If you get a number of directors and game designers of the Tales of series working on a new IP, chances are the apple will not fall far from the tree. Playing Scarlet Nexus for an hour or so led me to believe that Bandai Namco Studios is just focusing on the action RPG bits while dolling it up with a sci-fi open-world skin.

Scarlet Nexus is the coming-of-age story about two teams of the Other Suppression Force -psychic and elemental-powered super-soldiers & peacekeepers- whose members are clearly picked out of the school of anime character tropes. From main characters Yuito Sumeragi and Kasane Randall (one optimistic hero, the other cool and indifferent), to side characters like the childhood sweetheart-aura Hanabi and the know-it-all prick Shiden, the game’s story and themes will be about as subtle as a telekinesis-lifted truck to the face.

Still, if that’s what you like in your colourful sci-fi action games from a publisher who specializes in such titles, you’ll find a lot to like in Scarlet Nexus. In addition to the psychic powers your characters have, you can also borrow your teammates’ powers via the SAS system, like pyrokinesis (fire attacks) to hypervelocity (slows down time). Fun stuff overall, though I wish there was a tad more weight in the overall combat. Hopefully the game offers different weapon choices to make the fighting a lot more impactful.

Team Yuito

Team Kasane

Scarlet Nexus will be out for Xbox Series, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC later in 25th June.