I want to love Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, but its empty world and listless combat scupper a promising mech action game

I think mecha action role-playing game (RPG) Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is worth checking out. While clearly taking inspiration from the Xenoblade Chronicles series - particularly Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition - it nonetheless boasts excellent customization options and some very neat ideas all its own.

If you like fine-tuning mech builds and applying your own stamp of visual flair, a la Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, then Titanic Scion will definitely scratch that itch. Parts, weapons, and auxiliary equipment are all individual pieces of gear, allowing you to build a loadout to suit your specific play style and preferences. You can then also apply distinct color schemes and decals for a more personal touch.

The game’s fusion system is similarly brilliant, altering your character’s appearance in alarmingly eldritch fashion and unlocking new abilities for your mech suit and its various weapon types. For me, this was Titanic Scion’s coolest feature, and it was always fun to see what kinds of crazy combinations would come as a result of the fusion system.

It’s a shame that everything else surrounding these great elements feels half-baked. Its story, characters, and voice acting range from nonsensical at best to downright annoying at worst. Those big explorable open areas are also shockingly lifeless, with little to do outside of setting up supply outposts, finding the odd bit of loot, or mining for resources. Interior locations are even worse, with bland corridor-like design and endlessly respawning enemies to deal with.

It’s all capped off with combat that feels rather listless. There’s little impact on your attacks, and some of the slower, heavier weapon types are rendered useless thanks to the game’s relatively fast pace.

Ultimately, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is a game I want to love, and it’s got plenty going for it. There are just far too many frustrations present to wholeheartedly recommend it to a wider audience. But if you love mech suits and strong customization elements, it’s definitely worth a look, especially as it has a playable demo.

Against the world

Take out your notebook, because Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion’s plot involves a lot of quirky terminology that can be quite difficult to parse in its initial hours. Essentially, the plot revolves around a planetary conflict between humans and a race known as ‘Outers’. Outers are capable of turning themselves and humans into Immortals, monstrous creatures that vary in size and power. Both sides also make use of a substance called Femto - crystallized Immortal remains - to power both themselves and their ‘Arsenal’ mech suits.

It’s a lot at first, but the story really boils down to ‘humanity rises up to fight a genetically enhanced, technologically superior evil empire’. The main cast of villains, then, is a group known as the Neun; nine high-ranking Outer generals, each with their own specialties.

I’m not really a fan of the story for various reasons. It’s fairly cookie-cutter, and its cast of characters range from bland to insufferable, with few that are actually outright likable or well-written. But one aspect I do like is that our player character - whom you customize via a character creator at the start of the game - is an Outer that reluctantly sides with the humans to get revenge against their masters.

It’s certainly the most interesting part of the plot. Many members of the Reclaimers (that’s the resistance outfit we ally ourselves with) are understandably wary and slow to trust our character. And we also don’t do ourselves any favors by being brash and rude towards human characters. However, we are the Reclaimers’ wild card, so it’s usually down to us to sort things out and pull its other members out of the various fires they find themselves in.

Built to last

So the story’s not much to write home about, but it thankfully does not get in the way of what Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion does really, really well. And that’s customization. Being a game where you’re spending 99% of your time in a mech suit, you want to make sure it’s a place you can call home. Titanic Scion delivers that feeling in spades.

Firstly, your Arsenal suit is broken down into various parts: head, torso, legs, and left and right vambraces. These usually come in light, medium, and heavyweight flavors, though some parts offer additional perks like better laser weapon defence or increased stamina or Femto reserves.

Then there are the weapons, of which there are loads of different types. One and two-handed swords, maces, mauls, laser blades, bows, Gatling guns, and even fist-type weapons that quite literally pack a punch. You can equip up to four weapons on your suit, and you also have space for a shoulder-mounted weapon and auxiliary unit like homing missiles, shields, or an ammunition pack.

