Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion – Review

When the first Daemon X Machina game made its debut in 2019, we somehow ended up skipping it ourselves, though one of our fellow reviewers did take an in-depth look at Marvelous’ mech-based action game. The release of its sequel, Titanic Scion, seemed like a good opportunity to give the series a spin ourselves. At first glance, it’s certainly more ambitious, opting for an open-world approach while sticking to the series’ signature mech battles. Of course, bigger doesn’t always mean better. Can Titanic Scion stand on its own two -mechanical- legs, or did we end up feeling like its predecessor’s shadow loomed over it?

Story

While Titanic Scion is set in the same universe as the first Daemon X Machina, the events in the game take place several centuries in the future. There are no direct narrative ties here, so if you happen to have skipped the previous game like us, you can still jump right in here and not feel lost. In Titanic Scion, humanity has become divided between ordinary folk and so-called Outers, mutated humans with powers from Femto Energy. Your self-created protagonist is one such Outer. Early on in Titanic Scion, they join the Reclaimers, a human resistance group who are fighting against the Sovereign Axiom regime. The conflict between Reclaimers and Axiom provides the backbone for Titanic Scion’s story, although there is a personal angle here as well. Early on, the protagonist’s best friend, Nerve, ends up in Axiom’s claws, and rescuing him becomes another motivator for our hero. Unfortunately, Titanic Scion’s story comes across as basic and undercooked. Character development in particular is weak, and villains feel rushed and shallow. The most egregious offenders are the Neun, enemies that get very little buildup before their backstories are simply lore-dumped on you late in the game.

Graphics

Boasting a striking art style, Titanic Scion has a distinct cel-shaded, anime-inspired look. The poster children for the franchise are the sleek mechs, of course. These look fantastic, with outright cool designs. The looks of the human characters fit in seamlessly with the series’ aesthetic. The character creator is worth mentioning here too, as you’re given plenty of options to make your protagonist feel unique, while staying true to the distinct futuristic atmosphere. Rounding things out from an art direction perspective are the alien landscapes, which are varied enough to keep things interesting. Unfortunately, the Switch 2 version of Titanic Scion doesn’t quite hit full marks when it comes to visual performance. Unlike the PS5 and PC versions, which support up to 60fps, the Switch 2 port is locked to 30fps. Adding to this are textural downgrades and frequent pop-ins. The game also performed better in handheld mode, with docked mode being subject to more frequent stuttering. Given that Titanic Scion can be quite draining on your battery, having docked performance be worse is regrettable.

Sound

We’re going to immediately recommend switching to Japanese audio here, as the English dub for Titanic Scion isn’t very good. To its credit, the game is fully voiced, but the English voice work comes across as flat and awkward, undercutting the emotional impact of the story. As we mentioned earlier, Titanic Scion’s narrative isn’t the deepest in the first place, but this is somewhat mitigated by the more suitable and emotional performances of the Japanese cast. Fortunately, Titanic Scion’s metal-techno fusion soundtrack doesn’t suffer from the same issues. In fact, it’s one of the game’s highlights. It’s quite varied too, with light, poppy music even playing in lighter parts of the game, like in the ice cream shop at the Fort. The game’s sound effects are excellent as well, with explosions, mech thrusters, and weapon fire making attacks feel impactful, and the sounds of weather creating a tense audio backdrop while exploring.

Gameplay

Up until this point, we’ve avoided directly comparing Titanic Scion to Xenoblade Chronicles X, but it’s hard to deny the similarities between Marvelous’ most recent offering and Monolith’s hit from last year. Both games bring a blend of open-world exploration and mech-based combat to the table after all. That said, Titanic Scion puts much more emphasis on combat, whereas X puts its main focus on exploration.

The open-world structure of Titanic Scion is a departure from the first Daemon X Machina’s more straightforward mission-based setup, though the game itself is still structured around story missions, with optional sidequests supplementing this. There are three post-apocalyptic regions to explore, both with your mech and by other means, including cars, horses, and even a motorcycle that can transform into a rail gun. While the regions are filled with bases to raid, chests to loot, and big monsters to beat up, the biomes lack the variety and sense of life that X’s Mira had to offer. To Titanic Scion’s credit, the game’s hub area, the Fort, is a lot easier to manage and navigate than X’s vast city of NLA.

Things fare a lot better when it comes to combat. Battles are fast and flashy, centering around you piloting your Arsenal mech with a mix of melee and ranged options. You can equip up to six weapons at once, allowing for switching on the fly and experimenting with different styles. Titanic Scion offers a much more hands-on approach than X, with the ability to stagger and grab enemies, and then letting you slam them into others. Objects like crates can be plucked from the environment and used as weapons too. The standout battles are those against bosses like giant Immortals or elite Neun members. These bosses make use of unique mechanics like invisibility or armor stripping, and often require you to adapt and rebuild your loadout to succeed against them.

Speaking of weapon loadouts, Arsenal customization is another highlight. Armor and weapons can be mixed and matched, but there are always stat tradeoffs to consider. Lighter builds are nimble but fragile, while heavy builds are slow but devastating. Regardless of the build that you strive for, weapons and armor can be further tuned with attachments. It’s not just your Arsenal that can be customized as well. As you defeat enemies, you collect so-called factors, DNA strands that you can fuse with to unlock active and passive skills. These come with visual mutations that make your character look less human over time. Restoring your humanity after mutations is possible, but the cost to do this increases over time, making you really consider whether fusion is worth it. Both new loadouts and fusions can be used in 1V1 duel mode in the Coliseum, allowing you to test builds as well as earn rare gear.

The meat of Titanic Scion is in its overarching narrative campaign, which will run most players around 30 hours to complete. The entire campaign can be played online with others, and Titanic Scion even supports cross-platform play, with smooth and simple matchmaking. There’s even an asynchronous element to this, as you can run into fallen players’ mechs in the world, and loot them or use supply bases left by others. It’s nothing particularly new or mindblowing, but it does help with making the world feel more alive. Compared to X -again- 30 hours doesn’t seem like you’re getting a whole lot of bang for your €69.99, but if you engage in side content, like the in-game card game Overbullet, you might find that you can squeeze some additional hours out of Titanic Scion. Either way, we felt like there was plenty of content here to get your teeth stuck into.

Conclusion

While we can’t outright compare Titanic Scion with its predecessor, we can say that it is a serviceable game, albeit not a mindblowing one. Moving the series to an open-world format was definitely a good move, although exploring the different biomes feels undercooked. The game’s story also isn’t quite up to snuff. On the other hand, the game’s fast-paced combat is satisfying and generally excellent, and the art direction is top-notch as well. We should note that the Switch 2 probably isn’t the best platform to play Titanic Scion on, as the game’s performance on the hybrid handheld isn’t as smooth as that of the PS5 or PC versions. Hopefully, a patch or two will bring the Switch 2 port more in line in the near future.

SebastiaanRaats

View My Other Posts

Related Items

Fallen Tear: The Ascension – Preview

PC, Previews

Drywall Eating Simulator – Review

PC, Reviews

Don’t Stop, Girlypop! – Review

PC, Reviews

Out of Time – Review

PC, PS5, Reviews