• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Scarlet Nexus - Overrated, Bland, Repetitive, Indie Budget?

Life

Member
So I just spent a good amount of time finishing the game on Hard ( I like a good challenge and this was) - and I hadn't looked into this game much so I was going in blind. After I finished the game, I looked at scores and general sentiment for this game - and the amount of praise it got baffled me. This is a 6/10 game at best but it's getting way higher scores by critics. How's that possible when:

  • Game hardly has any animated cutscenes - but comic style story-telling (which is what indie games resort to usually for budgeting reasons)
  • Environments/Dungeons are DEAD, bland,uninteresting - and your only purpose is to walk through them until the next fight starts
  • Enemies/bosses are repetitive - you know, the type of game that throws in the same boss again, but now there's 2 of them..and then 3? Yeah..
  • Some boss fights are literally your team members (lol) - nice shortcut.
  • Combat system had so much potential - but you never need to change anything because...you gussed it, SAME DAMN ENEMIES/BOSSES.
  • Brain gear (items) is just broken and makes the game easy.
  • Far too many team members - making them all forgettable.
  • Member skills are cool - but the game never allows you to experiment. It's only at the end of the game where you have all your members and you can finally CHOOSE how to play the game...but it's the end, what's the point?
I could go on honestly. In the end, I thought this game was sugar-coated with cool and colourful character designs, and they hoped somehow people would miss everything else is painfully subpar? It feels like there is another half of the game missing, with actual new enemies and boss fights - but instead you get the credits.
 
Last edited:

RaZoR No1

Member
Interesting gameplay which unfortunately isnt that deep..
I hoped that the mechanics get more complex the further you get in the game, but that wasnt the case..
Leveling up brain map helps just a little bit.
Storywise.. it is an typical anime story.. if you love VNs and the characters, complete the bond missions too, if not, just ignore them (they drag too long).
IMO the play style of both main characters are too similar... which doesnt add anything fun too.. you just see the other side of the story and there is nothing special if you finish with both of them..

The game feels sometimes a bit unpolished and not high budget.
As you mentioned, unfortunately you can see that in the game world and enemy types...

Still finished it completly and got all achievements..
 
  • Thoughtful
Reactions: Isa

Senhua

Member
They should make a sequel to Code Vein rather than greenlight this turd.
Well I guess some of CV content is too problematic for the west, so that's way they choose to make this edgy chuuni teen rated turd instead.
Good riddance.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
I think this accurately describes the issue with most Bandai games. They just don't throw enough money at things, so what you get is always a visually appealing game but they just don't have the time to make it deep... they always come out A or B tier games.

I do find Tales of Arise drastically better than there normal offerings though, even if I can still see the limitations they have still had forced on the dev team.
 
Last edited:

YukiOnna

Member
I had some good fun with it.

I thought the balance between cutscenes and comic style was fine, it reminded me of Tales with its skits/cutscenes and this is the Tales of team. Environments were always going to be a pure action game style with dungeon based approach similar to DMC, etc. Enemy types were definitely an issue as you got further in the game, especially in the final dungeon where it was a bit overkill, but this can be addressed in a follow-up game at least. And I don't have a problem with other characters being bosses, it didn't feel like it was cutting corners, it was simply a matter of how the story structure was since it's interconnected.

My main gripes were the retread of areas between each storyline and the lack of opportunity to use the combinations outside of the late game. But otherwise, it's a good game on the same level as Tales, GE, and Code Vein.
 

Life

Member
The most satisfying thing is to ride the bus or train to kill enemies. Game is good, not great. But good is cool.

It was very satisfying yeah - and gaining all that EXP in the process too.

I also like the 2d part near the end when ur running away - the game needed many more segments like that - that make you use the different skills to get past. But it's obvious they just didn't want to spend time on it.
 

Winter John

Member
I tried the demo. Never got to the end of it. Then I saw it on Gamepass and thought it was at least worth trying again to see if I'd been too quick to dismiss it. Nope. That time I quit after the second enemy in the tutorial. I was surprised cos I really liked Code Vein and that Monster Hunter clone they did. This one I didn't get at all.
 
No one is praising the game. Even the upvotes on steam mention it's ok/average. It's not a bad game to give it a thumbs down, nor does it have tech issues so generally no reason to say it sucks but it is a pretty boring game. I gave it a 7, barely. Audio, voice acting was good and the combat was great, I really enjoyed the combos and whatnot. But the story half way goes to shit and the environments are very boring and repetitive.
 

Pantz

Gold Member
It's an 8/10 for me.

Interesting combat system that does get repetitive. Story and presentation is pretty cool. Side stuff can be filler story but filling out your hideout with items is really cool. Some environments are boring but some are pretty cool too. Equipment/item system is pretty lame. Nothing really technically wrong with the game. And Hanabi secures an 8/10.
 
I liked the demo, moreso than the Tales of Arise one.

It is clearly a budget title for Namco internally, but that also means they were able to experiment a bit more.

