Scarlet Nexus came out at a time where JRPGs were absolutely popping off. Shin Megami Tensei V was a few months out, as were Tales of Arise and NEO: The World Ends With You to name a few.

This was my most anticipated game that year, and while it didn't end up becoming by game of the year, it certainly still held it's own.

The combat system takes it's time, but about a third into a run of either story it'll start to really open up. I love all of the combinations that are possible with combining each character's abilities, and how some abilities might change combos and how others might interact with each other in unique ways.

The narrative is perhaps this game's most divisive element, and while there are absolutely sore spots, such as the fact that incredibly foundational and massive reveals are dropped in ways that make absolutely no sense and break the pacing, I do still tend to enjoy what the game has to offer. At it's core, this game has two perspectives.

One is from Yuito, who spends most of his campaign having a noticeable effect on the lives of the people around him, and learning to let them do the same for him.

The other is from Kasane, who spends most of her campaign being affected by the people around her and learning to open up and do the same for others.

While not a perfect game by any stretch, if you're looking for a fun action rpg to sink your teeth into, Scarlet Nexus has so much on offer.

Disappointing. That's the first word that comes to my mind for this game. I had heard many compare this to Astral Chain which excited me, and in the first hour I actually thought this to be the case. As the game progressed I slowly realized that this wasn't the ying to Astral Chain's yang that I had hoped, and it definitely wasn't going to get any better. The combat does have enjoyable aspects to it. The powers are varied and are visually interesting to watch, some of the characters are likable and dare-I-say interesting. The main problem is that the game is EXTREMELY predictable in its story and design. Every time you enter an area, you'll fight 2, maybe 3, maybe even 4 waves of enemies that attack in maybe 2's, maybe 3's, etc. The environments all look very 'samey' and lack inspiration as does the hub world which is the true crime. Scarlet Nexus sets the scene for an interesting world that looks visually captivating at times, but they somehow made it so dull and flat. The plot is predictable, the characters seem to be interesting at first but then also fall flat (I barely remember half of the cast), the combat has potential but it won't take you long to realize that you're going to be spamming the same attacks against the same enemies, in the same grey maps. I was really looking forward to this game, but its just not that great. The best I can say is that it's average at best.