Scarlet Nexus

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 112 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 86 out of 112
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 112
  3. Negative: 14 out of 112
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  1. Bawer
    Jun 28, 2021
    9
    Scarlet Nexus takes you into the world of Brainpunk, a new kind of genre.

    The story is about a group of elite soldiers "OSF" and begins in the state named New Himuka. These soldiers use their brain in order to use different kind of abilities like psychokinese, teleportation, duplication and fire- or thunderattacks etc. At first, the enemies are aliens who will be called as "the others"    Scarlet Nexus takes you into the world of Brainpunk, a new kind of genre.

    The story is about a group of elite soldiers "OSF" and begins in the state named New Himuka. These soldiers use their brain in order to use different kind of abilities like psychokinese, teleportation, duplication and fire- or thunderattacks etc.
    At first, the enemies are aliens who will be called as "the others" whose origin is unknown. In the middle of the story you will recognise that the story line is getting deeper and opens many strings that arise a lot of interesting questions for you.
    The elite soldiers also open up their own story which gives you a certain glimpse of how the world of brainpunk works.

    The world you visit takes always place in different kind of areas like cities, museums, hospitals, mountains. Because of this variety you always see something else so that you are never get bored.
    The places are also influenced by the mechanics of the brainpunk what gives an astonishing view.

    The characters you will get to know have all different personalities what makes it curious. They make a liviing impression with their own hobbies, worries, sorrows. And now it gets more interesting: It is possible to build a friendship between the soldiers by talking to them, give them gifts and accompany them through the city. The more you work with them, the more they will be effective in the battle.

    Connected to this point, your group has a hideout where they live in a shared apartment. Either they train, make dishes and cook, sleep, massage themselves or take care of the flowers. At the beginning, the hideout looks empty but with the gifts they receive from you, the apartment is getting more and more living.

    The Fighting is something very unique: You can choose a katana and combine the katana techniques with the brainpunk abilities which will be given from your comrades. That way, you can fight with your own individual style without sticking to any pattern. In every mission you can use the environment by using stones, cars etc. and throw them to the enemy. And now the interesting part comes up: If you use your environment, you can still control the objects that you move with psychokinese by using the thumbsticks and keys. This creates a cinematic firework.

    The character has a Skilltree called Brainmap where you can choose the improvements. Besides, the classical Levelsystem is also integrated. The characters can be customized with clothes etc..

    Between the missions there is a standby-phase where you can take a break from the battles. In this phase you can communicate with your comrades where you have the chance to get to know them better. You can also take a walk in the cities and enjoy the views. It is also possible to take sidequests from the citizens.

    Scarlet Nexus also has their own Anime Episodes which is connected to the story itself. In Scarlet Nexus you will meet a woman who asks you to investigate a case. You need certain codes which are hidden in the anime episdes. You have to find these codes in the episodes and give them to the woman. This kind of connection makes Scarlet Nexus more wide open and doesn't limit it to a single medium.

    The soundtrack is very well made and fits into the situation. There is nothing to complain about that.

    The graphics are well made and reflect the brainbunk-genre very well.The Anime-Style makes a great impression.

    The story goes very long and you never get enough of it.

    And now lets come to the pros and cons:

    Pros:
    - Great Story
    - Different kind of characters with their own storyline
    - Individual fighting style
    - Great Setting with Brainpunk-genre
    - Great graphics
    - A very good soundtrack
    - Anime episodes

    Cons:
    - Simple Sidequests
    - The gifts cannot be bought in stores in the city. It can only be bought from a single person.

    If you wanna support the developers, i recommend to buy it to the full prize so that we can expect a sequel of Scarlet Nexus.

