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[Rathalos]

What an absolute stinker. I adored Bayonetta 1 and 2, so I figured I'd love Astral Chain but nope, it's hard to believe they're even made by the same developers.

The first massive mistake was the frame rate target of 30fps, going from Bayonetta 2 (Switch) to Astral Chain just feels horrible, and it's not helped by the fact it's not even a stable 30fps, it drops all the damn time. And visually it's not great either, with some of the worst jaggies I've ever experienced on the console, Bayonetta 2 looked better and ran at a mostly locked 60fps, so it's just bizarre that Astral Chain is running at 20-30fps. The enemy design while not bad was once again a step down from the Bayonetta series, and the set pieces pale in comparison too. Plus you go from Bayonetta who's an awesome character full of charm to generic boy cop and generic girl cop, it's really like they phoned this game in and I have no idea how it reviewed so well.

After finishing Astral Chain it really makes me worry about Bayonetta 3. I'm just glad I rented it, if I had paid £40 for it, I would have been livid lol.

 

[Jigsaah]

yea i dodged that bullet as well. I ws pretty excited for it but ended up buying Daemon Ex Machina for PC instead. Really scratched that Armored Core itch. Either way, sorry that game wasn't what you hoped it would be.

 

[saintjules]

I initially bought this game shortly after release, but after a few hours I stopped playing and never went back. It definitely did some innovative stuff, so I commend Platinum for this in that regard. I just couldn't get a long enough of a foothold on it

 

[Nikana]

That's a bummer. It's something I always wanted to give a try but never got around to it.

 

[cireza]

What an absolute stinker. I adored Bayonetta 1 and 2, so I figured I'd love Astral Chain but nope, it's hard to believe they're even made by the same developers.

The first massive mistake was the frame rate target of 30fps, going from Bayonetta 2 (Switch) to Astral Chain just feels horrible, and it's not helped by the fact it's not even a stable 30fps, it drops all the damn time. And visually it's not great either, with some of the worst jaggies I've ever experienced on the console, Bayonetta 2 looked better and ran at a mostly locked 60fps, so it's just bizarre that Astral Chain is running at 20-30fps. The enemy design while not bad was once again a step down from the Bayonetta series, and the set pieces pale in comparison too. Plus you go from Bayonetta who's an awesome character full of charm to generic boy cop and generic girl cop, it's really like they phoned this game in and I have no idea how it reviewed so well.

After finishing Astral Chain it really makes me worry about Bayonetta 3. I'm just glad I rented it, if I had paid £40 for it, I would have been livid lol.

I agree globally Platinum Games needs to step up their game. They kind of have an invincibility totem for now, but it is obvious that the quality has been lacking for some time now. Even when they make an awesome game like Nier Automata, it is still mainly due to the story and Yoko Taro, while the technical side was lacking.

Their games feel like the recycle the same gameplay elements all the time, from every game they made. Almost feels like a parody of themselves sometimes.

Bayonetta 2 was a sequel on budget. The kickstarter for Wonderful 101 was such a joke. Game was complete already... What happened with Granblue and Scaledown as well ? And now they have been bought by Tencent, more or less.

Astral Chain locked meh since the announcement, did not buy it, and I know it was the right decision.

 

[Rathalos]

Few more complaints because why not.

. It's extremely slow to get going, the tutorial lasts forever. I'd say the game starts after about 2.5 hours.

. The last boss is 100x harder than anything up until that point, everything else just fell over, but he was a 15 minutes fight where you needed to go into him with tons of consumables, I was not prepared for a difficulty spike of that magnitude, and apparently others felt the same way. Plus by this point I just wanted the game to be over. The ending cinematic was also very short and frankly shit.

. The camera was awful.

. Those boring ass puzzles near the end with the blocks ¬_¬

I just can't express how much I hated this game lol. The only redeeming feature was the music. I'm playing Bayonetta 2 again now and it's so good, if these jokers ruin Bayonetta 3 I'm going to be so sad.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Absolute horseshit. Astral Chain was one of the best games last year. One of Platinums finest to date and a huge step up from Bayonetta. Combat system was innovative and fun as hell, with a lot of cool combos resulting from the various chain attacks you could do with your Legions. Visual and sound was top notch too. It sounds like you haven't even played the fucking game.

 

[namekuseijin]

Bayonetta fan mad at game not being Bayonetta and at switch's obvious technical limitations

 

[Fbh]

I personally enjoyed it. It's definitely not one of their best games (Bayonetta 1/2, MGR, Vanquish, Wonderful 101 and Nier are all better IMO) but I still liked the combat system and it has some of their better level design.

My 2 main issues were that the story was indeed lacking, and I also thought the game was way too easy and should have had a hard mode from the beginning. Everyone dies so fast you don't really get the most out of the combat system until near the end.

Personally I thought it looked nice too. It's on Switch so there are obvious limitations but IMO it's one of the nicer looking Non Nintendo games on the system

 

[FrankCaron]

I put in about 20 hours before finally retiring from it out of boredom from the filler content and some of the camera nuances that followed the more elaborate Astral controls (e.g., dog mode). The game has a great pastiche and some novel concepts, and the RPG mechanics are enjoyable for those of us who like action RPGs.

