For a very long time, FromSoftware's Armored Core games were those to get for fans of mech-based action games who wanted to dive deep into customizing giant robots and duke it out against all sorts of enemies, together with other mech enthusiasts or even against them, depending on the game. Despite the popularity of the genre, however, we haven't seen a lot of games inspired by FromSoftware's classic series, and to this day, Marvelous' Daemon X Machina stands as one of the few games that managed to capture the spirit of the series, even though its forgettable story and a few other issues prevented it from being a widely acclaimed game.
Five years later, the Japanese developer will be back at it with Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. Though different in some ways, the second entry in the series promises to take the best features of its predecessor to offer what's likely to be an overall better experience that edges closer to the Monster Hunter and God Eater series, rather than the Armored Core series that inspired the original.
Though set hundred of years after the events of the original game, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion further explores many of the same concepts and themes, including the colonization and the hard-won independence of the blue planet from Earth Prime, and further develops the Outers, humans with special abilities fueled by Femto energy whose rejection from the rest of society led to a revolution and the establishment of a military regime known as the Sovereign Axiom. Fighting against this regime is the rebel faction of the Reclaimers, who also have to contend with other violent byproducts of Femto energy exposure, the Immortals. Although primarily composed of regular humans, the Reclaimers can also boast some Outer members, including the player-created character, who will play a rather big role in the fight for freedom of humanity while seeking revenge for the pain the Axiom has caused them.
Having only played the first three hours or so of the game, it's difficult to say if Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion's story will be any better than its predecessor's. Although it features a premise that we have seen time and time again in sci-fi themed titles, the game does a generally decent job at introducing the story, its main characters and antagonists, although they never move past some of the central tropes of anime-inspired games. Still, the potential is there, and I am interested in seeing how the war between the Reclaimers and the Axiom will eventually play out.
While Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion still moves within the boundaries set by the original regarding setting and story, as mentioned, its gameplay formula is quite different from that of its predecessor, although it builds upon its best features and mechanics. When the game was announced, the reveal of open-world mechanics and the Arsenals changing from huge mechs to combat suits disappointed some fans of the series, suggesting a watering down of the tight mission-based formula of the original and a significant shift in combat mechanics. From my limited time with the game, I can say that these changes do impact the experience, but in a relatively good way, although fans of the Armored Core series will inevitably feel like something has been lost in the process.
For starters, Marvelous seems to have struck a very good balance between the open-world mechanics and the mission-based formula of its predecessor. While the map offers plenty of side activities, which include mining for materials that can be used to craft all sorts of Arsenal parts which impact the combat performance of the combat suit, collecting items, which include blueprints to create new parts, the player can decide to keep the experience tight by focusing only on unlocking fast travel points, of which there are plenty. As such, whenever a mission is accepted at the terminal located in the main base, it is often possible to warp in the vicinity of any mission location, cutting down travel time considerably if one so desires. Traveling back to base once a mission is complete is similarly easy, replicating the original's gameplay flow while offering more to those who want to engage more with the world. The map is also made more lively by a decent amount of enemies, including both Immortals and Axiom forces, and some random world events, which add a degree of unpredictability that is always quite welcome. In many ways, this setup - the combination of a mission-based progression system and open world setting with convenient traversal, reminded me heavily of Monster Hunter Wilds.
The Monster Hunter series, as well as other franchises inspired by it, like the God Eater series, must have been a pretty huge inspiration for Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, as it's impossible not to think of them when the game starts opening up after the first few introductory missions. At first, Arsenal customization with different parts which determine the capabilities of the combat suit and its weight, the many weapon types and movement option, which include a stamina draining evasive maneuver and Femto energy-consuming Boost seem almost unwarranted by the simplicity of the third-person action combat, but thankfully, all these systems start showing their strength as the training wheels are off, and the player is left a bit more freedom hunting for materials and blueprints and taking down giant Immortals with different body parts that can be disabled.
Combat is eventually made more fun by two mechanics: grabbing and Fusion Skills. The former allows the player to grab any enemy after damaging them past a certain threshold to inflict high damage with melee or ranged weapons, or to throw the enemy against the environment or other enemies, opening up a lot of interesting possibilities. Fusion Skills, on the other hand, open a huge number of options. Unlocked after obtaining Immortal Factors from enemies, these skills significantly impact the player's playstyle with a lot of very useful weapon skills with many different effects, passive skills including increased stats and resistances, auto-dodging and so on, and even some cool looking defensive skills, such as being able to use a melee weapon to deflect bullets, making melee-only builds potentially quite viable. With the ability to summon a bigger, customizable Heavy Armor is the vein of the original game's Arsenal thrown into the mix, which was sadly not available in the preview build I have tested, main and auxiliary weapons with a lot of different effects and uses which can be switched on the fly during combat, and co-op multiplayer thrown into the mix, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion promises to be a much deeper experience than anticipated.
When the game was revealed, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion wasn't exactly on my radar, but after having played its first three hours, I am definitely interested to see what else the game has to offer in terms of mission variety and combat mechanics, if the open world setting will continue to enhance mission-based gameplay or will eventually become a hindrance and how the war between the Reclaimers and the Axiom will play out. Thankfully, the wait won't be long, as Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion launches in one month, on September 5, on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
PC version tested. Preview build provided by the publisher.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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