    Hope you enjoy Scarlet Nexus    … Expand
  2. Joxx
    Jun 27, 2021
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. El juego en sí deslumbra, tanto con sus escenarios y personajes, el entorno que rodea el mundo de scarlet nexus es asombroso visualmente, lo único que encuentro tosco son los combos, si estas aquí en busca de algo parecido al DMC o Nier, apenas encontrarás algo parecido, es mas, los combos solo constituyen en presionar uno o 2 botones (contando también a sus compañeros) pero no es algo interesante. la historia, fua, la historia es lo mejor, con sus viajes en el tiempo y desarrollos de personajes obligando al jugador a ver las 2 partes de la moneda (yuito y kasane), un punto menos por repetir escenario y cinemáticas ya que, algunas veces se repiten en ambas historias, pero lo demás es diferente, para mí, este juego vale la pena y más si eres fanático tanto del anime como de los jrpg.
    Otra cosa a aclarar son su misiones opcionales, que, aunque son opcionales, son algo aburridos y repetitivos.
    Esto de que puedes personalizar tu base dando regalos a tus compañeros es algo hermoso eh interesante, realmente es lo que mas me sorprendió quitando que es algo mínimo JSJSJSJ no es un goty pero es un buen juego    … Expand
  3. Solidwisdom
    Jul 9, 2021
    9
    This game is so great. I really enjoyed the battle system so far and the gameplay. It has some cities to explore and talk to novels and a home area where you can like talk to your friends and build a bond which gives you some abilities kinda similar to persona. This is one of the most satisfying battle systems I played in a jrpg. Story is kinda average though and music. Characters wereThis game is so great. I really enjoyed the battle system so far and the gameplay. It has some cities to explore and talk to novels and a home area where you can like talk to your friends and build a bond which gives you some abilities kinda similar to persona. This is one of the most satisfying battle systems I played in a jrpg. Story is kinda average though and music. Characters were top notch so far in the game. Also you get to play with a second character which is a bit different adding even more replay value. This game is a must for any jrpg fan.… Expand
  4. snipou
    Jun 29, 2021
    9
    So to resume, this game is really good and if you split the positive and negative point I would say in positive:
    - the gameplay, nervous and fun
    - the graphism: beautiful, not amaizing(that's not final fantasy 7, but good) In detail I would say the outside design is perfect but the integration between the charadesign a bit cartoon and the outside design doesn't fit well in some case. -    So to resume, this game is really good and if you split the positive and negative point I would say in positive:
    - the gameplay, nervous and fun
    - the graphism: beautiful, not amaizing(that's not final fantasy 7, but good) In detail I would say the outside design is perfect but the integration between the charadesign a bit cartoon and the outside design doesn't fit well in some case.
    - RPG lvl-up: well made, you can feel the increase of your skill with it
    -Story is well made in a way it's interesting, you learn a lot without long video

    But of course it also have some negative point.
    - the story is well made yes, but the thousand picture when they talk are too much, that's cut the impact of important scene, a real video(even ingame video like Yakuza for example should make it better)
    - The fight, even the gameplay is good, some boss, not a lot, I played in hard and I feel the difficult was just good enough, a bit more difficult should be better so, but some boss are really difficult and it's not a question of skill, it's more because in this case the gameplay is limited, you fight someone who have a 10m range attack and you have 5, you can do what you want, he will destroy you.
    - Annex quest: Useless and not interesting, go beat 5 flying monster in midair with fire activated etc,etc with not story background.

    So yes this game had some default like all game but if you like JRPG, you gonna enjoy it.
    IF you want some comparison, I will put this game under Niers automata from far of course, but I will say same style as Astral chain on switch and a bit better(especially gameplay and of course graphism).
    Also but that's personal feeling, I enjoyed it more than Bayonetta.    … Expand
  5. PlayverseID
    Jul 1, 2021
    9
    This is the anime game we've been waiting for for a long time. We ourselves were quite surprised by the final result because it turned out that Bandai Namco was still able to make quality anime games like Scarlet Nexus. Apart from some minor flaws, Scarlet Nexus is not a low-budget anime game made half-heartedly just for fan-service.

