Daemon X Machina Review – Rock Em Sock Em Small Robotics

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is the sequel to the original 2019 hit, but by name alone. Many things remain familiar, but changes hinted at in the title are visible, audible, and tangible.

The main character and his friend battle through a colony, only to be split up by a challenging foe. The main character is ejected to the planet below, where he meets two helpful strangers also piloting Arsenals. These suits have evolved from their towering mecha origins, adding a fresh twist to the lore. He joins the fight against the Reclaimers and the Neun, two powerful factions threatening the Outers’ colony. The team is almost something straight out of a Hideo Kojima Metal Gear Solid game with super-human abilities and technology.

Marvelous is using a more powerful system to tell the story of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, and it shows. Fights are more vivid and faster than before, with a bit of Action QTE flair with sword clashes and the like. Rail shooting scenes are also a part of the gameplay to mix up the action. Visually, things have improved slightly from their Nintendo Switch origins. The UI is more polished than before. Gone is the cel-shaded look of old with a new paint job. The musical tracks take in some guitar riffs, which have some of the tracks bleed through some of the scenes. The designs for the Arsenals are amazing thus far.

The biggest change would be the move from towering mechs Arsenals to more of a Captain Power / Iron Man suit situation. Franticness is the meal of the day with faster fights than before. Previously, Arsenals were towering mechs with smaller pilots. Now, they act more like high-powered exosuits, capable of both rapid ground movement and unrestricted flight. The Arsenal can now bolt down the terrain or fly to whatever destination it chooses. Flying takes some practice, but once mastered, it’s nearly unstoppable—limited only by the Femto gauge and a maximum altitude. Everything is retained from Helm, Cuirass, Left Vambrace, Right Vambrace, and Greaves, with weight classes to boot. There are plenty of weapons, and at least 8 or so types to go into work mode about. Machine guns, Assault Rifles, and even broadswords are available. Grades are given to show how strong the build is. Each weapon gets an explanation if it is the first time the player has attained it.

The post-apocalyptic world, known as The Ground, seems to be pretty vast so far with Immortals, enemy Axiom Soldiers, zombie Arsenal users dubbed Strays, and other creatures roaming around. Missions are carried out through here, with the sky literally being the limit. The player can go literally all over the map, flying through different areas to explore and complete missions. Throughways can be accessed after unlocking them, allowing Fast Travel passage. Some areas still have dilapidated buildings to shoot and demolish while showing enemies around one massive hit at a time.  Axiom Installations are abounding with guards at the ready. Luckily, there is a Fast Travel option to get out of “caves” and dungeons after the fact. There are massive monsters even roaming about. Some of the likes that we’ve probably already seen from the original game, such as the Hulk of mecha, the Gunfort. There’s a certain feeling you get while you fly around in the air. There are other means available – from horses, to attack cars, to an actual transforming motorcycle – all at your disposal to get you moving. Yes – you read that right: horses.

Enemies could get more challenging, to say the least, but thanks to the Training Room, tactics could be formulated. Immortals are the monster types that roam around with that hostility. Boss fights can be repeated in a separate facility. There have been times when I’d have to go back to the Base to determine what I need to do to overcome an outgunned situation. Canisters and poles can still be yanked from the ground and be used to pummel. Enemies can also be thrown at each other.

Arsenal loadouts can be saved to be used later on if there is a certain build. After the VP gauge is gone, it’s up to your 3-bar health to save the day. For myself, I name them after iconic characters from my childhood to help remember what they have. For instance, I have an Arsenal type that has Grim Reaper assault rifles, a katana sword, and camouflage, named Snake Eyes after G.I. Joe’s mute master ninja. Sometimes, some clashes are broken out by the quickness of your button presses.

The battle system has significant changes. Weapon proficiency can be done through the use of certain tools within the fray. Skills such as Boomerang throws and Mirage can be used at the cost of the Femto gauge and acquisition through obtaining DNA Strands from enemies and bosses. There is clearly a price for everything nice. While obtaining certain skills is great, the cost is seeing how freakish your avatar character becomes, thanks to the mutations that occur. The game will warn you about this, but at the same time, it’s not really much to hinder, as this can be removed for a hefty fee to reset everything. New weapons can be obtained from enemy drops, but the trick is that only one item can be picked up from their corpses, similar to the predecessor. Weapons get better over time, such as the Revolution – a cannon that takes things to the old school through a single shot for massive damage.

The characters so far do feel like a bit of a step up from the original Daemon X Machina. The main character does have lines on his own, and sometimes, paths can be branched after decisions are made. For instance, certain skirmishes can be avoided completely, only for more sinister complications to transpire down the line.  Some cheeky dialogue can be heard within the game to remind you that while it looks like your typical anime-inspired mecha game, it’s not totally on the side of happy-go-lucky. Especially with Toby – Forge’s helpful robotic friend. It’s definitely not Will Smith’s rap track, squeaky clean coded dialogue more often than a slightly mature-rated vibe. Toby makes this quite clear in the first few beats of the story. Beepingly clear.

The Base has every amenity that an Arsenal pilot can think of. From the simulator, to even an Ice Cream Shop which grants buffs per scoop. Missions can be accessed through the portal. When certain characters are met in missions, they may come back to reside here to grant new options, such as atmosphere music changes. Research can be done to craft new weapons and attribute grants. Things can be upgraded by donating scraps found on the battlefield. This could help bring new items to the stores or even a cat for the base to play with.

Next to the side missions, there are a few cool mini-games to undertake. The coliseum has a 30-man leaderboard to battle through within the arena space. At times, there will be special fights that occur because no tournament, within a Japanese fictional property, is ever just good, clean fun (Unicorn Overlord and Dragon Ball Z, for instance). Each combatant becomes increasingly challenging and may require different gear configurations as you progress. Other players can possibly interrupt the bouts, but this mode hasn’t been seen by me yet. Overbullet is the Triple Triad / Queens Blood card game of the show, with a few opponents to tackle. While it’s no Witcher 3 Gwent, Overbullet did prove to be an amusing yet quicker little distraction. Attack, Defense, and more cards are scattered around the Ground / Blue Planet for you to conjure your decks into a 15-item powerhouse. Facing opponents with 3 elements in tow does the work to keep that Yu-Gi-Oh feel.

Multiplayer modes can be in, whereas a team-up on a mission can happen, or even a challenge can be put towards a player in a coliseum match. This could be used to clear tough missions or even just to grind. It’s always cool to step into a lower Merc Rank player, help them own a humongous boss, and disappear as fast as you came after you collected loot like you’re Tuxedo Mask to Sailor Moon. Some players’ remains will still be present within the Ground that can be looted, also, in your own game. Everything is running smoothly for the plays.

There are some screws loose with Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. While improvements have been made to visuals against the Switch’s first release, it sometimes feels as though current-gen systems, such as the Xbox Series X, can do a lot more with the step above. It felt as though I was nearly on the same visual feel as perhaps Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, which does feel dated by a few generations. Even the character movement and models do play off as late PlayStation 3 gen, especially with the English track on.

The fights are cool at the very least and up to spec. While there is help within the team, per story mission, the tag-along feel from the NPCs is a constant. There is no real urgency with story missions or other missions, period, so the NPCs will just stick around your character for the run until the story mission is completed. The NPC support may not be as intuitive as one might assume. For combat vets with experience, I’d expect some characters to go above and beyond compared to my skill, but their times against even the Nuen bosses seem to feel off, with them bowing out quicker. Multiplayer does cap when needed, but the invasion of the coliseum progress is hard to attempt since the option isn’t there. There have been longer-than-normal load times that were unexplained.

There were times when one could expect a bit more from Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. For myself, the fact that it is an open world game, which would open itself to some more creativity. Axiom and the Reclaimers will fight each other, but they’d never find themselves battling against the tougher Immortals in a situation where they have to work with the avatar. Maybe the Reclaimers, but the enemies are usually one or the other. Or even running into someone who isn’t a part of a mission. Either it’s that or it’s something that I actually praise the likes of Skyrim for the standard of spontaneity. However, I still despise Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with a passion. Surprise might be something to add in the future. Especially in terms of the missions, also.

Some missions do feel satisfying, but at times, it does feel a bit mundane for the sides.

If Anthem actually had BioWare stick the landing, it would be something similar to what Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion has put out. Titanic Scion‘s story and gameplay do the job to somewhat get over the itch that Armored Core 6 came and went with. However, it feels as though it’s going the Vanquish route with how quickly the pacing is. Titanic Scion delivers on giving players that freedom some mech games sorely need, with a sequel that keeps you glued to your Arsenal.

Review Disclosure Statement: A copy of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion was provided to us by Marvelous for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guidelines/Scoring Policy.

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