By Ben Williams,Em Stonham And Others Em Stonham And Others

Copyright escapistmagazine

Mecha-based games are still part of a genre with entries that feel few and far between, with the resurgence of Armored Core with AC6 back in 2023 making us hungry for more. Enter Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, the new sequel in the series that was inspired by the earlier entries of the FromSoftware series — even backed by the same producer, Kenichiro Tsukuda.

In both narrative, gameplay & world design, developer Marvelous has tried to make Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion bigger and refined in almost every way. While it hasn’t exactly remedied the issues of its predecessor, there is something special at the centre of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. It’s just in the midst of a diamond that’s very much in the rough.

The Escapist recaps

Daemon X Machina: Titan Scion is the new 2025 sequel to Marvelous’ Daemon X Machina in 2019. Although the first game was a Nintendo Switch console exclusive alongside a later PC port, Daemon X Machina: Titan Scion is a fully multi-platform release out on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. Switching giant mechs for mech suits, Daemon X Machina takes place hundreds of years in the future from the original, as well as being on a different planet — making it so you can jump straight into this new game without needing to play the first. Like in the first game, you play as an Outer, a special type of human with mutant-like abilities that make you be seen as an outcast by the majority of mankind. After being experimented on by the Sovereign Axiom Empire, you escape and join a planetary human resistance as a mercenary with your customisable Arsenal mech suit. As well as enemies from Axiom in their own mech suits to fight, there are also monstrous Immortals — once humans and other animals transformed by the substance called Femto, which gave Outers their powers. Whilst the fast-paced shoot n’ loot gameplay will be pleasing for mech game fans, the lower-quality open-world, story, and characters leave a lot to be desired, depending on what you’re looking for in a typical action game experience.

Titanic Scion takes Deamon X Machina to an open world

After getting separated from your friend at the orbital Axiom base, you crash land onto the land below, what’s known as “Blue Planet”, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion’s campaign, that’s 10-20 hours in length, immediately starts you off on the path to joining the resistance — the “Reclaimers” — against the empire your custom protagonist was once a part of. That’s as well as the numerous beastly Immortals inhabiting the planet, which you have to fight as well.

The most noticeable element to get out of the way first is the graphics and art style. That’s because whilst the opening cutscenes focused on cool-looking mech suit fights set an initially exciting stage, Titanic Scion’s actual world feels like a misplaced gem of the late PS3 era.

Although each area of its fairly sized map feels unique with distinct colour palettes and enemies, the textures and overall look of the actual world itself come off rather bland and drab to explore.

The same goes for the Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion’s characters and the story of the game itself; that’s to an extent anyway. Some members of the cast are indeed downright lovable and have some humorous lines which earn a chuckle, like from the father and robot daughter duo, Forge & Toby, who you encounter at the start of the campaign.

Outside of that, the pacing and the remainder of the cast feel unbalanced, with the story almost demanding you care about these supposedly important characters within minimal time without getting to know them properly. If you’re a fan of anime-style adventure games, however, you’ll probably forgive these critical nitpicks and just enjoy the ride.

Otherwise, you’ll likely feel the compulsion to skip to the real meat of what makes this Daemon X Machina sequel a good time: the mech fighting gameplay.

A smorgasbord of mech-building & brawling

What the Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion lacks in narrative and visual polish, it makes up for in wide customisation for your mech and the combat gameplay that comes with it.

Following the plethora of aesthetic personalisations for your protagonist Outer and mech, the first few missions — or just exploring the Blue Planet and taking on enemies as you wish — will soon see you with additional gear, weaponry, and crafting materials, which you can utilise to make multiple loadouts.

Having you able to equip multiple melee and long-ranged weapons at a time; including swords, lances, maces, guns, laser rifles, missile launchers, cannons, and much more; there’s an endless amount of tweaking for weapon combos you can try.

Combat in general can greatly depend on what exact weapons you go for, but at a base level, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion’s gameplay in battle can be fast, fluid, and grippingly fun once you get a handle on things, with the high-octane, electric guitar-heavy soundtrack adding extra energy.

For example, when opting for a more melee focus, brawling feels very much like Devil May Cry with the potential for high-speed hacking and slashing whilst hot-swapping on the fly.

Another is arguably the most fun of all: active guiding missile launchers, which can devastate multiple enemies at once and deliver that ultimate Iron Man power fantasy you might have been looking for.

Speaking of Iron Man, if you’ve been craving for a game that feels as good to play in a mech suit that’s not really been had since Anthem or Armored Core 6, then Daeman X Machina: Titanic Scion will definitely help you channel that inner Tony Stark as you fly around the map — especially since it makes the drag of exploring the mostly empty map that much less of a chore.

As for getting more gear, weapons, crafting materials, and even Immortal mutations for additional skills, Daeman X Machina: Titanic Scion embodies well-worn the “kill and loot their corpse” mechanic you’ll have probably seen in many other titles.

Interestingly, though, if a body is lootable, you’re only allowed to select one item before it disappears — implementing a nice layer of strategy that’s required when keeping your Arsenal mech’s build in mind, rather than leaving you unencumbered with endless items which clutter you’re frequently visited inventory for tweaking.

As you go back and forth between the open world and your base, the Hangar, accepting and completing missions alongside improving your base, there’s a strong Monster Hunter-like quality to the Daemon X Machina sequel. That’s additionally due to the oddly fitting ice cream stand where you can buy stat-buffing treats before missions..

There’s also a collectable card game and colosseum battles to take part in, but flying around and blasting and slashing other mech suit users and giant monsters is the biggest reason to pick up DXM Titanic Scion by far.

Combat is Not Without Its Issues, Though

The switch from using giant mechs in the original Daemon X Machina to mech suits in Titanic Scion was a great decision, since it allows gameplay to feel far more fast-paced and intense. That said, that switch does come with a caveat of clunkiness.

With the campaign and/or other players joining you in online co-op, multiple enemy encounters are fun enough, but taking on too many feels like utter chaos, with unintentionally shifting camera angles leaving you often unable to keep track of what’s happening. Even when fights do go as planned, the lack of enemy variety can make longer sessions feel stale as well.

What’s more frustrating, though, are Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion’s bosses. When taking on larger enemies, the aforementioned anarchic camera and the shifting of foes make getting up close for melee attacks almost feel impossible — requiring you to play it safe by switching to long-range weaponry and routinely dodging, adding to the mundanity.

Then there are the bosses throughout the campaign. Despite Daeman X Machina: Titanic Scion’s major insistence on giving you the tutorial treatment wherever possible, some boss fights come with such difficulty spikes that, even when combined with the game’s hectic gameplay loop, they feel like a nightmare to overcome.

Granted, you can remedy this by grinding out in the world for a higher level and better gear, or lowering the difficulty setting, but either option then, of course, makes playing feel like busywork and/or an inconsistent gameplay experience.

Whether you should buy Daeman X Machina: Titanic Scion ultimately comes down to what type of gamer you are. If you’re the type of player who loves Gundam mechs, needs an Armored Core fix, or just wants to pretend they’re Iron Man for a couple of dozen hours, this Daeman X Machina sequel excels at letting you create your own custom mech suit to play around in via fast-paced and fluid combat.

The map can indeed be bleakly dismal to explore, but it can still make for a lively playground to test your builds for a bit of mindless entertainment, nevertheless.

However, in the event you’re someone who can get easily put off by a mediocre story, graphics, characters, and even repetitiveness from playing too much, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is definitely a big ask with its full $69.99 launch price. In that case, waiting for this one to go on sale is a must.

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Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion Available Now (Marvelous Games)