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[Uusis]

My biggest mistake to buy to Switch. Awful experience. Platinum games ain't too good to be true. Only game I have ever finished is Bayonetta 2 and that too is just random buttom mashing for the win game.

 

[godhandiscen]

This game sucks. I got it, and just couldn’t get myself to enjoy it. I loved the art and the concept, but the execution is horribly flawed.
When I think of Scalebound being influenced by this, I perhaps understand why Microsoft shut down development on it.

 

[Dr. Claus]

The game was fantastic. Beautiful art direction, great pacing with a focus on being a cop in this world which felt great. Combat was fun, but it did take a while (until near the end of the game) until you got your full kit and the final boss was a tad too frustrating - but those are all minor issues to what otherwise was an amazing time.

 

[Rathalos]

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.

That's the thing, you didn't need to master the mechanics because 99% of the game was a complete breeze, so you may be right, but I don't think you can really blame the player, it's just poor design to have one fight that's Infinitly harder than anything else. I checked a bunch of reviews and comments and this came up very often, so it wasn't just me. I should note I played on the normal difficulty, and everything up until the last boss was about what you'd expect from normal.

 

[Shouta]

Solid combat system though general exploration was a little lack luster. Story could have been better too. I'd be pretty interested in what they do if/when a sequel comes out.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Thought it was great tbh, loved astral chain

 

[Mobile Suit Gooch]

One thing I can say tho is that Marie has a nice ass. Welcome to my Ted-Talk.

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

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.

60fps will always be better than 30fps when player input is involved. However, as long as the game is designed around its target framerate (minimum 30fps) then it'll be playable, though not necessarily enjoyable, as plenty of comments will attest to.

The frame drops are indeed lamentable but at this point it's safe (and sad) to assume that all PG games will drop frames because they just keep pushing stuff regardless of the target framerate.

I thought the enemy design was quite good both visually and mechanically, especially considering the quantity they were going for. Yusuke Hashimoto was certainly one heck of an enemy designer for both Bayonetta games from a visual standpoint though.

I didn't mind the anime cops we got to play as and customize, even if they aren't as outstanding or boisterous as most protagonists in similar games. Austin Walker made a similar complaint to yours in his Waypoint review.

What I did dislike was the silent protagonist trope. I think their execution for it was particularly clumsy and it didn't work for me.

Ultimately, I think Astral Chain was a very ambitious effort for any director, so it being Taura's directorial debut is damn remarkable.

There are certainly lots of missteps (eg. pacing, some rebellious camerawork, wonky platforming) and it didn't stick the landing in every thing it tried, but I am very much looking forward to seeing what Taura will bring us in future when he's in the director's chair again.

 

[Wunray]

Thought the game was pretty good 8/10. One thing that bothered me was the silent protagonist seeing as both mc were voiced hope they change that, wish they could do 60fps but the visuals would have to take a massive hit and even then I doubt it would maintain it for 50% of the time.

 

[Labolas]

I think it's great, it's no Bayo 1 but I loved my time with it. It's up there for me as a really solid Platinum project and was with DMC5 as my Goty. I understand your reservations about the combat and world, I'm currently playing W101 and it didn't click for me until Operation 5, that's about 13 missions in. And I'm thinking it's up there with Bayo and DMC with its mechanics. And I've seen a streamer call it a bit of stumble for PG. And it's clear that he did put down the time to learn the system mechanics in the game.

Like W101, Astral Chain doesn't really open its combat until a couple of missions in. And you getting comfortable with it might take longer. If you're into the story or world building, this might not be for you. But combat, which is Plat's forte, is aces.

 

[Porcile]

I just didn't get the control system at all. Even the opening driving mission. Everything else about the game was really cool though. Masakazu Katsura is a GOAT. Hopefully some day I'll come back to it and enjoy it more. Platinum still da gods in my eyes.

 

[FreedomOfSpeech]

I just didn't get the control system at all. Even the opening driving mission. Everything else about the game was really cool though. Masakazu Katsura is a GOAT. Hopefully some day I'll come back to it and enjoy it more. Platinum still da gods in my eyes.

Yeah it's tough to figure out.
It's really about positioning yourself and the legion and waiting for attack anims to finish.
In essence you gotta figure out a mental model of when to doubletap and when to hold buttons.

But when you get a bit better it really is dope as fuck. Then you can start thinking properly about what items to equip on the legions, many of them allow for additional positioning (the legion rush 'flick' is most pro I think).

As seen more often with action games, the game sort of hides the actual gameplay from you, wanting you to figure it out. It suggests a more passive playstyle than what is actually possible (like moving the legion by hand around the floor, it's probably better to just send it in by doubletapping).

If you can get a proper flow going in combat it's just so damn delicious. Glory be to Platinum Games.

 

[MagnesG]

That's the thing, you didn't need to master the mechanics because 99% of the game was a complete breeze, so you may be right, but I don't think you can really blame the player, it's just poor design to have one fight that's Infinitly harder than anything else. I checked a bunch of reviews and comments and this came up very often, so it wasn't just me. I should note I played on the normal difficulty, and everything up until the last boss was about what you'd expect from normal.

