Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will bring the mech-combat series back from the scrapheap next month, and after a sizeable hiatus we're pleased to say our hands-on was very promising indeed.

Still, as developer From Software has grown into a household name thanks to games released in the space between its sci-fi series, fans have come to expect plenty of secrets.

We asked Director Masaru Yamamura and Producer Yasunori Ogura what kind of details fans can expect to find, and whether we'll be wielding a Moonlight Greatsword the size of a building in Armored Core 6.

• For more on Armored Core 6, check out our extended interview feature.

Armored Core 6 devs on the Moonlight Greatsword and other secrets

While our preview of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon's early hours were linear, Yamamura confirms that things will open up.

"Around the middle of the game, around chapter three, you'll start to get multiple requests from different factions, different corporations," he revealed.

"We wanted to present a kind of more dynamic style of storytelling to the player. We wanted them to feel like they're immersed and caught up in the war on Rubicon.

"These choices will eventually affect the branching paths of the campaign going forward, and in the endgame, this will be affecting the ending you eventually get," Yamamura explains.

That freedom does allow for more secrets, too.

"There are some hidden elements that you'll find," Yamamura said.

"For more open-ended missions, like exploring a large, open area or megastructure, you may be able to go off the beaten path and find some hidden collectables in the way of extra weapons or parts, and hidden encounters that will unlock extra parts as well."

Could one of those caches or encounters reveal the Moonlight Greatsword, though? After all, the weapon has been a staple of the majority of FromSoft games since King's Field, and has been in Armored Core before.

"You'll have to play and find out for yourself," Yamamura joked when we asked - but it wasn't a no.