Scarlet Nexus is an action role playing game developed and published by Bandai Namco. It is available for Steam, PS4 and PS5, and Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X. Scarlet Nexus is a third person JRPG and seeks to differentiate itself from its competitors with slick, fast-paced gameplay, and a beautifully realized world. Scarlet Nexus’s world is being invaded by monsters called Others and you the player must choose a protagonist: Yuito Sumeragi or Kasane Randall. What appears as a simple gender choice, typical of many other RPGs, goes deeper than that, as both player characters have their own unique perspectives, personalities, and gameplay. This subversion of a standard RPG trope represents what Scarlet Nexus is as a whole: a game that on the surface seems like a simple, basic JRPG but manages to delight and surprise with innovations where it matters.
Anime First, Game Second
First impressions of Scarlet Nexus were good for me. As a fan of Astral Chain, I was immediately drawn to the world and aesthetic of Scarlet Nexus. A futuristic city, besieged by monsters (called Others in Scarlet Nexus) with a cyberpunk futuristic style will be familiar to other fans of Astral Chain. The gameplay is also similar and the choice of two distinct male/female protagonists are also very similar to Astral Chain. However, whereas Astral Chain seemed to focus more on gameplay, Scarlet Nexus has made its priority the storytelling and characters that inhabit its world. Cutscenes are told using a combination of typical movie-like cutscenes with visual novel panels. One cutscene, early in the game, introduce several characters at once but didn’t feel like a boring exposition dump thanks to the style of the scene itself. This is why Scarlet Nexus feels more like an interactive anime than just a video game. There’s even an anime-style opening right before the title sequence and there’s even already an anime adaption announced for the game (which should be airing right now). The cutscenes are definitely a bit longer than most other games, but the unique presentation means they’re rarely boring.
I mentioned earlier the choice between two protagonists and how Scarlet Nexus subverts a simple gender choice by providing a deeper experience. This can be seen both in the story and the gameplay. Kasane and Yuito will crossover every now and then in each other’s stories and these crossovers reveal just how different they are as protagonists. Kasane is more serious and guarded while Yuito is more your typical anime hero. Kasane uses knives and daggers while Yuito wields a large sword. The contrast between both player characters adds to the replay value of Scarlet Nexus, as subsequent playthroughs can feel different from the last just based off of whether you chose Kasane or Yuito.
The world of Scarlet Nexus, is in a word, simply beautiful. I’ve actually never been so impressed and taken aback by how staggeringly beautiful a JRPG is. The art style is a blend of realistic looking backgrounds, blurred with a light haze as cyberpunk lights pop in and out. I’m reminded of the style of the original Ghost in the Shell movie when I walk through Scarlet Nexus’ cities and industrial centers. Characters and backgrounds feel soft and gentle which contrast perfectly with Scarlet Nexus’ hectic gameplay. Scarlet Nexus doesn’t need a monster graphics card or RTX to create beautiful graphics. Its art style and aesthetic alone set it apart from other games as a visual delight.
Scarlet Nexus also has a plethora of interesting characters to interact with and the characters you will be able to fight alongside and chat with are different between Yuito and Kasane, as they join different platoons in the OSF. Each platoon member has their own personality and special abilities, and bond episodes serve to both upgrade your combat potential and develop the relationships between the protagonists and their party members. You can even engage in text conversations with different groups of characters. Between the bond episodes, conversations in the hideout, story moments and the text conversations, the character interactions are clearly a large focus of Scarlet Nexus and all help in endearing the different characters to the player. The only thing I wish you could do is play as the other party members but given that the decision between Yuito and Kasane is so integral to the way you experience Scarlet Nexus, it makes sense that the game would want you to stick with just playing as them.
How Hard Could It Be?
