Daemon X Machina is one of Nintendo Switch’ newest exclusives and brings a lot of explosive action to the system. In a world overrun by evil robots, it’s your job to turn the tide. Arm your special Suit with powerful weapons and prepare for some action-packed missions. Sounds great? Time to find out if Daemon X Machina is worth your time.
Bye-bye moon
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Daemon X Machina manages to set an interesting atmosphere. The moon crashed on the Earth and scientists did everything in their power to create the most powerful network of robots possible. This network should help humankind to rebuilt their world faster, a great idea, until the Immortals appeared. The Immortals hacked into the network and turned the robots against humans. What was meant to be the ultimate help resulted in the ultimate disaster. Instead of rebuilding their homes, humankind has to fight for their survival until the bitter end. It’s during this endless war that your story kicks off. You’re part of the Reclaimers, an elite group of mercenaries who are tasked to take out the corrupted robots and their masters one by one. It’s not an easy task and the world you’re dropped into doesn’t offer you a warm welcome. Right from the start, you’ll have to give it your all. You’ll have to adapt to overcome your challenges, you’ll have to invest in new weapons and new gear. Your Arsenal suit will become your second home and you’ll have to fight in order to survive. It’s a rather basic and maybe even predictable story but it does the job rather well. It gives you an excuse to jump from mission to mission, always defeating new waves of enemies.
Your Arsenal, your rules
The Arsenal is the suit you see on the above screenshot, a combination of a traditional mech and a power suit, the true star of the game. The Arsenal is the ultimate weapon and you’ll need it if you want to survive out on the battlefield. You start off as a rookie but the more you advance, the more you’ll eventually unlock. Everything about your Arsenal is customizable, from the colors to the weapons, you can truly make it your own. Customization is a big part of the game since Deamon X Machina gives you a lot of freedom right from the start. Creating the character and Arsenal of your dreams won’t take that long but the amount of options is rather impressive, to say the least. It’s clear that a lot of time and love went into this process and unlike the environments, the characters and Arsenals are extremely detailed and all look rather great.
Creating the Arsenal that fits your style best is crucial and one of the most fun things to do in the game. By playing missions, you’ll unlock credits that you can use to buy new weapons and upgrades. What I liked most about this, was the wide variety of weapons. You could get access to powerful rockets, laser beams, and even giant swords, to name just a few. Experimenting and finding the best possible combination of weapons is one of the game’s main features and this results in a lot of freedom. Thanks to this system, everyone will find a type of Arsenal that’s best for them and that’s something to give the team credit for. In fact, the action is nicely executed generally speaking. It’s a fun action game where small mechanics like automatic locking and the possibility to fly over the battlefield give it just that extra touch. At its core, this is a very enjoyable game but in the end, I couldn’t shake the feeling that things could have been so much better.
We are spoiled
What I missed most in this game was both polish and variation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an enjoyable game but the missions look a bit too similar. Most of them consist of defeating all your enemies or a special bigger boss in a rather small environment. It’s all fun while playing but after a while, it’s a bit too repetitive. The story alone isn’t enough to captivate your attention in the long run and I found myself turning to other games more frequently while reviewing Daemon X Machina, which of course, isn’t a positive thing to do. It’s a shame really since it’s really a fun game to play but perhaps it’s best enjoyed during shorter periods of time. To make up for this, the game does support a local and online multiplayer where you can take down the waves of enemies together, resulting in a better experience but I never lost the feeling that it could have mover than just this.
The same goes for the graphics. It’s a bit hard to release right after the impressive Astral Chain but thanks to Platinum’s newest game, we’re used to a higher standard when it comes to our Nintendo Switch games. Both in Television as in Handheld mode, Daemon X Machina never really shines. The environments are too empty and the effects aren’t as good as they should be. I think the biggest problem with this game is the fact that we’re spoiled with the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo released major title after major title, always raising the bar, and sadly, Daemon X Machina never reaches that same level of quality. Again, it’s not a bad game and it’s fun to play but it’s far from the best action shooter currently available on the system.
Conclusion:
Daemon X Machina is a fun game to play thanks to the custom Arsenal suits and the fast-paced action but falls short to really stand out. It’s a victim of the Nintendo Switch’ own success and can’t really compete with the other major titles that recently released. That being said, if you’re looking for a new fun action-packed game to play with your friends, this one will certainly shine. Although it’s not the best game ever created, it does deliver when it comes to fun and fast-paced mayhem.
