Demon X Machina

[FlyBoogy]

How close/far from AC is DxM game? I played it because it kinda looks like AC6 but I really didn't like it.

[This PC]

I'm looking at gameplay RN, and this definitely looks inspired by Armored Core, but it also looks a lot lower quality than it. I wouldn't rely too hard on your experience of DxM to evaluate this game. It's made by different people anyways.

Maybe you'd benefit watching this so you can draw your own parallels between both:
https://youtu.be/1c1crLkr56E
Also, well, you're still entitled to a 2 hours refund window if you don't like AC6. ^^''

[Aldain]

Originally posted by This PC:

I'm looking at gameplay RN, and this definitely looks inspired by Armored Core, but it also looks a lot lower quality than it. I wouldn't rely too hard on your experience of DxM to evaluate this game. It's made by different people anyways.

Not just inspired by, but with some of the devs from the older days of AC behind it iirc.

But yeah, DxM is fun, but unpolished. For every cool thing they do (like how in one mission you can spare an enemy when their mech breaks down mid combat and they'll come to your aid in a later mission) something else lacks refinement, overall core mechanics are still solid though.

Still if you can get it on a sale I'd say it is a good time and not a bad game by any stretch imo.

[Emerald Lance]

DxM tried to be AC at a time when AC games weren't getting made. It depends on what you didn't like about it, but overall if you really hated DxM, then you probably won't like AC6 either.

[FlyBoogy]

Originally posted by Emerald Lance:

DxM tried to be AC at a time when AC games weren't getting made. It depends on what you didn't like about it, but overall if you really hated DxM, then you probably won't like AC6 either.

I didn't play it for long but I just found it boring. The combat was ok but felt really shallow from the few missions I did played and the story was uninteresting at best with annoying characters that just kept talking sometimes in the middle of a mission while interrupting gameplay.

[This PC]

Yeah I would expect the combat to be a lot less shallower from a full budget AAA armored core from a team that made 15 of those prior and also made soulsbornes a thing, and I would expect a much better, much more fleshed out story with multiple paths.

Watch that video up there if you can manage 45 minutes of attention. ^^
I really enjoyed it myself.

[FlyBoogy]

Originally posted by This PC:

Yeah I would expect the combat to be a lot less shallower from a full budget AAA armored core from a team that made 15 of those prior and also made soulsbornes a thing, and I would expect a much better, much more fleshed out story with multiple paths.

Watch that video up there if you can manage 45 minutes of attention. ^^
I really enjoyed it myself.

I watched the video before and I found the presentation of story and gameplay/missions very similar. Gameplay feel is hard to judge if you aren't playing yourself. In fact that wave of videos is what made me give DxM a go since epic gave it out for free a while back and I already had it.

[Kiloton]

Originally posted by FlyBoogy:

How close/far from AC is DxM game? I played it because it kinda looks like AC6 but I really didn't like it.

DXM is not representative of AC6. Gameplay-wise, they're pretty far removed from each other.

Originally posted by This PC:

Yeah I would expect the combat to be a lot less shallower from a full budget AAA armored core from a team that made 15 of those prior and also made soulsbornes a thing, and I would expect a much better, much more fleshed out story with multiple paths.

Watch that video up there if you can manage 45 minutes of attention. ^^
I really enjoyed it myself.

"armored core from a team that made 15 of those prior" isn't accurate when a key portion of those developers and producers left From Software. The difference is visible. DXM's gameplay mechanics show that it was made as a spiritual successor to Armored Core: For Answer, while AC6 bears the hallmarks of FromSoft's latter games.

[This PC]

Originally posted by Kiloton:

"armored core from a team that made 15 of those prior" isn't accurate when a key portion of those developers and producers left From Software. The difference is visible. DXM's gameplay mechanics show that it was made as a spiritual successor to Armored Core: For Answer, while AC6 bears the hallmarks of FromSoft's latter games.

