Scarlet Nexus

 Xbox Series X
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 141 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 106 out of 141
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 141
  3. Negative: 15 out of 141
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  1. GamesPlayer
    Sep 8, 2023
    6
    It's an impressive game at first, but time passes and you see that it drags on a lot, a game that could be much shorter if you look at its proposal.
  2. Phuz
    Sep 7, 2023
    7
    Very average game but quite good.

    It feels like a bit of a cross between Hollow Realisation, Tokyo Xanadu and Toukiden gameplay wise with a Cybersleuth style game world. For me it has everything that should make a 10/10 game but something just feels a miss. A bit generic almost. The characters, design, delivery and especially the sound, all very average. Combat is fun and I have been    Very average game but quite good.

    It feels like a bit of a cross between Hollow Realisation, Tokyo Xanadu and Toukiden gameplay wise with a Cybersleuth style game world.

    For me it has everything that should make a 10/10 game but something just feels a miss. A bit generic almost. The characters, design, delivery and especially the sound, all very average. Combat is fun and I have been enjoying this a lot more than similar games that are highly ranked such as Ys 8 and Tales of Arise. The mediocrity just pulls it down. I'm not usually a fan of utilising every button and doing finger gymnastics but it feels nice to use here and reasonably simple to grasp.

    The combat is fluid. It does mess you around sometimes such as holding LT sometimes won't register, you have to do it at a certain time, which is a bit frustrating. It's also not automatically clear if your guage is topped up and I'm trying to use my move not realising this and then getting smacked up. It might have been nice to have a more noticeable representation than having to keep checking the guage. That's nit picking though.

    The American voice cast is useless as usual, if I hadn't had an option to switch to Japanese, it was getting pretty annoying and would have probably led to me stopping playing. I did literally hit a point where I shut down play specifically to swap this because the shoddy, Yankee VA was grating on me.

    All that said, it's fun. Going to get more hours out of this than I do a lot of other games and it definitely values your time. I feel like my time playing is mostly playing and not sat waiting for begin and end battle animations like a number of turn based RPGs have had me cursing at the screen for recently.

    I do like anime so it is easy for me to appreciate from that aspect but I am also heavily persuaded by a good OST and for me that is lacking. If the game has an excitement dip, the music can often make up for that, it isn't going to do that here but the constant fun, action combat has not let the excitement drop yet.

    This is potentially one I will come back and up the score on as the game advances. See if it changes much as time goes on.

    If they dialled back a bit on some bits and expanded on others for a sequel, it could easy be a 10. By this I mean ditch the cheesy Japanese dialogue. The characters, especially the way they are around girls just seems dumb and childish. You would have to be 11 years old and realising you have a dick for the first time to be all shy like that. I don't for one minute believe all Japanese men are testosterone deficient and making save the world characters talk like a bunch of **** doesn't work. Also the OST. They need to up this. It's minor things to change but those minor things would be game changers.    … Expand
  3. notifycritic
    Jun 22, 2023
    9
    Maravilha de jogo, joguei quando estava no gamepass
  4. Broyax
    Mar 7, 2023
    3
    Encore l’un de ces soi-disant jeux de rôle japonais… mais comme chacun le sait, jeu de rôle et japonais, ça fait souvent deux ! surtout en matière d’histoire et de choix, vu qu’on a quasiment jamais le choix dans les « J-RPG » et ce Scarlet Nexus ne fait pas exception à la règle… sauf en ce qui concerne le choix du sexe de départ, bien que l’histoire semble rigoureusement la même mais vueEncore l’un de ces soi-disant jeux de rôle japonais… mais comme chacun le sait, jeu de rôle et japonais, ça fait souvent deux ! surtout en matière d’histoire et de choix, vu qu’on a quasiment jamais le choix dans les « J-RPG » et ce Scarlet Nexus ne fait pas exception à la règle… sauf en ce qui concerne le choix du sexe de départ, bien que l’histoire semble rigoureusement la même mais vue sous un angle légèrement différent (il faut faire une seconde partie pour s’en rendre compte, je suppose).

    Bien entendu très dirigiste, le jeu qui semble de prime abord plus ‘sérieux’ que de coutume s’avère en fait presque aussi niais que les japoniaiseries passées, présentes… ou à venir ! tout le monde n’en finit pas de s’excuser et les réactions sont souvent pleurnichardes et/ou outrées… D’ailleurs, le boss de fin, un rageux insupportable a failli me rendre fou, non pas par sa difficulté mais parce qu’il se relevait tout le temps après tout ce qu’on lui mettait sur la gueule, franchement, c’était lourdingue !

