Developer: Bandai Namco/Tose
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Release Date: 25th June 2021
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
*Review code provided by the publisher*
Bandai Namco is known for its JRPGs of all shapes and sizes, often taking inspiration from the world of anime. Scarlet Nexus is their latest action-packed adventure, which combines a host of familiar JPRG and anime tropes into a game that delivers twists and turns galore. Let’s explore the nexus!
The (very anime) story
Scarlet Nexus’ story has you take on the role of Yuito or Kasane, two new recruits in the OSF, who are protecting their fellow humans from “Others”; monsters attacking anyone in sight. The story starts quite predictably, but very quickly presents you with twists and turns that seemingly never end. Even as you near the game’s final chapters, the story continues to throw unexpected things at you, keeping you on your toes. It’s never quite what you expect – and that’s part of what makes the story so interesting.
To get the full story, you’re supposed to play through the game twice. This is because Yuito and Kasane’s stories diverge at certain points, which means that, despite being the exact same for considerable chunks of the adventure, you’ll get to experience two sides of certain events, which really helps cement the craziness. For anyone looking to get the full story, I would strongly suggest you play Yuito’s story first, as certain events during Kasane’s story will hit harder, but the choice is ultimately yours.
Beyond the main story itself, there is a ton of “filler” content that is meant to expand on your relationship with your various OSF team mates. These will involve anything from just chatting at the local cafe, to going out and killing a bunch of Others – all in the name of strengthening your bond. This is all optional content in terms of getting the overall story, but there’s still a very good reason to spend the time on these activities.
This is because strengthening your bond improves your skill in combat. Or rather, it improves the effectiveness of your party members, which helps change up and deepen the combat gameplay as you get further into the story. Beyond engaging in these side activities, you’ll also be giving certain gifts to your team members, which builds the bond too. Certain items don’t unlock until certain points in the story, however, which ensures that the combat bonuses happen over time and can’t be grinded out up front.
Oh, by the way; if you want even more to do, the game does have 68 side quests, too (34 per character), though they’re pretty much all “go kill this thing in this specific way” quests, which does get really repetitive. On the bright side, completing some of these rewards you with unique items, including ones that unlock the best weapons in the game.
Action-packed combat
Combat is the main attraction here, so it’s fortunate that it’s pretty awesome. Yuito and Kasane use different weapons, so their normal attacks will change depending on who you play as, but their powers, which is something they have in common, allows them to use psychokinesis to pick up and throw a ton of stuff in the environment. Once you get the hang of it and use it as part of your attack combos, it flows really well and makes combat quite different from other games that may otherwise be very similar in that aspect. It results in a unique combat experience, that is just as easy to pull off as it looks in trailers. You literally hold a button and boom – it’s great.
In addition to your own combat abilities, you are able to utilise other OSF team members during combat, too. You only ever directly control your chosen main character, but you’re only a few button presses away from someone else using either a combo attack (unlocked via bond levels) or their own abilities. Similar to psychokinesis, using the power of other OSF team members lets you go invisible, slow down time, boost your defenses, teleport to enemies and much more. Once you’ve unlocked everything and everyone, you’ll have a total of nine additional abilities that further expand on the already great combat. You’ll even need some of these abilities to solve environmental puzzles along the way.
You’re probably already thinking that the combat sounds pretty deep, but wait, there’s more!
As you engage in combat, you’re constantly building up a Brain Field meter. The name is weird, I know, but it’ll make more sense once you play the game. Once the meter is filled you can initiate the Brain Field, which pretty much supercharges your character. You don’t have access to the typical abilities while in this mode, but you have new and improved abilities that deal extra damage, making otherwise challenging encounters a breeze. It feels great to use every time, especially because your character looks pretty awesome when using it. You can see this in the colourful screenshot near the top of this review.
On top of all these systems, Scarlet Nexus wouldn’t be a proper RPG without levelling. As your main character levels up, you’ll be able to spend ability points (called Brain Points) on a pretty sizable skill tree that once again expands combat quite a bit. It’s divided into four sections, each dealing with different aspects of combat – and to max it all out, you’ll not only want to finish the game twice, but also grind out a few extra levels at the end.
The conclusion
Scarlet Nexus has a lot going for it. With an interesting story with a ton of twists keeping you guessing what might happen next, along with a fantastic combat system that’s as functional and fun as it is flashy, it’s an easy recommendation for JRPG fans. The story is full of “anime cliches”, but if all you want is the action-packed main course, the skip button is right there at all times. If you’re up for the full course, however, there’s a ton of great stuff here to dive into.
Oh and for the trophy/achievement hunters out there; nothing is missable. Enjoy!
-K.A. Pedersen