![]() These mech-on-mech battles are delivered with a heaping helping of anime melodrama. ![]() It consistently worked, but it sapped most of the fun out of tailoring my Arsenal to the situation. I found myself defaulting to double assault rifles for the last third of the game or so, since the rapid-fire helped counteract the other mechs' evasive maneuvers. The lock-on function helps signal when an enemy is in your sights, but it doesn't really lock on to them, so you need to babysit the camera as they dash around the battlefield. Just like your own Arsenal, enemy rigs are airborne and extremely nimble, which means the majority of your options are just too slow. But as the game goes on, battles against other mercenaries become much more frequent, and most of the weapons aren't well-suited for them. ![]() Weapon options range from slow-moving bazookas to acid guns and swords, which are perfectly suited to dealing with standard enemies and Colossi alike. The wealth of customization options hits a stumbling block, however, when it comes to battles against the other mercenaries. And while this isn't exactly a loot-shooter, you can pick over a defeated Arsenal and select one part to make your own, fulfilling your equipment envy when you see an enemy with a shiny object you'd like. Some of the most rewarding moments are when you hit a tough boss battle, step away from the game while you continue to think about how you could outfit your Arsenal for the challenge, and then return with a successful battle plan. It's something akin to building a model Gundam, except you can go out and pilot it against hordes of enemy robots. ![]() Your Arsenal has tons of customization options, including two main weapons, two backup weapons stored on rear pylons, shoulder-mounted equipment, and auxiliary equipment, and that's without even touching on the swappable head, body, arm, and leg parts and the ability to paint and decal the whole rig. The variety of these battle types call for different equipment to match, and it's the tinkering portion of the game that's strangely the most satisfying. No single build could be prepared for every battle type, especially in the late-game as enemies are able to absorb much more damage. Your backup weapons equipped to the pylons provide a little flexibility, but your Arsenal is no Swiss Army knife. And the massive Colossi are each fully unique encounters with their own individual attack patterns and weaknesses. Rival mechs often turn into aerial slugfests, especially as melee clashes jump to a sudden button-mashing event to overpower your opponent. Smaller enemies swarm the battlefield requiring harried crowd control. The pace of the combat differs greatly between encounter types. Sometimes you'll need to traverse a narrow hallway filled with the small, gun-fodder Immortal units, other times you'll need to battle against a rival merc on their own conflicting mission, and occasionally you'll discover a Colossus-a giant, screen-filling Immortal with a massive life bar. Despite the simple formula, Daemon X Machina manages surprising variety in its missions. You might tinker with your Arsenal's equipment, take on a mission consisting of attacking an Immortal outpost or defending a convoy, collect your pay, and then head back to the hangar to do it all again. Life as a newbie mercenary falls into a familiar pattern. Even if you're ostensibly on the same team against the Immortals, you're all really in it for the money, and often your objectives will come into conflict with your peers from other merc groups. robots that have gone rogue against humanity. The mercs are pilots of armored mecha suits called Arsenals, their actions governed by a centralized artificial intelligence that oversees their missions against Immortals-A.I. Most of Daemon X Machina is spent in combat, but it's the moments between missions, making these key decisions, where the game really finds its identity.Īs the newest mercenary surrounded by veterans, you're quickly labeled "the Rookie"-a name that you keep well past it being deserved, given that you rise in the ranks and even best most of your colleagues. Faced with a quadrupedal robot the size of a city park, do you focus on defense to outlast it, or offense to bring it down as quickly as possible? Stay grounded for access to its underbelly, or fly far above the majority of its reach? Use rapid-fire weaponry to compensate for losses in accuracy, or a lumbering bazooka and line up each shot carefully? The game is at its best when you're diagnosing a mission and outfitting your armored mech suit to match. Daemon X Machina is fundamentally about the satisfaction of making small adjustments to tackle a much larger problem.
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