Feels like a early 8th generation title, it's not pushing anything, but feels fresher/more experimental. I always felt this usually happened in first generation titles, moreso than later games in the console lifespan.


Of course, game systems and story have to carry it beyond what I played. I sure hoped as much.
 

Life

Member
No one is praising the game. Even the upvotes on steam mention it's ok/average. It's not a bad game to give it a thumbs down, nor does it have tech issues so generally no reason to say it sucks but it is a pretty boring game. I gave it a 7, barely. Audio, voice acting was good and the combat was great, I really enjoyed the combos and whatnot. But the story half way goes to shit and the environments are very boring and repetitive.

It's just disappointing from the giant that is Bamco. If they release titles like these, they should at least price them accordingly. I played it on Gamepass, but had I paid full price - I would have felt scammed, honestly. It's very bare-bones and the game almost "cheats" its way to completion.

If it was reasonably priced, a thumbs down would be unjust. But given its pricing, fuck that. Subpar production levels should be reflected in its price.

At least they have the foundation laid out IF they want to make a proper sequel.
 
Last edited:
If it was reasonably priced, a thumbs down would be unjust. But given its pricing, fuck that. Subpar production levels should be reflected in its price.
I have no doubt that it'll go down to 15 euros quite fast on digital sales.

It's already on gamepass which says a lot. If they thought they would sell loads of units at full price they would never accept gamespass presence throughout the launch window; Tales of the Arise sure isn't.
 
Last edited:

saintjules

Member
6/10 is your thoughts and that's good. Let people give higher scores if they want to.

With reviews, always take it as someone else's perspectives when factoring in the purchase. Nothing is more definitive than looking at gameplay and seeing if it vibes with your palate. I say this all the time on here.

Just because I like chicken wings doesn't mean you do - it's OK.
 
Last edited:

Bryank75

Banned
Was gonna buy it but I'll wait for a deep deep deep sale now. Thank you, I had heard a few rumblings that it was more AA than anything.

Funny how we rate games production standards like stock now... hmmm
 
Last edited:

01011001

Banned
the worst thing about it is that whenever I play it I feel like I'm playing a cheap knock-off of Astral Chain...
 

Life

Member
6/10 is your thoughts and that's good. Let people give higher scores if they want to.

With reviews, always take it as someone else's perspectives when factoring in the purchase. Nothing is more definitive than looking at gameplay and seeing if it vibes with your palate. I say this all the time on here.

Just because I like chicken wings doesn't mean you do - it's OK.

Not much room for subjectivity when it's obvious the game relies a little too much on repetition to pump game hours. Same enemies/same dungeons for the most part. Some fun can still be had nonetheless but like I said, feels more like an indie effort for a full price.
 
Last edited:
I spent about 60 hours in my run through, played as one of the characters didn't do the second playthrough and I thought it was cool. I really don't like doing "Number" ratings as if I'm some journalist on a site but I'd give it a 7.5/10ish if I had to lol

Enemies got a little repetitive, but honestly I didn't expect to like the game at all. My gameshare partner on PS5 got it and it honestly grabbed my attention and had me caught up playing it for a good bit back when it came out. Its cool to me
 

stn

Member
I tried the demo and really liked it. The only reason I haven't purchased it yet is because I have a big backlog, but after I clear a few titles I will definitely get it.
 

The Shepard

Member
I hope they make a sequel with a bigger budget. I liked it enough to get the platinum on ps5, Much better than code vain. I think tales of arise is better than both of them though.
 

01011001

Banned
Agreed. Another game from a Japanese studio that is stuck in PS2 era.

that's a terrible way to put it... PS2 era capcom for example was phenomenal... and if games were more like those today it would actually be a very positive thing

DMC3 is still the best DMC even today for example
 
Last edited:

Celcius

°Temp. member
I enjoyed the demo but yeah I decided to skip it and it sounds like I made the right decision .
 

Plantoid

Member
Agree, I've played it through xcloud on my phone to test it before wasting bandwidth... Glad I did, since I found the game boring.
 
Masakazu Katsura makes this a 10/10

7839a4f5f15c290dc4538eb0e581d0e2.jpg
I know he contributed designs for Astral Chain but can't find any info on him contributing to Scarlet Nexus.
 

Fare thee well

Neophyte
Don't play a lot of weebsthetic games, but on first appearance it looks flashy and interesting. However, I can see the combat monotony grow as I watch more videos about it. And yea, having a visually interesting world helps. While I think we need more GOOD cyberpunk landscapes, this had a lot of sameyness. Honestly triple As do this just as much though. The new Far Cry is the most boring landscape ever (flat, samesized palm trees, horrible LOD).
 
I was expecting to like Tales of Arise more than Scarlet Nexus but Arise was more of the same fantasy JRPG with bad writing we've had for decades albeit in a shiny modern presentation. SN isn't going to win any awards in that category either, but it was doing it's own thing (setting and gameplay wise) and that left a stronger impression on me and I enjoyed the overall game much more for it.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom