Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is a direct sequel to 2019âs Daemon X Machina. Donât worry about that, though.. These games may have stories, but theyâre not about them; theyâre about mech combat. And on that front, Titanic Scion delivers.
The game does start you out as if you should have an idea of what youâre doing. After creating your characterâs appearance (purely cosmetic, so no worries about classes and skills), youâre freed from captivity (or maybe experimentation) aboard an enemy spaceship. You make your escape inside your mech suit, called an Arsenal, and itâs already fully decked out with equipment you may not have any idea how to use. Eliminating other mechs allows you to take their parts for upgrades, but what do they do? I had no idea, and was completely overwhelmed by the excitement of it all.
No worries, as you quickly find it all stripped away, setting you back to zero. The introductory level drops you on a desolate and hostile planet with a very strong sense of purpose for the rest of the gameâexplore, fight, level up, and get back to your missionâŠpossibly exacting some revenge along the way.
Thankfully, the planet provides many things to help along your way. First, youâll get some friends who have a large base nearby. The base provides training opportunities, upgrade abilities, numerous missions, a story arc, andâŠice cream? Yep. The story centers around the Reclaimersâa group of rebels on the Ground fighting for their freedom from the Outers. Outers live in a skybound paradise called the Garden. Youâre actually an Outer whoâs beenâŠoutcast. Sharing a common goal (but for different reasons), you align with the Reclaimers despite the objections of a member or two.
That enough story for you? Because thatâs pretty much all you get. The plot is there simply to drive you from battle to battle, and thatâs OK. It helps that the characters are quite fun and highly stylized with anime-cool. Just be sure you stick with the Japanese voice acting. Please trust me on that.
The gameplay focuses on two elements: planet exploration and enemy combat. Iâll start with exploration, because thatâs what quickly won me over. How could it not? From the moment you land on the Ground, you can see this is a vast world worth exploring. Your Arsenal immediately gives you the ability to fly around, and the developers gave you plenty to seek out at all altitudes.
A mapping system can momentarily reveal where items of interest are, and itâs worth your time to excavate as much as possible. Sometimes, you just need to open crates. Other times, you need to play a mining mini-game that can provide high quality items as you get better at it.
Getting around it isnât always a matter of running and flying, however. Various vehicles are scattered about for comandeering, andâdespite all that armorâyouâre more than welcome to just hop on any wild horse you come across. Unlike with Link, thereâs no need to tame these creatures. Sure, you can set up warp points, but youâre going to miss a lot of items (and fun) if you rely on them too much.
The main gameplay component, of course, is mech-based combat. Your Arsenal gives you access to a wide array of weapons, abilities, and armor that youâll need to equip and master if you want to get the most out of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion.
This can be a bit overwhelming, as the UI doesnât really do much to explain whatâs good for what. Weapons that will work well against armored foes wonât be as effective against âfleshyâ creatures, for example. And if you load up on powerful melee weapons, youâre going to have trouble against the enemies who tend to distance themselves from you.
You are able to swap out weapon sets, and youâll quickly need to learn strategies for that. My initial approach was to always have a melee and ranged weapon at the ready, but I found this just left me with only one usable item at most given times. I switched that to two single-hand melee weapons that Iâd swap out for a double-hand ranged weapon when necessary, and things got better. You can also save entire Arsenal kits back at the base, making it easy to return to a preferred loadout when a particular battle calls for it.
Enemies, of course, come in all shapes and sizes. Youâll need to know how to repel large numbers of smaller flying creatures, then take on a smaller pack of tougher ground enemies. Of course, there are also massive bosses to eliminate. These tend to involve busting down their armor before youâre able to really do any damage.
That said, I often found the bosses less troublesome than the indigenous creatures Iâd find along the way. Maybe Iâm just better at dealing with a single, more powerful enemy than a swarm of lesser creatures.
Either way, you donât have to do this alone. Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion comes with online multiplayer that allows you to play through the story with up to two other soldiers. I wasnât able to test this during my review period, but I can certainly see the appeal. Although the AI squad members were more than capable of eliminating enemies on their own, going into battle with friends would be much more fun and efficient (depending upon the quality of those friends, I suppose).
Life on the Ground isnât without its issues, unfortunately. The planet isnât much to look at, for starters. That may be great for realism, but it doesnât provide the âwowâ moments that open world games of this type tend to. The gameplay loopâtake a mission, push your explored range, unlock a warp point, return to base for rejuvenation and upgradesâeventually grows old, too.
A more engrossing story would help. I really like the character lineup here, but theyâre not given much of interest to do.
And finally, the gameâs performance reminds us the Switch 2 is still behind its contemporaries in power. Framerate drops and stutters are reminiscent of action gaming the Switch. Titanic Scion is playable on the Switch 2, but it sometimes struggles. Note that I only played the game in docked mode; Iâd need to change my glasses prescription to read the Arsenal customization minutiae in handheld mode.
The overall experience, however, is enjoyable. Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is most enjoyable when youâve fiddled with your loadout so many times that youâre completely optimized for the encounters ahead. The separationâs in the preparation, Iâve been told, and this definitely is a game for the preparers.
