Latest news with #mecha
Forbes
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Kenichiro Tsukuda On ‘Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion' And ‘Astro Boy'
'Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion' is released this September. With Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion out in a few months, I was lucky enough to catch up with the game's producer, Kenichiro Tsukuda, about what we can look forward to. Tsukuda also has a long history with mecha games, having worked on the older Armored Core games and Frame Gride at FromSoftware, also as a producer. I also interviewed Tsukuda for a UK games magazine around the time of Armored Core 3 back in 2002, so it's nice to be able to talk to him again. Considering it's been over two decades since we last talked, I wondered what he'd been up to. 'I moved to a development company called Feelplus, which later merged with Marvelous. During that time, I was involved in the development of various games, including the Fate/Extella series, Bakumatsu Rock, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, the Daemon X Machina series, and other various titles.' 'Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion' is set 300 years after the first game. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder The mecha in Titanic Scion are also closer in scale to power armor this time around, and Tsukuda was kind enough to explain why. 'As technology advanced, mecha became smaller. Although this is science fiction and a mecha title set in a fictional world, incorporating elements of reality adds depth to that world. Our goal is also to enhance the player's feeling of directly making a difference in the world as the main character. 'With the anime-style mecha that appeared in the previous game, game design can be relatively straightforward because the mecha are only used for battle. However, by scaling down the size of the mecha and making the game open world, we were forced to rethink exploration, missions, and various other elements. And while I'm proud of the unique way our game allows players to move freely between the air and the ground, this increased freedom also required us to design the world with a greater focus on three-dimensionality and spatial awareness than we otherwise would have needed. We encountered various challenges along the way, such as players accidentally accessing areas they shouldn't be able to reach, but the team persevered and successfully resolved these issues. 'As for the bigger mecha seen in the trailers, yes, they will be playable with special controls. In this game, you can summon and use Heavy Armor, which are the previous game's Arsenals, by building up your energy gauge during battle. 'Regarding the controls, we've made it possible to fly more freely in the air by having your Arsenal respond to joystick inputs. Additionally, we've revised the controls to accommodate new mechanics. The basic control scheme hasn't changed significantly, and you can fully customize the key configuration, so players should be able to find a setup that suits them. This change was inspired by a letter we received from a single player. We also enhanced accessibility options in Daemon X Machina to make the game more inclusive.' You now pilot power armor in 'Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion', although bigger mecha are also ... More available. The story for the first Daemon X Machina was certainly one of its weaker points, but it seems things will be different this time around. 'Titanic Scion is set about 300 years after the events of the first game, so similar to how the mecha have gotten smaller over time, we wanted to express how the change in time period would affect clothing and the appearance of people's faces and bodies. I worked together previously with character designer Kimihiko Fujisaka on Bakumatsu Rock. He is well-known for his fantasy work, but his style always incorporates sci-fi elements. I consulted with him about depicting a world that has changed over time, and he agreed to take on the project. While we made many changes from the previous title, I believe Fujisaka's characters have helped bring everything together. 'This time, we set out to make a more accessible story by maintaining the same depth but narrowing the scope. We hold great respect for various works of science fiction, manga, movies, and anime, and I believe our story will resonate with fans of these genres, giving them a lot to think about. Take the robot character Toby, for example, who references the robot Astro Boy. Astro Boy was created by Dr. Tenma after his son died. However, Dr. Tenma's son's name was actually Tobio, and the name Toby was chosen as a tribute to him. Finishing up, I wanted to know what Tsukuda hoped players would enjoy most about the game. 'I would like players to enjoy everything. We designed the gameplay so that players can experience everything. I also want players to jump into online play. Other players can revive you if you fall in battle while playing co-op, so there's nothing to fear.' Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion will be released on September 5 for Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, via Steam. Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