A complete breeze that you got S+ ratings for every missions? And then you struggled during the last boss?
That's just pure bullshit.

Also I can count on hand how many times the framerate drops really hindered me from performing good, at least during story missions.

 

[mcjmetroid]

Let's be fair here. It's not perfect but a brand new original IP it has a lot of room to grow in a sequel.

I loved it though. I always get a kick out of original new games and can accept flaws

 

[Rathalos]

A complete breeze that you got S+ ratings for every missions? And then you struggled during the last boss?
That's just pure bullshit.

Also I can count on hand how many times the framerate drops really hindered me from performing good, at least during story missions.

Where did I say anything about S rank? And just because you're not sensitive to performance issues doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

I liked the game but felt fatigued in what it throws at you.

It is certainly a great exclusive but I think perhaps some aspects of it were too ambitious which is why people hate the pacing and side quests.

 

[MagnesG]

Where did I say anything about S rank? And just because you're not sensitive to performance issues doesn't mean they don't exist.

This is an action game with the focus of repeating the chapters multiple times to get high scores, ever wonder why you the devs painstakingly give a chockful of creterias on how to perform good? Showing you a score on red cases and an overall score at the end?

The game just let you off to the next chapter so that you can rack up duty points and money to spend on after finishing the mission, and so that you can perform better when you repeat the missions if you've got bad score. You literally performed trash if you've got a A or B score and S is just so so on Standard difficulty.

I know that this type of game aren't that popular compared to other genres, even DMC V only sold like nearing 3 millions, cinematic and story heavy games are just that popular and not everyone will like this type of genre. But based on how you phrase it, it's like when you got an F rank Megaman Zero games but apparently the game's a "breeze" based on your standards, you bragged about how the game's too easy for you.

Also sensitive my ass, apparently I can still get good scores even with dips lol. That's says a lot about how skewed your priorities are in any kind of games.

The only thing this game needs is to always shows the player's rank/ performance in real time during gameplay, so that people can know if they scored good or not.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

Quit Astral Chain after a few hours. Wasn't into it at all plus why is my character a silent fucking protagonist but yet, the sister will talk and then if you switch, the girl is silent while the boy talks. WTF? Makes zero sense.

Of course, I have always seen Platinum Games as highly overrated anyway. Outside of Nier Automata (8.5/10 for me), their games have been either complete bombs, overrated trash or just disappointments. Looking at Babylon's Fall, it's like they're still stuck in the 360/PS3 era.

Come on Platinum, up your fucking shit and get a next gen game engine or use Unreal Engine 5 because your shit sucks.

 

[gamerguywashere]

Loving the camera personally, extremely cinematic to just accept angles and play through them. Controlling the camera with your character isn't anything new in vgs.

Once you realize you're just changing targets with the right stick, it doesn't make sense. I don't bother locking on anything without a giant health bar anyway.

Different Legion/weapon combinations are gratifying...and the counter mechanics, plus dual stick fighting are cerebral.

Lots of options to attack a situation. Training mode is a lot of fun to just beat on stuff for a while.

just initial impressions...I only have three legions so far...playing pt standard, not much difficulty so far.

 

[gamerguywashere]

so it seems like stuns are how you start launcher combos yeah? seems like the big sword is how you stun best

interesting how I can juggle longer without a legion combo right away

i could dodge somersault combo launch around in this training program forever it's so fun

sword seems so superior due to that extra combo, but arms is pretty rad with stuns and ground pounding and launching lol

what a fun game...the detective areas wear a little thin, but this is pretty badass so far

 

[01011001]

you can't compare Astral Chain directly to Bayonetta, if you expect a character action game here you're out of luck, while it has these elements, the game is overall way more action adventure than beat em up.

I loved Astral Chain even tho I saw a lot of issues. expect a PS2 era esque weirdo action adventure not another Bayonetta.

and if you like weird PS2 era esque action adventures you gonna love it, that's why I loved the game and why it was one of my top 5 games last year.

to get a hang of the fighting system takes a while tho, because it's really out there

 

[Danjin44]

you can't compare Astral Chain directly to Bayonetta, if you expect a character action game here you're out of luck, while it has these elements, the game is overall way more action adventure than beat em up.

I loved Astral Chain even tho I saw a lot of issues. expect a PS2 era esque weirdo action adventure not another Bayonetta.

and if you like weird PS2 era esque action adventures you gonna love it.

I also loved Astral Chain, it was my favourite game in 2019, the combat is unique and interesting. It took me a little time to get used to controlling my Legion but once it clicked, it really became really fun. You also right, this game is not trying to be Bayonetta or DMC, heavy combo style combat, instead it about using the tools you have dealing with different type of enemies and this game has really nice enemy variety.

My only real issue with this game is I wish it didn't Ranked mini games and this game has no reason to have silent protagonist.

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

This is one of those games that you hope gets a sequel. It has some issues here and there but the core of the game is great. If they do make a sequel I hope they flesh out the detective sequences a lot more. It's a really cool concept that doesn't go much further than what it shows you in the first two missions.

