PlatinumGames' upcoming release Astral Chain left a pretty strong impression on us after E3; the game is being directed by Takahisa Taura, the lead designer on NieR: Automata, and it certainly looks like it could be strong enough to tide us over until the studio's next Bayonetta effort comes along.

As you'll know if you've been keeping an eye on it, the game stars a rookie police officer who must fight off an interdimensional invasion. These enemy beings are known as Chimera, and after capturing one, humans can train them to fight on their side. These captured Chimera are known as a Legion, and players will take control of both the police officer and their Legion during combat.

The game is primarily designed to be a single-player experience, but Taura has revealed a sneaky trick which will allow you to join up with a friend if you prefer. Speaking to Kotaku, he noted that removing the Switch's Joy-Con from the console will place the police officer's controls on one controller, and the Legion's on the other, resulting in a kind of makeshift co-op option which Taura describes as "challenging" but "fun".

In the interview, he explained how this co-op mode would work in practice:

“If you’re going for a high score, it’s challenging to do this, playing in two-player. As one example, while you’re playing the game, there are several synchronous moments where you’re doing attacks with the Legion at the same time. And if you’re playing two-player, the other player and you—actually, it’s almost like you would actually have to be of the same mind...”

"But it’s not just that it’s hard. If you’re sitting next to somebody and playing this game, it’s also really fun.”

We'll leave you with this 10-minute video for the game which was recently shared on Nintendo's official Japanese YouTube channel. Are you feeling hyped for Astral Chain's August release?

[source kotaku.com]