Forbes
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Front Mission 3: Remake' Switch Review: Wanzers On A Budget
'Front Mission 3: Remake' has had a substantial makeover compared to the original PlayStation game. Originally, the first Front Mission game to come Westward, this remake of Front Mission 3 has a lot to live up to. If you're not unfamiliar with the Front Mission games, these are tactical role-playing games where you control 4-5 meter tall mecha called wanzers. Each map is grid-based and has a large variety of locales and enemies you face, from tanks to helicopters, and of course, enemy wanzers. Despite the fact that the name for mecha in this setting is the obviously comical wanzer, its influences are very clearly from mecha anime such as Armored Trooper VOTOMS. Like the ATs in that anime, the wanzers can also zoom along the ground at high speeds and are roughly the same height. Your wanzer customization options are extensive. The big difference with wanzers is that you can customize their bodies as well as their weapon loadouts, which is closer to the setup in Armored Core, although arguably Front Mission got there first. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder In this iteration of Front Mission series, you can also target the pilot and force them to eject and surrender. It's a neat little thing, and naturally, your own pilots can jump out of their wanzers, too. The only oddity with specificity in targeting is that you can't target specific limbs in this game. It seems like a very obvious omission and would actually be very useful in combat from a strategic standpoint. Instead, we are left with a random chance of what limbs will be attacked, which can be a tad frustrating. As for this remake, from a visual standpoint, it's not bad. The game is using Unity, which is arguably better suited for 2D games, but the wanzers and the environments here look good in their updated form. Some of the game's 2D art appears to be AI-generated. However, it seems that a chunk of the 2D art has been AI-generated or modified by AI in some way. This feels like a budgetary constraint more than anything else, but it does make the game feel cheap in places. Which brings me to my main point: this game feels like it was done on too tight a budget. Not only in a visual sense, with the use of AI-generated art, but also some of the obvious quality-of-life features, such as targeting of specific limbs, that could have been added in if the team had had more time. The other thing here, and this is more of a criticism of the developer when it comes to their library of remakes, is that they are in many ways too faithful to the host material without thinking of what modern gamers would expect. If this were a straight-up retro port of the original game, of which many exist, that would be fine. However, this is meant as a remake, and that means taking into account the games that were released after the original game and potentially implementing functional features that modern gamers would naturally expect to be there. Overall, Front Mission 3: Remake is a solid update to a classic mecha tactical role-playing game from the PlayStation era. It does feel rushed in places, and here's hoping the game receives some patches to fix some of those issues, much like the previous remakes in the series have. Front Mission 3: Remake Platform: Nintendo Switch Developer: MegaPixel Publisher: Square Enix, Forever Entertainment Released: 26th June 2025 Price: $34.99 Score: 7/10 Disclosure: Forever Entertainment sent me a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
Forbes
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The Five Star Stories' Mecha Manga Gets English Re-Release Next Year
It seems that Titan Manga and Newtype will be bringing the long-running mech manga The Five Star Stories Westward at the start of next year. According to a panel at this year's Anime Expo, the manga will be published in English starting in March 2026. The Five Star Stories is arguably one of the most popular modern manga series ever made and has been serialized in Newtype magazine since 1986. The manga is also still ongoing and doesn't look like it will be finishing anytime soon either. Created by renowned mecha designer Mamoru Nagano, The Five Star Stories is an immense tale spanning billions of years and makes Frank Herbert's Dune seem like a quaint bedtime story. Set in the Joker star cluster, which comprises five stars (hence the manga's title), the story deals with ancient warring houses and kingdoms using immense mecha known as mortar headds. 