Yeah of course, there's been ten years between AC5 and this. There's obviously been a rotation of personel, but I don't feel like "bears the hallmarks of FromSoft's latter games" is a true statement either, the only real gameplay changing feature from Souls is hard lock on as far as I know. Feel like difficult bosses and in-depth customization were hallmarks of AC way before Demon's Soul. :D

I feel like what you perceive as "bearing the hallmarks of From's latter games" is just From making it more accessible to justify the budget behind it. QoL and hum, what you probably perceive as "dumbing down" and that sort of stuff. Not sure if it's worth having that discussion in that particular thread though, and I'm not particularly an Armored Core fan (nor a souls fan, for that matter). I'm actually drawn in by them doing new stuff to make it more playable myself. ^^''

Yes, they ruined Armored Core for people like me. :D:D:D:D

[Kiloton]

I'm not sure "accessible" or "QoL" exists in the vocabulary of FromSoft.

[Emerald Lance]

Originally posted by FlyBoogy:

Originally posted by Emerald Lance:

DxM tried to be AC at a time when AC games weren't getting made. It depends on what you didn't like about it, but overall if you really hated DxM, then you probably won't like AC6 either.

I didn't play it for long but I just found it boring. The combat was ok but felt really shallow from the few missions I did played and the story was uninteresting at best with annoying characters that just kept talking sometimes in the middle of a mission while interrupting gameplay.

Combat will be a bit weightier and likely quite a bit more difficult, but otherwise similar. However, the story presentation will be quite different; darker, dirtier, and more sparse. You never see anybody's face in AC games, and there generally isn't any character drama like there is in DxM (or at the very least it's extremely subdued by comparison). You'll get some voice lines during missions for flavor, but past AC games rarely ever stop the mission to exposit story at you like DxM does. It's also important to remember that DxM was made for the Switch first and then ported to PC a year later, and it definitely shows.

DxM is a AC game except instead with a tiny budget, looser controls, and a heavy emphasis on story and character drama.

AC6 is -just- a AC game.

[Blackmage]

Originally posted by FlyBoogy:

How close/far from AC is DxM game? I played it because it kinda looks like AC6 but I really didn't like it.

Comparing DxM to Armored Core is like comparing a tower defense game to Command & Conquer. Yeah, in both you have a base and build defenses, you get a bird-eye view of everything, and maybe some of your units have special abilities, but that's about where the similarities end.

[Kiloton]

Originally posted by Blackmage:

Originally posted by FlyBoogy:

How close/far from AC is DxM game? I played it because it kinda looks like AC6 but I really didn't like it.

Comparing DxM to Armored Core is like comparing a tower defense game to Command & Conquer. Yeah, in both you have a base and build defenses, you get a bird-eye view of everything, and maybe some of your units have special abilities, but that's about where the similarities end.

That analogy is about as inaccurate as it gets.

[Aldain]

Originally posted by Blackmage:

Originally posted by FlyBoogy:

How close/far from AC is DxM game? I played it because it kinda looks like AC6 but I really didn't like it.

Comparing DxM to Armored Core is like comparing a tower defense game to Command & Conquer. Yeah, in both you have a base and build defenses, you get a bird-eye view of everything, and maybe some of your units have special abilities, but that's about where the similarities end.

A better analogy imo would be a kid trying to dress in his father's clothes.

They obviously don't fit, the tie is just slung around instead of properly worn and the shoes are WAY too big, but it's endearing to see them trying and one can only hope that they grow up well when seeing it.

...Which is basically my way of saying I really do hope the DxM sequel is a big improvement, because there is potential with what they were doing but there was a lack of experience or funding to fully realize their vision.

[Blackmage]

Originally posted by Kiloton:

Originally posted by Blackmage:

Comparing DxM to Armored Core is like comparing a tower defense game to Command & Conquer. Yeah, in both you have a base and build defenses, you get a bird-eye view of everything, and maybe some of your units have special abilities, but that's about where the similarities end.

That analogy is about as inaccurate as it gets.

Then you didn't understand the analogy.
You can make out multiple similarities between them, but they're ultimately different games. It also highlights the fact a tower defense game is basically baby mode when it comes to strategy games. DxM is baby mode for mecha.

[Kiloton]

Originally posted by Blackmage:

Originally posted by Kiloton:

That analogy is about as inaccurate as it gets.

Then you didn't understand the analogy.
You can make out multiple similarities between them, but they're ultimately different games. It also highlights the fact a tower defense game is basically baby mode when it comes to strategy games. DxM is baby mode for mecha.

I understood the intent behind the tenuous analogy. DXM is not a "baby mode" mech game. It is very different from AC6 but Armored Core: For Answer was clearly one of the main inspirations.