    Il est à noter que la dernière partie du jeu fait de toute façon du remplissage avec des combats à n’en plus finir, elle aussi. Et pourtant, l’univers présenté ici fait preuve d’une certaine originalité ; un monde qui suscite la curiosité d’autant que les graphismes façon manga animé (mais pas trop) sont très réussis. Et tout cela tourne comme un charme sur SX à 60 im/s en toute circonstance.

    On a globalement fort peu de cinématiques ici mais surtout des saynètes, des sortes de bandes dessinées sonorisées en somme, ce qui peut fatiguer à la longue, d’autant que c’est très bavard… et il se trouve que si les débuts peuvent faire illusion, les rebondissements multiples (éventés et avariés) rendent cette histoire à la con complètement caduque bien avant la fin… Heureusement, qu’on peut zapper tout ça !

    Mais si les combats sont trop nombreux, ils n’en demeurent pas moins assez divertissants grâce à des mécaniques bien pensées et relativement simples (pour un jeu japonais) ; c’est très dynamique et souvent spectaculaire et les cinq niveaux de difficulté proposés (de très facile à très difficile) satisferont tout le monde. La maniabilité s’avère sans reproche, et tout répond au doigt et à l’oeil.

    Comme d’habitude (encore !), on ne peut pas sauvegarder manuellement mais uniquement à des points spécifiques… heursuement, ils sont assez nombreux et judicieusement disposés. Par contre, la musique Bontempi est à se pendre (un supplice !) et semble totalement décalée du reste du jeu.

    Dans l’ensemble, on regrette qu’on n’ait vraiment aucune influence sur l’histoire et que les personnages soient tous aussi stéréotypés et/ou niaiseux… une histoire bancale de toute manière que les combats sympathiques ne parviennent pas à faire oublier, ni l’impression de répétition qui nous poursuit pendant tout le jeu : c’est en effet à peu près toujours la même chose et les environnements sont souvent recyclés !    … Expand
  5. ZYMROD
    Jan 4, 2023
    8
    Es un juego de acción con mecánicas bastante interesantes y con estética anime que cuenta con una historia decente que se va desinflando con cliches típicos del anime, que a veces dan cringe pero al tener mecánicas solidas se compensa bastante esos momentos incomodos del "poder de la amistad" y melodramas de origen no tan tragicos.

    LO BUENO - Mecánicas combates. - El sistema de    Es un juego de acción con mecánicas bastante interesantes y con estética anime que cuenta con una historia decente que se va desinflando con cliches típicos del anime, que a veces dan cringe pero al tener mecánicas solidas se compensa bastante esos momentos incomodos del "poder de la amistad" y melodramas de origen no tan tragicos.

    LO BUENO
    - Mecánicas combates.
    - El sistema de relaciones personajes.
    - Customización de habilidades que realmente tienen peso en el gameplay.
    - La opción de tener 2 historia paralelas con diversas ramificaciones, pero se agradece el detalle que alarga el juego y la trama.
    - El anime aporta a la trama y sus easter eggs dan recompensas en el juego base.
    - La tienda del juego que no se basa solo en vender y comprar, sino que se pueden crear items y trajes.
    - La transición de cinemáticas tipo manga y anime.
    - Escenarios y ambientes inmersivos.
    - La música es bastante buena.
    - El estilo artístico de los enemigos.
    - El momento de transición tras cada episodio ,la sala segura, que permite profundizar relaciones y ver diversos easter eggs.

    LO MALO
    - Episodio Karen DLC que solo son un montón de cinemáticas que aportan a la trama pero hubiera sido interesante jugar con el personaje.
    - Cliches típicos del anime.
    - Las dos ciudades principales están desaprovechadas y vacías.
    - El sistema de submisiones esta desaprovechada y no aportan nada al juego.
    - La trama parte bastante bien, pero a mitad del camino se siente apresurada e incongruente con algunas decisiones del final.    … Expand
  6. DrZomboid
    Nov 26, 2022
    5
    Low budget jrpg where only characters look good. Environment and dungeons are bit ugly, story is so-so, combat is ok. Finished half game and deleted.
  7. VoltrenXytech
    Nov 21, 2022
    3
    the combat ruined the entire game for me, it feels clunky and unrefined, i shouldn't have to get most of the way through the game for it to start feeling less like jamming rocks together and more like trying to threat a needle with tremors
  8. Aokana
    Aug 3, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Normally I'd probably put this at a 8 but considering its on Gamepass and its one of the few games on game pass I've actually enjoyed I've bumped it to 10.

