Hello, MezzSoft!
After trying out, and subsequently, getting hooked on, Project Landsword, I want to say that absolutely adore a lot of what you have managed to make by your lonesome.
Let me start off with one thing that I can't get out of my head.
I love the design and art direction.
The art and designs of Valerie Sommers' M97A M/AC, the AM-1 Mantis F-AC, the K41A1 MBT, the WPZ.40 Minotaur AT-BR, The Grenadier Crawler(don't know what name or designation you have for it yet unfortunately), the (by the looks at least)Unmanned Attack Helo(don't know the name for that one to lol), and the VAC-3 Guardian UAV as well as the various Weapons, Weapons Systems, and Munitions of the M97A from the standard, run of the mill, but no less powerful and destructive Mark 7 Auto-Cannon, the capable Stacked Munitions Launcher and its capacity for annihilation, to the aptly described and thunderously devastating Electro-Magnetic Railgun(my most favorite weapon system in the game for obvious reasons(one of which I will expand on later)(love the fact you included the Saboted and Armatured Penetrator, you didn't need to add it, yet you did, and I love it)), to even the K5-2 Scatter Gun(Which I find quite enjoyable for the sheer width of destruction this mech-scale auto-shotgun is capable of).
Each design is unique in its own interesting ways, but what I love the most about them is the (possible)design references and inspirations from not only Sci Fi and Cyberpunk works, but real world examples of technology as well!
The fictional Spider Tank from the original 'Ghost in the Shell' 1995 movie, both the fictional and real world genetic splicing of organisms, The real world LOSAT program, Project Metalstorm, General Atomics Blitzer Railgun, Chemical Lasers like the MIRACL and COIL laser systems, the Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV, the K2 Black Panther, and, most surprisingly for me(as well as quite beloved by me), the Man-Operable Quadrupedal Kuratas Mecha!
Safe to say, I absolutely adore not only the futuristic approach the game has to its world, but as well as the clear use of real world designs and technologies taken to their logical extreme in the game! Making the designs feel that much more authentic and original!
In fact, what really got me into the game was these designs, so much so, that after reading your development blogs and progress reports, as well as the article by Export Magazine(congrats on that by the way! you deserver it!), I decided to actually start drawing and designing my own art because of your work!
But i do have a couple of (personal)gripes.
I believe it would be cool to see the weapon pylons or the weapons inside them on Valeria Sommers' M97A change in appearance depending on what kind of weapon we have equipped, both inn the hanger, and in the mission, like having the pylons extend much further out or have the barrel visibly extending out with something like the Railgun, have them angle themselves up or have segmented box that angles up with the SM launcher and following the arc, and more.
You don't need to implement this at all though, I know its probably a lot harder than I think and would probably give you gray hairs, so it's up to you.
Now, the next thing I want to say I adore, is the sound design.
Missiles tearing through the air like death-seeking arrows, Kinetic Penetrators punching through the air like thunderous bolts of fury hurled by Zeus himself, the sound of breaking and failing concrete of buildings and skyscrapers as they collapse from the wave of destruction, to the deafening roar of the Vulcan as it bloats the air with Depleted Uranium.
This is phenomenal sound design, each noise unique in its own way.
Though, I feel some sounds for certain parts might need to be more punchy, more brutal, more raw, and more powerful(this is purely my bias speaking, I adore the sound design of Trepang2, each gun sounds violent and brutal, like each one wishes to eviscerate yours or your enemies body).
Now, the gameplay itself.
I love it a lot.
Its refreshing to have a simple, yet fun game and gameplay loop, that, while repetitive, is fun and can never get boring in its receptiveness(in my opinion).
Now, I know its still in development, but I cant help but say that I wish there were more mission variety.
Now, I don't mean to be mean, but I have some ideas if you'd like, all up to on how you interpret these ideas and suggestions as well as whether or not you decide to implement them.
1 - Defense
Not like the grub horde, but one where Heavy lift Cargo Helos drop wave after wave of tanks, mantis', minotaur's, and so on while you(and perhaps an ally) fend them off from some key objective(like a missile launch(yes, I know its an AC6 reference), a Space elevator, or some other object of importance could be fun, purely because i think it would be cool to see how much of a wasteland the map would be at the end of it.
2 - Search and Destroy
Not like with the current frequent missions in the game, where you hunt down any and all enemy units and destroy them to complete the mission, Instead of doing that, have it kind of be like MISSION 7, there are specific targets on the map the player needs to destroy, after they are all destroyed, they must reach the exfil point and keep it clear of enemies and enemy fire while a dropship comes to pick the player up to complete the mission.
