The first Daemon X Machina was released at a time when the Armored Core series seemed to have been forgotten. Therefore, the action game featuring large mechs looked quite unusual and satisfied the needs of fans of such entertainment.
However, it had its share of problems — the plot was mediocre and the gameplay was monotonous. It would seem that all that was needed was to fix all the flaws in the sequel, and that would be the end of it — but then Armored Core VI came out and (at least, so it seems from the outside) disrupted the developers’ plans. Competing with FromSoftware without such a large budget is pointless — and so we got Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion.
It’s supposed to be a sequel, but without the number 2 in the title, with an open world, a different story structure, and other changes.
A garden where we are not welcome
This time, more attention was paid to the plot, completely removing cheap scenes in the spirit of visual novels. The game’s producer said that in the first part, the story was so chaotic because the lead writer fell ill at the end of development and forced his colleagues to finish the work for him.
In the case of the sequel, the plot was the primary focus, and it shows: the player is clearly explained what is happening, gradually introduced to the main characters, and there are unexpectedly many voice lines. The events unfold several hundred years after the ending of the original, so it is not necessary to know what happened in the previous game.
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Now we are considered traitors and alert the entire Garden security, from which we eventually escape — alone, though: Nerve sacrifices himself to save the protagonist.
Crashing to Earth, he helps a couple of locals and gains access to the Base, where the Reclaimers have gathered — a resistance group preparing to fight back against Axiom.
We would be happy to join them, but at first they are not happy about the presence of an outsider on Earth, so the first thing we need to do is prove that we are not some kind of spy. We manage to find common ground with everyone fairly quickly, and soon the hunt for Axiom members begins, including nine elite Outers whose activity on Earth has increased since our escape.
The protagonist deserves a special mention — not only has the extensive character customisation from the first part been carried over to the sequel, but the main character has also been ‘upgraded’.
He takes a much more active part in every scene, all his lines are voiced, and the player is often even allowed to choose responses in dialogues — though this is of little use.
In many large-scale Japanese games, even characters whose appearance cannot be changed stand in cutscenes like statues and watch everything from the sidelines — but here, two actors were invited to voice the lines for the male and female versions of the character.
A sandbox for flying
There are even more innovations in the gameplay, the most important of which is the transition from spacious arenas to a full-fledged open world. Along with this, the essence of the arsenals has changed. In the first part, this term referred to large, heavy mechs inspired by Armored Core and Gundam, which we controlled in each mission.
In the sequel, arsenals are more like exoskeletons or armour suits: they weigh significantly less, so you can fly with them much longer than with the old mechs. Towards the middle of Titanic Scion, the familiar mechs are unlocked, but in this game they serve as entertainment, an optional extra — if you fill the corresponding gauge, you can briefly summon a large robot and sit in it.
The sequel also has an impressive array of weapons — 17 types in total. More precisely, 13 — the machine gun, shotgun, sword and shield have regular and laser versions. The former are good against flesh-and-blood enemies, while the latter deal more damage to machines and armour. Even with this in mind, the variety of equipment is impressive, and the game encourages experimentation by allowing you to equip four types of weapons at once and switch between them as needed.
I am particularly pleased with how useful melee weapons have become in the sequel. I mainly used swords, spears and daggers because fighting in the game is much more fun than shooting. When you can fly freely and stay in the air for a long time, and your character quickly darts from one target to another, the choice is obvious.