    Story - 8/10 - I played the "Kasane" side and overall it was solid. Grinding out relationship levels was kinda dumb and it really did seem forced how everyone's still Kasane's Friend even after she tries to kill Yuito. Theirs way too much instant forgiveness in the game. However the game despite involving time travel does not end up with the "Perfect Ending" where everyone is saved in some miraculous ending event. So it get's points for that and overall the story does work all the major kinks out and is enjoyable IF you can follow along and piece everything together. I think the Yuito side from what I've heard is a bit less put together.

    I'd normally say 6-7 but I give I'm bumping it to an 8 because even though their a pain if you grind out all the affection or "Bond" episodes for all the npc members they all do end up more less fleshed out characters which makes them feel more unique than other NPC characters in similar games I've played.

    Graphics - 8/10 - Characters look AMAZING, Animations are fluid and overall the only real issue I take is some of the background textures are bleh and overall the level designs get a bit repetitive.

    Soundtrack - 10/10... The soundtrack of this game is incredible, Theirs plenty of tracks I listen to while at my desk at work.

    Voice/Sound - 7/10 - Most of the time the game is solid and the voices are ok, but sometimes characters like Shiden just... get unbearable at times. Theirs also just something satisfying about the shatter noise they use for "Brain Crush".

    Combat - 7 - Combat is engaging enough, and theirs plenty of options plus theirs a enough of a variety of enemies that each require you to use specific bias powers to overcome that it stops it from being 1 trick wonders for most of the game however I did it start to get repetitive and by the time I got into the later stages and had most of the skills unlocked it was Duplication + Electric or Fire + Hypervelocity 90% of the time.

    I also think I was lucky to have chosen the Kasane Side because the powers she gets from her teammates bias just seem better than Yuito's. From what I've seen of Yuito's gameplay it just seems like between his need for closer range vs Kasane combined with the way the powers work on his team seems to lead to a clumsier more interrupted and frustrating combat. Even in the late stages when you get access to everyone I found I was only using Yuito's party skills when i HAD to outside of Hanabi's fire because she's just a better character than Shiden and her activation lines aren't near as Cringy.    … Expand
  9. TheFrog
    Jul 22, 2022
    6
    I'm kind of enjoying the combat in this title. It's more chaotic and less precise than in a souls-like game, but still gripping and more than enjoyable, it never devolves to plain button mashing. You have a lot of different techniques at your disposal, and different situations force you to adapt your strategy. I should mention I'm playing on normal difficulty instead of hard, because II'm kind of enjoying the combat in this title. It's more chaotic and less precise than in a souls-like game, but still gripping and more than enjoyable, it never devolves to plain button mashing. You have a lot of different techniques at your disposal, and different situations force you to adapt your strategy. I should mention I'm playing on normal difficulty instead of hard, because I wanted to relax a bit, and the game is usually very easy at this level.
    The story is not bad, for a videogame, but the huge problem is the way it's told. It's like the developers wanted to create an anime, not a videogame, so they might let you play for a while, and then force you to endure half an hour of terrible dialogs. And it's not really cutscenes either, since 99% of the "animation" boils down to drawing the face of the character currently speaking, and only moving his/her mouth and occasionally the eyelids. So, in the end, it's more like a radio drama than an animated feature, and oh my god, how long do the characters keep droning on and on and on!
    Do the optional bonding encounters, to improve your team's abilities, and it's more pointless dialogue. If it were more concise and poignant, it might work; there have been games able to hook me up with dialog in the past. In this case, it's just so diluted that I've stopped listening to the decent (*) voice acting and just click through each line, once I've read the subtitles.
    Also, I dislike the characters. There is an opponent repeatedly trying to kill the main character, and does he react in the rational way, i.e. snuffing the opponent once and for all, after defeating them? But of course not, so the situation repeats over and over, with the MC never even getting annoyed at the attempts on his life. That's stupid.