    Almost all aspects in this game feel so solid and    This is the anime game we've been waiting for for a long time. We ourselves were quite surprised by the final result because it turned out that Bandai Namco was still able to make quality anime games like Scarlet Nexus. Apart from some minor flaws, Scarlet Nexus is not a low-budget anime game made half-heartedly just for fan-service.

    Almost all aspects in this game feel so solid and very good, starting from a story full of intrigue, an interesting futuristic world setting, interactions between characters that make players feel sympathy, an addictive and satisfying battle system, beautiful visualizations and rich effects. visuals, music so cool that it stuck in our heads to a two-protagonist system that makes your journey feel different from each other. So far, Scarlet Nexus is the best anime game of the year. We hope that the formula can be applied to other anime game franchises such as Sword Art Online for example.    … Expand
  6. Evalicious
    Jul 5, 2021
    10
    I do this review after Yuito's story is finished and the NG + unlocked. Scarlet Nexus is a wonderful game with infinite combos which leads you to become a master to execute them efficiently. It is difficult to adapt at first but once you learn it is one of the best combat systems you will have tried. Very explosive and looks great. The story, although convoluted in which you can't get lostI do this review after Yuito's story is finished and the NG + unlocked. Scarlet Nexus is a wonderful game with infinite combos which leads you to become a master to execute them efficiently. It is difficult to adapt at first but once you learn it is one of the best combat systems you will have tried. Very explosive and looks great. The story, although convoluted in which you can't get lost for a second of the plot, is quite well done. The variety of characters and their abilities are exceptional, with an emphasis on Kagero, Gemma, Hanobi, and Kasane. I also love that there are strong women in the game who are not dependent on what the voice of a man or leader says, unlike the Persona saga, which is excessively submissive and romantic. The bad thing that I find in this game is how heavy the social links were and the somewhat poor and repetitive design of some scenarios. Yuito's story completed in 35 hours, with an intense and emotional ending. Now I'll play Kasane's. The game is worth every euro spent.… Expand
  7. SethGrey
    Jul 13, 2021
    8
    I finished Yuito's campaign in 59 hours 45 minutes. Here's my spoiler-free Scarlet Nexus review (ratings first):

    Visuals & Presentation: 7 Sound Effects, Voice & Music: 7 Gameplay: 10 Story & Dialogue: 8 Performance: 10 Overall: 8.4 Visuals & Presentation: 7 Frame rates were smooth on the PS4 although it did come at the cost of low draw distances. Art Style is beautiful & top tier    I finished Yuito's campaign in 59 hours 45 minutes. Here's my spoiler-free Scarlet Nexus review (ratings first):

    Visuals & Presentation: 7
    Sound Effects, Voice & Music: 7
    Gameplay: 10
    Story & Dialogue: 8
    Performance: 10

    Overall: 8.4

    Visuals & Presentation: 7
    Frame rates were smooth on the PS4 although it did come at the cost of low draw distances.

    Art Style is beautiful & top tier JRPGs level but the presentation is at weakest of the game. Cutscenes range from in-game animation to mostly visual novel style screenshots with minimal lip movement during dialogues.

    The worst offenders are all the button prompts in the middle of cutscenes and the lack of an option to turn off subtitles.

    Sound Effects, Voice & Music: 7
    Sound's fitting for sci-fi action with helpful audio combat cues, English voice acting is top-tier anime level but music is forgettable.

    Gameplay: 10
    Combat is the best aspect of Scarlet Nexus. It is button mashy in the most satisfying ways. There is plenty of variety in combat thanks to weapon combos, Psychokinesis throws, borrowed powers from companions (the SAS abilities and combo visions).

    The Brain Map skill tree unlocks make notable changes in the gameplay.

    Story & Dialogue: 8
    Frankly from all the reviews I've seen, I can genuinely say that the story doesn't get enough credit. Apart from one minor gripe, I found the overall story and lore intriguing. The dialogues (and localisation) are excellent.

    Performance: 10
    Spectacular performance with almost no bugs and zero crashes.

    Overall: 8.4
    Scarlet Nexus needs plenty of quality of life improvements, its music is forgettable but the intriguing story, stunning art style and incredibly satisfying combat make it a must play for all action/anime/JRPG fans.