Your character and their Arsenal suit can also be customized aesthetically, using a wide range of color palettes, text, decals, clothing, and facial features. At your home base, you can change your look at any time entirely for free, so Titanic Scion does a great job of encouraging you to mix things up from time to time.

Build variety feels truly limitless, and while the breakneck pace of combat renders some options borderline useless, I still can’t help but appreciate the sheer variety of equipment on offer. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to try out different styles, too, as enemies out in the field routinely drop Arsenal parts and the like on death.

That leads me into the loot system, which I wasn’t sure of at first, but did grow to like quite a bit. Basically, fallen enemies and bosses often house multiple pieces of loot, but you can only choose one before the wreckage dissolves. Often, this means you’ll have to think carefully about which items you want to pick up. A stat-boosting vambrace might be the way to go, but if you’ve run low on healing items, grabbing a healing spray from the corpse might not be a bad idea, either.

Fusion frenzy

Customizing your character and Arsenal doesn’t stop there. Partway through the game, you’ll be introduced to fusion, which your character, as an Outer, can make liberal use of. While you’re out exploring, you can occasionally pick up DNA from fallen enemies as loot, and certain combinations of DNA can unlock various weapon skills and ancillary abilities, such as providing you with an auto-dodge or cloaking.

Take this DNA to the fusion chamber at home base, and it’ll be integrated into your character, permanently unlocking these abilities. The trade-off is that fusion can drastically alter your character’s physical appearance, too, turning them into a bit of a monstrosity - and that’s awesome.

Seeing your character grow increasingly more eldritch as you pile up fusions is a clever method of visual progression and storytelling. And while you can reset to your default appearance for a hefty credits fee, you likely won’t have such funds until near the end of the game.

Fusion is where your build really comes alive. The abilities you unlock can be set to each weapon type so long as they’re compatible with that weapon. Examples include an overhead strike with blades or a Matrix-style spin-and-shoot technique with various firearms. Some are certainly more powerful than others, but the ceiling for player expression here is impressively high.

Don't stop to smell the roses

With such a strong showing on the customization and build variety fronts, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion would be well on its way to a glowing review. Unfortunately, many of its other aspects fall well short of providing a decently enjoyable experience.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment is the game’s large, open maps, one area where it takes clear inspiration from developer Monolith Soft’s much-praised RPG series. In Titanic Scion, however, these areas are visually bland and really don’t offer much in the way of rewarding exploration.

At best, you’ll come across a cave network or underground bunker to check out for additional loot, but I couldn’t stomach doing more than a handful of these. They have largely identical layouts and rely on a very boxy, corridor-like design that’s just a slog to get through.

Despite the size of the world, it immediately feels rather small, as your Arsenal suit has the ability to fly at great speeds. While this in itself is cool and can feel quite liberating, being given such a function right at the start of the game disincentivizes exploring these areas properly. But even then, you’re largely running into simple things like setting up supply outposts, small pockets of enemies, and the odd emergent quest.

Speaking of quests, side missions are especially dull. Often boiling down to simple fetch quests or taking out a pack of baddies, they rarely offer anything rewarding or narratively compelling. And that’s a shame, as you’ll need to spend much of the early game ticking off these missions to build up funds and materials for Arsenal parts and home base improvements.

Should you play Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion?

Play it if...

Don't buy it if...

Accessibility

There’s a good amount of accessibility options in Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion.

Protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia colorblind settings are available, and you can adjust the filter intensity of them. Controls are fully customizable, and you can even adjust the size and position of all HUD elements.

Further tweaks, like individual vibration values for various actions, are also welcome.

How I reviewed Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion

I put in around 25 hours into Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion for this review. I played the game on PlayStation 5, primarily using the DualSense Wireless Controller, on an LG CX OLED TV.

Those 25 hours were enough to see the game to its conclusion, as well as tick off a handful of side missions, some exploration of the world, and the optional one-on-one colosseum battles at the home base.

First reviewed September 2025