{"id":100024,"date":"2019-09-11T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/daemon_x_machina"},"modified":"2019-09-11T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T12:00:00","slug":"review-daemon-x-machina-solid-mech-mayhem-that-gets-a-tad-repetitive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/09\/11\/review-daemon-x-machina-solid-mech-mayhem-that-gets-a-tad-repetitive\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Daemon X Machina &#8211; Solid Mech Mayhem That Gets A Tad Repetitive"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/daemon_x_machina\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/daemon_x_machina\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 1 of 7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99005\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99005\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 1 of 7\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>While it\u2019s always a good idea to ask for help when you feel like you might need it, it doesn\u2019t always benefit you in the long run. This is something the team behind <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/daemon_x_machina\"><strong>Daemon X Machina<\/strong><\/a> may end up learning when the game releases this week. After developer Marvelous released a demo way back in February and explained that it wanted feedback on how to improve the game, a number of players instead interpreted it as a product that was close to completion, and so decided that because it was a bit on the shonky side they weren\u2019t going to buy it.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward seven months and it\u2019s fair to say that Marvelous was absolutely right: Daemon X Machina has certainly improved in numerous ways thanks to user feedback. It does throw up two questions, though: exactly how much <em>has<\/em> it improved, and is it too late to get back those who were disillusioned by that extremely early demo? We can\u2019t answer the latter \u2013 only time and the charts will tell \u2013 but we can at least confirm that the finished game is a solid piece of work, even if it isn\u2019t quite an absolutely <em>essential<\/em> one.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 2 of 7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90178\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90178\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 2 of 7\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Playing as an unnamed rookie mercenary who specialises in piloting giant mechs, your job is to take on a series of paid missions to do your bit in the war against artificial intelligence, which turned against the human race after a colliding moon sent some strange radiation across the planet. It isn\u2019t all bad news: this radiation also increased your own abilities, meaning your fully customisable avatar has more to offer than your typical civilian. Accompanying you on your quests are mercenaries from other factions, who turn up and drop out depending on whether they fancy a piece of each mission.<\/p>\n<p>This whole idea of characters popping in and out can make it difficult to get a grasp of the plot early on, and as the storyline develops and you start getting a load of conspiracy theories and \u201ccan you trust this faction, can you trust that one, can we even trust the company we\u2019re working for\u201d shenanigans, it can continue to be a little tricky to stay on top of things. That isn\u2019t the fault of the voice acting (which is generally of high quality) or even of the dialogue itself, which is well written. There are just far too many active components in play here: it\u2019s like playing chess and having the pieces swapped out for new ones every few turns. The fact that many of the cutscenes between missions simply involve different characters turning up to stand practically motionless in a room and talk to each other does nothing to help matters: even if what they\u2019re saying is of interest, the set-up is dull as dishwater and it can be hard to keep focused.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 3 of 7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90172\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90172\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 3 of 7\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Games like this do their talking on the battlefield, of course, and it\u2019s here where Daemon X Machina shines for the most part. Mech games can be a bit of a slog to control but that isn\u2019t the case here at all: your Arsenal (which is what the game\u2019s mechs are called) is a breeze to commandeer, and while the hefty command list can initially seem quite daunting, it only really takes a couple of missions before you\u2019re swooping around with all the grace of&#8230; well, a 50-foot robot. A graceful one, though.<\/p>\n<p>When you\u2019re in the air movement is a simple case of looking in the direction you want to go and heading that way, while more extreme altitude changes can be controlled with either the &#8216;B&#8217; button (to quickly boost upwards) or pressing in the left stick (to kill your jets and drop quickly downwards). A useful dash button assigned to &#8216;R&#8217; is an essential piece of kit, especially as the game progresses and you find yourself in increasingly larger firing lines. When on the ground, you\u2019re also able to exit your mech and run around on foot, though this is rarely useful: technically it lets you continue to get involved in the action while you wait for a partner to repair your downed mech, but you\u2019re so vulnerable in this state that it almost always results in death, at least in the early stages of the game.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 4 of 7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90165\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90165\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 4 of 7\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Combat, meanwhile, is similarly satisfying. There\u2019s a generous aim assist in play here, meaning as long as you look in the general direction of an enemy you\u2019ll lock onto them and start firing at them with decent accuracy. Some of the self-appointed \u2018hardcore\u2019 may object to this but it does make sense: many of the game\u2019s standard enemies are also airborne and it would be a bit odd if your extremely expensive, technically impressive giant mech struggled to accurate take down a basic flying foe. There\u2019s something very gratifying about taking on a group of five or six enemies and picking them off one at a time with relative ease.