Daemon X Machina is a 3rd Person Shooter developed by Marvelous First Studio and published by Nintendo. As of today it has an unspecified release date for 2019, will cost $60, and will be a Nintendo Switch exclusive. This is my review of the demo.
I gotta say, I love it when developers send out a free demo of their work-in-progress seeking feedback from the community. I loved it with Octopath Traveler, and I love it here.
So this review will be structured a little differently than my normal Previews. It will be more like an open letter to the developers to let them know what I like and what constructive criticism I have to improve the experience. Ahem:
Dear Marvelous First Studio,
You have a solid foundation for Daemon X Machina. The art style is clean and impressive, and while the story is a bit campy, I actually look forward to that sort of thing in a mech game. The progression loop of upgrading your mech & pilot is engaging, the missions are varied, I enjoy looting fallen mechs, and most of all, throwing cars at enemy tanks is awesome.
Now let’s get nitpicking.
First and foremost, we need to fix the aiming. This is my inner PC Gamer talking, but aiming with two analog sticks is like trying to write with a sharpened log. Gyro aiming is essential to the experience so I can make some semblance of aiming at my targets.
Second, we need to tighten up the movement. The boosting feels good to dodge against slow incoming attacks, but against other mechs with their speedy sword slashes, I need something a bit more responsive. Although maybe that’s a sign that I should build a mech that focuses on agility?
Finally, I have some issues with the UI. It reminds me of my home desk in terms of clutter, although I appreciate being able to cut out the superfluous information in the options menu. But even then, if a lot of enemies appear, the screen can quickly fill up with words and numbers and it gets harder to tell what my eyes need to pay attention to. Let’s clean that up a bit, eh?
All in all, your demo impressed me! This game was not even a blip on my radar beforehand, but now I’m seriously considering purchasing it. If you make these changes, then I have a strong reason to scrounge up 60 more dollars for this year’s gaming budget.
Sincerely,
– HCBR
Hookshot, Charge Beam, Revive 