Scarlet Nexus Review – Anime Ascendant

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Publisher: Bandai Namco

Developer: Bandai Namco

Rating: Teen

Reviewed on: PC

Also on: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Scarlet Nexus transports players into a “brainpunk” anime world where psionic powers and bizarre otherworldly creatures threaten humanity. What does brainpunk mean? In this somewhat modern era, massive advances in mind technology have led to the use of incredible psychic abilities. Of course, not everything is as it seems, and a mystery unravels over the course of the journey. Scarlet Nexus excels at selling its stylish and unique world, crafting combat that’s a joy to play and watch, pitting players against weird, wonderful bosses. However, some elements – like character dialogue, relationship building, and level design – weigh down an otherwise excellent experience.

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Scarlet Nexus seems tailor-made for anime lovers with sharp visuals, zany plotlines, and fantastic action sequences. Even if you don’t love anime, the combat and animations are eye-catching. Initially, you’re just whacking away monsters and gaining experience – tasks familiar to anyone who has ever played an RPG. Soon, you get the chance to manipulate the environment via psychokinesis. This can be as simple as throwing around barrels and boxes, but it is way more fun lifting busses, chandeliers, ice sculptures, and more. I had a blast ripping the world apart to shred enemies and pulling up the scenery then riding it around the environment. The kinetic elements create an incredibly smooth flow from fight to fight. Over the course of the game, combat becomes much more complex and interesting as you gain the ability to tap into your friends’ special abilities and weave them into your assaults. For example, does an opponent goes invulnerable whenever you get close? Go invisible or teleport to them! Having trouble dealing with speedy opponents? Stop time altogether. Later in the game, you can even use multiple abilities simultaneously to really make the screen explode with massive combo chains. I loved experimenting and combining skills to absolutely tear foes apart.

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As I developed relationships with the character roster, I gained the opportunity to call them in directly to participate in massive combo attacks. Skirmishes often cap off with an epic anime animation as you slaughter the villainous creatures with stylish finishing attacks. As if this wasn’t enough, you gain new brain-related skills as you progress, such as an activatable brain field that must be charged up in battle that conveys tremendous psionic powers for a brief time. To add a bit of a risk-reward element, you must manually turn the brain field off before the timer runs out – or you’ll die. Combat is the best part of Scarlet Nexus, and it grew more enjoyable and interesting as I advanced in the story.

The world of Scarlet Nexus is awesome. The monsters you battle, known as Others, are aberrant amalgamations of organic material and random, familiar objects. These creepy creations are as fascinating as they are unusual. Frenetic boss battles where you engage in lightning-fast brain warfare with other psionic adepts play out like badass anime sequences, and made me feel like I was actually playing an anime.

The action is incredibly engaging. The story and characters, not so much. Unfortunately, the story introduces a ludicrous number of characters early on and they don’t grow much throughout the campaign. The plot is an absurd out-of-this world tale that only makes sense in a universe this strange, but the little vignettes you unlock by improving your relationship with each individual character feel sterile and stagnant.

Scarlett Nexus also becomes repetitive with reused areas and monsters to an extreme degree, especially in the later areas. There are enough bizarre things to hold your attention even as you begin to get bogged down with the formulaic level design that alternates between checkpoints and arenas. The level layouts in Scarlet Nexus feel overly functional to a ridiculous degree, with little distance from checkpoint to checkpoint – just a straight line of checkpoints and arenas without any dressing. Luckily, enough lush, animated trappings are around to take you out of that cold design as you cruise from stage to stage.

Whatever brainpunk’s take on over-the-top psychic reality is, I’m into it now. Bandai Namco has crafted something truly strange and quite satisfying with Scarlet Nexus, and I hope we get a slightly more refined sequel.

Score: 8.75

Summary: Bandai Namco constructs a stylish and compelling fantasy that's all about the combat.

