Scarlet Nexus is a new IP designed and developed by Bandai Namco that was shown for the first time during the Xbox Inside event in May. In this circumstance, the title was shown with a gameplay trailer that allowed us to discover the style of the game world, as well as to know our enemies (the White Walkers) and the protagonist of this adventure: Yuito Sumeragi. In this preview we will take you to know all the details released so far on this new game, although an official release date has not yet been released (although we hope to see it hit the market by the end of this year).
So let's start from the simple things: what is Scarlet Nexus? It is a new Action RPG game with a type of graphics in perfect anime style, which Bandai Namco has always accustomed us to: what makes the whole world so unique is however the style that the developers have given to city of New Himuka, as well as the enemies we will have to face. This style has been defined by the developers themselves as "psycho-punk" due to the coexistence in this futuristic world of mental abilities and extremely advanced technologies.
Between psykers and mutants
The incipit of Scarlet Nexus is somehow a "classic" of the role-playing games of this development studio, it is enough to consider two games such as the GOD Eater series or the more recent Code Vein to notice some similarities. In fact, in the distant future, the discovery of a psionic hormone in the human brain allows the development of supernatural powers in the population, radically changing the way of life, and not only. At the beginning of this new era, curious maddened mutants (to be more precise we could also speak of zombies, given their relentless hunger for brains), called White Walkers, come to earth to sow death and destruction.
However, what has been said so far is not the worst part; the most important feature of these absurd-looking creatures is their innate resistance to any conventional method of attack. Therefore the only solution is to create a team made up of individuals with the most developed mental abilities, called psykers, to counter this new threat. The last line of defense for mankind is thus called FSE (Strangers Suppression Force), and our hero Yuito will represent a new recruit of the team, also driven by the desire to emulate an FSE member who managed to save his life when, as a child, he was attacked by a Stranger.
Unity is Strength (of Suppression)
Facing such a threat to humanity alone would not be very wise, in fact we will be helped by the other members of the ESF team. The producer of Scarlet Nexus, Keita Iizuka, has in fact underlined during the Play Anime Live, a dedicated event of Bandai Namco, the importance in the development of our protagonist and all the other characters present.
In fact, we are talking about a group of characters who cooperate to achieve a common goal despite their differences and personal characteristics, details that also end up reflecting their abilities. All this was achieved by exploiting the experience accumulated by the developers in the creation of one of the most successful Japanese RPG series: Tales of.
Take for example Kasane, an orphan who lost her parents as a child during a White Walker raid. She was later adopted by a powerful family and, after being recruited at 12, became one of the most promising members of the defense team. In addition to mastering telekinesis, he is particularly skilled in the use of throwing knives, a skill he uses to overcome every fight. Another example we got to know about is Hanabi, another recruit with great skills in the use of the Chinese pyro and childhood friend of Yuito; the two have been separated for a long time and have now met again in the ESF group.
These are just a few brief descriptions of the characters that we will get to know while of the others at the moment we only know their names, namely Gemma Garrison, Luka Travers and Tsugumi Nazar, as well as a generic idea of their powers. Thanks to the latest trailers shown we have in fact seen a burly and muscular character (probably Luka) whose main feature is high physical stamina, as well as a girl who seems to be able to heal and the last one who seems to be able to perform extremely fast and precise movements (a bit like Ciri's teleportation in The Witcher 3).
Death to the White Walkers
The gameplay, and especially the combat system, of Scarlet Nexus has been shown on several occasions thanks to the trailers published, but we have only been able to know the first uncut version for a few days thanks to the Tokyo Game Show. During this event, a short demo of about three minutes was shown which allowed us to learn about some aspects of the game starting first from our two main weapons, the katana and telekinesis..
Our Yuito seems to be, in fact, particularly skilled in the use of the sword in combat, which seems to be even more improved by his psionic abilities.
The “white weapon” combat seems to be accompanied by our ability to exploit the environment around us to our advantage. The use of simple combos (on the ground or in the air) with our sword are in fact assisted in the fight by the possibility of throwing different types of objects of the scenario against our enemies; in this case, however, the use of extrasensory abilities is limited by an energy bar that is just above that of our health. Staying on the HUD theme, we were able to notice, to the right of the health and energy bars, a bar that manages the so-called DRIVE mode.
This appears to be an enhanced combat mode that improves all our combos and makes the damage inflicted more efficient, also making possible a combat that mixes the use of the sword with telekinesis allowing its use a little more at a distance. The use of this mode seems to make available the filling of a second DRIVE bar and this, once full, seems to allow the exploitation of our full telekinetic powers. The latter has just been shown during the demo (for only a few seconds), but it seems to make it possible to use the environment as a weapon in a completely unique way (in fact, we see several objects floating in the air and the protagonist use a beam instead of the sword to fight).
Another essential part of the gameplay is the so-called "SAS" or "Struggle Arms System", it is a system that allows the cerebral connection of all members of the FSE. This connection makes it possible for the protagonist to use the skills of our companions as well. In fact, in the lower right part of the HUD we find the abilities of our team members to be activated to enhance our attacks. In the case of the kinetic pyro girl, for example, we will be able to add fire to all our attacks (as well as being able to make unique attacks), while in the case of the character able to teleport we will become able to perform her sudden movements to improve attacks and dodge.
In conclusion it is imperative to make a last little parenthesis on the last two elements of the HUD shown during the demo; in fact we have a system of use of consumable objects very similar to that present in Code Vein, as well as a so-called multiplier of experience points. The latter is a factor already present in other titles, such as The Surge 2, which allows you to get the more experience the more you have accumulated since the last checkpoint. Either way it's about elements that would suggest, especially for the second, the presence in Scarlet Nexus of some typical elements of souls-like.
Technical quality and mobile experience
Although Scarlet Nexus still doesn't have a definitive release date, we know that it will be released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and PC with the necessary differences in technical terms. Leaving aside the unique style of the title, it is important to take into account above all the degree of fluidity in such fast action games. In a recent note dedicated to the press Kenji Anabuki, game director, announced that Scarlet Nexus will have a resolution of 4K and 60 FPS in the new generation consoles, while on those of the current it will be able to reach only 30 FPS with a resolution of 1080p, hoping that in both cases the drops are almost nil.
Bandai Namco also made an unexpected announcement: before the release of this new IP, an immersive mobile experience dedicated to the world of New Himuka will be published. Let's talk about a mobile application called Scarlet Nexus Immersive AR Experience. Apparently this is an augmented reality game that should allow us to start our fight with the White Walkers before the main game even arrives. Even in the case of this application, however, a release date has not yet been confirmed; in fact, only a generic “coming soon” is reported in the trailer.
Scarlet Nexus is therefore a title on which the Japanese developer intends to bet a lot, both for the simple promotion of a mobile application related to the game world, and by favoring its publication on the next generation with a resolution and fluidity not yet confirmed by many. next-gen games, but also from a narrative point of view to create a deep and detailed experience. This is even before mentioning the unique style of the game world, characters and enemies or the extremely promising gameplay (and which probably still hides some details, such as the function of experience points earned in combat).
► Scarlet Nexus is an RPG-Adventure game developed and published by Bandai Namco for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, The release is scheduled: 2021
