Yeah, the PS1 era was really the golden age for JRPGs. Squaresoft in particular was churning out one classic after another. I think it's a combination of games costing less to make so there was more creative freedom combined with the limitations of the hardware that required more from the players imagination to engage with the story and characters. Now they can pretty much make the game they want to make and don't have to limit themselves with the visuals and they have also become more conservative with the design process considering the niche audience. But if you look at the concept art for even the PS1 titles then the anime aesthetic have really always been there.
For Bamco anime games I actually only enjoy Tales and now this one. I personally really like their visuals. I didn't like Code Vein though. Not the story, character designs or gameplay. I looked up who worked on Scarlet Nexus and there is one person who also worked on Tales of the Abyss which is one of my favorite Tales games. So that probably explains why it reminded me of Tales so much.
Which is why I don't think the anime setting is really the problem for me. Yes it's the stereotypical anime shit, but often that anime shit is more interesting and creative than any Call of Duty Booty. That isn't the problem. I boil it down to the slow burn of a complex story on TOP of shitty gameplay.
Persona 4 and 5 are incredible games that i've replayed several times. However they are anime games with slow burns. The difference is, the gameplay is great. And even that slow story arch is also very well written and paced.
I think that's the big difference between an anime game standing out of the pack for me, versus something like Scarlet Nexus being just another "anime-game"
