PC REVIEW | SCOTT PILGRIM EX

Scott Pilgrim EX is a sequel, or more of a spiritual successor, to the original Scott Pilgrim Vs the World. While it seems like a direct continuation, it takes place with all of the exes in different roles, such as skills or call-ins. The game’s premise involves three factions: demons, robots, and vegans. Nothing beyond that is really explained. The initial plot is to save your five bandmates from the evil robot Scott, also known as Metal Scott. It isn’t tied directly to the film in any way at all, but it does feel like this could be a canonical continuation given how it alludes to some of the events that we have seen previously. In regard to the other Scott Pilgrim game that came out years ago, this is vastly different. That was a much more traditional Streets of Rage side-scroller beat ’em up with little to no story. So how does this one compare?

Things I liked!

• Pixel Retro Aesthetic | Just like the first game, the pixel art style was a highlight, including the option to make it look even more retro with CRT filters (available in options), as well as the unique characters, all with their own style of animations. The overall visuals were colourful and crisp, and kept the lovely charm of the pixelated style throughout. You can even change your character’s colour by swapping to the many included palettes available on the character select screen. It’s a small addition, but I appreciate being able to customise my character regardless.

• The Music | The music was fantastic, not the greatest of all time, but very fitting, allowing you to relive the feeling of being at an arcade, cramming quarters (or nickels, for those of us who had nickel arcades) into a machine and powering through. But also easily forgettable, unlike my exes. Boss fights include some more unique takes on the music, while exploration had a generalised loop throughout. Still catchy enough to not be bothersome while running around handing out smackdowns to the vegans who want us dead. Why do they have so much beef with me?
  
  
• Multiplayer | One copy supports up to four players, which is a genuine benefit and the best way to experience the game. As the game features couch co-op, whatever system you play on will allow another three people to tag alongside you, and if you are on Steam, you can even do Remote Play Together, which lets anyone, no matter where they are in the world, play alongside you as if they were right there next to you. So for this, I kidnapped Aaron to help me play through the game.
  
  
• References & Easter Eggs | Scott Pilgrim EX features a literal ton of references and easter eggs to find. From a Super Shredder-style boss akin to Turtles in Time to constant Mega Man references with enemies and certain locations, I thoroughly enjoyed every one and ate up every well-done byte. At times, Scott Pilgrim EX turned into a game of “spot the reference,” pulling from what seemed like every video game franchise on the planet, everything from Professor Layton to the Mario franchise, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Castlevania, and more. Some of the references were difficult to make out for certain, or were ones I was too blind to notice.
  
  
• Hidden Secrets | Secrets and extra content exists in the game, but none of it is explained at all, and none of it gives you anything but a stat boost from what we found. But nonetheless, we had a great time spotting little bomb graffiti on the walls, which indicated we had to blow something up to find a secret, or carry a key to another area of the map while fighting off waves of enemies to find additional items. Even though it wasn’t explained well, it was still fun to find them, especially when Aaron was telling me it was most likely nothing, and it turned out I was right.

Mixed & disliked!

• Repetition | After only about an hour to an hour and a half, the game started repeating itself mechanically. The same sprites, different colour, slapped on a different background. It ended up feeling like the same thing, different day, continuously. Even when they added new mobs periodically, it was just something new with no real substance to chew on once the novelty wore off. It was a shame because the opening of the game starts off strong and you feel like you are in for a lot more. Sadly, the game was finished in around three and a half hours as a result.

• Stat System | The stat levelling system felt unbalanced. No matter how many stats you put into your character, the balance never seemed to change. It didn’t feel like you were doing anything more or less as you progressed. You could also easily max out your stats, since the cap was 64 on each. No matter how you seasoned your build, the flavour never changed. Enemies scaled with you, so it made it pointless to even bother. Maxing out your strength meant you made no real difference when fighting. The only stats that made a real change were vitality and willpower, meaning you could take more damage, and do more specials. But it didn’t make it that worthwhile.
  
  
• Visibility on Screen | The biggest issue by far with Scott Pilgrim EX was visibility on screen when fighting. Most fighting games like this had either a ring around the players feet so you could always see where they were, or their name or player number above their head. Whenever skills were used, they took up the entire screen, making it impossible to find your character since there was no indicator. You’d get lost easily in the midst of a fight, end up walking off edges, and deal with the consequences of being essentially perpetually blind, especially since you can spam all the skills and fill your screen with them if you have the points to do so.
  
  
• Price | For a game that is no more than four hours long, £24.99/$30 is a lot of money for such little content, especially with little to no replay value. Completionists may find more value, but this will only increase to 5 hours max if you intend to do everything.
  
  
• Bugs | The game launched with several bugs, including issues with controller inputs, missing NPCs, and sprites that wouldn’t appear. None of it was completely game-breaking or made the game unplayable, but it was noticeable, and given the price, it should have been weeded out before release. There were a couple of instances where we had to interact with an NPC, but they just were not on screen. However, their shadow was so we knew someone was there.

CONCLUSION

Score: 70/100

Scott Pilgrim EX offers a lot of juice, but not a lot of actual meat. With a distinct lack of content post-game, lack of replayability, and an eye watering price, it makes it a tough sell when there are much more content-rich experiences out there to choose from. Scott Pilgrim EX can be a fun game, especially when you have friends to play it with, but almost as quickly as it starts, it is over, and even the temptation of fighting more vegans can’t save it.

Aaron

Gaming is in my blood.  Be it handheld games, Xbox, PC, Switch or Playstation, I am all over it.
I make my own games as part of my profession and love playing co op games with friends in my spare time. Avid dog lover and camper van enthusiast.