It’s been 16 years since Scott Pilgrim vs. The World graced our movie theaters with that explosive, unforgettable Sex Bob-Omb intro. Edgar Wright’s movie adaptation may not have aged as well as I’d have liked, but the irreverent attitude of Scott Pilgrim will never die. And that’s where Scott Pilgrim EX — the new co-op beat-em-up game from Tribute Games — shines.
Scott Pilgrim EX opens by telling us that the city of Toronto needs our help once again. It all begins at band practice, when Metal Scott (literally a metallic robot version of Scott, and are we seriously calling him that?) shows up and kidnaps all of Scott’s bandmates. Toronto gets thrown into chaos as three rival gangs — the Vegans, Robots, and Demons — take over in a mad bid for power. The game then tasks you with taking the city back and finding out who’s behind all this madness.
Scott Pilgrim’s latest outing is a brand new story written by creator Bryan Lee O’Malley and it’s every bit as silly as it sounds. After you pick your playable character of choice — on offer are Scott, Ramona, Roxie, Lucas Lee, among others — it’s off to the races with you. If you’ve ever played a classic beat-em-up game, you know what to expect here. There’s a light attack, heavy attack, jump attacks, grabs, and an ultimate attack.
You move across the screen on a 2D plane and fend off enemies coming at you from left and right. In between combat encounters, you’ll make your way into shops to purchase healing items, equipment, and permanent stat upgrades. All of this might sound rather basic, and it can be, but Scott Pilgrim EX never feels boring thanks to how vibrant its environments are, and just how fun it is to grab a damn tofu-eating Vegan and throw them in the trash can where they belong.
No shade on IRL vegans, by the way. I’m currently reading a book that’s making me seriously consider the ethics of a vegan, or at the very least a vegetarian lifestyle, and I have nothing but respect for the people who choose that lifestyle. It’s just that the capital-V Vegans in the Scott Pilgrim universe can be real assholes.
The moment-to-moment combat is enjoyable, and I often found myself reaching for Scott Pilgrim EX as my go-to, end of the day, relaxation game to play when I needed to decompress before bed or after an intense Resident Evil play session. It’s even more enjoyable when you play with a friend or three, though, which is almost certainly how Scott Pilgrim EX is meant to be experienced.
As much as I loved the nonsensical plot beats — with the best ones involving Goth Neil, my beloved Envy Adams in a plant/pirate getup, and the Katayanagi twins with the Game Goose (don’t ask) — I have to give a shoutout to the mini-games spinkled all over Toronto as well. These will often reward you with stat upgrades and task you with doing all sorts of silly things like thrashing Vegans with beach balls or destroying incoming barrels while avoiding getting hit by them. Not so fun when you’re alone, but a complete blast with a friend.
While I did play through most of the game solo, I got through the middle bits via local co-op with my partner and I definitely had a hell of a lot more fun playing it that way. It’s clear that Scott Pilgrim EX is balanced for a two-player experience at least, especially with how the game throws more and more enemies at you as you get towards the end. This isn’t to say the game can’t be completed alone; you’ll just need to be ready to spend more time farming enemies for better gear and upgrades.
Even in co-op, there were difficulty spikes to contend with and we’d have no choice but to backtrack, farm up some money for upgrades, then try again. Not a big deal, but I do think the difficulty curve probably could’ve been just a little less steep to allow for smoother progression. It’s a short game as it is, with plenty of collectibles and optional items to pursue; I’d rather spend my time doing a completionist run than grinding just to get through the story.
Local co-op worked flawlessly, as additional players and drop in and out at will. However, I did run into connection and latency issues when trying to play with my partner online. Playing on Switch 2, oftentimes we’d have instances where enemies didn’t appear on her screen while showing up on mine, or the connection would drop entirely and we’d have to reset the whole online session, resulting in lost progress on the guest player’s side. I’d say local co-op is definitely the way to go here, at least until the online issues have been resolved.
Clocking in at around six hours or so for the critical path, Scott Pilgrim EX is an absolute blast from start to finish. Grab three friends, prepare some snacks, and bask in the joy of knowing that every Vegan, Robot, and Demon you annihilate is in service of the band.
A review code for the game was provided by the publisher. You can check out our review policy here. Reviewed on Switch 2.
