![]() Kasane is the cold, stern, but sometimes friendly anime girl, and Yuito is a lax yet well-meaning anime boy. One of core conceits of Scarlet Nexus is that it features dual protagonists whose fates are intertwined. However, after getting a hands-on preview of Scarlet Nexus (about three hours played through the Parsec streaming platform), I think it has more to prove before I'm convinced of its potential. If you're anything like me, that's enough to grab your attention. There's a bit of a Platinum Games vibe, and maybe you see a lot of Astral Chain in its aesthetic and premise. Bandai Namco has crafted something truly strange and quite satisfying with Scarlet Nexus, and I hope we get a slightly more refined sequel.Scarlet Nexus makes a good first impression: fast anime-style action with an attitude and wild visual flourishes to go along with it. Whatever brainpunk’s take on over-the-top psychic reality is, I’m into it now. Luckily, enough lush, animated trappings are around to take you out of that cold design as you cruise from stage to stage. There are enough bizarre things to hold your attention even as you begin to get bogged down with the formulaic level design that alternates between checkpoints and arenas. The level layouts in Scarlet Nexus feel overly functional to a ridiculous degree, with little distance from checkpoint to checkpoint – just a straight line of checkpoints and arenas without any dressing. Scarlett Nexus also becomes repetitive with reused areas and monsters to an extreme degree, especially in the later areas. The plot is an absurd out-of-this world tale that only makes sense in a universe this strange, but the little vignettes you unlock by improving your relationship with each individual character feel sterile and stagnant. Unfortunately, the story introduces a ludicrous number of characters early on and they don’t grow much throughout the campaign. Frenetic boss battles where you engage in lightning-fast brain warfare with other psionic adepts play out like badass anime sequences, and made me feel like I was actually playing an anime. These creepy creations are as fascinating as they are unusual. The monsters you battle, known as Others, are aberrant amalgamations of organic material and random, familiar objects. Combat is the best part of Scarlet Nexus, and it grew more enjoyable and interesting as I advanced in the story. To add a bit of a risk-reward element, you must manually turn the brain field off before the timer runs out – or you’ll die. As if this wasn’t enough, you gain new brain-related skills as you progress, such as an activatable brain field that must be charged up in battle that conveys tremendous psionic powers for a brief time. Skirmishes often cap off with an epic anime animation as you slaughter the villainous creatures with stylish finishing attacks. I loved experimenting and combining skills to absolutely tear foes apart.Īs I developed relationships with the character roster, I gained the opportunity to call them in directly to participate in massive combo attacks. Later in the game, you can even use multiple abilities simultaneously to really make the screen explode with massive combo chains. For example, does an opponent goes invulnerable whenever you get close? Go invisible or teleport to them! Having trouble dealing with speedy opponents? Stop time altogether. Over the course of the game, combat becomes much more complex and interesting as you gain the ability to tap into your friends’ special abilities and weave them into your assaults. ![]() The kinetic elements create an incredibly smooth flow from fight to fight. I had a blast ripping the world apart to shred enemies and pulling up the scenery then riding it around the environment. This can be as simple as throwing around barrels and boxes, but it is way more fun lifting busses, chandeliers, ice sculptures, and more. Soon, you get the chance to manipulate the environment via psychokinesis. Initially, you’re just whacking away monsters and gaining experience – tasks familiar to anyone who has ever played an RPG. Even if you don’t love anime, the combat and animations are eye-catching. Scarlet Nexus seems tailor-made for anime lovers with sharp visuals, zany plotlines, and fantastic action sequences.
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