<\/p>\n<p>This aiming assist also goes some way to make up for the awkward feel of twin-stick controls you typically get when playing the Switch in handheld mode: since there\u2019s no need to be absolutely spot on with your aiming, it\u2019s far less frustrating. You have an option to switch to motion-controlled aiming should you so desire but we were happy enough with the standard settings that we didn\u2019t feel the need to swap over. If you\u2019ve been put off by mech games in the past because of their apparent complexity, this is the approachable one you may have been looking for.<\/p>\n<p>Customisation is the main order of the day here, though. As well as the extensive options available to you when creating the look of both your pilot and your mech, there\u2019s a wealth of weaponry that can be unlocked as you progress: some by simply clearing the main and side missions, others by looting the wreckage of downed enemies. While your mech starts off with a basic combination of an assault rifle in one hand and a shield in the other, before long your hangar will be stocked with swords, laser guns, sniper rifles and the like, giving you plenty of options.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 5 of 7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90179\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90179\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 5 of 7\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Naturally, you can\u2019t take all your guns into battle with you, but the game\u2019s at least generous to an extent in that regard: it\u2019s possible to enter a mission with a weapon allocated to your left arm (which is fired with the &#8216;ZL&#8217; button), one allocated to your right (&#8216;ZR&#8217;), a missile launcher on your shoulder (&#8216;L&#8217;), an \u2018auxiliary weapon\u2019 like grenades or mines (&#8216;Y&#8217;) and two more spare weapons that you can attach to pylons above you and swap out for your main ones whenever the situation requires. This means lengthy battles \u2013 and they can get very lengthy, especially when fighting bosses \u2013 can at least stay entertaining as you make the most of all the weaponry at your disposal.<\/p>\n<p>At its core it\u2019s an enjoyable mech game, then, but Daemon X Machina is not without its faults. Despite taking on user feedback and tweaking the game accordingly, elements of the game can still be pretty overwhelming, especially to beginners. Your HUD consists of no fewer than 21 elements, ranging from three different gauges to all your weapons\u2019 ammo counters to a whole array of icons showing the health of each element of your mech (head, body, legs and each arm). The detailed options menu lets you turn off any of these as you see fit, but they\u2019re all useful to an extent so we don\u2019t necessarily recommend that: you just have to get through that initial adaptation period.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 6 of 7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90167\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/90167\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 6 of 7\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>It also gets repetitive after a while. The majority of the game really is just a case of \u2018do a mission, get paid, watch a cut-scene, do the next mission\u2019 and as the plot gets more complex and your inventory gets progressively larger (though you can sell some of it off) you do start to get the sense that it\u2019s just a rinse and repeat situation. Although there\u2019s some variation to the missions \u2013 one minute you\u2019re defending buildings, the next you\u2019re taking on other rogue mercenaries \u2013 there\u2019s still no escaping what is a fairly rigid structure.<\/p>\n<p>If you get bored of the single-player missions there\u2019s also the option to take part in some co-op ones, be that online or locally, with up to three other players. These are generally quite meaty (you\u2019ll be fighting giant bosses, scrapping with groups of powerful enemy mechs, that sort of thing) and give decent cash rewards for completion, even though in the grand scheme of things they\u2019re still more of the same sort of stuff. If you detest the idea of other humans you can take these on solo, and as you play through the main story you also unlock AI partners to recruit and fight alongside you (though they\u2019re often as useful as a chocolate teapot).<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 7 of 7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98999\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98999\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Daemon X Machina Review - Screenshot 7 of 7\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>If you\u2019re still on the fence about Daemon X Machina, our advice is simple: download the free prologue demo that\u2019s currently available on the Switch eShop. This gives you the first few missions and, should you like them and decide to buy the full game, you can carry your save file over. While a lot of other demos are too short to really get across the full picture of the game they\u2019re representing, the fact that Daemon X Machina is such a formulaic experience means that by the time you reach the end of the Prologue you\u2019ll have a pretty good idea of how most of the rest of the game is structured. By that point, if you want more of the same, you can feel safe in the knowledge that if you buy the full game you\u2019ll be getting exactly that.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<div class=\"youtube\">[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=otCjDPU_t7M?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1&#038;w=900&#038;h=507]<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While it\u2019s always a good idea to ask for help when you feel like you might need it, it doesn\u2019t always benefit you in the long run. This is something the team behind Daemon X Machina may end up learning when the game releases this week. After developer Marvelous released a demo way back in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}