Scarlet Nexus Review
Played on Xbox One (base)
Developed by BANDAI NAMCO Studios, Tose
Released 24th June 2021
Launched alongside its own anime, Scarlet Nexus is a game that doesn't suffer from a lack of creativity but more from its execution. Under the creative direction of Kenji Anabuki, who has previously worked on the Tales series, yet another anime-styled RPG was published underneath the Bandai Namco name. The game's contents, themes and story had this very unique style that is no better captured than in the "brain-punk" description that the developers have appointed it.
Story
The story of Scarlet Nexus was an incredibly wild drag to get through. The narrative can take form in one of two ways; you either follow the story of Yuito (which is what I did), or you follow the story of Kasane. They both generally follow the same set of events, differing in relatively minor ways. The setting is that in a far distant future, a psionic hormone was discovered in the human brain, granting people extra-sensory powers and changing the world and how it functions. Just as humanity was entering this new era, deranged mutants known as Others began to descend from the sky with a thirst for human brains.
The 20-hour journey you embark on fluctuates between two intensities: amazingly unique or painfully plain. For every story beat that occurred, it felt like a flip of a coin of what could happen. Either it would introduce a positively mind-boggling plot point like how the planet actually consists of descendants of Moon people, and continue to delve deeper into these extraordinary concepts; such as when it linked telekinesis with time travel. Or, it would have its scope focused on the most formulaically presented plot twists - a secret information-limiting government, a guy who is evil at first but then isn't but then is, etc. If it isn't obvious by now, the game reaches heights of unnecessary complexities that, even if you play both characters' tales, you'd need some time to process and understand the whole story.
What I've mentioned so far are the interesting moments of the campaign, which comprise around 20% of the narrative. Whenever there is a sequence or section that feels inconsequential to the story, it ends up being quite boring and forgettable, further dragging the quality down. The final complaint I have with this game's chronicle is that having a "Friendship is powerful" moment at the end of the game may look cool in terms of gameplay, but from a writer's perspective, it's so unforgivably stupid that I don't know if I loved it or hated it.
Gameplay
The gameplay works better on paper than it does in execution. Scarlet Nexus is as simple of a hack'n'slash with a wide third-person view as any other title that exhibits these features. If you've ever played the original God of War games or Devil May Cry, then you already know what the combat is going to be like. The simplistic light and heavy attack combos thrive in this anime-style setting, being as flashy and good-looking as they are satisfying. As far as hack'n'slash games go, this one is very effective in being enjoyable and fluid when combatting individual enemies; fighting against multiple enemies is a different story.
After scouring the dictionary for 20 seconds, I think I found the best word to describe my experience with this game's solution against hordes of enemies - nightmarish. Most adversaries can easily disrupt your attacks and stun you when you're not targeting them, and since 70% of the encounters are groups of these foes, I spent 70% of my playtime dragging myself to the end. This all could've easily been fixed had the gameplay spent a little more time in the oven and invested into something that could fill the void of defensive measures the player could've otherwise used. Blocking or parrying would've worked so well, especially with Yuito's melee-central combat. A rework to the dodge/dash would've been great as well as all they would have to do is increase the distance you travel with it so that it doesn't feel like a useless sidestep. The damage-sponge nature of the enemies, the lock-on camera that snaps too erratically and the terrible choice of manoeuvres to defend yourself, work together in perfect unison to make a catastrophic experience. It unnecessarily makes the enemy encounters annoying to deal with and makes the whole game feel repetitive with how undeveloped and basic the gameplay is.
The level design is also relatively poor. Whether you're fighting a boss, a horde of enemies or travelling in between fights, you'll be trapped in this feeling of emptiness, all because of the lack of interesting level design. Each area you stumble upon is nothing but a massive sandbox block with differently designed walls and randomly thrown-in assets for the player to use their telekinesis with. It's sloppy, it feels unfinished and is not worth your time.
One thing that I can greatly praise this game for is the use of the psionic powers everyone has. You get to combo your sword swings with these badass-looking telekinetic manipulations. Had the gameplay been more advanced, it would've been amazing to see what fantastical combinations the player could create with their powers and sword skills. In addition to being able to wield your own power, you're also joined by 2 AI companions that have some abilities of their own. While you can use the psionic power of every teammate you have allied with narratively, such as pyrokinetic coating to your blade or teleport-dashing, you can also customise the loadouts of your companions who physically join you on the battlefield. You get to upgrade their weapons and equip modifiers like extra health or damage, and while you can also do this to yourself, that's about the limit to how creative you can get in this "RPG" title, other than the standard statistical boosting skill tree.
Bossfights
The bossfights were flawed similar to the gameplay. Before I critique the challenge that the bosses proposed, I'd have to say that the visual designs are quite astonishing. They were nearly all so cool looking and dynamic in design. The 'Other' bosses are so chaotic with the aesthetic that it's quite hard to describe the organic yet manufactured blend of unsettlingness. Meanwhile, the humanoid bosses weren't that special with their character models, but the attacks they unleashed looked quite spectacular. Gameplay-wise, they are quite poor. The bosses were like cinder blocks, they soaked in as much damage as they dished out, making the fights feel like a high-risk, low-reward quick time event. In addition to this, the humanoid bosses suffered quite a bit because of the egregious level design as having a massive box to fight an enemy as small as you: it feels redundant and removes that intimacy the duels could've had, acting as a poor excuse as to why more advanced mechanics like parrying weren't introduced.
Characters
I'll keep the characters section short because I don't have enough care for these caricatures to write extensively about. EVERY character was forgettable in more ways than one, which is quite ironic given how one-dimensional they are. The dialogue, the reactions and "character development" feel uninteresting and quite stereotypical in the way it's presented, with a very basic anime-esque attitude.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is phenomenal on the visual side but is lacking in the other departments. This may be a hot take for many, but I believe that the enemy design within this game is so unique and incredible, that it potentially rivals FromSoftware's enemy design. I said this in the boss fights section, but it also applies to other 'Other' enemies - they are so chaotic with the aesthetic that it's quite hard to describe the organic yet manufactured blend of unsettlingness. I took a quick look at the enemy gallery to see which foes I think are the most eccentric in artistic value, but I physically could not even begin to explain what eye-catching monstrosities these are, and which is my favourite. The world design is relatively bland with how empty the areas are, but the textures that are scattered around are the only thing that is preventing this game from being a pre-alpha lookalike.
Audibly, the game doesn't necessarily falter at any point, and neither does it excel. For what it is, the soundtrack is enjoyable and quite pleasant to listen to, whether you're exploring the world or slaying enemies. However, it doesn't stick with you. For me, the music only sticks with you for however long your session is and once it's over, so is your memory of the OST.
On the technical spectrum, I didn't encounter anything game-breaking except for a couple of instances of the audio cutting in and out. However, as I've seen with other post-2020 games, it seems to be an old-console issue rather than a poor-game issue.
Story - 5/10
Gameplay - 4/10
Bossfights - 4.5/10
Characters - 3/10
Atmosphere - 6/10
Bad
Even if you really like outlandish tales, hack'n'slashes akin to Devil May Cry, or the whole animated aesthetic that is presented in games like the Tales series, I still wouldn't recommend this game. For every positive aspect of it that takes one step forward, the flawed constructs make them take 3-4 steps back.