In fact, as I've never been much of a Platinum guy given I don't generally dig the requisite-dexterity character action shtick that they're well known for, I found Astral Chain significantly more accessible and enjoyable than their traditional, and well regarded, content. Plus with its cyberpunk-y JRPG trappings, you can see Astral Chain as a sort of playable pulp detective noir anime. Almost like a sort of pseudo-Persona spin off in terms of style and tone.

I think when you take into account the form factor, the audience, and the market for Switch exclusives, it was a smart investment on both Nintendo and Platinum's part and a good break for Platinum to let their teams experiment and recharge their batteries before returning to the usual fare — much like Wonderful 101 before it.

So, with that positive lens in mind, I don't think Astral Chain was ever meant to be a heavy hitter for them. As such, it's best viewed as almost a standalone product from an "untitled" developer than a proper Platinum "what we usually do" product. In that light, it's a decent, memorable, and quirky AA title — the likes of which we spend many other threads complaining that we don't get anymore. So yea. I'll take two more of these types of projects if Nintendo will fund them any day.

 

[Jooxed]

Astral Chain is a fantastic Game. Great story and fun boss fights and great music. Boring side quests though. Really looking forward to 2.

 

[Danjin44]

I personally LOVED the game, it one of the best game I played in 2019 right beside Sekiro.

 

[Blond]

>Bayonetta
>Mostly 60

 

[Rathalos]

>Bayonetta
>Mostly 60

I mean it is, docked at least.



Sure it has some dips to the low 50s which recover quickly, but it is 60 most of the time and that has been my experience from playing it.

 

[evanft]

Yep. Easily my least favorite Platinum game that I've played

 

[Elektro Demon]

I'm highly interested in the game and I've been waiting to play it since it launched. I watched a ton of videos about the game, I think it's right up my alley.
I'm just waiting for it to be perfectly playable on Yuzu.

 

[Ceallach]

I loved the game. It was one of my favorites on Switch along with Daemon X Machina

 

[Astral Dog]

I loved the battle system, boss battles and enemies all that is rock solid, but there is a bunch of large issues on top of it 30fps is a sin for this type of game, the camera is a mess probably the worst in a Platinum game, adventure elements range from annoying to average stuff.

I still give it an 8/10 because i loved the combat elements, a sequel that fixes these issues would be a 10 for me, good game but flawed, i still would recommend Switch owners to check it out sometime

 

[GymWolf]

bought the game and didn't even finished, all the stuff between fights was terribly boring and the game was too easy on normal after a couple of upgrades (and you have to replay the mission a second time if you want hard mode, fuck that bullshit)

also lock on, camera and evade move was shit.

 

[RaptorGTA]

Ive never played a Bayonetta game..but was really hyped for AC. I really enjoyed it and was very happy with my purchase. I will say the camera angles and certain level designs were annoying. But overall I had a blast with it.

 

[Zannegan]

I was pretty excited for it, but I'm not buying new single player games right now. Hearing the performance is poor makes me want to wait until there's a Switch Pro/2 that can run it at its max resolution and a decent frame rate (same deal for Xenoblade).

 

[Nico_D]

It was a good game, I liked it quite a lot. But I think it ran out of steam close to the end, in the last hub. The story was also a disappointment and I didn't care about the rift (whatever they were called) design, found them pretty boring visually.

Music and combat and game mechanics were great tho. Had a lot of fun messing with different combos.

 

[JTCx]

Amazing game with a badass final boss. Only hampered by framerate and weird pacing issue during the mid section of the game.

 

[Kamina]

Astral Chain is quite awesome

 

[Spukc]

Glad i avoided this game.
Way too weeb for me.

And i loved bayo 1 and 2 ffs

 

[WindomURL]

Liked it, but didn't love it. Definitely had to force myself through the first 4 hours or so, but it got going and felt quite good to play. It lacked soul and impact, but for me the combat became addictive after a fashion.

 

[Eevee86]

Breath of fresh air to me. Really enjoyed it.

 

[PlayerPurple]

The first massive mistake was the frame rate target of 30fps, going from Bayonetta 2 (Switch) to Astral Chain just feels horrible, and it's not helped by the fact it's not even a stable 30fps, it drops all the damn time. And visually it's not great either, with some of the worst jaggies I've ever experienced on the console, Bayonetta 2 looked better and ran at a mostly locked 60fps, so it's just bizarre that Astral Chain is running at 20-30fps.

Yep, exactly why I didn't buy this game.

Was incredibly disappointed to see a Platinum game misplace its priorities.

 

[kunonabi]

I personally thought it was better than Bayonetta 2 which was pretty mediocre all around and only redeemed by Bayonetta herself still being an amazing character.

 

[JORMBO]

I didn’t like the story or trying to control two characters at the same time.

 

[FreedomOfSpeech]

I think the game is made specifically for handheld, sort of like playing a comic book.

