Daemon X Machina hands you a hangar, a mech, and a war against machines that used to be on our side. Marvelous First Studio developed the 2019 action game for Nintendo Switch, with a PC port arriving in 2020. XSEED Games, Marvelous and Nintendo published it across PC and Switch.
The setup is thin and it knows it. A moon collided with the Planet and radiated a special energy that turned artificial intelligence against humanity. The Outers, pilots who command mechs, gained special abilities after being afflicted by that same energy. They now serve as humanity’s protectors in the war against the Arms of Immortals.
Trailer, via Nintendo of America.
The Hangar Is the Whole Game
Everything runs through the Hangar, the main hub. You customize your avatar’s stats, abilities and appearance there. You build your Arsenal mech from body parts bought or collected during play. You browse missions for single player and online cooperative multiplayer from the same screen.
That loop is the appeal. You are an Outer, a third-person action-shooter avatar piloting a highly customizable mech. You take missions to suppress mechanized foes. You strip weapons off downed enemy Arsenals and swap them on the fly.
- Shooter combat
- Hack and slash and beat ’em up
- Adventure
- Action and science fiction themes
- Single player, multiplayer and co-operative modes
- Third-person perspective
That list is long because the game refuses to pick one lane. It is a strength in the Hangar and a problem in the field.
Customization Carries It
The Arsenal build is the reason to stay. Buying parts, collecting them off dead enemies, and reworking a machine between missions gives the game a hold that its mission structure does not. Swapping weapons mid-fight to answer a changing threat is the best idea here, and it lands.
Choose and equip your Arsenal with a multitude of weapons, obtain more from downed enemy Arsenals, and swap them on the fly to suit your strategy in the face of ever-changing threats.
Strip that away and the campaign is a run of suppression missions against the Arms of Immortals. The story of the moon, the energy and the Outers sets a stage, then mostly stays out of the way.
The War Nobody Wins
The Arms of Immortals are the problem. They are a premise, not an enemy. The game tells you artificial intelligence turned on humanity, then asks you to shoot mechs for hours without giving that turn any weight.
The Outers carry the same burden. They were afflicted by the mysterious energy and gained special abilities. That should matter. It rarely does.
A 7.1 Out of 10
Daemon X Machina scores 7.1/10, matching the published critical aggregate across 10 outlets. That number is honest. This is a game with one excellent system — the mech you build — wrapped in a serviceable one.
The Hangar is where the money went, and it shows. The combat is fast and the customization is deep enough to keep pulling you back for one more part. What it lacks is a reason to care about the war you are fighting.
A sequel, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, arrived on September 5, 2025. That is the real test of whether Marvelous can build a campaign worthy of the Arsenal.
For now, the 2019 original is a mech game for people who want to tinker. If you want a story, look elsewhere.
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