Astral Chain (2019)

My country, Colombia, has been in some kind of 'civil unrest' for more than three weeks now. First it was a protest against a cruel economic reform that was eventually overturned, but the manifestations continued against other injustices, corruption and mostly the police abuse during the pacific demonstrations that led to dozens of deaths, missing people and hundreds of injured.

Having to run from the police and seal my house against the tear gas made me think about controlling cops in video games and how we usually consider them heroic even when shooting is the main interaction we had with the world (or enslaving sentient creatures, in the case of Astral Chain).

I obviously had to write about all of this. From the history of 'cop games' to the way a few of them trying to be critical of the police. This is also kind of a review of Astral Chain because I've been trying to write about this game since I finished.

The article is in spanish. You can find it here.

This is probably the 3rd best platinum game falling behind nier auto and bayonetta. This game is oozing with sauce due its presentation and combat.

This game is absolutely gorgeous with its vibrant colors of the city really dig it. I wish there was more location and different areas to explore. The combat was pretty tough to get used to cause it’s button layouts was quite awkward . Once it’s click though... you’re in a great zone.

My biggest problem with the game was its story, I found myself zoning out a little bit because its characters were not good to me. None of them were interesting enough for me. It makes it worse when my characters doesn’t speak at all and doesn’t have emotions to back it up.

Overall, it’s a really down to earth game especially when you play it in handheld, you just appreciate the game a lot more like that. So play this game it has sauce.

Astral Chain might not be the most standout of Platinum's stellar collection, but it's got a hefty amount of content amidst a unique playstyle that's definitely worth trying out.

The player is part of a special police task force set out to protect the remnants of humanity after creatures from another dimension nearly destroy the planet. The player tethers themselves to an ally creature called a Legion and manipulates both them and the Legion in battle (with possible co-op!) in order to dispatch foes. The player can utilize up to five different Legions with various capabilities, though the player will often feel like sticking with a preferred playstyle.

Gameplay is very dynamic and action-packed, with simple attacks and weapons that get unlocked into larger combos and skills later on with an upgrade system. The gameplay can feel a bit unbalanced in that regard, with most of the game's skills not really being available until later but the player can get by on their preferred style.

There's also plenty of enemy variety to be found, with many different knights, dogs, snakes, people, ghost things, and other such monsters in various forms. Admittedly a lot of the enemies are variants of each other but it's impressive to see so many challenges under a single game. The game can get a little frustrating near the end (see: the post-game content) but for the most part it's a smooth ride.

The game also has a variety of side quests that the player can indulge in, whether it's finding lost children, taking out enemies, capturing baddies, or other activities. The game has plenty of content for people looking to get as many upgrades as they possibly can.

As for the looks, the game's style is slick and well optimized on the Switch. A lot of the story is forgettable but the cool beats combined with rocking tracks for battle brings a lot of style, and the gorgeous reds and blues stick out amongst the futuristic landscape.

Astral Chain has plenty to offer with a lot of content that can get drawn out over time but gives plenty of room to try out an interesting playstyle with smooth presentation.

After having so much fun with DMC5 earlier this year, I had to try this stylish Nintendo Switch-exclusive character action title. Featuring sidequests, exploration, puzzle-solving, and platforming, this game is far more ambitious than most in its genre. While these additions were implemented with varying degrees of success, the core combat mechanics were fun to execute and slick to look at. This game outstayed its welcome a bit and the conclusion of its story fell a bit flat for me, but I still enjoyed the overall experience and am glad that I picked it up.

Side note: You can take a break from battles to rescue stray cats and play with them, which is pretty nice. :-)

A unique action game with over-the-top anime style. I don't really have a game to compare the combat to. This feels like something completely new. It reminded me of The Wonderful 101 in how it took me a while to wrap my head around the combat, but once it clicked for me, I found it satisfying. You get multiple legions you can switch between during battle either by pressing Y to switch to the next legion in line or holding down Y to stop time and go through the legion menu to choose. Each legion has a different usefulness during battle like the Arm legion can pull enemies to you and the Arrow legion can attack from a distance. Each legion can also learn skills from a skill tree that can be used during battle by holding down ZL + Y or ZL + X. Putting this all together in battle feels great.

Unlike other Platinum games, this one isn't a pure action game. It once players to have a more full cop experience. Each chapter starts at the Neuron headquarters. Here I can talk to co-workers, upgrade my weapons, stock up on items, train against virtual enemies, and help around the office through side quests. Once I'm done messing around here, I leave on the assigned mission. Once I get out among the civilians, I can tackle the main objective or help out people in the area in side quests. All of this is amusing, and there is a good variety to the side quests to keep things from getting repetitive. There is nothing here that needs to be seen or experienced though. No interesting character that I needed to get to know or creative side quest that I had to play through. If I had skipped it all and mainlined through the game, I might miss out on some useful rewards, but I wouldn't miss out on any must-play experiences.

