Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion shakes off the comparisons to Armored Core by boldly reinventing itself. Instead of chasing bigger mechs, the sequel embraces smaller, faster Arsenals and drops them into an expansive open world packed with enemies, secrets, and massive boss encounters. Whether you’re tinkering with builds in the garage, teaming up with friends online, or testing your latest creation against towering foes, Titanic Scion finally feels like the series finding its own identity.
Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion
Developer: Marvelous, FIRST STUDIO
Price: $69.99
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2
MonsterVine was supplied with a PS5 code for review
I remember how excited I was for the original Daemon X Machina as a long time Armored Core fan and mecha enthusiast, and I thought it was a pretty good romp marred by some performance issues on Switch and the gameplay not feeling too varied. I really wanted to love it, but I only liked it, especially because I just wanted static parts instead of grinding out RNG parts to get me to play more. I think the team knew they were standing in the shadow of Armored Core in expectations by a lot of fans, especially after how great Armored Core 6 was, and they made the best choice they could have; they redefined themselves while using what they learned, making the first one to make something different and stand out.
Initially, I absolutely crossed my arms and turned my nose up at the idea of smaller robots as what we play with. I love giant robots, don’t make them smaller. I quickly began to fold the more I played the game and saw just how much of an improvement it is on all fronts, gameplay wise The Arsenal are fast, packed full of firepower, and a fantastic way to explore the new open world that Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion innovates on the series with. Instead of just venturing out on static missions and returning, Titanic Scion broadens its horizons by filling some pretty massive areas full of things to fight, explore, and even secret bosses that get the jump on you and send you into a panic.
Titanic Scion Brings Daemon X Machina Into Its Own Identity
It was great to get back to a game that had me tinkering in the garage for hours, once things started to really open up after 5-10 hours and the game stretches it’s wings I began to make a ton of different Arsenals with different themes just so that I could bring them out into the open world and test them out, and maybe even find something new. I have to say that I’m a bit excited for this game to come out and have the community get their hands on it. I know some secrets snuck past me. Your Arsenal has 4 primary weapon slots, a shoulder weapon slot, and an auxiliary slot for your offensive needs, and good lord, there is a ton of variety to be had just in offensive options.
The game still continues the Daemon X Machina tradition of giving you assault rifles that fire 1 bullet per second, but that doesn’t last long. Machine guns, snipers, shotguns, bazookas, giant lasers, funnels to remotely pepper your opponents, and so much more await you on the ranged side of combat, with many of these having both energy and ballistic varieties so you can focus on one type of damage, or just be a jack of all trades. The melee combat is significantly improved from the first game, giving you a ton of different kinds of weapons, combos, and more things that factor into it that I will discuss shortly. All of these options, combined with how fast and fluid (after a little adjustment to the speed, of course) your Arsenal moves, make that moment when the game clicks for you oh so good. I found myself unable to put it down at a point; it was a nice surprise that they finally hit their stride with a lot of the ideas behind the first Daemon X Machina.
Of course, you also will be customizing the other parts of your arsenal, like the head, chest, arms, and legs. They (mostly) fit into a light, medium, and heavy class, so you can mix and match as you wish, or just pursue the never ending pursuit of more bullets and turn them into a weapons platform! The equipment in Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion follows a bit more of a linear progression than things like Armored Core, but there were still many decisions to be made with time spent tinkering with attachments and different equipment in the garage.
The customization doesn’t stop there, though. With the fusion system, you can absorb genes from enemies to give yourself weapon skills, general skills, and passive skills to get stronger. It has the shameful side effect of gradually turning your lovingly crafted create-a-character into a monster without spending money to fix it, but thankfully, after beating the game, you unlock the ability to do it for free. There were a few things like that that had me wondering, along with the inability to fight in the colosseum when you are online, but I had a very solid experience with this gameplay-wise.
The story in Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion is one of dark, futuristic sci-fi mixed with an injection of anime right into it. It wasn’t too interesting, but the story of hyper-evolved beings building orbital defense satellites to rule over the humans will always earn a few cool points from me. There are a couple of twists and turns, but the game expects you to care a whole lot more than you probably will. The ending arc really dialed up anime craziness, so it was a pretty satisfying conclusion. This game had so many systems supporting it, including dungeons you can randomly generate to tackle and share online, tons of quests, and a huge amount of items you would really have to grind for. I was expecting a very grand endgame experience… but there wasn’t much of anything. A couple of story quests to tie up loose ends, but it mostly took the steam out of my engine when I got there.
The ending note being “I wanted more” is still a very strong mark for Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion, but it’s a bit confusing that they have all of these systems that feel overdeveloped for their use. No post-game colosseum battles, super bosses, or anything to really make you grind out the best parts, with the best RNG and the best attachments outside of just the satisfaction of doing it. The performance on PlayStation 5 was pretty consistent outside of some frame dips when things got really crazy, and a weird problem I had where picking up items on the field would just freeze me for half a second.
Side note, as a happy mecha fan, you eventually do get the ability to call down a full-sized giant robot that you can pick from a few, so this giant robot enthusiast still got some of it in the end!
The Final Word
Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion makes a big change compared to the first game, and it paid off. The game proudly displays its own ideas and molds the gameplay to be something between the usual mecha style and an action RPG that stands out among the pack. There are a few questionable design decisions, and maybe some lost potential with the lack of endgame, but I loved my time with my Arsenal and hope they are planning for more.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