    (*) One unforgivable thing related to voice acting is using an adult voice talent to voice a child. It only happens during a few sections but it's creepy, it's obvious that's an adult constraining his throat, it sucks.    … Expand
  10. JaimeRojas97
    Jun 20, 2022
    10
    Definitivamente un gran título. Si bien Scarlet Nexus puede llegar a ser muy repetitivo en los combates, la posibilidad de mejorar el set de ataques de tu personaje y su relación (y por consecuencia conexión) con los demás, hace que este juego sea una experiencia muy enriquecedora. ¿El punto más alto? Para mi: La historia, sin lugar a dudas. Es interesante e atrayente. NuestrosDefinitivamente un gran título. Si bien Scarlet Nexus puede llegar a ser muy repetitivo en los combates, la posibilidad de mejorar el set de ataques de tu personaje y su relación (y por consecuencia conexión) con los demás, hace que este juego sea una experiencia muy enriquecedora. ¿El punto más alto? Para mi: La historia, sin lugar a dudas. Es interesante e atrayente. Nuestros acompañantes son entrañables y juegan un rol muy protagonista, por lo que siempre te sentirás acompañado. Insisto, una aventura que debe estar en tu colección.… Expand
  11. churros
    May 23, 2022
    6
    Pros:
    + enemies visuals
    + controls well
    + combat powerups
    + fluid combat

    Cons:
    - irritating characters
    - bad story
    - generic music
    - visible walls
    - unnecessary menus and systems
  12. LoneWolf912s
    May 19, 2022
    9
    Artísticamente es un juego muy bonito con gráficos estilo anime,
    el combate es muy adictivo, te diviertes mucho haciendo los diferentes combos y haciendo combinaciones con las habilidades de tus compañeros del equipo para hacer mas daño.
    la historia aunque un poco básica y con algunos clichés de los animes y juegos rpg, es bastante buena en mi opinión es un buen juego que merecía un    Artísticamente es un juego muy bonito con gráficos estilo anime,
    el combate es muy adictivo, te diviertes mucho haciendo los diferentes combos y haciendo combinaciones con las habilidades de tus compañeros del equipo para hacer mas daño.
    la historia aunque un poco básica y con algunos clichés de los animes y juegos rpg, es bastante buena
    en mi opinión es un buen juego que merecía un poco mas de valoración en sus ventas    … Expand
  13. Kaprawiec
    Mar 24, 2022
    10
    Wow, what a game! Its got story straight from best anime series, great combat and graphics (both remind me of Nier Automata). One of the best games of recent years, sleeper hit of 2021, my personal GOTY along with Returnal, Halo Infinite, Metroid Dread and Outriders.
  14. MiddleMufo
    Mar 6, 2022
    7
    El combate es super adictivo, es de lo mejor que he probado en ese sentido pero considero que el exceso de narrativa hace que el titulo de pereza jugarlo. Lo he terminado casi por obligación. Quizá a quien le guste mucho el manga y el anime este juego le encante pero a mi me sobra texto. Otra cosa que no entiendo es que para mejorar a tus personajes tengas que dar regalos a otrosEl combate es super adictivo, es de lo mejor que he probado en ese sentido pero considero que el exceso de narrativa hace que el titulo de pereza jugarlo. Lo he terminado casi por obligación. Quizá a quien le guste mucho el manga y el anime este juego le encante pero a mi me sobra texto. Otra cosa que no entiendo es que para mejorar a tus personajes tengas que dar regalos a otros personajes y te den la chapa.… Expand
  15. Xplocion
    Mar 3, 2022
    8
    The good:
    One more Japanese on Xbox. If you think it looks like an anime, it's because a trans-media format was thought of in which the adventures of the video game are complemented by the anime. Two visions of the same story. The music is good but nothing memorable. The design of the enemies is very original and very detailed. The combat is entertaining but once you find the optimal    The good:
    One more Japanese on Xbox. If you think it looks like an anime, it's because a trans-media format was thought of in which the adventures of the video game are complemented by the anime. Two visions of the same story. The music is good but nothing memorable. The design of the enemies is very original and very detailed. The combat is entertaining but once you find the optimal skills and combinations you don't want to experiment and just spam. It has a nifty progression and skill tree (which has no penalty and is all made into marks). The designs of the ruins and the cities are incredible with the amount of detail and things in motion. The game looks absolutely scandalous on Xbox One X, Series S or Series X. It has Backtracking components (items that are too high to take or behind a door that requires a skill or character that you do not have, which forces you to be visiting several times certain places. It's in the Xbox Game Pass.

