"Scarlet Nexus" is a little too big. Bandai Namco's latest original game, a hybrid of Devil May Cry-like swordplay and Monster Hunter's action-RPG for the weakest link, seems to explore new high-concept sci-fi themes with each chapter in its epic narrative (time travel, neural implants, totalitarian government, basic issues of consciousness, etc.). (time travel, neural implants, totalitarian government, basic issues of consciousness, etc.). In the margins are persona-esque relationship systems, interlocking networks of psionic power, and a plethora of frilly, cosmetic customization options. It's amazing how much they tried to pull all of that out at once. [You would be operating either Yuit Smelaghi or Kasane Randall, both young members of a paramilitary organization called the OSF. Their mission is to exterminate the horrifying and eldritch entities known only as "Others" that besiege this futuristic, mysterious, and slightly creepy society. Both characters have their own campaigns, which intersect in certain rock-paper-scissors. (Like many other games that use this trick, such as "Nier: Automata" and "Sonic Adventure 2," there are plenty of independent lore bombs hidden in each crusade.) Whatever perspective you choose, you start out by following orders and wiping out the pods of Others swarming the outskirts of human civilization. Who are these creatures we are killing?" and "What is in the shipments that keep leaving the big cities?"

This investigation is to be done level by level. Yes, Yuit and Kasane can roam the map and loot from overlooked passages and discover a few side quests, but for the most part, time in "Scarlet Nexus" is spent zoning into an area, taking out a lot of bad guys, and cutting scenes of tombs to split set pieces. spent having fun. This is because Namco has created an excellent combat system. Both protagonists are telekinetic, and by holding down the right trigger, they can send any nearby debris flying at the enemy's face. Mix that with melee attacks and you have a satisfying mix of acrobatics and violence that rivals mid-2000s button-mashing classics like "Ninja Gaiden" and "God of War." While "Scarlet Nexus" is nowhere near the skill level of a true "Bayonetta" player (there are few combos to memorize or weapons to master), it was flashy enough to keep me entertained until the final chapter.

Along the way, Yuiko and Kasane come into contact with a small brigade of other psionic teens. These accomplices cannot be manipulated directly and, frankly, I felt they did very little damage overall, but they do play an important role. The party has diverse supernatural expertise. There are scleromotor, electrokinetic, and clairvoyant abilities that grant invulnerability, and players can use these skills at any time - it's like going off cooldown in an MMO. All of these effects can have a dramatic impact on combat. As I approach, the distant anthers shield their weak points, so I borrow my friend's teleport ability and blink to close the distance so the beast doesn't notice me. I throw a drum full of oil at the hobo in the corner and use my ally's pyrokinesis to set them on fire, dealing lingering bonus damage. (Yes, the Scarlet Nexus has a chain of status effects.)

Toward the end of the game, I would unleash several psi-blasts at once, overloading Yuko's own brain and bombarding my opponents with chunks of dark shrapnel. One of my favorite ideas that the Scarlet Nexus eventually incorporated was the "Brain Crash" bar that appears below the Others' health meter. By using a combination of psychic and physical attacks to wear down the enemy, the hero can unleash a devastating coup de grâce. These animations are cruel and pure animation, the kind of thing that could be edited into a bloody YouTube video like the Fatalities in "Mortal Kombat". An action game should make the player feel like a god once they have crossed the talent tree, and Bandai Namco has passed that test with flying colors.

When they're not chopping off other people's heads or testing their power against eerie death, Yuiko and Kasane spend a lot of time comforting the wounded souls of their platoon. Although "Scarlet Nexus" does not progress in pseudo-real time like "Persona," it pauses at story milestones and intersperses short cooldowns. There, you can present gifts to your crew mates or embark on short "bonding episodes" where you get to know them a little better. These episodes usually reward the player with an increased relationship with that NPC and allow that NPC to become a little more familiar with your party. (At one friendship level, I was able to summon a close teammate into an encounter for a brief onslaught. It's like tag-teaming with Marvel vs Capcom characters.) These subplots are generally quite good and help to fill out the extremely dense fiction that Scarlet Nexus wants to establish. I was particularly taken with Tsugumi, the young clairvoyant who confided in me about her deep trauma when we first met her. After all, if one can see the future from the time one is a baby, one never knows what horrors one might accidentally witness.

In general, I would have liked Scarlett Nexus to diversify her outings a bit more. She almost always hangs out with her friends at the same restaurant, and the plot uniformly concentrates on slow interrogation of the various injustices that come from being a high school super-soldier. Where "Persona" excels is in how strange and incidental these trips can be. One minute you're in a bar caring for a drunken reporter, the next you're outside Shibuya Crossing campaigning for Bernie Sanders' replacement the next day. On the other hand, "Scarlet Nexus" uses most of these scenes to add exposition that the developers could not fit into the main storyline.

Frankly, this same problem permeates the other devices in Scarlet Nexus. This is a very big game shoved into a very small box. The setting is unforgettable: an unsettling Shadowrun-like realm where an army enhanced with cybernetic technology that can utilize the brain as ammunition is guarding the front lines against grotesque Echelian demons who are eager to purge humanity from the city. If "The Scarlet Nexus" had only wanted to tell this story, it probably would have been more successful. Instead, it quickly veers off into body horror, government censorship, the mystery of the pink substance, and the standard "Looper" style time travel paradox. By the time the fifth or sixth conundrum is thrown into Namco's story and it becomes clear that none of these intriguing hooks are going to have a satisfying ending, I start to check out. Honestly, it feels like every half hour of gameplay is a long lecture that peels back yet another layer of what's going on here. Perhaps it was because I knew that in the next chapter, a whole new monologue would overwrite everything I had just heard.

The same goes for the Scarlet Nexus overworld, beautifully rendered in detailed animated cartoons and featuring sublime J-pop jingles. (The music is excellent throughout. Unfortunately, the downtown hub is only a couple of blocks away and the game has the frustration of trying to reuse old level layouts for new missions. It's a cardinal sin. The side quests are laughable as well, basically you talk to a strange bystander in town and are asked to go kill Another's archetype in a specific way. The reward is rarely more than a health potion. The creative team at the Scarlet Nexus clearly wanted to establish a bold new franchise, but the sheer size of the project let them down.

But frankly, this gives me hope for the future. If "Scarlet Nexus" ever gets a sequel - the next time you wander around Comic-Con and see dozens of teenagers dressed for cybernetic warfare - the Namco team will solve that problem with the second film. A bigger, more interactive world, juicy content off the main path, and some new environments for a languidly friendly afternoon out. It's easy to imagine. So far, "Scarlet Nexus" is a great prospect and a good game.