Astral Chain [Switch]

[ShineCero]

Astral Chain is a new action game being developed by PlatinumGames, the same studio that developed Bayonetta, Star Fox Zero, and Nier: Automata. And if you liked those titles, Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya is supervising the development of Astral Chain while Nier: Automata lead game designer Takahisa Taura is directing.

Story: You'll choose one of two playable characters, either the man or woman shown in the trailer, and the one you do not choose will join you in the story as your twin and partner. You're a rookie officer of a police special task force in an enormous, futuristic, multi-cultural city called the Ark at a time when the city is being attacked by strange alien invaders. You're not alone in your fight against the creatures, though. Your twin will fight alongside you, and you're also paired off with a mysterious living weapon known as Legion that will help you both solve cases and fight against the invaders.

Gameplay: Astral Chain is an action title where you control your chosen protagonist and a special weapon, called Legion. Legion is not a single weapon, but rather a number of them that you can swap between for different styles of combat. The main loop of combat in the game consists of you controlling yourself and often your siblings, completing combos to defeat enemies with Legion. Legion can be offensive, defensive, or supportive, and can be used to do the work for you while you back it up or strategically to take down enemies in a set pattern.

Legion isn't just a combat weapon, but it also assists in your police investigations. Its abilities can be used to find clues and solve environmental puzzles as you work to uncover the source of the strange aliens and reveal an alternate dimension called the Astral Plane.

You'll also simply be able to wander about the Ark, where you'll encounter a cast of characters that will aid and hinder your investigations as well as provide the story of Astral Chain. There will be a number of citizens, suspects, fellow police, and your sibling available to converse with.


More information here: https://www.imore.com/astral-chain-everything-you-need-know

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This game looks really damn good! Currently will be getting this day one!

 

[Appelsider]

Superduper excited for Astral Chain!! The music that seems like a mix between orchestra and rock sounds amazing!

Ive only heard good things about Platinum Games so I'm really excited to try their new IP! I wonder if it'll be able to kick FE3H from my throne as GotY, but it'll have to be darn good to be able to do that!

Anyways super excited and I love the fact you can per your legion in beast mode. XD

 

[ShineCero]

You're into for a threat Platinum Games has a good record of making quality action games, so no doubt this will be stellar. The music score is being composed by Satoshi Igarashi, who composed for Bayonetta 2, so the music will be rockin'. 

I also like how you can actually play as two players since they're tapping into the potentials of the Switch, which is nice. Allows to take the limits of the Switch to its fullest and see what kind of things you can do with it.

Also, I really, really loving the User Interface... it looks so clean and organized: 

 

[LoopyPanda]

It's basically Pacific Rim meets Automata's aggrp fighting style and I love it. Catch me doing nothing but using Legion in Beast mode and petting it... along with petting and picking up every cat that spawns on the level. YES I WILL PET THE CATS

Due to NDA it'll be a bit longer before we see who's doing the english dub in specific...

 

[ShineCero]

Oh yeah... the English dub cast. Hopefully, they won't pick someone with a hell of a baggage. We got enough of that with the whole Fire Emblem fiasco. The fact that you can pet cats... that's fucking awesome. 

I'm surprised no one has complained about the game being "what!? Police is bad..!!" from American fans. Guess it's too anime for anyone to have a problem with it XD

 

[Appelsider]

Believe it or not I actually did see people complain about that on twitter Shine. XD
 Seems like people will always find a way to complain about something.

 

[ShineCero]

Believe it or not I actually did see people complain about that on twitter Shine. XD
 Seems like people will always find a way to complain about something.

People need to get a grip... it's a video game where you summon monsters and play with cats. Hope people don't review bomb it hard simply because it uses the police concept. Plus, the world isn't America... so Japanese's view of police is a hell a lot different than an American viewpoint.

Speaking of reviews, we got our first review and it got a nice score of 37/40.

 

[LoopyPanda]

Why does it surprise you when there was a vocal minority who held a twitter crusade over Brigitte and Dva from Overwatch getting police-themed skins not too long ago? :lmao:

Spoiler

ironically these same people kind of forgot that the entire lore of OW is based on a vigilante paramilitary organization that was shut down for its dubious operations like in Rialto with Blackwatch... and that these are skins with no real meaning attached to them for characters of non-American origin. It would have been in extremely poor taste to give Mei a police-themed outfit for the anniversary event considering the Hong Kong protestor vs riot police thing going on in China around May. But this wasn't really the case for Sweden that I know of. Seemed like something they made for the fun of it... also you literally kill each other in this online game regardless of the hero's personal alignment, so is there really a moral high ground to speak of? Lol

Oh well, there's no use arguing with those people. The main characters are police officers in a reality that is clearly very different from ours. I don't think there is any proper critique to make of them being officers seeing as the game isn't actually out yet besides review copies. But knowing it's already getting good reviews gives me more confidence in purchasing the game later next month.

 

[ShineCero]

I can't say I'm surprised, but more like... "en this game wouldn't be that much of a problem..." kind of thing, you know? There's only so much a bunch of randos can complain about games using police before they get tired of it. Oh well.

Spoiler

That makes sense. Giving Mei an police skin might be in poor taste given the political climate around it.

So far, Ploep states that the review embargo has been lifted, and its getting good ratings so far. Here's one from Ploygon that states that it's the best new franchise since Splatoon:

The action game is every bit as weird, knotted, and atonal as it sounds. To prepare the equivalent of video game potpourri, its creators dice and blend proven bits of beloved games. There’s a slice of Zelda’s gear collecting, a sprig of Nier’s world-building, a dollop of Bayonetta’s splashy set-pieces, and a heaping helping of Pokémon.

Seriously, there is a lot of Pokémon here. Earnestly unpacking the central dramatic tension of Astral Chain has me sounding like a ponderous, stoned college student overthinking the backstory of Ash Ketchum. “Hey man, do Pokémon actually want to be captured and forced to fight? What if they fought back? What if we were the real monsters?”

In this way, Astral Chain is Pokémon reflected in a funhouse mirror: distorted, unnerving, and a little grotesque. Enslaving monsters and forcing them to battle scans quite differently when there’s a chain around the neck of your creature and the beast is bucking violently to escape your grip.

So yes, it’s a big tower made of precariously and sometimes uncomfortably stacked ideas pulled from across the game industry, a tower that often feels as if will collapse on itself. Nonetheless, its creators’ solution is to constantly add more seemingly unrelated ideas, somehow providing just enough balance to keep the whole thing standing upright.

I finally get why this balancing act works so well after putting about 15 hours into the game. While Astral Chain features all the complexity and density of a PlatinumGames creation, it retains Nintendo’s knack for accessibility.

The fact that there's a lot of comparison to Pokemon makes me kind of excited, you know? "What if they fight back? Uh oh..."

We also got a UK Launch Trailer too!

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[Appelsider]

Right now the only thing going though my mind is HYPE HYPE HYPEEEEEE XD

I’ve only seen 80+ ratings so far and since I’m a casual gamer that more than enough for me! XD