    The bad:
    If you can't stand the Japanese, the moments of other people's sorrow, the anime and manga clichés that have been repeated thousands of times about chosen boys and girls, you're going to have a very bad time. The first two hours are Presentation after Presentation of characters whose names you later do not remember (until you are assigned to a squad), while you try to string together what he tells you. Kasane's constant face of discomfort, you don't get along with her and she doesn't like her (which is a cliché of anime characters to see how she gradually changes and even smiles, evolves and blah, blah). The design of the enemies can take more than one out of the experience or be unpleasant for them. You can't carry more than 10 healing items, and the most powerful ones can't carry more than three. No (contrary to what was sold and what is seen in the trailers or gameplays) it is not an "Open World", they are areas with corridors and certain large areas, some interconnected, others not. The missions that force you to watch the anime (I don't go through there) are optional and if they were at least on the game page or YouTube I would want to search for them and watch them but it is to go to another anime streaming platform and pay your subscription or go illegal (don't). The music did not stick with me since none of them stand out, they are all too flat. The subject of Backtracking is interesting, but since nobody tells you, not even the game itself, that you can't take it at a moment X, because you're wasting time trying to take it over and over and over again instead of advancing. The game looks between average and bad in Xbox One Fat and One S, in addition the load times and the textures of some areas are replaced by lines of lines and points in what loads the environment, it happens more when trying to pan the camera or there are many elements on the screen

    Lo Meh!:
    “The blink blink” effect of the items on the map makes you aware of them and ends the feeling of exploring the areas. I hate those games in which it's endless Presentation of characters that come and tell you their life and you don't even care and then the girl's face (Kasane) doesn't hide her disgust that she has for the world (it's a cheap cliché of encourage them, I know and I assume it but I expected a personality not a girl twisting her mouth and annoying all the time) but after a while you don't remember any name or what they do or what they tell you and you end up giving her nicknames until you you can use them. The meme of crossing the streets is very funny and even educational. No, I'm not going to hire Crunchy Roll to watch the episodes that don't interest me in the least, and even less with Kasane's wooden face...    … Expand
  16. Bruninho1997
    Feb 24, 2022
    8
    Muito bom!
    Ótima jogabilidade, um excelente enredo e muito divertido!
    Apesar de algumas conversas e sidequests serem EXTREMAMENTE tediosas e bobinhas, e de que os mapas são completamente lineares, o jogo brilha muito no resto, e vale muito a pena conhecer esse ótimo título.
  17. Ayvaza
    Jan 15, 2022
    2
    Beware of spoilers, dont read if you did not play and intend to play it.

    First of, what a garbage story, overall it makes absolutely no sense. They (bunch of future companions) try to kill the male lead over and over again, and later message him to meetup in a bar to chill together. they betray the nation they reside in , or where they were serving... and there is even not a reason why    Beware of spoilers, dont read if you did not play and intend to play it.

    First of, what a garbage story, overall it makes absolutely no sense. They (bunch of future companions) try to kill the male lead over and over again, and later message him to meetup in a bar to chill together. they betray the nation they reside in , or where they were serving... and there is even not a reason why they would betray the nation. the first hours you will be busy to fight off people who want to kill you the 10th time.
    dont let japanese write stories, they are too dense, they forgot that the "friendship 4ever" died with narutos simping ... damn i cant even write a decent review beecause how stupid the story is. the MCs father is getting killed and he is still simping and asking "why are you doing this" oh god, stupid author, should be jailed for this and also the dude agreed on the plot. probably one of my last anime games. they need to man up, grow some balls or whatever, but not this whiny bit-chy sh-t.

    tl.dr.: Story is so bad, that it would have been better if there were no story at all. gameplay is decent but dont waste your money on this sht. i am glad that i played this with the gamepass    … Expand
  18. Rodionglu
    Jan 2, 2022
    10
    The game is pretty good. I enjoy the story and the gameplay. I would recommend this game.
  19. IamChris8
    Dec 19, 2021
    8
    So, nach ca. 3 Monaten habe ich endlich die Storyline von Yuito durch. 3/4 des Spiels habe ich doch sehr genossen. Zum Schluss wurde es sehr sehr zäh. Dennoch gebe ich dem Spiel 8/10 Punkten.