Concept: Tap into incredible mind powers as you battle to save the world and unravel mysteries of the past

Graphics: Scarlet Nexus excels at selling an anime fantasy world with powerful, stylish displays and impactful animations

Sound: The soundtrack syncs up with the fluid action for scintillating synergy, but doesn’t always hit the mark

Playability: The action starts simple and amusing, but grows more complex and satisfying by the game’s end, with massive combo chains, call-ins, and special abilities

Entertainment: With incredibly satisfying combat, weird and wonderful creatures, and an awesome aesthetic, Scarlet Nexus is well worth your time

Replay: Moderate

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Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode Intermission Review – The Ultimate Ninja

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Square Enix

Rating: Teen

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5

In Episode Intermission, Yuffie Kisaragi, self-proclaimed Wutai ninja extraordinaire, finally makes an appropriately pompous entrance and joins the anti-Shinra fray. Yuffie’s ninjutsu and shuriken-centric abilities are an invigoratingly frenetic addition to Remake’s deep, real-time combat system. New supporting characters make brief appearances and help bring the Slums, and the sectors beyond it, to life. And even though Intermission’s abbreviated plotline never really lands the mark, it ultimately serves as a strong introduction to a beloved protagonist while hinting at what’s to come in additional Final Fantasy VII content.

Intermission’s loop is virtually the same as last year’s Remake: scour visually arresting hub areas for treasure chests, arbitrarily placed Materia orbs, and optional task-givers (with the added benefit of Fort Condor, a new table-top minigame). Yuffie’s two chapters take you back to the Slums and Shinra Headquarters. In between the two major locations, you’ll also traverse meandering passages in never-before-seen factories and junkyards. These moments, however, play out like the linear, monster-infested locales from the base game. Despite spending most of my time in recycled environments, gossip from nearby NPCs and appearances from familiar faces like Johnny and Chadley made Final Fantasy VII’s world feel alive. I always found it nice to overhear pockets of citizens comment on my in-game feats as I completed missions around town. This also helps ground Yuffie and her tight-lipped companion, Sonon, in the larger tale. Even though Cloud, Tifa, and Barrett, aren’t the stars of this show, their momentous actions – e.g., the Reactor bombings – still inform Intermission’s story beats.

With the help of fresh-faced Avalanche operatives, Yuffie infiltrates Midgar to retrieve a top-secret, all-powerful Materia. However, this overarching goal often fell to the wayside because the side content was far more enticing to chew on. Still, I didn’t mind this because reconnecting with old pals like Jesse and Wedge in Fort Condor or slaying wild beats repeatedly with Yuffie and Sonon’s flashy flurries was where the experience truly came together.

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Combat is Intermission’s bread and butter. The minute I took control of Yuffie, I was enamored with her eye-popping agility – long-range shuriken throws transform into close-combat combos in the blink of an eye. Afterimage effects fill the screen as the whimsical ninja pierces her foes in mid-air while conducting high-altitude flips. Yuffie’s acrobatic barrages are reflective of her flashy and eccentric personality. She’s also quite resourceful as her default weapon can switch elements on the fly, which helps alleviate any menu parsing that you would normally do to equip Materia. Thankfully, I never needed to step away from the action to prepare for enemy weaknesses, making combat more streamlined and constant. Because of this, I only ever equipped other weapons to max out their proficiencies; the early-game 4-Point Shuriken was just too valuable to sideline.

Synergized attacks – tag-team abilities that can only be activated if both Yuffie and Sonon have at least one ATB charge – feel like miniature Limit Breaks with their own dazzling cinematics and substantial damage numbers. I can’t remember a single time where I didn’t try to take advantage of this feature, and I often wished that Remake implemented something like it. Watching Yuffie straddle Sonon’s staff, while bringing that final blow down on a boss never got old.

Fort Condor, an entertaining respite from the intense battle sequences, is a tower-defense mode where troops under three distinct classes (attackers, vanguard, and ranged) clash to take out enemy outposts. Each class has a specific weakness, and by customizing your roster before a match starts, you can create optimal builds that prioritize different playstyles. There is one caveat: spawning reinforcements drains an AP bar, which not only prevents overcrowding, but highlights split-second decision making.