    I can't wait to go back to the game and experience it all again with the fresh eyes of Kasane, the other protagonist of the game. The developers at Bandai Namco have outdone themselves.

    P.S. It took 60 hours to finish Yuito's campaign because I did every available side quest (28 of of 34), farmed ingredients for every gift for companions and hunted every trophy possible with one character. I reckon you can scrape off 15-20 hours if you mostly stick to the main story but I highly recommend you do the second campaign with the other protagonist and experience every bond episode.    … Expand
  8. BoyEx7490et
    Jul 8, 2021
    10
    Great game cool love it Beautiful like xoxo nice fun gameplay its super fun everyone likes it i like it its good action hack and slash the art style Beautiful
  9. Garlands
    Jul 25, 2021
    8
    Les combats sont dynamiques et spectaculaires , tout est très fluide . La mise en scène assure dommage que les cinématiques ne soient pas trop présentes . Le scénario est plus sombre et mature que ça laisse paraitre .
  10. Crysouls
    Mar 18, 2023
    8
    Prós:
    - Direção de arte
    - Jogabilidade - Trilha sonora - Possibilidades/combinações durante o combate - Design de inimigos é 100% original Contras - Forma que o enredo é conduzido - Level design fraco Conclusão: o conceito do jogo, os inimigos, tudo é muito original com certeza esse é um dos maiores pontos que se destacam em Scarlet, acredito que a falta de orçamento foi o que    Prós:
    - Direção de arte
    - Jogabilidade
    - Trilha sonora
    - Possibilidades/combinações durante o combate
    - Design de inimigos é 100% original

    Contras
    - Forma que o enredo é conduzido
    - Level design fraco

    Conclusão: o conceito do jogo, os inimigos, tudo é muito original com certeza esse é um dos maiores pontos que se destacam em Scarlet, acredito que a falta de orçamento foi o que tenha mais afetado esse jogo pois a forma que a história é contada é maçante, quadros e quadros de diálogo sem muita interação, um jogo ambicioso que merece uma sequência sem dúvidas tanto por suas ideias originais quanto pelo seu combate impecável.    … Expand
  11. oonabe
    Jul 7, 2021
    10
    Finally a good game again, I don't want to spoil anything about the story so I won't get much into that part but this game is a lot of fun and since the release of Nioh 2 in late 2019 the first one that makes me also want to play it again every day.

    The controls are smooth, the combat is deep and fast paced and very responsive compared to most modern games who just live from graphics    Finally a good game again, I don't want to spoil anything about the story so I won't get much into that part but this game is a lot of fun and since the release of Nioh 2 in late 2019 the first one that makes me also want to play it again every day.

    The controls are smooth, the combat is deep and fast paced and very responsive compared to most modern games who just live from graphics but then have clunky gameplay with slow moving main characters. This one has zero input lag, it's very fast paced and the combat is very deep as well. It comes with three difficulty modes, and I have only tried the default difficulty so far, which is quite ok to enjoy the game in general with a good balance. I will surely try the hard mode after the first run because I personally like challenging games that really feel like a challenge and not like the difficulty is faked by making your character move like a snail, which this game doesn't do at all, rather the contrary, your character is fast and has a lot of fighting options so if there is a challenge you can be sure it's not the slowed down character cheap trick many "hard" games use to fake difficulty.

    The story so far is also very good and entertaining, for my personal tastes sometimes can feel a little bit too long between the action parts of the game but since you can read the subtitles (I play this game of course in japanese with subtitles) you can press X to move to the next dialogue line as soon as you've read the subtitle in case you don't feel like waiting for too long until you can get some action again, and even skip the whole scene with the options button, which I wouldn't recommend in the first run because the story is quite good, there is even an anime on this game that started emitting recently.