3 - Kill Contract
Self explanatory, go fight and ensure the destruction of a specific target. Basically a boss fight or M/AC vs M/AC fight, think it would be absolutely exhilarating and chaotic to fight an enemy that is just as capable of destruction as you, Long range Railgun fights, dodging SM Launcher barrages while laying down counter fire with the Vulcan or Autocannon, trading barrages of missiles, and so on. Also, think it could be cool to see what kind of Boss fights you can think up of or make to fight the player.
4 - Recovery/Stealing
Basically MISSION 7, though I would like to see more of it in different environments and situations. Be it recovering a crashed Aircraft , a damaged friendly M/AC, and equipment, or even just Stealing an air craft, a M/AC, and equipment the potential is great. Think it could be fun!
Now, finally...
4 - (the dreaded) Escort mission type
Now, a lot of people don't like this mission type, for understandable reasons and critiques, but I feel a lot of those reasons and critiques fall on the fact most versions of this mission type have the target of escort be practically defenseless, and even if they are capable of defending themselves, basically do it poorly. One approach that I think could work, is to have them be actually capable of standing their own, though not in a way some would think. I believe the escort should be capable of fending off any enemies that managed to slip past the player, like three or five, maybe more. Basically, have the transport be capable of fending for itself, be it by itself or because of accompanying friendly units, but (this is the difficult part)have it be balanced in such a way that the player still needs to participate in defending it.
Again, all of these mission types would be up for you, as the dev, to interpret, heck, you don't even need to listen to me, I'm just a silly guy from the interwebs just throwing in my two cents.
Now, the other part of my recommendations and suggestions.
Valerie Sommers' M97A M/AC.
Its great, and I love the unique design, but (personal bias because I am a fan of the AC(Armored Core) games)I feel like there should be more Crawlers the player can use in the game to unleash carnage, though i feel that might conflict with what has already been set up with Valerie Sommers and her being the pilot of her specific type of crawler.
So instead, I think I would instead talk about the Armor Packages that you have hinted at in the demo.
You, probably, already have heard some suggestions on this.
Lighter Armor packages that allow the M/AC to move even faster and consume less coolant when boosting(overdriving? dodging? dashing? idk), but at the cost of being much weaker in the armor department.
Heavier Armor packages that allow the M/AC to be able to take a beating and walk through a storm of bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles unscathed, but at the cost of being much heavier and slower and consuming much more coolant.
But there is potential for more... unconventional ones, that I'm sure you might have already heard of as well.
1 - ERA Plating
causes HE munitions like HEAT tank shells, Missiles, Rockets, and so on to not be as fatal and deadly as they usually are, but at the cost of having a limited amount of times where the plate could stop those munitions.
2 - APS
Counters any and all incoming Missiles, Rockets, and HEAT shells by either making their navigation computer malfunction(for the missiles(Soft Kill)) or shooting them out of the air(rockets and HEAT shells(Hard Kill)), but has an even lower limit of usage(for Hard Kill) compared to ERA.
3 - EMRA Plating
Electro Magnetic Reactive Plating, where ERA focuses on countering HEAT and Missiles, EMRA focuses on kinetic penetrators and hypersonic munitions like LOSAT missiles, has a similar limited amount of uses as ERA.
4 - Composite Armor(NERA)
works in the more classical sense of armor of taking and sustaining hits.
Now, again, these are just ideas I think would be cool to see, but its up to you, the dev, whether or not you wish to add these features and suggestions.
I won't hold it against you, I will understand because, well, not everything makes it to the final version.
Now, onto the lore, and the hinted at story.
I like your approach of, well not directly telling it to us, but I think that can only go certain distance.
I think it would be interesting to have some elements be told to us, but not in a 100% direct way.
Perhaps a comment from Valerie or the Dropship pilot as the mission starts about the defecting MDF forces or their personal feelings, grievances, and so on about them. Perhaps some comms chatter from the enemies themselves that might hint at why they defected, revolted, or decided to try and coup the Martian Government. Some comments from Valerie herself or an ally about the government, and so on.
Doesn't need to be direct, just a show of the characters and their own biases, feelings, and so on about the matter.
Could do the same with the lore as well.
Have Valerie go through a the last parts of a start up checklist as the mission begins that hints at what powers the M97A, have the dropship pilot that drops Valerie off at Chateu du Mars telling Val to make sure she's not swarmed by the grubs while jokingly and mockingly referring to the grubs with a term that hints at their Bio-Engineered nature, and more.
Or don't.
I'm not your boss, this is your game after all, lol.
Anyway, thank you for reading my long ass rambling about your game(if you did, if not, no hard feelings), hope what I wrote at least gives you some ideas!
Now, as for the rating i would give? 9/10, purely because I want more, lol.
Thanks for making this amazing project, you have inspired me to try and pursue art, Thanks again, and I hope the best for you in the future!