Scarlet Blade review

Scarlet Blade is almost certainly going to be a big game. It’s published by Aeria, who publicize their games very well, and you absolutely have to play as scantily dressed ladies, usually with a little part showing. If publicity and nudity aren’t going to push this game forward, the fact that it’s actually quite a capable little MMO might just cements it to first place. The latest closed beta has been very popular and, despite a few teething problems, everybody seems to be quite enjoying themselves. If quality design and clever production fail, stick in a chick with bare buttocks and wide hips.

Scarlet Blade gameplay - First Look [HD]

It’s Actually Good! – The biggest surprise for me was in learning that Scarlet Blade isn’t all boobs and bugs (of the virtual sort). It isn’t going to be a game that takes away a ton of awards for originality or even very good quality, but it’s more than capable. For the sort of people that play free-to-play MMORPGs, there’s an awful lot to see here that’s above average. It’s only when you start comparing it to newer, more innovative games that it starts to fall flat.

Bright and Bold – The visuals are better than I’d expected as well. I thought there’d be a huge focus on jiggle physics (and there was), but actually the developers have built a world that actually quite nice to explore and even relatively nice to look at. For a free-to-play game from a publisher like Aeria, I’m not sure you could expect any better. I have a few complaints (see below), but if you’ve played similar games I can’t see you grumbling about much.

Classy Stuff – There are a number of classes to choose from, and with a few exceptions – the punisher springs to mind – most manage to avoid cheap sexual puns. There’s also a pretty good character editor, which allows you to personalize the girl (because you can only play as girls) you’ll be controlling throughout the game.

Adult Stuff – As a man, joining Scarlet Blade for the first time felt a little bit like logging into a website that just streamed a hidden cam from a women’s changing room. Lots of hardly dressed girls, jiggling about in next to nothing; something about it felt very seedy. This is the sort of game that feels like you should have to buy it from a video store in a rough neighbourhood.

I know it’s supposedly based on a specific sort of anime, that there’s nothing really wrong with me playing this game, but I found it hard to get over how sexualized everything was. Even the log-off screen has a picture of an anime girl frowning: “You don’t really want to turn me off?” This will be a deal breaker for many people; if you feel comfortable playing, more power to you.

Jiggle Jiggle – Further to my last point, not only are the girls you’ll come across very well endowed, but they also fail to wear any sort of supportive, steadying underwear. I’ve never seen jiggle like it, but I imagine a whole gang of twelve year olds suddenly have new respect for how hard it must be for a large breasted woman to run.

Fight – The fighting system is a little average, at best. It feels a little restrictive, especially compared to other recent releases, and you end up bored of fighting. It doesn’t help that some of the classes are just very, very dull. I chose a long-distance shooter, and it takes ages for her to fire and her moves are all a little samey. Other classes might be more fun, but ultimately the fight system will boil down to the same thing.

Open Wide – Although the graphics of Scarlet Blade are generally quite good, this problem constantly bothered me. The world is just a little too open. No, I don’t mean that you can go wherever you want by just heading in a direction and walking, like a Fallout where all the bras were destroyed in the nuclear war. Although the game is made up of tight passageways between trees (or wide open fields), everything just seems too out of proportion, and the developers have tried to fill that void with more enemies than are really needed.

Rinse and Repeat – Although I’ve been quite impressed with the opening hours of the game, this isn’t something I could see myself returning to time and time again. The quest system seems quite dated and the majority of things you’ll do involve killing monsters over and over again. Sometimes you’ll need to kill 5 monsters to finish one quest, then seven of the same monsters to finish the next. It’s very repetitive and gets old fast.

Scarlet Blade gameplay review

The Verdict

The biggest shame of Scarlet Blade isn’t the vast amount of adult content (as an MMO game for adults), but that there are going to be people that can’t look past it. Unfortunately, I think I have to count myself amongst them. It’s so on the nose that I’m not sure there’s any way you can play it without thinking “I’m supposed to be getting something out of this.”

The biggest surprise for me, reviewing Scarlet Blade, was that there were a good amount of women playing and that the chat box wasn’t a flood of lewd suggestions. If anything, things seemed a little friendlier than in an average game. I suppose that says an awful lot.

Other MMORPGs you might like

Eden Eternal, Perfect World, Guild Wars 2