    Grafik: 7/10 Gameplay: 9/10 Umfang: 6/10 Chars: 7/10 Story: 7/10 Gamepass: +1, da das Game nach drei Monat nach Release in den GP gekommen ist. Fazit: 8/10 Punkte Wer den Titel noch    So, nach ca. 3 Monaten habe ich endlich die Storyline von Yuito durch. 3/4 des Spiels habe ich doch sehr genossen. Zum Schluss wurde es sehr sehr zäh. Dennoch gebe ich dem Spiel 8/10 Punkten.

    Grafik: 7/10
    Gameplay: 9/10
    Umfang: 6/10
    Chars: 7/10
    Story: 7/10
    Gamepass: +1, da das Game nach drei Monat nach Release in den GP gekommen ist.

    Fazit: 8/10 Punkte

    Wer den Titel noch nicht gezockt hat, den GP besitzt und auf japanische RPGs steht, der sollte Scarlet Nexus unbedingt einmal testen.    … Expand
  20. Reed618
    Nov 7, 2021
    6
    Although I really enjoyed the combat of the game there's an extremely strong focus on the story and honestly the story is an absolute mess... it's just cluttered with every sci-fi/anime trope you can think of
  21. Angeloa09
    Nov 2, 2021
    10
    Best game ive played this year. It’s been ages since a game capture me to the point I’m here making a review
  22. Nekst
    Oct 22, 2021
    0
    The combat is frustrating. Sometimes it doesn't register that I am holding a trigger. Or even using an attack, which is supposed to combo. Character will stand around and get hit while your pressing buttons.
  23. wavegab
    Oct 5, 2021
    1
    game pass worthy. When the game has a combat system that is designed around combos but half of the combo is about holding a button and waiting and constantly getting interrupted, you know it failed as an ACT game.

    Also do not classify this as a JRPG. With its anime-logic plot and storytelling, it would receive an even worse rating. I guess all of this game's budget goes into visual,    game pass worthy. When the game has a combat system that is designed around combos but half of the combo is about holding a button and waiting and constantly getting interrupted, you know it failed as an ACT game.

    Also do not classify this as a JRPG. With its anime-logic plot and storytelling, it would receive an even worse rating.

    I guess all of this game's budget goes into visual, so they only hire braindead combat designers. Why would you think anyone would enjoy combats that being constantly disrupted by a teleporting-to-your-face enemy and out-of-screen projectiles, at the same time, every 2 seconds. There is a **** reason why this game goes into gamepass after 3 months of its release    … Expand
  24. NBMTX
    Aug 29, 2021
    10
    TLDR: It's gameplay is amazing, and so I personally rate it higher than Persona 5, namely because of it's momentum and constant engagement.

    I was gonna give it a 9/10, because "it's not perfect", but that's ridiculous and basically makes 10 unachievable. If someone's looking at this game/review, then they're probably into JRPGs, and I think this is a top tier JRPG. So 10/10. The    TLDR: It's gameplay is amazing, and so I personally rate it higher than Persona 5, namely because of it's momentum and constant engagement.

    I was gonna give it a 9/10, because "it's not perfect", but that's ridiculous and basically makes 10 unachievable. If someone's looking at this game/review, then they're probably into JRPGs, and I think this is a top tier JRPG. So 10/10.

    The story to this game gets as ridiculous as you expect it to, from something describing itself as "brain punk". You're gonna hear the word "brain" A LOT. It's unapologetic, and all the better for it. The characters are really great, and encompass all the tropes, as per usual, but still seem grounded. They all have their little nuances you get to know, and in the end they're all likable... except Shiden, he didn't get dere enough for my liking.

    All that probably sounds like 7 or 8/10 JRPG material, but the REAL claim to fame here is it's combat. It's super damn fulfilling to master of the course of the game, and I do mean the whole game. Because everything from your basic move set to your available abilities, combos, etc, grow over the course of the game, it stays constantly interesting, and the tend will have you saying "I'm amazing!", and it's great.

    In my TLDR I mention Persona 5 because in P5 I felt pretty over the gameplay and main story by the second Palace. I basically played for like 70-80 more hours after that because I liked the characters, but I eventually had to quit. This game kept me interested the whole way through. I enjoyed the character developments, and the crazy story with all the brains, and that amazing gameplay.

    Weird tangent, but you could tell the devs are incredibly in-tune with the audience/genre, because even the menu/sub-menus are high quality. As in, if you scroll down to a certain bit of data in the enemies sub-tab, it'll stay there. And you'll probably be consulting the beastiary because it gives specific help on the weaknesses of different enemy types.

    So, 10/10. I very strongly hope this game gets the sequel (or at least DLC) it sets up. I think it has a future.