I've actually been thinking about replaying it recently.

 

[Danjin44]

 

[FreedomOfSpeech]

Launch is done by attacking while standing next to a (stunned) mob yes.
But you can also back-forward+legion for some legions.

I think the trick to combat is to learn how to abuse the chain itself. Like send the legion out, and dodge backward/sideways, the chain gets under tension and you can really pull it back. Some combos do this specifically.

Dodge is not just dodge (witch time), it's important in the attack sequences. Send legion, dodge to a new position, recall legion. That sorta stuff. Also dismissing is very important, as it allows to swap to the next legion and if you call it you can get Perfect Call.

Best mental shortcut I've come up with is that the legion's combo is sort of backwards. Summon/send legion, wait while you attack with main char. Then you can get sync attacks and if you do it properly, you can do several sync attacks after one another. If that makes sense.

Currently all my legions have parry/legionrush/effect_spread/call_lock so I can treat them 'the same'.

Another tip would be to solely try to equip abilities of size 1, with 2 slots used. Then you get 15 'perks' per legion.

There are some nice combo mad vids out there, not too many though, unfortunately. I might make one if I ever figure it out for real.

Great game, though I could do without much of the policework fluff.

 

[F31 Leopard]

Astral Chain is one of my favorite games and Platinum titles. I'm still practicing to be good as this guy.


I like AC's combat more than Bayonetta. I beat B1 and lost interest in B2 up until halfway I think. AC's unconventional combat got me hooked on trying to learn the mechanics. I really hope AC sold enough to be a trilogy like they intend it to be.

 

[Danjin44]

I really hope AC sold enough to be a trilogy like they intend it to be.

I would say for new IP Astral Chain sold pretty damn well.

Astral Chain Sales Passed 1.08 Million Copies

The Astral Chain sales figures are in, and they're not bad! Over one million copies of PlatinumGames' title were sold worldwide.

www.siliconera.com

And PG was happy with the sells as well.

Astral Chain Director Says Nintendo Switch Exclusive "Sold Above Expectations"

Sequel confirmed?

www.nintendolife.com

 

[Pejo]

Astral Chain was a really fun game once you unlocked some combat options, but yea the performance was awful. This game more than most would benefit from being multi-platform.

 

[Danjin44]

Astral Chain was a really fun game once you unlocked some combat options, but yea the performance was awful. This game more than most would benefit from being multi-platform.

Other than Case 8, I haven't experienced any performance issues.

 

[888]

I liked it more than Bayonetta 1. I haven’t tried the second one yet but I just have more fun with Astral Chain.

 

[butane bob]

it's hard to believe they're even made by the same developers

Different director and team. I enjoyed it at any rate, definitely one of the better games i played that year. It could have done with a better frame rate and some AA though, and more exploration/hanging out in the cities bits coz i enjoyed that stuff. The writing was complete nonsense but i was expecting that.

 

[Ceadeus]

First time I saw the first screenshots I felt turned off by the aesthetic and the ghost town, industrial city type of level. This setting is as exciting as a sewer level, then 30fps, ugly characters Etc...

Platinum games are all over the place, uneven quality.

 

[MagnesG]

Perfect Call is the real dodge here. Once you perfected this you can literally avoid all kinds of attacks, well unless you fall down.

 

[BusierDonkey]

I loved this game. Hope they make another game like it.

Handling both the character and the Legion at the same time was a blast to wrap my head around and made for some really interesting combat.

 

[Lethal01]

Nah, this is one of Platinum's best games, whether I like it more or less than Bayonetta pretty much depends on my mood at the time.

I will agree however than the difficulty should have been higher on normal or they should have unlocked hard from the start..
Other than that I really would change anything.

 

[gamerguywashere]

hmm....def feel like i cheesed homoculus gamma by using any legion unchained and rode the beast to avoid all damage

not a big action game guy, but things are def starting to get a little tougher

 

[gamerguywashere]

So I'm starting doing s ranks, and am curious. Does it only save your best score for a section, or can you overwrite an S+ with something else if you go back to redo another section?

I guess my question is, do I have to S+ everything in the same run to S+ the file?

 

[MagnesG]

So I'm starting doing s ranks, and am curious. Does it only save your best score for a section, or can you overwrite an S+ with something else if you go back to redo another section?

I guess my question is, do I have to S+ everything in the same run to S+ the file?

Only your highest score will count in the your file record, section by section or chapters.

That means you can just redo certain section/side quests, and when you get S+ for it, you can go back to the file menu already. The section's highest score will stay, along with any items, skills you get during your playtime, though that can also applies even if when you quit in the middle of a mission.

 

[gamerguywashere]

it doesn't look like taking damage or dying matters either


which is good for my skill level at these games...not saying it's gonna be easy.

File 1 S+ is fucking DONE tho

 

[Danjin44]

it doesn't look like taking damage or dying matters either


which is good for my skill level at these games...not saying it's gonna be easy.

File 1 S+ is fucking DONE tho

You get ranked based how much you use your abilities during the fight.