SCARLET NEXUS Review: Properly Creating An Anime Action RPG

PS4 Review Code Provided by Bandai Namco

Creating a whole new anime world for a new game and even bringing it to be an actual anime featured on Funimation is next-level dedication. That’s exactly what Bandai Namco did when they created Scarlet Nexus and I must admit, this is a pretty awesome anime world! From the unique brainpunk-genre focus in both the visuals and gameplay elements to the story that had moments that peaked curiosity, brought humor to the experience, or left me feeling upset and angry; they really brought the full anime experience with this title.

Story

As the world changed for humanity, two main factors took place. Humans began to get control over a power that was unique to each user and creatures known only as ‘Others’ began to attack people. The Others are powerful creatures that can withstand normal means of attack and so the government formed the OSF group, in which humans who had learned to use their powers would be teamed up to work together through missions fighting back.

Taking on the role of either Yuito or Kasane, both new members of the OSF’s Scarlet Guardians, players will experience the story unfold from two different point-of-views. With this in mind, know that both sides will be left with more questions than answers throughout the story. Only by playing through both characters will you be able to truly get all the answers behind the truth of what is happening.

Gameplay

The game starts with some basic fighting control options, allowing players to move their character, use a standard attack, and a strong attack. You also get access to your telekinesis power, which can be used in a combo with your regular attacks. From here, the controls give a more wide range of options for players to use. You’ll end up creating your own combo attack options through the skills you unlock, but options include hitting enemies into the air, attacking them with a standard attack combo in the air, using a strong attack in the air, holding down the strong attack button to pull off an even stronger attack, and so on. It really depends on which character you use and what you have unlocked at that point.

Your combat will also take your teammates into account. As each character has their own ability to work with, your connection to them through SAS (a standard connection for all teammates within the OSF that do missions together) will allow you to use their abilities in a way that aids you. From boosting attack damage with a fire or electric aid to using teleport to help you evade attacks and shield to absorb attacks. This is completely reliant on who you are teamed with at that moment as they are assigned to you based on what part of the story you are on.

As I mentioned above, you can unlock skills. To do this, you will use points earned from leveling up in the Brain Map section of the menu. At first, you only get three sections, but eventually, you will unlock the other two sections once you gain their abilities in the later part of the story. I would suggest looking through some options there and make sure you know what you want to focus on because you will be able to unlock a lot of skills, but not all.

While venturing through each map, you can come across different items just laying around to collect. You can also collect some items from drops by enemies. These items can later be used in an Exchange section of the shop to make various items. You can create health Jelly’s, customization options, gifts for your teammates, and more. A lot of what you can buy in the Shop can be made in Exchange, so check if you can make what you need before you go and buy it.

Bonding with teammates will increase the options that using their abilities through SAS will provide. There is a break phase in between the story chapters and during these phases, you can go through Bonding Episodes and give gifts to teammates to increase your Bond level. These gifts can also be found in the hideout on a table that represents that character, which is a nice touch.

Audio and Visual

Visually, this game looks just like an anime! A lot of times, the games for an anime have the graphics looking quite different from what you see on screen, but because this game was made at the same time as the anime, both look identical to each other. This is very aesthetically pleasing. Plus, I like how they do the cutscenes where they do a still screen pull with a codec-style setup for when they are talking together, but when action is taking place it is fully animated.

The music choice and sound effects used are all very fitting as well. Including the voice acting being well done, I find all of the sounds in this world to be fitting to the environment. Having a specific band to create the music for the intro of both the game and anime was a great choice as well because they definitely focused on making it fitting to the media outlet the song was for.

Replayability

Due to having a full brain map to change up skills, two different storylines that provide different point-of-views for the story, and different difficulties to set the game on, I would definitely say that this game has replayability! I only have made it through Yuito’s story so far myself and plan to play through Kasane’s story next because there are still questions I have and want answers for.

What Could Be Better

I only found one side quest option in my playthrough and I am sure that there have to be more. These should have been made to be easier to find with a mark on the map or something. A small triangle over the random NPC’s head is hard to see and the only reason I found one was because he was right next to the save point when I was about to take a break.

With this game having a teamwork focus, it would be cool if they could implement some kind of co-op multiplayer for the game. It would be great if a few friends could get together, each having a character with different powers, and work together to take down Others and a Boss - even if the setup is the same as it is now where the psychokinesis user is the main member of the team.

Conclusion

Scarlet Nexus proved to be the must-have anime RPG I said it would be! I really enjoyed my playthrough of this game and can see myself playing this a whole lot more! If they do end up adding a multiplayer mode, that isn’t PvP, then you can bet I will be back on for that. All-in-all, this was an awesome title and I look forward to watching the anime as well. Highly recommend this one to action RPG fans out there.