Marvelous’ Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion expands on the systems of the original Daemon X Machina while offering a bigger scope in both its story and setting. Following our preview of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, I was able to delve deeper into the game to uncover what it truly holds and improves upon further, and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of content and features it offers. From the main story and an open world to mini-games and near-limitless customization, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is a well-rounded game and a worthy sequel, despite some imperfections and drawbacks.
As mentioned in our preview, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion puts players back in the role of an Arsenal pilot. This time, Arsenals are more like advanced mecha body suits with greatly enhanced abilities and movement compared to the Gundam-like mechs that players previously piloted in Daemon X Machina. As an Outer who defected from the villainy of the Sovereign Axiom, players join the cause of the Reclaimers on a world often referred to as the “Ground.” There, a robotic boy named Toby seeks help of the player in order to save his father figure, Forge, from Immortals—strange mutated monsters and creatures that harness magical energy known as Femto. After rescuing Forge, he formally invites them into the Reclaimers and a coliseum circuit as players begin to piece together what the Axiom is really about and what actually happened to the main character’s close friend, Nerve.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion Plunges You into a Vast World
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion departs from the standard mission-based structure of the first game in favor of an open-world approach with missions, quests, mini-games, and other activities to explore and discover. You’ll get a sense of how big the world really is after creating your character, escaping the Axiom space facility, and joining the Reclaimers, since you’ll often be tasked with objectives across various locales on the world map. The main story proceeds as you typically expect in modern open-world games, with certain missions taking you to complex facilities and new locales to investigate the Axiom’s operations and learn more about the Reclaimers you’re working for.
There’s a sense of freedom and curiosity in open-world games that Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion manages to replicate while adding its own spin. From the moment you reach the Fort—the Reclaimers’ base of operations—you will be upgrading and adapting to your Arsenal as you see fit, exploring the locales to grow stronger and find valuable loot, and engaging the story and its ancillary content, such as repeatable Axiom Special Facilities and the optional Overbullet card game, which has its fair share of rules and a dedicated questline. Although the open world isn’t as involved as a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or Grand Theft Auto, there’s plenty to do and see in Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion.
While I can’t share specifics on the story, I will say that it takes many twists and turns, especially when the Axiom faction known as the Neun appears. The Neun, or nine, are elite warriors that serve the Axiom’s best interests, and they essentially toy with the protagonist, who was once a member. The story is action-packed and shows how unforgiving and cruel this world can be, but it also makes you feel powerful as an Arsenal pilot who holds the fate of the Ground in your hands. The star-studded voice cast, along with the slew of world-building story content and side quests, make the world of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion feel palpable and believable to an extent.
Faster and Stronger
The combat of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is fast-paced while still conveying a sense of weight with your Arsenal. You know you are piloting a suit that’s meant to completely eradicate your enemies, but it’s balanced in a way where you know you can be hurt if you aren’t careful enough or adapted to enemies and environments. In combat, your Arsenal can be equipped with four main weapons, a shoulder weapon, and an auxiliary weapon, which are all in addition to your armor, ranging from lightweight to heavyweight. Armor affects overall stats of your Arsenal, with durability, brawling, shooting, mobility, and fuel consumption parameters being taken into account with each class of armor. For example, if you decide to go for midweight armor, you will probably have balanced parameters that make your Arsenal a jack of all trades and a master of none.
There are a lot of weapons and armor of varying rarity in this game, so I was constantly chasing and equipping new loot throughout my playthrough. This is especially true when you are presented with a selection of lootable weapons and items when you defeat enemies and search their corpses’ inventories. Back at the Fort, you can develop and buy new weapons and gear, create new loadouts, and customize your mech with a range of decal and skin options. The Fort is the nerve center of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, since you will be engaging with many of the aforementioned features here before setting out to do missions.
Immortal Factors and the Fusion system are a new addition to Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion that will greatly alter combat the more you begin to experiment. Immortal Factors are mutations that you can activate at the Fort’s Lab in order to receive stat bonuses, passive skills, weapon actions, and additional effects. By combining and activating Immortal Factors with Fusion, your Outer will become much more powerful and access more mobility and combat actions than a normal Outer would. The cost of this lies in becoming less human and more Immortal-like, but you won’t be seeing these bodily modifications much in combat. However, the game weighs the decisions to mutate heavily on you, so I can definitely see people deciding to make “human” and “fully Immortal” runs. You are also presented with the option of resetting your mutations and returning to a human state by using in-game credits.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion Isn’t Perfect on Switch 2, But It’s Really Fun
Just like in the preview, I stuck with the Nintendo Switch 2 version, as I thought the portability and overall docked performance were strong enough selling points to make this one of the best versions. Although the frame rate is capped to 30 FPS, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is fluid with little to no frame drops from what I experienced during my playthrough. I hoped that the game would run at 60 FPS on Switch 2, but I think this is a great port, especially during the Switch 2’s initial months out on the market, when games will likely be better optimized in the future.
The brief stuttering issues were still present in the time leading up to this review. These issues really only presented themselves when flying across the world at high speeds when using Femto energy, as you will be soaring quite fast. Due to this, it appears that the game stutters when attempting to finish loading whatever is in the background and not directly visible to the player. Outside of this, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is satisfying to play in both handheld and docked mode without the jagged edges and strange aliasing that original Switch games suffered from.
I enjoyed playing the game on a 4K display since the game’s internal resolution is high enough to produce a clear image that isn’t washed out on a big screen. Arsenal designs are greatly detailed, and the character designs stand out quite well with an anime-inspired look just like the previous game. Visual clarity extends to the game’s UI as well, as you can completely resize and edit HUD elements to your liking, similarly to Final Fantasy XIV’s HUD editor. I used these settings to find the right HUD that’s suitable for me. Not only can the HUD be edited, but there are complete button remapping and accessibility settings that help even more gamers get into the fray.
Packed with Features
As you complete content in the game, your Mercenary Rank will increase. Mercenary Rank is one of my favorite additions to the sequel, since you are constantly rewarded with extras, gear, and customization elements. It’s a valuable incentive that made me want to complete every mission I received at the Fort, which there are many dozens of. You can also procure scrap in the world by completing missions, and scrap can be used to upgrade the Fort’s facilities and gain access to even more features you might benefit from later on.
Although limited, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion does have a number of online-oriented features that players can take advantage of. When connected online, you will see the remains of other players, which can be looted to obtain weapons and gear. Players can team up in co-op play to explore the game’s world together and take on missions. However, you cannot join parties with those who progressed farther than you, so I recommend getting into the game with some friends to keep up with each other’s progress to get the most out of the co-op experience.
Players can also look for rooms that have a password and search for parties themselves. You can also look at your friends’ list directly in the game to see if anyone has a party you can join if their privacy is set to “Open.” When you join a party, you begin with a “grand entrance,” which can bring some offensive effects to your surroundings. There are various grand entrances to choose from, each with its own effect.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is a Complete Mecha Package
Outside of Armored Core VI: The Fires of Rubicon and SUPER ROBOT WARS Y, the mecha genre is quite lacking in the single-player department at the moment. Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion fills that void as an open-world mecha thriller that was captivating from start to finish, thanks to its compelling gear system, turbulent main story, and commendable range of content. What I said in my preview still holds true: Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is bigger and better in nearly every way. Even so, after dozens of hours spent, there’s still room in the game to improve upon when it comes to Switch 2 performance and general replayability. Like any other title, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion could be even better with updates over time.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion launches on September 5 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam).
Disclaimer: Marvelous USA provided a Nintendo Switch 2 copy of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion for review purposes.