    Oh yeah, AND the game supports Quick Resume on Series X. So even if you wanna say this review should be a 9/10, that still deserves the extra point. 10/10.    … Expand
  25. Ex1a
    Aug 24, 2021
    8
    Very gorgeous looking and decent game it's a solid JRPG on what ever console you wish to play it. We need more games like this from Bandai.
  26. PMG-Writer
    Aug 7, 2021
    9
    The story and the combat system are among the highlights in "Scarlet Nexus". The different characters and their dialogues can provide great moments and enchant us with the pretty cutscenes. The combat system is also a joy to play. The combination of weapon attacks and psionic powers is simply cool. The developers give you a lot of options. It's simply fun to attack your opponents with allThe story and the combat system are among the highlights in "Scarlet Nexus". The different characters and their dialogues can provide great moments and enchant us with the pretty cutscenes. The combat system is also a joy to play. The combination of weapon attacks and psionic powers is simply cool. The developers give you a lot of options. It's simply fun to attack your opponents with all kinds of objects. The technology of the title is not completely convincing. You get a pretty game, but the world could simply contain more possibilities and people. If you don't let this deter you, you'll get an interesting game for your console or PC.… Expand
  27. KUNMB11
    Jul 17, 2021
    4
    SCARLET NEXUS (XSX)

    "Flashy Combat Paired with the Worst of JRPG Game Design" (+) Replay-ability (+) Characters The strength of SCARLET NEXUS plays into its dual narrative. From the get-go, I had the choice of playing either two characters, Yuito or Kasane, and to my surprise, after playing through both characters I had vastly different experiences. Both stories start out    SCARLET NEXUS (XSX)

    "Flashy Combat Paired with the Worst of JRPG Game Design"

    (+) Replay-ability
    (+) Characters

    The strength of SCARLET NEXUS plays into its dual narrative. From the get-go, I had the choice of playing either two characters, Yuito or Kasane, and to my surprise, after playing through both characters I had vastly different experiences. Both stories start out similarly only with a difference in dialogue, but as soon as the story begins to pick up, I was pleased to see different missions, locations, combat styles, and enemies. The developers took their time to set up a distinct but comforting structure. Moreover, the characters and the team aspect of the game are wonderful. I enjoyed all their backgrounds and using their different abilities in combat was fun and engaging. Every enemy I encountered had a weakness to one of the characters in my party, encouraging me to use all abilities. No one character felt overused or underutilized, it was balanced extremely well.

    (-) Narrative Design
    (-) World Design
    (-) Repetitive Combat

    The story is suitable. That’s the best I can say. There is a huge disconnect between what is happening in terms of gameplay and what the characters are saying in cutscenes. People in this game will do the most absolute villainous over-the-top bad **** and then in the next chapter (15 minutes later) they will join my side, and vice versa through the entire game. This is not always a game-breaking deal, but if the game is narrative-driven (like 10 hours of just cutscenes) the story needs to be competent. This story here is childish. But if the narrative isn’t the main pull, the world might be. The presentation here is good, it's nothing special, but serviceable for an anime. The world design begins to lose its appeal around the halfway mark. I ran into the same locations repeatedly, and I wasn’t pleased because all these locations are built linearly, so I saw the same locations in the same order. Alongside locations, the combat is repetitive. The same enemies begin to flood my screen only scaling in health and damage dealt (it is an RPG after all but feels far too constrained here). Overall, I understand why some people may like this game for the characters and the combat alone, but I don’t see fit to return to the game any time soon.

