Scarlet Nexus Demo Xbox Series X Preview

At a glance Scarlet Nexus looks like your run-in-the-mill anime video game but it's more than that. The demo highlights that this title has more to provide with an outstanding combat system that seems like something PlatinumGames would develop. The story is intricate and the short demo pushes you to the deep end of the pool with its narrative but the gameplay is what's the focus here. Highlighting a robust and exciting combat system that had me excited for every fight.

Scarlet Nexus has the player choosing from either Yuito or Kasane, elite psionics who can use psychokinesis. They must fight against the Others, mutants who far from the sky who target humans for their brains. Only these elite agents are capable of defeating the Others hence begins your campaign to join the Other Suppression Force and fight against the Others.

Many will find the narrative to have parrels to PlatinumGames Astral Chain. The cutscenes playing out with still backgrounds and characters speaking in the foreground. However, here players can use psychic abilities and link them with one another to amplify them. This is what combat centers on.

The demo highlighted several combat situations where the player takes on numerous Others. The player is teamed up with 3 other allies they can link with, providing various avenues to take on the enemies. Some enemies have unique defenses that require you to link

These tactics are called SAS or brain-to-brain connection to temporarily use an ally's abilities. Your allies will still participant in battle and actively aid the player but with absolute control, you can deal some heavy damage. With some enemies only accessible to damage under certain conditions such as moving at lightspeed, electrical damage, or weak points. This entire system is synergized for high-speed combat as you wither the Other's resistance and perform a final blow. With the protagonist having access to telekinesis for fatal blows.

The game encourages you to keep moving and watching out for enemy attacks. This system is fast and does not symphonize for those who wait too long. Instead, the player is rewarded for taking risks and continuing the assault to stagger enemies and follow up with heavy counters. To create this sense of speed and flow dynamic animations play during each special attack and when you trigger SAS. The visuals in this game are simply insane and the developers clearly went above and beyond with them.

The controls are tight and responsive but operate differently from other active combat games. Lock-on keeps the camera locked to a specific target but the character isn't focused on them, still requiring you to free-aim strike the target. There's also no way to cancel out of attacks and dodging isn't instant. It's not a major problem, just requires some getting used to.

A small amount of exploration was provided with the player able to traverse a construction site with Kasane and a city with Yuito. Kasane is straightforward with the player killing Others and moving to the next area quickly. Yuito provides a little more exploration with a short example of using the SAS ability in navigating the environment. Such as using teleportation to move through solid objects.

Scarlet Nexus truly shocked me. I did not expect this game to have such a dynamic and intricate combat system. Full of visual flare and gameplay to match as you switch tactics between your allies. Keep Scarlet Nexus on your radar as it may be the hidden gem of 2021.
 

Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed
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