Completed the demo and I left feeling overall positive about it. The gameplay and visuals were very good. It had this cool, frenetic vibe to it, with a memorable aesthetic that really stood out. The world building looks dope. The boss fight was epic, and I hope it features a lot of those in the final game. Fighting without your mech was also quite fun, and I hope you can exit your vehicle at any given time. Now I did it just because I got gunned down. Bonus points for customization of your character too, I hope they increase the options in the final build.
On the downside, the HUD was too cluttered. Although it gave a feeling of really being inside your mech, it was a lot of numbers and information all over the place. This game also seems to feature some very complicated gameplay mechanics, with very little to no explanations. It could be a subject to change, and I´m all for non handhelding, but it was a little bit scary with all the menus and different numbers popping up all over the place. The music was sort of hit and miss. I´m not too fond of metal-inspired OSTs, but granted, it fit well within the universe and it got the action pumping. Mixed feelings there.
The voice acting was not good as well as the interactions with the other party members. I just skipped that shit as I found it to be uninteresting banter. The framerate was a bit rough at times but overall I thought it ran pretty solid, so my guess is that this will be very well optimized when it releases.
I´m not to sold on mech-games but Daemon X Machina manages to hit the right buttons. I hope that the missions and combat wiil become more varied, otherwise it seems as this can get a bit repetitive.
I played handheld only. Overall, I enjoyed the demo and I´m looking forward to the final product, although my expectations have become a little more grounded now. Which I honestly see as a good thing. All in all, Daemon X Machina looks to be a very solid addition to an already fantastic library of games.