Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion Preview - A Welcomed Evolution

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I remember when the original Daemon X Machina was announced for the Switch, and I had a blast. Aside from the floaty combat, I had a good time with it. Then, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion was announced, and I was over the moon. It looked like it was improving on everything I had wished for more of in the first game. I had a chance to try it out and preview the beginning of the game, and so far, it's very much hitting all the marks I was hoping for.

With this being a preview, I want to mention that this isn't a final build of the game. Elements are subject to change, especially when it comes to performance. I also won't be going into the story much, as I want to focus on the gameplay and how it feels so far. I will say that I am interested in the story, and it hasn't bored me yet, which I would consider great. I will go further into the story in my review, but I enjoy it so far.

To refresh myself on the series, I went back and played a bit of the original, and Titanic Scion feels like a nice evolution. The general mechanics are the same. We are in an armored suit, instead of a giant mech, that has full 3D mobility. We can have three weapons on at a time, ranging from our two main weapons of guns, swords, or shields, and a shoulder-mounted weapon. Our two main weapons can be swapped out with alternates, with auxiliary equipment that can provide support, like extra ammo for our guns.

While combat in the original did feel fluid and dynamic, it unfortunately also started to feel floaty and too easy. Titanic Scion feels significantly better and much more weighty. Movement and using weapons feel more appropriate, with dodging and flying standing out. The manual lock-on system helps a lot as well, making aiming and movement feel more natural with less micromanagement trying to keep the camera on my enemy.

Not too long after starting the main missions, we also get to start fighting larger enemies, whom we can scan and find weak spots. Some areas are better against regular weapons, some are better against laser weapons, and there may even be some weak points that are best to use a sniper to hit. It adds an element of strategy, and makes the different types of weapons we find have a meaning more than just which weapon is the coolest to use.

I also had a blast being able to grab and throw enemies into each other. It's small, but aiming and watching bodies hit each other to damage or destroy them both was always a treat.

This was further expanded upon with the Fusion System, which I love the concept of. I wasn't able to play around with this as much, as my preview area ended right after I unlocked the system, but I love the idea. As you defeat enemies, you can extract their genes, which can be converted into special abilities and skills. Not only can they be combined with the different weapons you can equip, allowing for some pretty insane combos to deal large amounts of damage, but they can provide passive skills as well, like auto-dodging. I also like the fact that using them too much can actually mutate your character's body, making them appear more like an immortal as well.

Other than finding genes, we can also find weapons, armor, research data, and recovery items on dead enemies. Instead of gathering all of them, we can choose one of the options it gives us. I was skeptical at first, but seeing how weapon stats can differ so wildly, even if they are the same type, I started to enjoy the system.

The mission structure of the original has also been replaced with an open world to explore, which I am very much enjoying as well. In my preview, I was able to explore the Desert area, specifically sticking around Aristos Hill and the Sapros Marshes, running and flying around freely, and checking out what the world has to offer.

There is a decent assortment of spots I have found so far, including fighting stray armored suit enemies, random immortals, fast travel locations, and minor side activities like delivering Femto containers, mining ore, and finding chests around the world and in caves. It may not sound like a lot to do on the surface, but with combat and exploration being fun, I wasn't bothered. With the random items found in chests and on the bodies of defeated enemies, I found enough to do that kept me motivated.

I also love Titanic Scion's scanning function. When running around the world, we can just press the D-pad up and scan around us. Any enemy and interactable piece of the environment will be highlighted clearly, even if they are decently far away. On top of that, almost all of these spots are highlighted on the map, making it wonderfully easy to find stuff to do. It's a nice system, and I hope it expands with more activities around the map as the game progresses.

If you want to save on stamina and resources, we can ride horses or drive cars to navigate the world more quickly. While I like the idea, it feels a little half-baked so far. Driving cars is tough, in particular. It's hard to turn when accelerating, while backing up turns way too fast. I like the idea and see a use for it, but it needs a little fine-tuning.

When not running around the map, we will hang out in our base, where we can change our equipment, access shops, upgrade our base's features, and accept missions. It's similar to the base in the original game, but with more features here and there. And of course, we have a cat or dog running around, which is a treat.

I also had a chance to try out co-op multiplayer, which had us fighting enemies and taking on quests together. It was a ton of fun to fight together, and without any tethers, we were able to go far away from each other. The loot appears to be asynchronous as well, giving us both a chance to claim from chests and fallen foes. I definitely want to play more in co-op before making more comments on it, but I loved it.

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion - Steam Deck Performance So Far

In this preview, I was able to play Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion a lot on the Steam Deck and see what the performance could be like. This isn't a final build of the game, which means performance could drastically change when released. Take this as an insight into how the game could perform, not a definitive statement on how well it will perform on release.

From my experience, it seems like 30 FPS with low quality settings and upscaling in quality mode. The game defaults to a 30 FPS cap, which I think is going to be the perfect spot for it. The bulk of exploration and fights can stick to around 40 FPS, but the larger fights with lots of enemies will see a chunk of drops below 40.

Multiplayer will also contribute to lower framerates, with it happening even more often to make it harder to play normally with friends. My testing was only with one other person, so trying to play with a full group of friends could be tough on the Deck. I can confirm that cross-platform play will be doable, with Desktop PC and Steam Deck connecting without issue.

Still, I would say the game looks good and is still in the playable range at 30 FPS. I hope the final build will include some performance increases to make it get to 40, but I wouldn't count on it. Still, it's a solid experience so far, and I can't wait to play more.

Thoughts So Far

All in all, I love Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion so far. The combat is action-packed and dynamic without feeling too floaty or arcadey, customization and story is solid so far, and I love the fusion system. Co-op play is great, and if the rest of the game holds up as well as this early section, it's going to be a treat to play in general and on the Steam Deck.

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion can be pre-purchased for $69.99 ahead of its September 5th release.

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