Topic: Astral Chain

Just read a review for this from The Independent that rubbed me up the wrong way. ' Astral Chain is The Worst Action Game on Switch' 1/5. Not just one of the worst, THE worst. 'A Tedious Button-Mashing Journey' where 'Arguably, the best part of the combat is that they added a co-op function so you can play with a friend', despite most other reviews calling this the weakest part.

Reviews are just one person's opinion, I get that and if he didn't like the game, fair enough, Platinum's games are not for everyone but labelling it the Switch's worst action game 1/5, tells me the guy is just seeking attention.

Considering we live in a world where folks were slamming Sekiro: Shadows die twice for not having an easy option I'd take that with a grain of salt. People want games to be made the way the devs/designers intend but then they want them to be super easy. Platinum games are combo busters...if you are button mashing you can beat it but your score/performance is gonna suck. Some games do require you to learn the mechanics, some reviewers especially if they are tech reviewers or fly by night gaming reviewers are not/don't have the time to do this. Everywhere else is giving it great reviews, I wouldn't worry about it. I doubt that one review will cost them too many sales.

In my local Wal-Mart and they're indeed selling it for $49

@NintendoByNature Did they break street date?

@Ryu_Niiyama nah, I just saw two rows with astral chain stickers and $49 for each. The game wasn't in the row yet or i wouldve tried grabbing it 😋

Played less than an hour. I’ve been so hyped for this and loving it too early to really give any kind of opinion yet. I will say I loved the opening credits like watching and taking part of an anime. Also enjoyed how it just launches into the game with no start screen.

Anyone else picked it up yet. I do appreciate I’m in Australia and slightly ahead of the curve here...

Only finished File 2, and I must say that I end up turning on Unchained Mode haha 😅😅

But the gameplay is enjoyable! I was just annoyed with how I have to stick the Legion to a moving suspect :v

@Filth_Element yeah I picked it up this morning, only played about 15 mins because I'm at work, seriously one of the most impressive openings I can remember and I can't wait to get home to play more

Just picked it up, will start it up soon.

Nabbed my copy on the way to work this morning at Wal-Mart. Got that WM discount too! Can't wait for work to be over with tonight. Might even play til the wee hours of the morning with how hyped I've been for this game

First of all: this game looks amazing! The character design, the use of colours, the futuristic environment - everything is first class!

The music is a great blend of metal, electronic and symphonic.

The controls probably takes some time getting used to, but they feel good.

Argh, the day one update needs downloading at the same time as the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3's update

@carlos82 yeah the opening is really tight and just leads you right in best opening I’ve experienced in a long time.

@Quarth I started in hand held and it looks soo good! Got home after work docked it and was tbh a little underwhelmed. The visual aesthetic is awesome though.

@Filth_Element Well, it might not be the most impressive game graphically (though good on Switch), but aesthetically it is.

The visual styling to the game is one of the things that put me off a bit - I was worried the dark colour palette everywhere would make things a little difficult to see clearly at all times on the screen, so it's nice to hear it looks good in handheld.

Got paid today, so I just put in an order for this on Walmart's app.

I don't play too many straight up action games, and I hear Platinum's are pretty rigid in terms of difficulty, so hopefully I can handle it. Love the art direction & game world though, so I'm looking forward to it.

Still, I've played through God of War (2018), Onimusha Warlords, & Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 this year, so hopefully I'm up to snuff.

@RR529 Nah. I'm sure anyone who has played an action game before can get through a Platinum game. They're difficult to master (in terms of learning the moves and combos, dodging at the right times, etc. in order to obtain high rankings at the end of combat encounters), but generally not too difficult to beat.

I just started Astral Chain today....WOW...the opening "file"/chapter is AMAZING...one of the BEST openings I have played in a good while. Played through all of file 2 also. WOW! The cutscenes are pretty intense...kinda remind me a bit of the early Xenoblade Chronicles 2 cutscenes when Pyra brings Rex back to life and the big fight scene that follows...it gives you that kind of feel.. This game will be played a lot from me...and I still need to start FEThree houses, but I will wait on that one just a bit. Anyways, Astral Chain is amazing all around. I enjoyed Bayonetta 1 & 2, and the combo/dodging/hitting mechanics involved. The added second "party" that you control adds a whole new depth to me. It will take a bit of mastering but I am excited to master the two so they sync in battle.

Very cute.

@Quarth agreed. I’m not disappointed with the graphics I think it looks good. It was just a big difference when I got it up on the big screen. The art direction is great though clean and clear you’ll be happy to hear @gcunit

I’ve enjoyed what I played so far but not very deep into combat mechanics yet. Im a big fan of Platinum and want to get good scores but so Rank D’s is all I’m managing. I turned off the auto help and upped the difficulty so hoping to improve as I get my head around it.
I wasn’t paying enough attention and only did movement training and mistakenly skipped the rest of the training levels and because a mission started straight afterwards I couldn’t continue training right away and thought “oh well learn on the job” I wouldn’t be a very good police officer would I!?!?