The main objectives for most of the game had me investigating crime scenes. I would use my legion to follow trails to see where chimera went after attacking civilians. To find out what happened at the scene, I had to talk to witnesses in the area. Key phrases from conversations with witnesses get saved in a menu. After talking to all witnesses, I would get a pop quiz from my twin sister. Here I would use the key phrases I collected to answer her questions to piece together the story of what happened here. I really dug this detective-style missions. After this part, usually the mission would take me to the astral plane. This is where the most of the action of the game takes place. It delivers the kind of experience I would expect from a Platinum game of any action game of this style. I go from battle arena to battle arena fighting different kinds of enemies. There are puzzles to break up the action that would requiring using my different legions to solve. At the end, there would be a boss battle. My only issues here are the platforming sections. There is a legion jump move where I can move my legion over a gap to another platform, and then have my legion pull me over. Too many times have I fallen short and fell off the edge. I lose health when this happens to. It's one of the more frustrating parts of the game. I would think I am clear to make the jump, but my character might get caught on some part of an object and fall short.

The story grabbed me at first. Gates leading from the plane of human existence to the astral plane have opened up around the world. Monsters called Chimera have come through and wiped out most of humanity. A scientist saw this coming and created an artificial island called the Ark to save humanity. As you play through the story, you find out that this scientist who is also your boss might be up to something shady. This story doesn't amount to much by the end, and it doesn't have much affect on the Ark. It's pretty disappointing.

I like replaying Platinum games to get higher scores on combat sections, but there's so many other things in this game that it would feel like a waste of time playing through all of it just to get to the combat.

Platinum games are a huge mixed bag for me. Their combat systems are nothing short of spectacular and very fun to experiment with to maximize style and efficiency. Though while Platinum nails the gameplay portion of its games, everything in between always feels very lackluster, and I feel that Astral Chain highlights this far more than their previous games.

Astral Chain's story is extremely cheesy and quite frankly, bad. That's not exactly a detriment for me as story is a minimal factor for a game that shines on it's gameplay specifically. While bad and cheesy, the story was still enjoyable for what it was, with all its glorious anime and character tropes. The combat portions of Astral Chain are very fun and exciting, with the system continuously opening up the more you unlock and progress. While the inputs you'll be doing remain largely the same for each of your Legions and combos, the results will greatly vary depending on which Legion you currently have selected. Different Legions will be better for specific enemy types and situations so you'll always want to be switching it up and figuring out what works best. It doesn't feel completely overwhelming either since the inputs remain the same across all Legions, it's just a matter of learning which Legion to use when, though frankly, you can stick with one Legion primarily and still get through most of the game fine, as long as you understand that your own character's three weapons work best for the specific situations they should be used in. Greatsword for armored enemies, baton for fast/light enemies, gun for flying/ranged enemies. All in all, the combat system feels fluid and solid, with plenty of experimentation to be done, though this is a little marred by the camera which you'll often be fighting with in closed spaces.

When you're not going on a rampage and duking it out with enemies, you'll be doing investigations and side quests, which I find are very, very unfun after a while. While side activities can be a great way to break up the pacing of constant combat, Astral Chain takes this maybe a bit TOO far. Side activities vary greatly from sneaking missions, tailing missions, fetch quests, and clean up missions. The amount you'll be doing varies greatly between chapters and I just couldn't help feeling bored of them before long. The biggest offender, as many are aware, is Chapter 8, which is filled to the brim with a bunch of side stuff you have to do before getting to any sort of combat related stuff to the story. Some are likely to enjoy these aspects of the game, as they do a pretty darn good job of expanding and building on the world, but unfortunately I got tired of it real quick. I'm still wondering whether I spent more time actually playing the game than doing mundane stuff like cleaning up/investigating. My least favorite parts of the game are the "Gate" world sections, where you'll be spending far more time doing puzzles and janky platforming than actual fighting. The camera can also be an issue here when doing some of the platforming, though there's very little punishment falling off. Alot of these sections also drag out for just a bit too long and it doesn't help that this particular place makes the Switch struggle in framerates, making it difficult to look at for long periods of time.

All in all, Astral Chain nails the gameplay portion down but everything in between just doesn't feel very interesting after a while. While it does expand on its world to a surprising degree, It feels like it breaks up the pacing of the game in a bad way and overstays it's welcome in some chapters. It's disappointing to me personally because DMC5 has proven spectacularly that purely having combat sections that are evenly spread out works perfectly fine. It's a series that prides itself in its combat and doesn't shy away from it at all. Astral Chain feels like it tries to do a bit too much, and I'd be hard pressed to believe that cleaning up with your legion is a fun side activity for anyone but 100% completion enthusiasts

Astral Chain was fun, however I felt some parts of the game were clunky. The combat is fine, but parts of the game were a bit frustrating such as using certain Legion L-button abilities in a boss fight. Platforming can be cool at times, but the execution can be annoying at times. There is a lot to customize in the game, everything from Legion abilities, colors, outfits, and weapons can be upgraded and changed.

The music is awesome and the cyberpunk artstyle/environments are really colorful. The voice over animation for the dub is bad.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I don't see this game as an 8 or 9 out of 10. If I had to give it a number score, I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Finished it after 34 hours. What a stellar game! The big surprise of the year for me, at least so far. I loved the action, the story and the level design. As you unlock new Legions, your whole arsenal of combat moves but also field moves increases considerably. Being able to ride the Beast Legion was very fun, for example.

The levels are designed around the Legions’ capabilities and sometimes seem like a puzzle, especially when I went after secret treasure chests. Another highlight: the music! So amazing, I love the theme playing at the Neuron base and the one when you open the menu. Astral Chain mixes up its gameplay by not just focusing on combat but also providing fun investigations and side quests. A definite recommendation!