Bandai Namco has plenty of upcoming RPGs that fans have their eyes on, though the one that inevitably stands out is Scarlet Nexus. The anime aesthetic and its vibrant "brain punk" world make Scarlet Nexus quite different, and, as a result, far more intriguing than some other upcoming JRPGs.

The brain punk setting of Scarlet Nexus is a stark departure from the studio's last release, Code Vein, and many are excited to know what kind of locales they would get to explore in the game. Thankfully, Bandai Namco recently released an environment highlight trailer that reveals some of the in-game locations players will get to visit.

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Some of Scarlet Nexus' locations include the futuristic city of New Himuka that serves as the base location, alongside plenty of other unique areas such as a desolated industry, a dockyard, and a mysterious snow-covered area that looks straight out of Code Vein. Whether these areas are seamlessly connected, however, is a different story.

scarlet nexus protagonists kasane yuito

Scarlet Nexus Is Not Open-World

Sadly, it seems Scarlet Nexus won't be a fully open-world game. The recently released Scarlet Nexus demo seems to paint a picture that players would be traversing through massive but linear locations to progress the main story. However, this doesn't mean that Scarlet Nexus isn't a meaty experience. In a recent interview with Gamespew, game director Kenji Anabuki revealed that Scarlet Nexus would take 25 hours to beat if players rush through the main campaign.

Aside from the main quests, players can also undertake certain side activities, including character-specific missions that would increase players' bond with those characters. Scarlet Nexus is being developed by the devs behind the popular Tales series. Kenji Anabuki also served as the lead designer in Tales of Vesperia. As such, Tales of Vesperia inspirations could be seen in Scarlet Nexus, especially when it comes to character interactions and bonding with the party members.

Scarlet Nexus features two playable characters: Yuito Sumeragi and Kasane Randall, both of which have a different storyline that coincides at certain story junctions. Furthermore, Yuito and Kasane have different fighting styles, each with a unique skill tree called a brain map and different party members that would make both playthroughs unique. Combining both scenarios, including the various side quests, Scarlet Nexus could turn out to be a 50+ hours experience.

Even without an open-world, Scarlet Nexus seems to be a massive game. It also goes without saying that not every game needs to be an open-world experience. Scarlet Nexus with its unique art style, fast and ferocious combat, and catchy trance music, is shaping up to be something that action RPG fans would not want to miss.

Scarlet Nexus launches June 25, 2021, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Source: Gamespew