    So, if you like real fast paced games with very responsive controls and games like NieR Automata or Nioh for their great combat systems and stories I would definitely recommend this one too, if you're a casual who plays mainstream games with very simple mechanics and a combat pace slow enough for you to have time to react then might be this is not for you.    … Expand
  12. MRJ127
    Jul 1, 2021
    10
    This is an amazing game and the anime is just as good.bandi has done it again
  13. Oldman1917
    Apr 8, 2022
    10
    Now this is my favorite JRPG game! Many years later, I felt like a teenager in a cool shonen like Naruto or Bleach. Cool story, good gameplay, addictive setting.
  14. Xyrogyra
    Jul 10, 2021
    9
    Exceptional game... If you can get past the VERY cringe dialogue... Seriously, everything about this game is awesome - combat, visuals, music, party system, everything! Except the dialogue... holy crap it's SO cringey... But it's a JRPG so if you can get past that, I HIGHLY recommend it!
  15. Yuito
    Jun 29, 2021
    9
    Great game! Highly recomended for who are into JRPG games. The first couple phases of the game are kinda slow and hard (stories plots) for new players to get into the game but after that the game is getting so much better and eventually get addicted to it.
  16. testtestgame
    Jul 31, 2021
    10
    Battles that mix telekinesis with weapons are the most fun.
    I was also moved by the story from the perspective of the two main characters.
  17. Kurigu
    Sep 9, 2021
    8
    A very intriguing action game, with fast and dynamic gameplay.
    The plot sometimes feels predictable, but considering the anime focus of the project, I can easily look over that.
  18. AhhhhhhRasengan
    Sep 11, 2021
    10
    A fantastic video game if you're into JRPGs with a kind of dark twisted story and I haven't even finished the game yet but the music the combat the story is fantastic The overall ambiance of the game is so clean and fresh it's almost impossible to put it down. I also recommend this and most jrps if you could played in the original Japanese voice actors setting. Just do this in most gamesA fantastic video game if you're into JRPGs with a kind of dark twisted story and I haven't even finished the game yet but the music the combat the story is fantastic The overall ambiance of the game is so clean and fresh it's almost impossible to put it down. I also recommend this and most jrps if you could played in the original Japanese voice actors setting. Just do this in most games in their original language if you can because the emotion matches the energy of the created product every single time...

    Anyways this game is a masterpiece if you enjoy anime or manga you will enjoy this game I promise you.    … Expand
  19. VioIrdsGX
    Jan 28, 2023
    10
    I played it in 2022, actually a tremendous game, it met my expectations, your game system is good and the SAS abilities of the characters, I have platinumized this game. Thank you Bandai Namco and the game developer studio for releasing it, I liked the game.
  20. RokaseRoshi
    Aug 7, 2021
    10
    Well-made action game with interesting story and well-written characters. The gameplay was like Control jpg edition and was amazing. What I liked the most was uniqueness of the story and characters. I thought the story was gonna be a cliche one but it wasn't. This game delivers completely original dynamics between the characters.

Awards & Rankings

25
#25 Best PS4 Game of 2021
20
#20 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. GameCritics
    Sep 28, 2021
    80
    Scarlet Nexus is one of the most surprising releases of the year for me thanks to a bombastic combat style and storytelling. I enjoyed my time in the OSF and look forward to flinging more big rigs into unsuspecting enemies soon.
    Read full review
  2. RPGamer
    Jul 29, 2021
    80
    Scarlet Nexus is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for an exciting action RPG. Though the narrative is varied in its effectiveness, it still complements the rest of the game effectively. Dazzlingly stylish with a superb combat system, Scarlet Nexus is a memorable new title that is huge fun to play throughout. As a new IP, Scarlet Nexus should be considered a great success with lots of potential going forward.
    Read full review
  3. New Game Network
    Jul 12, 2021
    78
    Scarlet Nexus succeeds largely on the back of its engaging gameplay. Bandai Namco have crafted an excellent combat engine that lets you run wild with power. The characters could have used some sprucing up, and the repetition of the environments is disappointing, but the framework of a future franchise is here.
    Read full review
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