Daemon X Machina is the Gundam game I’ve always wanted

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Nothing Beats Giant Robots

The latest Nintendo Direct had some pretty exciting announcements, most notably The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Astral Chain, and Super Mario Maker 2. Overshadowed by all these big announcements was a demo for Daemon X Machina, dubbed the “Prototype Missions.”

Daemon X Machina is a game where you pilot a giant robot — also known as a mech — and fight other giant robot-like beings called Immortals. The story wasn’t too important in this demo, and I’m sure it’ll be as nonsensical as the game’s title, but that’s not really what’s important here; Daemon X Machina has the smoothest and most action-packed mech battles I’ve ever experienced in a video game.

As a huge fan of the Gundam anime series, I’ve always wanted to play a Gundam game that was, well, good. Sure, Gundam VS and that one Dynasty Warriors clone are OK — but the former is a fighting game, and the latter is a mindless hack and slash. I’ve always wanted a Gundam game that was more about the battlefield and how you can control your mech on it. Daemon X Machina does that to tremendous effect. You’re able to fly, dash, and slide around the battlefield like one of the mechs from Code Geass — it’s all very fast and very responsive.

I never once felt like my mech was holding me back. Quite the opposite, actually — you’re given total customization over your unit, and after the first battle, I had mine equipped with two big assault rifles and plenty of missiles. I was dashing across the battlefield wreaking havoc on the puny Immortals that crossed my path. It’s a ton of fun, and these are just the basic “tutorial” levels. At the end of the second mission, a couple of gigantic (and I mean, they took up the entire screen) Immortals entered the fray. I can’t what the full version of Daemon X Machina has in store.

The customization is so fleshed-out that you can even make your mech look like a Gundam, as Reddit user Civil_Anarchy did in this Imgur post.

As a side note, Daemon X Machina is absolutely gorgeous and it runs at a steady framerate. The cel-shaded visuals with vibrant colors really is a sight to behold as you dance around the battlefield with your mech.