Like some other JRPGs, Scarlet Nexus can be a bit nebulous at times. There is a lot to wrap your head around and the game doesn’t always do the best job of explaining things. It certainly doesn’t help that there’s lots of jargon to learn, but thankfully it shouldn’t take you too long to figure things out. From tips and tricks to plain old time savers, we have some advice after our first few hours with the game. Hopefully they’ll save you some effort and lots of confusion.
There is Dialogue During Combat
At the start of the game you choose whether you want Japanese voices with English subtitles or English voices with English subtitles. If you don’t understand Japanese and find yourself unable to read while fighting enemies, be forewarned.
Scarlet Nexus has dialogue during combat and the subtitles aren’t simply at the bottom of your screen to read. Instead they’re over in the left hand corner meaning you’ll need to divert your attention away from the action to know what’s happening. If you don’t want to miss out on crucial dialogue or be distracted during combat you might just have to settle for the English voiceovers this time around.
Check Your Map Frequently
There are a lot of random NPCs in the world and most of them have no meaningful dialogue. The problem is some characters will offer you quests should you take the time to speak with them. And there’s no special icon or anything which indicates this is the case. Sadly that means you need to check your map frequently. The game plops down a marker wherever a quest is being offered. At least you can avoid talking to every single NPC in the game though.
Hand in Quests on the Story Tab
It makes little sense, but after picking up a quest from a random NPC, you don’t need to go back to them after you’ve completed it. If one asks you to gather materials and you already have the items, for example, you need to open the Story tab and turn in the quest there. It’s a bit unintuitive since you can’t actually turn in the quest to the person you took it from to begin with.
Keep All of Your Data!
During your first few hours of the game you’ll find yourself picking up environmental and enemy data. The game doesn’t explain what this is in the slightest, but it will let you sell it to the vendor for next to nothing. Even the rarest of data is only worth around 40 credits which is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Do not sell your data.
After about four hours you’ll unlock the ability to exchange data for items. This lets you save money, but the exchange also contains some exclusive items that you can’t get any other way. Whether it’s robotic bunny ears, goggles, or weapon upgrades, you’re going to want that data.
Saving Restores Everyone’s HP
The main purpose of your health consumables is to help you stay alive during fights. There are certainly some times between where you may need to top up a bit, but as a whole you want to visit the save vendor when you can. Saving the game restores everyone’s health and keeps you from wasting your health consumables and needing to buy more.
Focus on Dodging
If you’re having trouble dealing with enemies and staying alive, I have one recommendation: focus on not getting hit. Ultimately it doesn’t matter how long the fight takes, but you want to avoid taking damage and needing to use your health kits. It can be particularly frustrating with flying enemies who electrocute you, temporarily paralyzing you on the ground, and leaving you open to more damage. As tempting as it is to try and power through the foes, make sure you’re dodging everything and you’ll get through the fight with less frustration.
Get These Key Upgrades First
Once you start earning Brain Points, you can begin upgrading your character. There are a few key upgrades that you should focus on, however, as not all of them are equally valuable.
For one, we recommend upgrading the number of plugin slots you have. At the start of the game you can only equip one plugin and adding more is an easy way to power up your character.
While you’re at it, up your character’s versatility. Unlock the double jump, counter attack after a perfect dodge, and the ability to get off the ground after being stunned. There are few things worst than being stuck lying on the ground waiting for a foe to attack you again.
Before you get too far into the game you’ll also want to pick up Concurrent SAS Activation which will let you activate two concurrent teammate abilities at once. This becomes particularly important when you need an ability to even see the foes. Being able to turn on a support and a damaging ability at the same time is super helpful!