The gameplay is also very peculiar and hard to figure out. I think the trick is to switch legions way more often than is recommended.

I've noticed also with other action games like this, that in the first week tutorials come out and these linger for years. The problem is that in a week, there is noone really grokking the combat.

I like the combat, but the fps is pretty bad. 30 is just not good enough for fast paced combat, and yes it dips WAY too often if you are doing things properly. If it were a tight 60 fps the game would be so incredibly sick.

So yes a bit of a disappointment, but the combat is not 'solved' yet.

I have no worries about bayo3 though.

(Source: I play a fuckton of dmc5 and astral chain.)

 

[IchibanKasuga21]

What kept me out of this game was the generic design.

It looks like a mobile game.

Waiting for Bayonetta 3 since 2017 without news.

 

[Kamina]

What kept me out of this game was the generic design.

It looks like a mobile game.

Waiting for Bayonetta 3 since 2017 without news.

A mobile game couldn’t pull this combat off.

 

[Quezacolt]

I have to disagree with you. The game is fantastic, one of my top games of last year.

Gameplay wise, it tries new things and suceeds. The 30fps lock isn't an issue since the game isnt as fast paced as bayonetta, devil may cry, etc... and the framerate was locked for most of the game.

Visually, i think it looks great, i wish the game had some AA, but overall it looks fine. The soundtrack is amazing, reminding me a lot of Nier in many areas.

I agree when it comes to the lack of personality of the main characters, that's my only real issue.

I'm hopeful for a sequel in the future and can't wait to see how they might expand on the mechanics.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Bayonetta 2 is better, but that doesn't mean Astra Chain sucks. It is still far superior to most action games on the market today.

Don't let the OP fool you into avoiding the game - it's really, really good.

 

[GetemMa]

I liked it. Among the best games I played that year. It's not as good as either Bayonetta, but it's trying very different things so I think the comparison doesn't really work anyway.

 

[Nankatsu]

Astral Chain is one hell of a game.

Fantastic combat system, very interesting mechanics and gameplay design, great anime graphics and cool cast.

I recognize that the story has some highs and lows, but the game is nowhere near the horseshit your painting it to be.

It's a great exclusive that Nintendo got.

 

[VN1X]

Yup, played it for about 2 to 3 hours and sold it off immediately. It felt like a slog to get through (questing in a Platinum game? what is this, a Visual Novel?) and numerous other gameplay issues aside (fighting indirectly? What is this, Pokémon?) an unstable 30fps is kind of a major deal breaker from the get go. I wanted to believe but I got burned instead.

 

[DESTROYA]

Thought it was pretty good. Quality new IP from Platinum.

 

[Manji Uzuki]

I guess is an ok game, but clearly inferior to other platinum works. The story sucks and there was a point that the game start feeling really boring and i just wanted it to end.

 

[UnNamed]

For some aspects it's simpler than Bayo and Nier, for others it is better. As many PG games, you can't simply play the game, you need to master the mechanics, that's why PG games needs two runs at least.

The story can't be bad since it is a carbon copy of... you know what, even the plot twist are the same.

 

[MasterDerico]

Game is awesome imo.
Exclusivity can make some nonsense comments...Well, im fine with it, was always that way.

 

[MP!]

Aside from the filler middle section and the boring police investivgation parts, and the overly long level design...
I thought the game was pretty darn good.
It's not as streamlined as bayonetta ... but it was still decent.
As far as the jaggies go... it had a fairly low resolution but the game is not ugly
That first level was the first time on switch where I felt like we had surpassed Wii U

 

[Neff]

I enjoyed it a lot, but I got about halfway through and stopped playing. I thought the mix of action, exploration, detective work and light puzzle solving was refreshing, but I don't think there was quite enough variety to spice up what is rather a long game. I do intend to go back to it at some point, and the cart is still in my Switch, so that's a promising sign.

Regarding the state of PlatinumGames, I think the last true slam-dunk classic game they made was TW101, which was 7 years ago now. As good as PG are, they kind of feel like a genre-locked company. They need to try new ideas and new genres. I'm hoping Bayonetta 3 takes some bold strides.

 

[Spaceman292]

At first I was angry at the thread but all your points I found myself agreeing with. Although it's not fair to compare any action game to Bayo. Bayo is the best.

 

[SirTerry-T]

Awesome game, OP is clearly the work of an enemy stand.

 

[EviLore]

Astral Chain is a thumbs up from me. Satisfying core mechanics once options start to open up. If you struggled seriously on the final boss, you probably didn't master the mechanics.

 

[GodParticle]

I played a few hours, but found the combat really confusing to follow for some reason. Could never get the hang of controlling myself and the stand thing together

 

[Revolutionary]

I had a great time with it. My only complaints were:
A. it was too easy (by Platinum standards)
B. it was on the Switch, so the performance was REALLY choppy later in the game when more stuff is happening on screen
C. Silent protagonist made absolutely no sense, especially when you consider that they did hire an actor for each sex

 

[mcjmetroid]

I really liked it. I would have preferred bring on a more powerful console but still.