Synopsis: Choose between Yuito and Kasane, elite psionics each armed with a talent in psychokinesis and their own reason to fight. Complete both of their stories to unlock all the mysteries of a Brain Punk future caught between technology and psychic abilities.
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Reviewed on: PS5
Also available for: PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Cast: Chris Hackney, Erica Mendez, Megan Harvey, Xanthe Huynh, Aaron Hendricks, Zach Aguilar, Mark Whitten, Reba Buhr, Lauren Landa, Chris Patton, Griffin Burns, Jennifer Losi, Kyle McCarley, Celeste Henderson, Phillip Reich, Laura Post, Buba Chow, Zeno Robinson, Allegra Clark, Chris Cason, Megan Harvey, Armen Taylor
Developer: Bandai Namco Studios / Tose
Director: Kenji Anabuki
Writers: Asana Inoki, Yasuyo Takahashi, Mio Goto
Art Director: Kota Ochiai
Scenario Director: Asana Inoki
Technical Director: Shoji Aomatsu
Scarlet Nexus is a genuinely surprising action-RPG from Bandai Namco Studios. It mixes genres and delivers lighting and explosive combat that feels in line with Bayonetta or Devil May Cry while also emphasising a narrative and a complicated social structure that encourages you to spend time with the game’s characters, reminding me of the Persona franchise. Surprisingly, both game genres and styles are given full attention and neither feel like the least exciting aspect or the part of the game that got the least attention. Instead, Scarlet Nexus feels like the start of something special and an exciting franchise for fans that love their action games with a side of character drama.
You play as either Yuito Sumeragi or Kasane Randall, fresh members of the Other Suppression Force (OSF). Although their stories will cross over and converge in the 20-hour campaign, there’s a lot of reasons to play as both characters. You’ll encounter slightly different enemies, build relationships with various characters in different ways and most importantly, gather details that help piece together the complete picture of everything that happens in Scarlet Nexus. A second playthrough is very rewarding; although I haven’t worked through to the finish for a second time just yet, I’ve already seen many tiny details and red-herrings that have me appreciating Bandai Namco’s cohesion between the two campaigns. I can’t remember the last time I’ve played a game with two characters like this that legitimately give you reasons to play as both.
Both Kasane & Yuito have joined the OSF to defend Earth from creatures called “Others” which descend from an Extinction Belt in the sky. The exact origins and what the Others are is unknown. Still, the game quickly thematically ties them to being sit-ins for natural disasters. Alarms ring through the city, declaring an Other attack like a meteor strike. The members of the OSF are rangers looking to protect against the unstoppable, not fighting a war to end the attacks from the Others.
Kasane & Yuito’s narratives link together very closely by the end, and many exciting things happen by the time you roll credits once that makes you want to see it from the other characters point-of-view. And no matter how much I enjoyed the overarching narrative, the smaller character moments between the fights hooked me on Scarlet Nexus.
The game is broken up into 12 core chapters; between each of these, you have a “stand-by phase” in which you can roam any of the areas you’ve visited to farm-up exp (not necessary at all), complete rather boring collectathon side quests, or most importantly, spend time talking to your team in your base of operations. Building these relationships and getting to know the cast of characters in Scarlet Nexus not only leads to revelations about the OSF and the larger world but it’ll make the game much more enjoyable to play. There are a couple of rather anime-trope characters here, like the elitist asshole Shiden I hated at the start of the game. However, as I played more, I understood his profound pain as I spent more time with him and grew to understand why he acts the way he does. Similarly, Kagero falls into the somewhat sleazy anime-trope, and I wasn’t a fan of him initially, but getting to know him and his past revealed a fascinating twist. Ignoring these “bond episodes” and rushing the main questline seems foolish, and you won’t get half as much of the enjoyment I got out of Scarlet Nexus if you chose to do that.
You can raise your relationship with characters in the game by battling with them (you can have two characters fight alongside you) or giving them gifts you can buy with items enemies drop. Gifts with a heart on them raise your bond level more, and characters will also use them or decorate your base with those items.
The core gameplay and mission progression is your typical action game. You’ll move steadily through a level and fight enemies along the way. As with the best, it’s the excellent combat in Scarlet Nexus that keeps this from feeling dull, and most importantly, wanting to get to the next cut-scene or intermission.
Both Yuito & Kasane shared a psychokinesis power that allows them to fling cars, bins, cement blocks and whatever else is around you at enemies. However, they use different weapons, which makes them stand apart. In my first playthrough with Kasane, I got used to her set of three knives, which she uses for mid-range attacks. Starting the game again as Yuito, I was surprised just how different his close-quarter sword fighting was, not only did it feel faster but much more dangerous than I was used to with Kasane. It’s the flow between melee attacks and their telekinetic throwing of objects that makes Scarlet Nexus thrilling to play.
Things only get more exciting once you’re introduced to the Struggle Arms System (SAS), which lets you borrow the powers of your teammates. Throwing a barrel of water over an enemy and then borrowing Shiden’s electric powers through SAS means you can shock that enemy and quickly defeat it. As you level up, you can unlock a skill to use more of SAS abilities at the same time to some genuinely insane combinations. Once you find each Other, using the suitable SAS ability allows you to quickly chip away at its “Crush Bar”, which allows you to perform a deadly finishing move that looks sweet but means the enemy is guaranteed to drop an item for Yuito or Kasane.
As much as I loved the combat in Scarlet Nexus and found the pacing between story and character moment to be pretty perfect for most of the game, things took a steep dive into tedium around chapter ten. From this point, the last two chapters feature levels with seemingly never-ending hallways of enemies. I knew I was growing tired of them when I initially began to think the game had glitched out, and I couldn’t load in the final section of the level. There are some exciting story moments in the last hours of Scarlet Nexus, but from a gameplay perspective, it does grow very tedious.
Visually this looks like it was ripped straight out of the screen from some anime. Interestingly, it’s happened the other way around, and an anime based on the game starts on July 1st. It’s both a positive and a negative that the at-a-glance look of Scarlet Nexus is its anime colour palette and character designs. It’ll attract a particular audience, but similarly turn some off who would probably write it off as just another anime game published by Bandai Namco based on some anime you’ve never heard of, which is far from the truth. As much as this has an anime skin, the creature designs have a horror-movie vibe and I’ve held that thought since the first trailer released. They’re oddly shaped with often grotesque ways of attacking; prime content for an anime.
Hayata Takeda delivers an original soundtrack with a taste of different genres. The opening track screams 90’s anime opening, while the chill jazz vibes that play in the intermissions reminded me most of Persona 5. There’s also a heavier song that plays in the final boss fight that I rocked out to and added to the overall vibe of that fight.
Scarlet Nexus’ combination of genres and ideas is rather ambitious and will likely be ignored because it looks like just another anime game. Hell, I was close to writing it off as such myself. But the combat here is thrilling, the characters deep, and the world and narrative prime for much more exploration. The dual campaigns are also well-worth playing and not just a quick squeeze of extra content by doing a re-skinned character. As far as surprises in 2021 go, Scarlet Nexus jumping into my list of favourite things I’ve played this year is certainly up there as unexpected.
