inspiration from it, as many others have done before. What is astonishing, however, is just how on the nose the game’s inspiration may be.

The Armored Core series has been rebooted several times, so story connections between games aren’t always clear or significant. The non-Soulsborne-like Armored Core 6 seems to follow this tradition of rebooting the universe but retaining the correct numbered entry in the series. This means that the new substance that will reportedly drive the upcoming game’s plot is a new addition to the Armored Core series. While having a magical substance on a new planet is pretty standard fare for science fiction, it seems that the one that will be featured in Armored Core 6 is eerily similar to the one in the Dune novels.

Related: Armored Core 6 Last-Gen Versions & Plot Details Revealed Following TGA

Armored Core 6 Will Have A Version Of Dune’s Melange Spice

Image of a nighttime battle depicting several Armored Core mechs and turrets with a massive explosion behind them.

Armored Core 6’s Steam page reveals that the substance was discovered on the planet Rubicon 3 and has the power to advance humanity’s technological and communications capabilities. In his latest YouTube video, VaatiVidya reports on past leaks for Armored Core 6 that have since been corroborated after the game’s reveal. The previously leaked story descriptions label this substance as Melange, which is the same name for the substance in Dune. They even have similar enhancing properties. The leaks refer to the substance's origin planet as Bashtar rather than Rubicon 3, though, so using the term Melange was probably only a thing for early development. Still, Armored Core 6’s story will likely feature parallels to Dune.

What Inspirations From Dune Mean For Armored Core 6’s Story

Image of an Armored Core mech with glowing red eyes.

Armored Core 6’s Steam page also revealed that, instead of accelerating humanity’s capabilities, the substance caused an apocalyptic event that burned the planet and nearby stars. This event is what is depicted in the cinematic trailer for Armored Core 6 from TGA 2022. Nearly fifty years later, the substance has resurfaced on Rubicon 3 and is the cause of a new conflict between corporations and resistance groups. The player is set to take the role of an independent mercenary caught in the chaos. This already sounds pretty similar to FromSoftware’s story worlds in Elden Ring and Dark Souls, which also have some Dune parallels, but the themes in the novels could spell new twists for Armored Core 6’s story.

The Dune series prominently features themes of humans in conflict with the natural world. While the spice in Dune isn’t living, perhaps the substance in Armored Core 6 is sentient and retaliates against humanity for fighting over control of its natural power. This thematic conflict would be amplified by the fact that humans are piloting Armored Core’s deadly new robots that defy and augment human’s natural capabilities.

The plot twist of the substance being alive also lines up with the story in Elden Ring, where the titular ring is revealed to be a godlike extraterrestrial creature. Armored Core 6 is FromSoftware’s first journey back into science fiction in quite a while, which opens the potential for it to bring its unique takes on the fantasy genre into this setting while drawing inspiration from staples in the genre, like Dune, to build upon.

More: One Of The Best Sci-Fi Horror Games Is A Forgotten FromSoftware Classic

Source: VaatiVidya/YouTube