    (2/5) - Below Average - Recommended at $49.99    … Expand
  28. SuperkenGaming
    Jul 10, 2021
    7
    Scarlet Nexus
    One of the Most Boring good games ive ever played
    Scarlet Nexus is a 16 hour long action JRPG where you play as either Kasane or Yuito, I had to look up their nae before I wrote this review, because that’s how little I cared about this games story. The story seems to be very hit and miss, which isn’t necessarily a good thing considered half of the game is voiced dialog    Scarlet Nexus
    One of the Most Boring good games ive ever played
    Scarlet Nexus is a 16 hour long action JRPG where you play as either Kasane or Yuito, I had to look up their nae before I wrote this review, because that’s how little I cared about this games story.
    The story seems to be very hit and miss, which isn’t necessarily a good thing considered half of the game is voiced dialog comic styled cutscenes… Im not exaggerating, you spend just as much time sitting, waiting for the action to happen as you do actually playing.. some seem to love the story, I however was bored out of my mind, basically youre part of a group of people with special powers, the government is after your brains, youre losing or have lost your memories, something about spaghetti noodles coming from the sky, youre on the governments hitlist and you gotta stop these moon people from destroying earth.. I think.. I think that’s the story… if youre not intogovernemnt conspiracy, half this game.. this is now an 8 hour action jrpg that thankfully is a blast to play though.. you have telekenisis and a sword, you cn slic enemies up as well as throw objects and use the environment to do massive damage, as you progress the game youll unlock new abilities.. which seems to never stop, tutorials will pop up literally the entirety of the games campaign, but as you make it through th story, more charcters will join your party and youre able to borrow their powers as you take on these moon cratures known as others, you can use fire powers, invisiblity, dashing, electric, super speed, dashing, and work up your skill tree to the point that you can stack these abilities, all on cool down.. this is when the game is at its best, taking down enemies and bosses… is the gameplay good enough to justify a purchase on its own though? No.
    Scarelt nexus is insaley repeitve, youre just goin around these very Japanese game styled maps, getting locked ito areas, clearing them and moving on.. youll see a lot of repeat areas, not even counting the optional bonding missions you can do with each of this games characters, so youll rarely come to a cool new area being begged to explore and even if you did there is no exploration incetive, the gear and weapons here are awful, you wont find new wepons, you just by them from a shop that thankfully just shows up in these dungeons, you don’t have to fast travel to a hub or wait until a mission is over to buy consumables, but these 5 weapons for each charcter you buy just will show up the deeper you get into the game, and you buy them and equip them, that sabout as deep as the loot system goes..
    If th sound of a government conspiracy trying to steel the brains of these kidswith crazy powers doesn’t excite you, there is no reason to pick this one up..
    While I found the story to be painfully slow, drawn out, and boring, others are liking it, and for those people, scarlet nexus offers a good package, and a 16 plus hours youll really enjoy, you might even enjoy it enough to play it twice for both sides of the story,
    for me, I could barely manage the story the first time around
    I give Scarlet Nexus
    a 7/10    … Expand
  29. Veiled
    Jul 10, 2021
    10
    One of the best JRPGs (with its dose of Hack and Slash) today, literally mistreated by the press that surely does not understand half of how it is played. Possibly the best game so far this year on any platform.

    It's a 10 dedicated to the incompetent press.
  30. LancerPelican
    Jul 8, 2021
    9
    Gameplay is amazing but it gets even better as you unlock more and more skills as you play the game. Your squad’s abilities are the biggest strength in the gameplay and as you increase your bonds with them (that’s right there’s a bond system in this game!) you’ll unlock even stronger abilities. Story is definitely the surprising factor as it not only boasts great characters but a veryGameplay is amazing but it gets even better as you unlock more and more skills as you play the game. Your squad’s abilities are the biggest strength in the gameplay and as you increase your bonds with them (that’s right there’s a bond system in this game!) you’ll unlock even stronger abilities. Story is definitely the surprising factor as it not only boasts great characters but a very interesting plot. It’s much better than what we were told! Artstyle, graphics and environments are all stellar and I truly believe this is one of the best games to release this year. Bandai really delivered with this game and I hope we see more of this franchise… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best Xbox Series X Game of 2021
28
#28 Most Discussed Xbox Series X Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Vgames
    Dec 27, 2021
    85
    Scarlet Nexus is an amazing Japanese action RPG game, at the start it could give a feeling of an average anime game, but the amazing designs, blend of action and RPG, interesting story are a great blend to one of 2021 games you don't want to miss.
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  2. Gamers' Temple
    Jul 19, 2021
    76
    While I did have some fun with Scarlet Nexus, I am left with the feeling that it could have been more. If there was more life to the city, and any life at all to the frequently drab mission locations, all of the traversal in the game would have felt a lot less like traversal and the world would have felt more immersive and fleshed-out. The combat has its unique aspects, but there is a repetition to it that is exposed by the volume of battles that you will fight against the same enemy types. While it is a plus that the game essentially gives you two campaigns, you may find yourself having had enough after making it through one.
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  3. SomosXbox
    Jul 8, 2021
    88
    Scarlet Nexus is arguably one of Bandai Namco's best games. Its deep combat system and a plot that makes you want to know more at every turn make the game a highly recommended product for fans of the ARPG genre.
    Read full review
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