Verdict
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion struggles under the weight of ambition, while also needlessly playing to as many people as possible. It all blends together in a painfully dull experience that feels as murky as it looks. While some mech action and unique mechanics make it at least interesting, it’s a mediocre time that I would only recommend to die-hard fans or those who wait for a deep sale.
After a few missions in Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, I began to notice something. I was bored. It's never a great experience when a game you're actively excited for becomes shallow and repetitive, yet it's a sudden realization that happens far too soon in the mech sequel, and with a variety of other problems, it's a disappointing thought.
Let's be honest, the first game isn't one of the best Switch games, and as it stands, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion isn't one of the new handheld console's best either. It does a lot to improve on its predecessor, but the performance issues, poor visuals, and monotony of the gameplay bring down the potential for a solid mecha game on Nintendo Switch 2.
Let me say that I don't think Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is a bad game by any stretch. The narrative has the same depth as a paddling pool, seeing you whisked away on some bigger-than-yourself rebellion as you help the Humans on the Ground fight The Garden in an attempt to save your friend, but it's nothing more than a vessel for the gameplay, a thin chassis for what is undoubtedly a decent action game.
Set hundreds of years after the first game, it doesn't require much information on its predecessor, but it does little to make you care for its new story either. Characters are dull and cliché, with the same personality as a wall drying. But they're a preamble to the main attraction, which sees you flying around as a mech (see: Arsenal), flying and sliding around like a DC-level speedster despite the ton-or-more armor. Much like the narrative, diving around tight areas is clunky and tedious, but the open-world-style map makes it more bearable in parts.
You're not just flying around aimlessly, but the narrative makes it feel that way. Each mission feels like "go here and destroy things," and I'll be the first to be honest and say I didn't mind the mindless missions, but they're unmemorable and dull, a mech version of brain rot that does little to satisfy me in the wake of Armored Core 6's excellent comeback. That satisfying launch of ballistic missiles is still fun, regardless of the circumstances around it, but I'm not pretending when I say I can't tell you a single meaningful plot point besides "maybe I was wrong about my biases of the Humans."
Even the bosses, which should be monumental and immersive battles of speed and precision, feel lifeless. They're immense in scale, and enemies do genuinely feel powerful, but besides an interesting armor mechanic that requires you to switch weapons on the fly to deal damage more effectively, they're more like bullet sponges. Ranged weapons lack impact, and while I do enjoy dishing out damage with swords, it doesn't do enough to alleviate the issues.
It doesn't help that, besides somewhat decent character models and decent action that helped me pull out the best Switch 2 controllers for those intense moments, the world of Titanic Scion is plain ugly. Textures are murky and stale, and it falls between painfully dull and mostly dead. The various enemy encounters help to cover up the lack of detail, but it's apparent as you fly across the landscape. All of that blends together into a dim experience that has left me severely disappointed.
However, I can't pretend it's all bad, far from it. The Anthem-style action is decent enough to hold the game together, and the interesting fusion mechanic, which allows you to use Immortal parts to mutate your character's body, is not only brilliant for gameplay, allowing you to gain powerful skills that help in combat, but it also affects your character's design, giving it a narrative reason to exist.
I also truly enjoy the loot system, which adds a layer of strategy to the game. When you loot an enemy corpse or a scrap Arsenal, you can only pick one item, even if they have more gear on them. That adds a distinct requirement to picking the right loot each time you defeat an enemy, and while it's not an issue for long, it still makes it more satisfying to complete your mech's build.
Really, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion's main issue is that the parts all make for a painfully mediocre whole. It's not fully dipping its feet into the mech genre, but rather, it's trying to be a mix of everything that an action RPG fan may enjoy, but that means it lacks personality and enjoyment. If you're willing to wait for a sale or if you're a big fan of the gameplay style, perhaps you'll get your time well spent, but in reality, this is a dull time that few people will truly enjoy, and even fewer will fall in love with.
That was our Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion review. If you're looking for more science fiction escapades, be sure to check out our guide to the best sci-fi games while you're here. Or, if you're more of a mobile gamer, see our lists of the best Android games and the best iPhone games.