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I enjoyed placing bases on the board to spawn lower cost units so that I wouldn’t have to micromanage every phase of a given match. Baiting enemy soldiers towards one side of the map and sending speedy attackers to barrage abandoned outposts was satisfying, especially on higher difficulties. With only a handful of competitors, Fort Condor still feels like a tagged-on feature. Similarly, I wish that there were more boards and units to purchase from local shops. Fort Condor reminds me of The Witcher 3’s Gwent and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Orlog, and I hope to see more of it implemented in the future.

Episode Intermission is brought to life by its bubbly, albeit goofy, main character. I loved how Yuffie’s personality came through in the myriad ways that she interacted with each setting – i.e., sliding down poles or flinging her shuriken at far off mechanical switches to solve environmental puzzles. Exploration and combat are bolstered by an eclectic score that sports jazzy trumpets as well as roaring guitar riffs. And the level of detail that the Graphics Mode brings to flowy garments, strands of hair, and other textures never ceased to amaze me. I wish that Intermission’s narrative was a little longer so that I could spend more time getting to know its small cast but Yuffie rises to the occasion. I can’t wait to see how she fits into what’s next for Remake.

Score: 8.75

Summary: Episode Intermission plays like a dream thanks to Yuffie's high-speed and nuanced combat skills, alluring optional activites, and visual/performance upgrades on PlayStation 5.

Concept: Live out an exciting ninja fantasy as Yuffie while revisiting the sights of Midgar’s various sectors

Graphics: Final Fantasy VII Remake was a good-looking game, but the Graphics Mode cleans up any flat textures while upgrading character models. The sparkle in each character’s eyes is a nice detail too

Sound: This is the classic Final Fantasy VII fanfare with head-nodding jazz and rock compositions that mirror Yuffie’s eclectic nature

Playability: Controlling Yuffie in battle is the highlight of Episode Intermission since her abilities are so fast and impressive to look at

Entertainment: Synergizing with Sonon is the icing on the cake and watching the two fighters unleash their fury on unsuspecting foes kept me on the edge of my seat

Replay: High

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Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Review – Dazzling Dimensional Duality

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Publisher: PlayStation Studios

Developer: Insomniac Games

Rating: Everyone 10+

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a sequel that clings tightly to its storied heritage, never once betraying the foundation that was laid in 2002. From the second I took control of the fuzzy Lombax again, my muscle memory kicked in, and I was flipping through the air and smashing boxes like I had never stopped. Insomniac Games made a sequel for longtime fans that hits the right classic notes, feeling like a glorious reunion, even though these characters never left our side. The heavy doses of nostalgia are handled with care but are only half of what make this sequel a must-play for PlayStation 5’s early adopters.

Rift Apart is PlayStation 5’s showpiece. It checks all of the next-gen boxes, dazzling with its power, speed, sound, and control. When coupled with this series’ tried-and-true gameplay, the experience absolutely sizzles, creating a fun rollercoaster ride from start to finish.

One of the coolest technological feats in Rift Apart is how Ratchet travels between dimensions. As he battles his way across an alien world, a window into another reality may appear in front of him, and he can bravely leap through it. The transition between locations happens in a flash, and Ratchet is suddenly standing in an entirely different world or reality. These transitional moments are as magical and fun as they sound, often wowing you with just how different the next world is compared to the one you are currently standing in.

Insomniac sometimes uses these quick transitions for exciting gameplay sequences, like riding an out-of-control beast at breakneck speeds through a series of dimensional rifts. Portals are also placed in combat areas to allow for quicker environmental traversal, a touch that sounds small, but adds another layer of strategy to the mix.

Through a nicely penned story, we quickly learn Ratchet and Clank are bouncing between two specific dimensions, both holding the same planets and characters. The always amusing Doctor Nefarious thinks he has a better shot at conquering the alternate dimension. Since events have unfolded in different ways in each reality, the characters could be radically different. For instance, in the reality fans know, we have Skid McMarx, a burnout surfer who didn’t do much. In the other dimension, Skid is a skilled resistance fighter named Phantom. Ratchet also appears to have a double in the other existence, and her name is Rivet, a new character who breathes fresh life into this series.

