Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion

There's been a lot of talk already about the differences between Daemon x Machina 1 and Titanic Scion, namely the implementation of power suits and and open world in lieu of the predecessor's mechs and missions. Since those horses have already been beaten to death, I'll skip those topics for now and focus on Titanic Scion's gameplay. I'm not far enough into the story to comment too much on it at the moment. In fact, I've only made it about 5 hours in, and I generally avoid writing a review this early on unless a game is actually unbroken and/or unplayable. That being the case, feel free to take what I'm about to say for a grain of salt. So far, the characters seem... okay? I do find the protagonist's attitude to be kinda sassy at the moment, which opens up some amusement. So far, it seems like the other characters are fairly one sided, at least at the beginning. You have a hothead, a ♥♥♥♥-starter little brother-type character, the happy-go-lucky older-father type character, the older sister, the organization's leader... All par for the course, but nothing to really interest me at the moment. *Personally*, the writing just isn't enough to pull my interest. The alien open world, likewise, is just kinda there. It did not have the stylized, anime-inspired aesthetic I was expecting. Or, more accurately, it was a lot more subtle then I was expecting. As usual, it's a bit bloated with what feels like pointless tasks, missions, or uninspired loot. The combat, movement, and controls are likewise just kind of okay. There are a few melee weapon types I enjoy, the lance and tachi being my primaries, but the guns so far range anywhere from unresponsive to heavy, slow, weak, and almost pointless. The targeting and dodging, however, are both abysmal. For a mech or pseudo-mech game, neither or smooth. Move back or attempt to kite and the lock-on will break. Switching targets is either unresponsive or too twitchy. I either can't lock onto a second enemy in a mob or, in the case of the gigantic Immortal field bosses, I'll try to lock onto one part just to have to cycle through a dozen others that are further from the center of your reticle than the one you intend. By the time I can lock on to the part, the boss moves so fast it's out of range and/or blocked by another part. On that, bosses move far faster than my suit can even respond to half the time. Either I'm still winding up for a *dodge* by the time they land on me, or the dodge is so short I get crushed anyway. Both stamina caps and usage are subpar, which only compounds this issue. Performance-wise, I haven't noticed any drops in FPS, crashes, or any other issues, so there's at least that, so there's at least that. All in all, for $15 through Humble Bundle's April spotlight, Titantic Scion was worth a try. That said, personally? It's nothing to write home about. It's just okay. I might go back to it later, I might not. I will add, however, that if asked if I find it worth the full-price tag of $70 (not including add-ons)? Or even the $50 of the original? As of writing this? I'd answer. Hel no. I'd have been annoyed even paying $30. TL;DR -It's more or less stable but uninspired overall. Story, visuals, characters, weapons and overall gameplay range from mid to boring. For those looking for a true mech game, this isn't one. If you like power-suit games or sci-fi action games with mechs, might be worth a try on a hefty sale. p.s. That "Hel" is not a typo. If ya know, ya know. Also, why the hell is the music so much more subtle than the first? The OG soundtrack was a banger.