When it comes to the media I consume, I wouldn’t normally consider myself the biggest fan of sci-fi. There are some exceptions to this particular genre preference though, and one of them is anything involving a mech suit. I have always just loved the idea of humanoid robots doing battle, and whether it’s Gundam or Armoured Core I’ll happily jump into any mech based video game. Despite this love of massive robots though I missed out on playing Daemon x Machina back in 2019, and was always rather sad of this fact. Thankfully I’ve had time to right this wrong now with its wonderful sequel, Daemon Machina: Titanic Scion.
In the brutal sci-fi locale of The Blue Planet you play as an Outer, a type of human with special abilities due to exposure to a type of space energy known as Femto. Outers generally live above the surface of the planet on a fancy satellite, but circumstances beyond your control lead to you being labelled a traitor and getting shot down in your Arsenal which plummets to the surface world. There you’ll meet the humans who don’t particularly love your kind and the mutant monsters known as Immortals, and your quest for revenge will begin. I won’t pretend this narrative is the most exciting part of Titanic Scion, but it’s hard to compete with big robot battling.
The idea of flying across a vast alien planet in a mech suit is my idea of heaven, and that’s exactly what this entry in the Daemon x Machina series provides. The Arsenal you pilot isn’t a slow moving lump of metal either, with that lovely Femto energy meaning you can sprint across the sands of the surface with ease or boost through the air to get where you need to go. Often there’s a bit of a learning curve to maneuvering a mech suit in a video game, but I felt very much at home getting around in Titanic Scion.
You’ll rarely get more than a couple of minutes to fly around the planet though without fighting some rogue mech or aggressive monster, and that’s where your combat capabilities come into play. At any one time you can have four different weapons equipped to your Arsenal, one in each arm, a shoulder mounted weapon, and a throwable extra. By using these together you’ll be able to deal with foes up close, far away and even big groups of baddies, and it’s always a lot of fun to do so.
The variety of weapons available in Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion impressed me even in the opening couple of hours. There are so many different types of guns and melee weapons to choose from, each of which will suit different players. Maybe you like the idea of getting up close and personal with a shield and a heavy mace that deals massive damage, or perhaps lasers and homing missiles are more your style. Throughout the game I switched between all sorts of weapons as I found new powerful favourites, and it really kept the combat fresh.
It’s not just shiny new guns, swords and space bows you’ll find from defeated enemies though, you’ll also get parts for your mech’s body too. Individual limbs and body parts can be swapped with more powerful options you find on robot corpses (which you can do on the fly) but you’ll have to balance beefy defensive options with mobility if you want to maintain the ability to dodge and weave. With a base to store your spare legs you can always tinker with your Arsenal to find the perfect battle suit for you though, and even upgrade parts for more power.
Your base in Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion has a whole host of helpful features for you to use, which will help you on your revenge adventure. There are shops you can use to buy new parts, a lab to change your appearance, and even the ability to colour your mech itself to make it a more stylish killing machine. You can upgrade your base too to make it even more helpful, adding stock to the various stores or a cute kitty to improve your own personal morale. Your base is also where you’ll get all your missions, whether they move the story forward or are just a way to earn some extra cash.
Perhaps the best part of Titanic Scion is how free you are to do what you want. The game isn’t made up of a bunch of linear missions, and instead you can grab yourself a handful of monster/mech hunting objectives and dart across the planet to complete them in one massive adventure. Along the way you’ll find so much to explore, with powerful enemies and awesome loot never too far away. I found myself getting distracted by ruined bases and caves of monsters constantly, and with handy fast travel and the ability to build healing checkpoints across the map scouting out this alien world is a dream.
Although being a hotshot mech pilot is fun alone, it’s even more fun with friends. After the intro you’ll be able to play with friends or randoms and take on massive boss fights with a bit of backup. It’s a great addition to a game that’s already a blast to play solo, and for many will be the ideal way to experience Titanic Scion.
As much as I’ve gushed about everything I love about Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion in this review, I’ve barely scratched the surface of the game really. I haven’t mentioned all the vehicles you can use to get around, like the motorbike that transforms into a hovering turret or the massive demon horses you can wrangle. There are also all sorts of abilities you can upgrade by absorbing the DNA of Immortals, which will make you unstoppable. There’s even a card game in this mech based world, which means you’ll always find new cards as you explore to bolster your collection. I was constantly impressed by how much Marvelous has squeezed into this space epic, and it always made it hard to put down for the night.
I played the entirety of Titanic Scion on the Switch 2, and I have to mention how great the game runs on Nintendo’s new console. It’s easily the most impressive third party game I’ve played on the Switch 2, with wonderful visuals and a smooth framerate even in the sprawling environments. You will have to deal with some slightly longer than ideal load times alongside this, but it’s more than worth it to enjoy this vast world in handheld mode. It’s worth noting however, it runs well on Steam Deck, but has some micro-stutter, which is also replicated on the PS5 Pro version, oddly.
I had a lot of fun with Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion, but it does have some issues. Some of the massive boss fights end up feeling a bit less skill based and more like wars of attrition, where you’re just holding down the fire button of your gun and waiting for a health bar to whittle down. There’s a bit of a lack of enemy variety early on too, and while this improves you’ll get a bit bored of the same old mutants in those initial hours. The story is another low point of the game, especially thanks to some seriously naff one dimensional characters.
Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion is a wonderful sci-fi romp, with high octane mech combat and a vast world that’s a joy to explore. I had a wonderful time looting robot bits from my enemies and creating the Arsenal of my dreams, and this is fun alone or with a couple of mech pals. There’s just so much to love about Titanic Scion, and it has ensured I’ll never miss another Daemon Machina game.