Rivet energizes the story and is brought to life through a number of mysteries that give her a unique pulse. As her tale unfolds, Insomniac delivers satisfying answers as to who she is and what happened to her. She is playable for half of the adventure, but is sadly a carbon copy of Ratchet on the battlefield. She doesn’t have any distinguishing features that set her apart. The duo shares the same weapons, upgrades, armors, and experience points earned – a solution that reduces confusion and keeps the focus on making progress that, again, strips each character of individuality. Yes, this plays into the duality of dimensions concept, and keeps the gameplay flowing in a consistent way, but it also feels like a missed opportunity to change things up and truly create a new character.

While retaining the same colorful cartoon look we’ve come to expect from each installment in this series, the level of detail in Rift Apart is through the roof in jaw-dropping ways. Don’t be surprised if you stop dead in your tracks to inspect the detail on the most trivial of things. I marveled at the wool on a sheep, and audibly said “wow” when I saw the sheer scale of a Godzilla-sized robot that looms over one of the levels. I also realized that, given how densely populated areas are, it’s a little harder to locate stacks of breakable boxes, which I consider a positive, as I was paying more attention to the environment. There’s that much going on in each world. Insomniac’s artists did a bang-up job dreaming up colorful alien worlds for the player to traverse. Trust me when I say you should play it in Performance RT mode (which delivers 60 frames-per-second and raytracing).

The DualSense controller also mesmerizes at times, enhancing each weapon with tailored haptic feedback and clever adaptive trigger functionality. Each gun delivers a distinct and satisfying kick – whether it’s the rhythmic pulsing of the Ricochet Gun or being able to feel the Negaton Collider cook in your hands before it sends out a rattle with its energy blast. I also really like how each gun offers two firing modes: a light tap of the trigger performs the first, which is usually more precise and conservative, and a full pull basically unleashes hell.

This series has always been known for its inventive weapons and just how different they are from one another, and Rift Apart delivers a nice selection of firearms that gives the player everything they need – like a rocket launcher and sniper rifle. The most inventive weapon this time around is the Topiary Sprinkler, which turns enemies into beautiful shrubbery, freezing their movements for a few seconds. This weapon, like many in this grouping, has great combo potential, and help keep mobs at bay. The new dimensional dash is the handiest new addition to combat, allowing for laser beams and melee strikes to be evaded with ease. This move also aids traversal in fun ways.

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Most missions that Ratchet and Rivet undertake are good fun, and often deliver huge set-piece moments with story sequences sewn right into them, just like Insomniac’s Spider-Man games. You can freely move between planets and determine if you want to tackle a side mission or the next story beat. Some enemy types are repeated a little much (especially in the arena), but the action is nicely diversified, and the flow between locations is excellent. I wasn’t a big fan of the Clank or spider-bot minigames, but they offer a breather at the right times from the frenzied combat.

I had a smile on my face most of the way through Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. It’s a great continuation of the series that is just a joy to play. It steals your eye with its stunning vistas, makes you care about the characters, and is loaded to the hilt with fan service (especially in the alternate dimension and a weapon you have to assemble). Insomniac clearly had a blast working on this game and leaves us with a tease for an even bigger adventure right before the credits roll.

Score: 9

Summary: Insomniac Games' latest sequel roars with excitement and shows us what PlayStation 5 is capable of.

Concept: The spacefaring duo is back in a wild and beautiful PlayStation 5 exclusive that shows the capabilities of Sony’s new hardware

Graphics: Whether you are playing it in 4K or at 60 frames-per-second, Rift Apart is a visual dynamo that lights up the screen with cluttered sci-fi cityscapes, colorful aliens, and intricately detailed texturing

Sound: Pitch perfect in terms of both the thumping orchestrated score and voice work by the cast

Playability: The DualSense controller gets a good workout. The haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and 3D audio continually enhance the already great combat

Entertainment: It’s as long as any other Ratchet game, but it feels like it flies by in a flash, and is a hard one to put down

Replay: Moderately High

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