Scott Pilgrim EX represents a reunion of sorts for developer Tribute Games. Members of the team worked on 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game at Ubisoft and later formed the current studio that developed the well-regarded Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Tribute has become skilled at creating visually nostalgic beat ‘em ups, and its return to the Scott Pilgrim franchise is no exception. It is, however, light on surprises or mechanical innovation.
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This entry in the Scott Pilgrim canon takes place at some amorphous time that may or may not be after the recent anime, but is definitely after the comic/movie/first video game. The placement of the story isn’t really important, as it’s all just an excuse to gather nearly every character that has ever appeared in Scott Pilgrim media (plus a surprising number of new ones) to get together and beat up on bad guys. Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley’s fingerprint is apparent here, with character dialogue feeling accurate, a consistent art style for all the new characters, and fun Canada and video game references on nearly every screen. I can’t say I was ever emotionally moved by the story – it’s mostly just a vehicle for cameos and setting changes – but I enjoyed its lightness and how unseriously it takes everything.
The soundtrack deserves special commendation. Anamanaguchi has returned to create EX’s music after delivering a personal all-time favorite soundtrack for the first game. Time will tell if the sophomore effort will live in my personal playlists as frequently as the first game’s songs do, but there are plenty of tracks I looked forward to hearing again and again as I made my way through Toronto.
Unlike comparable classic beat ‘em ups (and the ones Tribute made recently), EX is not broken into levels. Instead, it draws inspiration from River City Ransom and presents you with an open-world Toronto you can fully explore from basically the opening moments. The layout of the world is one of my favorite elements. I enjoyed making my way back and forth across the city and getting into fights along the way while tracking down kidnapped bandmates and collecting instruments and songs necessary to open portals to alternate timelines. Referring to Scott Pilgrim EX’s Toronto as feeling real is ridiculous, as it is undeniably a chaotic cartoon; but never jumping to an overworld map makes the world feel like a considered place in which people live and eat sushi (for stat bonuses, of course).
The open city also creates light adventure game opportunities where, instead of just making your way to the right and punching the air until enemies run into your fists, you need to think about where to go based on NPC hints and then actually walk there. The “puzzle” of forward progress is never too complicated, but I enjoyed the moments I had to pause, take a breath, and pull up the map.
Combat is chaotic by design and familiar for the genre. I found my character, Roxie, early because she is fast and has a great double jump attack. I spent time with and generally enjoyed everyone (don’t sleep on Robot-01), but didn’t feel much incentive to change characters once I locked in. The combat can also, at times, get a little too crazy, with the player character flying across the screen at high speeds while boxes bounce in every direction, damaging both you and your enemies. The seemingly forever-recuring beat ‘em up issue where you misalign with an enemy and combo away just above or below them, whiffing every swing, persists here. The combat balance is good, though, with only a few bosses getting on my nerves (let me skip the introductory cutscene when I have to retry a boss, please), but I occasionally felt like I was the Chaos Theatre instead of just being inside of it.
Scott Pilgrim EX does not offer many surprises, and I am okay with that. Tribute has proven themselves to be very skilled at making this type of game – nostalgic beat ‘em ups – and I am happy to see the streak kept alive. I enjoy the world of Scott Pilgrim, so having an excuse to spend more time there with characters I like set to an excellent new Anamanaguchi soundtrack is enough to make me happy. Just not quite ecstatic.