Scott Pilgrim EX's new roster is inspired by "fighting game archetypes", and its fresh take on the universe is "wackier than what you're used to"

Scott Pilgrim EX isn't just a retro-styled throwback powered by the nostalgia fueled series from Bryan Lee O'Malley, its roots go back to the modern day beat 'em up revival trend itself. The likes of Streets of Rage 4, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge have become genre all-timers – and they all owe a debt to 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. The scrappy Ubisoft brawler based on the cult-classic film based on the beloved comic influenced many a teenager in ways they still cringe about in the shower 15 years later, modernizing the River City Ransom style with a helping of gorgeous pixel art and an incredible Anamanaguchi-scored chiptune soundtrack.

But Scott Pilgrim Fever all went away for a while. The comic ended earlier that year, the movie was a one-off, and the game eventually disappeared from online stores. But with the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off anime series on Netflix bringing it back with a subversive new take in 2023, a follow-up to a beloved brawler seems like a slam dunk. Scott Pilgrim EX is that game, announced earlier this year and telling an entirely original story with an all-new cast of fighters (barring Scott and Ramona, obviously). And it's developed by Tribute Games, who not only created the aforementioned amazing TMNT game but was formed by developers of the original Scott Pilgrim game.

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The original Scott Pilgrim run was one of the most formative pieces of media for me, but even I don't think you can go back to the well again on that. And given that Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was an extremely metatextual story that probably wouldn't lend itself too well to a brawler, I was interested about the story – especially when series creator Bryan Lee O'Malley says he let Tribute Games "set everything up", while he is writing the dialogue and other flavor text.

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"It's reverse engineered to the needs of the gameplay and the type of game that we're making," narrative designer Yannick Belzil tells me. "It's not as linear and straight and immediate, like Shredder's Revenge or Marvel Cosmic Invasion. It's more like River City Ransom, where the player, if they want, doesn't have to go straight into the quest." Everything from the bosses, story, and environments was designed around "what we needed gameplay wise at first, and from that we built somewhat of a narrative structure."

"It's in the same universe, but it's really its own thing," producer Rémi Lavoie explains. "Kind of like stories in the Zelda franchise are all self-contained, but they're still part of the same universe. That's kind of like how we're looking at it for Scott Pilgrim." He stresses, "this is not a sequel to anything. It's not a sequel to the first game. It's not a sequel to the animated series. It's really its own thing, its own story," and that it "might be a bit wackier than what you're used to."

If your life had a face, I would punch it in the balls

I was curious whether Scott Pilgrim EX is still purely a homage to the classics or if we'll see some influence from the 15 years of fantastic brawler games that came in its wake. "It's kind of a mix of both," Lavoie explains, "We took some of the experience we had from Shredder's Revenge to bring it to this game, but in terms of gameplay it's more leaning towards the old-school type of beat 'em up."

However, even with the original Scott Pilgrim vs. The World's River City influences, the game still took place across linear levels. But, for Scott Pilgrim EX, it verges into a more open structure. While "some areas are locked behind quest progression," you'll be able to explore everything available to you freely. However, as Lavoie explains "When you jump into the quest structure, it's really one quest after another."

As for character progression, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and TMNT: Shredder's Revenge each allowed you to level up your characters, and as you did that, you gained access to new moves (level 2 unlocks the dash attack and so on). Lavoie tells me that or Scott Pilgrim EX, "All the moves are unlocked from the very beginning, so there's nothing to unlock in terms of move set,"

As someone who really enjoys unlocking new moves (which you can see me go on about in my Marvel Cosmic Invasion review) I was initially a bit bummed out by this; however, it's explained that it doesn't mean there isn't any way to grow. Shop items, equipment, and quest items that will boost your stats (even above the maximum capacity), while some items will also implement gameplay modifiers like auto-block or coin magnets.

Ex marks the spot

Scott Pilgrim EX also shakes things up when it comes to the character roster. Rather than the same group of scrawny young adult heroes that made up the previous game's roster, EX lives up to its name by bringing some of Ramona's iconic evil exes into the fold as playable characters.

Right now only Roxy Richter and Lucas Lee have been revealed, who I'd say are the undisputed favorites among the series' villains, and I was curious about if their popularity was the deciding factor in whittling down a roster. "We started out more with the quantity of characters, more than anything." Lavoie explains, adding that "Jonathan [Lavigne], our game director, was thinking more in terms of gameplay, which characters had interesting gameplay aspects that we can bring."

Belzil adds that when deciding on the playable characters "I think Jonathan also looked at fighting game archetypes that he really wanted to have in the game, that was a part that was really exciting to him." That influence can be seen pretty plainly; Roxy is a fast and agile ninja akin to Guilty Gear's Chip Zanuff, while Lucas Lee – who I will be maining – fits with heavy-hitting beasts like Marisa from Street Fighter 6.

I also found the use of the word "rivals" – instead of "exes" – when describing the playable character roster interesting, and while not expecting to get any direct confirmation of upcoming characters, I push on it anyway. "I think it's intentionally vague," Lavoie tells me. With Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, expected character allegiances were toyed with, storylines often even centering the exes who were formerly little more than villains – so Scott Pilgrim EX's rival-centric take might be a nod to the continuing growth of each person in the series even as each adaptation of Scott Pilgrim has its own fresh direction.

Belzil even jokes that "Other Scott" – Scott's housemate's boyfriend – could be considered something of a rival. It's a way to flesh out additional characters beyond simply casting them as villainous exes. (Though this is just an example, so don't get your hopes up for Other Scott as a playable rival… unless…). Either way, the Scott and the Other Scott writing this (that is to say, me), are already finding plenty to love about Scott Pilgrim EX despite my initial hesitation about dipping back to the Pilgrim well. Far from retreading old ground, Tribute Games have discovered plenty new to dig into. Time to blow the dust out of the cart, and plug in for a round when it releases later in 2026.