Back in the late 2000s to early 2010s, there was a revival of 2D brawlers as downloadable titles started to become the norm. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was one of the spearheads of the craze along with games like Castle Crashers and The Dishwasher. Sixteen years later, another Scott Pilgrim brawler is here in the form of Scott Pilgrim EX and much like the previous game, it’s a fun time. Just make sure you’re not flying solo with this one.

Story

Taking place after the events of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, in the year 20XX, Scott Pilgrim and his band mates are practicing for an upcoming show. However, the group gets attacked by Metal Scott who knocks Scott unconscious and traps his bandmates within different time rifts. After being awakened by Ramona, the two of them along with 5 other friends set out to save the others. Things get more complicated as they also have to contend with a trio of gangs that for unknown reasons have begun ripping Toronto apart, The Demons, The Robots, and The Vegans.

Pros

Scott Pilgrim always had a unique Manga/comic book mix art style that resembles video games and it’s on full display here. Scott Pilgrim EX is one of the best looking retro style brawlers to come around for sure. The map you explore features locales that are sort of meshed together due to time warps to create hybrid environments that combine past, present and future timelines.

Drawing further into its River City Ransom inspirations, Scott Pilgrim EX features an interconnected map as opposed to choosing different levels like other brawlers. This makes exploration a little stronger than most games in the genre as you go back and forth between the various locales, unlocking different time warps, secret doors and optional challenges as you find keys among other things.

Although the game doesn’t get too plot heavy, Scott Pilgrim EX does have a sense of humor that comes into play as it alludes to the fact that you are playing a video game. Much like the comic, movie and show, the game has quite a lot of references to classic titles and makes jokes on various video game tropes. Metal Scott is even a callback to rival characters as he’s pretty much a cross between Protoman and Metal Sonic. The enemies you fight throughout the game are also just filled with a lot of personality which makes beating on them even more enjoyable.

Naturally, what makes or break any brawler is its combat and Scott Pilgrim Ex delivers in that department quite well. It refines what makes the first game so fun while cutting back on some of the more annoying aspects of that game such as needing to grind more than you’d expect for a brawler. Combat is pretty simple but it’s got a good amount of depth to it and almost feels fighting-game-esque with how you can string various attacks together in sequence. For example, after grabbing an enemy you can hit them 3 times but then immediately chain into their juggle attack as well. The game also features defensive mechanics in the form of perfect blocks and an invincible attack that characters can perform. Combat in Scott Pilgrim Ex is pure chaotic fun and is augmented by a customization system as well.

Throughout the game, there are various different kinds of equipment that can increase different stats or activate different perks such as gaining more money from beaten enemies or perfect blocking granting temporary invincibility. There’s also assists from various allies within the game ranging from Young Neil being able to summon a stampede of fans or Knives granting you a significant speed boost.

There’s also strong amount of weapons throughout the game you can pick up. Many of them have different abilities such as a sword that launches fireballs or a very familiar looking whip. Weapon attacks can also be charged for even more devastating effect.

Although Scott Pilgrim Ex isn’t a very long game, taking only about 8 hours to 100%, it has solid replay value due to the fun combat as well as the different characters all playing different. There are 7 playable characters, Scott, Ramona, Roxie, Matthew Patel, Lucas Lee, Robot 01 and Gideon. Scott is a fast all rounder while other characters such as Lucas are pure powerhouses or focus on long range in Ramona’s case. This is quite different from the first game where outside different animations, the characters didn’t play too different. It’s worth it to play through more than once just to see if you like one character’s playstyle more than another and it’s even more of a blast if you’ve got friends, which is the best way to experience the game overall.

Also, while not quite as good as the first game (which is among the greatest in gaming period), Scott Pilgrim Ex still features a good soundtrack overall. The tracks are more subtle than the high energy beats like Rock Club and Another Winter from the first game but they’re still great bops.

Cons

So unfortunately while the game isn’t bad if you’re playing solo, it can get frustrating as it’s very easy to get overwhelmed. This can be made even more annoying as the game doesn’t feature a great checkpoint system before boss fights. Before most bosses, you’ll often have to fight multiple gauntlets of enemies and if you’re not careful, you can find yourself on low health before the boss. If the boss beats you, you’ll have to run the whole gauntlet again which became a pain in some of the later bosses especially.

Also while the games humor is good and its story isn’t bad per se, it’s a bit disappointing that they decided not to really go into a stronger story. Scott Pilgrim featured a pretty solid story and the show especially was acclaimed by fans and critics alike. Scott himself has also always been noted for his character development. Given that the game is supposed to follow after those events, not going with a narrative that matched it seems like a missed opportunity.

Final Thoughts

Although the game can get frustrating if you’re playing alone, Scott Pilgrim EX is definitely worth picking up if you are a fan of brawlers. It’s light on the plot but its chaotic combat and fun cast of characters more than make up for it. This is definitely a game where it’s definitely better to partner up for, but frustrating or not that’s pretty much the case with any brawler of this nature.

Reviewed on PlayStation 5. Scott Pilgrim EX is set to launch on 3 March 2026 on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Thank you to Tribute Games for providing a review code.