Although the full details surrounding Scarlet Nexus won’t be revealed until its June 25, 2021 release date, fans can expect a unique spin on the JRPG genre given the development team’s past experience with Tales of Vesperia. While Scarlet Nexus will have no story connections to Tales of Vesperia, Tales fans should find plenty of similarities in the writing and combat system to enjoy.
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Emphasis on Character Interactions
Following the success of the Tales series over the years, Scarlet Nexus is Bandai Namco’s latest project in the ARPG genre. Comprised of a team with previous experience in Tales games, Scarlet Nexus is being directed by Kenji Anabuki who worked as the lead designer in Tales of Vesperia. One of the most important aspects of Tales of Vesperia is the character interactions and it seems that Scarlet Nexus will be focusing on something similar.
In Tales of Vesperia, characters often interacted with one another through skits and side stories which helped give depth to relationships that would otherwise be ignored during the main storyline. Over time, the character dynamic between the main party members would develop smoothly and players would become attached to their individual backstories as well. The seamless balance between character development with the overarching narrative was one of Tales of Vesperia’s biggest strengths. Scarlet Nexus takes inspiration from these character development segments by introducing a similar bonding system. Players are able to give gifts and interact with other party members in order to boost their friendship levels and in turn, their combat skills as well.
Improving on the Combat System
Kenji Anabuki has also mentioned that previous experience with Tales of Vesperia has also taught the Scarlet Nexus team to find a balance between the story and the battle scenes. Tales of Vesperia relied heavily on the dynamic of a party as players could control four different characters in combat. Anabuki stated that this battle system inspired Scarlet Nexus’s thematic focus on characters connecting and how they team up.
At the same time, while Tales of Vesperia was limited in its scope to a fantasy setting of swords and magic, Scarlet Nexus allows the development team to get creative with its cyberpunk setting and focus on superpowers. The combat is more refined and seamless as players are able to interact with the environment around them in order to defeat enemies. Not only will players be able to wield a sword, they are also able to throw objects from the environment with psionic powers, and alternating between the sword and psionic powers will help players pull off satisfying combos.
While Tales of Vesperia would shift in and out of battle sequences, Scarlet Nexus consistently places players near the heat of battle as they navigate the world around them. This change helps reflect the combo-based combat in Scarlet Nexus and allows players to take full advantage of the robust combat system. The experience from working on Tales of Vesperia seems to have helped shape the development of Scarlet Nexus and fans will have plenty to look forward to once it releases.
Scarlet Nexus will release on June 25, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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