Presented during E3 2018, Daemon X Machina was a title that attracted a lot of attention to itself, not only for its aesthetics and design, but also because there have long been no games in which it was possible to drive Mechs. Titles like Front Mission, Armored Core and, above all, Zone of the Enders have made their absence felt for several years now and the only way to get on board a Japanese robot is to look out into the world of indies.
We had tried Daemon X Machina thanks to the demo released on eShop and, net of some problems, the title had shown character and personality, which is why Nintendo asked for feedback from players in order to rework and improve the experience. Which actually has been done and Nintendo has not only published a video that demonstrates the progress made with the game, but has also called us to try the title firsthand to personally evaluate the evolution made during these months of development.
The first thing they noticed was the hangar, which is our gaming hub where we will have control of our pilot. The hangar is largely open to exploration and allows us to communicate with NPCs, access missions and, above all, dedicate ourselves to customizations. These are not limited only to our mech, here called Arsenal, but also to our avatar, whose appearance can be changed at any time in the game hub. The changes will not be only aesthetic, however, as our pilot can evolve and learn different skills due to his Outer nature, or human endowed with mysterious powers. In fact, the protagonist will not limit himself to fighting only on board a large robot, but will also be able to fight on foot: an extreme situation, but in some cases useful. The upgrade takes place via a tree of unlockable skills through the use of credits earned during game missions.
As for Arsenal, the customization is impressive: each component, from head to toe, can be replaced and modified not only for aesthetic purposes, but also for performance. In fact, by killing enemies on a mission, it is possible to plunder the best pieces and install them on the mech. For this reason, much of Daemon X Machina's focus is on completing missions after missions in order to get more and more components and create their own builds to exploit for increasingly difficult battles.
Pad in hand the feeling of the controls has improved a lot, not only for a more immediate response from the commands, but because finally the game flows smoothly and all that heaviness due to the slow movements of Arsenal has practically disappeared. Let's be clear, the game has not magically become a Zone of the Enders, also because we continue to control the giant robots made of iron and metal, but we can reassure that moving around the map is now truly a pleasure.
The other improvements we have noticed are those concerning visual inputs: enemies are now easier to find thanks to an automated target system, as well as signals that make the player guess the direction from which the attacks are coming. There will also be all those minor aspects such as an increase in ammunition in the field that will give players more breathing space and allow them to concentrate more in the shooting phases.
We would have liked to test the 4-player co-op mode and, above all, some main story mission just to get a complete picture of the product, but regardless of this, Daemon X Machina seemed to us a thick title capable of giving even more weight to the Nintendo Switch line up. While waiting to evaluate the game in the review, we strongly recommend that you keep an eye on the work of Marvelous First Studio because we know it has something to say and a lot of potential still hidden.
► Daemon X Machina is a scrolling fighting-shooter type game developed by Marvelous and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 13/09/2019
Daemon X Machina is a nice game that we recommend: we decided to rate it with a 72%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Daemon X Machina Review
