Scarlet Blade Preview

Perhaps the only game that wants to be in the nose bleed section.

Any regular follower of Japanese animation knows the meaning of the nose bleed. If this stereotypical caricature is to be believed, a man ogling over a woman's attractive features experiences a sensation so powerful that it ruptures the artery in their nasal cavity. This usually ends with a slap to the man's face by the woman while she screams "Pervert!" and flutters away with her ass and/or boobs hanging out. If so, there will be many players of Scarlet Blade who will have sore cheeks.

The all-female cast of voluptuous classes look like porcelain dolls armored with but mere strands of fabric that cut around their butts and boobs. It's the kind of protection that will make gullible players question the constitution of their bedsheets. They are genetically altered clones meant to save humanity from alien invaders, much like Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell. That said, It's a sexual fantasy that has no trouble calling itself what it is: a mature-rated MMO with incredible cleavage.

But while this objectivity of the female body may be a more common marketing tactic in Korea, where it is already live by developer LivePlex, but the US publisher, Aeria Games, knows that this isn't enough to entice more prudent game players here in the States. So that's why it's important that Scarlet Blade actually has depth to its MMORPG. All of the classes—Defender, Medic, the long-ranged Punisher, Sentinel, roguish Shadow Walker, and DPS-centric Whipper—have a strong array of skills. While combat against common beetles and deer aren't that tough, boss battles and large-scale 50-vs-50 or 80-vs-80 PvP battles may require the use of a giant mech unique to each class that can be summoned for a short length of time.

These femme fatales must also traverse the beautiful, exotic fantasy world of Scarlet Blade, and they would be advised to spend cash on a vehicle as soon as possible. Because apart from some rudimentary teleporting pads, players will need to walk everywhere on the map. But aside from the mushroom forests, volcanic cavers, and frozen tundras, players can also visit the floating city and dance the night away in a nightclub. Spend some coin to enter the VIP section and players will have access to fantastic shops, not to mention a group of models dancing on a suspended platform. Or you can spend coins unlocking panels that will reveal an extremely suggestive screenshot of the characters.

While the hypersexualization of women is impossible to deny in Scarlet Blade, Aeria Games hopes that it's just a tease, like it is with Dead or Alive, to what seems to be more than a legitimate MMORPG in its own right. It will be finishing closed beta soon and will hopefully enter open beta within the next several months.