'The Five Star Stories' manga started back in 1986. Due to the complexity of these giant mecha, they require two pilots. The first being a headdliner, which is equivalent to a knight but with much faster reflexes, and the second being an artificial humanoid known as a fatima, who controls most of the mecha's movement and general operation. In a way, the headdliner is the 'conscious' pilot, with the fatima acting as the mortar headds unconscious. As most of the fatimas tend to be women, much of the story also deals with the romance and bonding they have with their respective headdliners. With some mortar heads, such as Vatshu, having their fatima pick the most suitable headliner. A good while back, Nagano had a big chunk of the manga translated into English, but he wasn't entirely happy with the results. He explained that when I interviewed him, the type of language used in Japanese was quite complex and bespoke and required a very diligent form of translation. It seems that Titan Manga and Newtype have managed to convince Nagano that they are up to the task, which is a sizeable one as The Five Star Stories is a genuinely immense and highly complicated manga series. In any case, The Five Star Stories is one of the cultural heirlooms of manga, and I am both glad and wary about how its release will be handled. Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is adding a card game as the mecha sequel targets an increasingly specific type of guy
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Daemon X Machina wasn't a perfect game, as our 2020 review will tell you. But with former Armored Core producer Kenichiro Tsukuda, designs from Macross creator Shoji Kawamori, and the voice actors of Gundam's original anime rivals, it had a compelling pedigree for meeting the particular tastes and expectations of the modern mecha enthusiast. Now, its follow-up, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, is appealing to an even more specific brand of sicko. Titanic Scion isn't just for mecha freaks. Titanic Scion is for mecha freaks who are also into card games. In gameplay demos at IGN Live earlier this month (via RPG Site), developer Marvelous showed off a bit more of what we can expect from the sequel this September. While it trades the first game's Gundam-sized mech suits for smaller Arsenals in the style of Iron Man armor, Titanic Scion is expanding the scale of its environments by adopting large, freely explorable biomes. That exploration is just as important between excursions, however, because it's back at base where you might find cards for Overbullet, Titanic Scion's very own Gwent competitor. Demo players weren't able to play Overbullet with the cards they found, but those cards seemed to be based on Arsenal weaponry and individual components. The cards have attack and defense stats, but it's unclear whether they'll be played directly or used to assemble an Arsenal of component cards for battling your opponents. Whatever the case is, I just hope it's feasible to fund your actual Arsenal customization purely from Overbullet winnings. After all, it's probably better for everyone involved if I'm minimizing my time in the actual robot. If mecha anime has taught me anything, it's that mechanized humanoid killing machines don't really tend to solve problems very well. Mostly the cool robots just make people build more cool robots to fight with. Weird! Even if you're not into videogames with card games inside them, Titanic Scion is bringing other welcome additions. Arsenal aesthetics will be fully customizable down to individual components, and the sequel's rectifying the dearth of basic PC features and settings that the first Daemon X Machina suffered. From the sounds of it, there are dozens of settings to adjust in the gameplay section alone. It'll even have a mouse cursor this time. The future grows ever brighter. Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion launches on Steam on September 5.
Forbes
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion' Shows Off Its New Heavy Armor
The newly revealed Heavy Armor in 'Titanic Scion'. In a new trailer for Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, we get to see a much bigger type of mecha called Heavy Armor that is similar to the Arsenals from the first game. To make all of this a bit confusing, the smaller power armors we've already seen in Titanic Scion are already called Arsenals. That aside, the power armor in Titanic Scion can enter the Heavy Armor and 'pilot' it accordingly. This is actually similar to the setup in the first Daemon X Machina, except the pilots of those Arsenals technically lacked power armor (and I'm not counting the upgraded armor for the pilot as power armor here). It also seems that not only can Heavy Armors transform and fly around, but that their usage is limited, which gives me flashbacks to the first Lost Planet game on the Xbox 360 and the thermal energy-powered Vital Suits. In any case, this new Heavy Armor setup flips Titanic Scion on its previously powered armored head, and that is interesting, especially as there will be instances where you face down Heavy Armor in your power armor and vice versa. It also seems that the base character abilities are more fleshed out now, and that too will play a big part in the game. To be honest, the more that comes out about Titanic Scion, the more I'm on board with what it's doing. From everything I am seeing, it feels like this will be a proper evolution from the first Daemon X Machina, and that's a rare thing in gaming these days. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is released on September 5 for Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, via Steam. Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