Before we get started discussing the gameplay, I have to make one recommendation to anyone who decides to play this game. Ditch the keyboard, grab a controller. I found myself enjoying the gameplay of Scarlet Nexus much more using my controller rather than trying to bang on my keyboard to set up my combos. Playing on a keyboard isn’t the worst, but I definitely think a controller is the optimal input device for Scarlet Nexus. With that caveat, we can dive right into the nuts and bolts of the gameplay of Scarlet Nexus.
The game is definitely harder than it first appears. Getting knocked down is punishing, as your character will take what feels like hours to get back up, especially with no upgrades. In that way, it’s almost like a pseudo, far easier version of a Souls-like game. Seeing that it was developed by the same studio that made the Souls-like game, Code Vein, that’s probably not a surprise. The Others, especially the bosses, can deal heavy damage and as a player, you are reliant on dodges and slowly whittling down the Other’s health with different attacks. The combat was fast paced though, and even if sometimes it felt like certain Others were damage sponges, the visual and audio feedback from a flurry of knives hitting made setting up long combos rewarding.
Enemies have interesting and unique designs and the variety of enemy encounters meant combat never felt dull. Even in one single level, you could go from fighting a swarm of flying Others to fighting a massive tank-like Other with ranged attacks. Being flexible and adapting to not every level, but every fight was essential. But just as there are a variety of enemies to fight, you also have a variety of allies to assist in your battles against the Others. Your party members are there to support you mainly through the SAS gauge, giving you access to special abilities. Their actual combat ability does leave a bit to be desired, but they tend to have enough health and their AI can be set to different roles so their primary job of allowing you to tap into different abilities and bonuses was something you wouldn’t have to worry about losing.
The inventory is also pretty standard for a JRPG, with the good variety of different weapons, equippables and consumables. Making sure to keep track of the upgrades and weapons equipped to each of your party members is important, not just to help keep Yuito and Kasane alive and powerful but also allowing your allies to serve as more than just glorified special ability carriers. The Brain Map, Scarlet Nexus’ version of a perk tree is not as large as many other perk trees but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. The Brain Map is broken up into three different perk styles that a player may want to focus on from adding different movement options, buffing your attacks, and giving yourself perks that can add to your survivability. I found the movement perks to feel the most immediately valuable but as you move through the perk tree to the later perks, the different bonuses and buffs will definitely feel more tangible.
A Beautifully Crafted Package
Scarlet Nexus has few flaws and what can be perceived as flaws can be easily dismissed as the most nitpicky of nitpicks. Is Scarlet Nexus a little challenging? Yes, but this can be changed or can be seen as a motivation to improve at Scarlet Nexus’ impressive gameplay. Are the cutscenes a little long? Maybe, but the unique presentation and visual novel style storytelling make those cutscenes feel like I just took a break from playing my video game to enjoy the next episode of my favorite anime.
What Scarlet Nexus succeeds at is combining a beautifully crafted and compelling world, interesting and loveable characters, and fast-paced, visually rewarding, and tight gameplay into one cyberpunk inspired, red-orange neon package. There isn’t even a doubt in my mind whether I will play this game through again and again. The different combinations of party members and their abilities, two unique protagonist stories and the branching perk tree all make me want to not only keep playing Scarlet Nexus but plan more playthroughs. I cannot recommend Scarlet Nexus enough and not only to JRPG fans. Any gamer can find something to enjoy jumping into the red and black uniforms of Yuito and Kasane.
10/10
Check Out the Scarlet Nexus Trailer:
SCARLET NEXUS is available for the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam. For more information on SCARLET NEXUS please visit https://www.bandainamcoent.com/games/scarlet-nexus.
Related: SCARLET NEXUS by Bandai Namco Now Available
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Steam Review
My name is Matt Tran and I have been playing video games since I could remember holding a controller. I've always been a hardcore gamer growing up, from the hectic MW2 and Halo 3 lobbies, my many journeys through several Halo clans and my current exploits with my Destiny 2 clan. I love shooters and RPGs and overanalyzing every component of every game I've played, from weapon stats to ideal perks. When I have time to play other games, I currently play Genshin Impact and Star Wars Squadrons.
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