Video: Digital Foundry Gives Its Technical Analysis Of Astral Chain On Switch

It's amazing, I am thoroughly enjoying it. Aesthetically pleasing, with a great soundtrack and fantastically fun combat... awesome stuff from Platinum (once more!)

Sole criticism/request for this game: please add patch in future to make main character talk.

Sound really good
Bayonetta looks amazing even on big screens, so if the resolution is higher here it should be great!
My copy will arrive in few days, can’t wait!

It's one of the best looking game on Switch.

But personally I think Bayonetta 2 is superior, it's more responsive because of the 60 fps. Astral Chain feels like Assassins Creed 3, there's a lag. It's still very playable, just not ideal.

Oh, one more thing: if your joycons drift, don't play this game. It will constantly get you killed. FE: 3 houses is more tolerable for drifting joycons.

Looks fantastic in handheld mode!

It’s a stunner! Action packed and fun to master. Glad I spent no time sitting on the fence

It really is great! The Switch has seen some great releases the past months (SMM2, FE:TH, Astral Chain) and there's more to come.

It’s at number two on the European eShop, brilliant to see early success at least

Wasnt able to find a copy, so playing Bayonetta 2 until I get this.

@Lordplops not how it works, nor is that really plausible

It is fun... But the no AA in Switch games drive me crazy. But not had any slowdowns - that is good

It is no Nier: Automata (honestly nothing really is anyway). And there has been nothing like this on a handheld.

Still BAYO3 and Babylon's Fall to look forward. Great few years for PG fans 👍

I’m enjoying it, but the battles so far have been really difficult. I just haven’t mastered the technique of handling two characters at once and it’s become kind of frustrating. Hopefully I’ll get more used to it in the next chapter.

Take that, The Independer and Vice...

still don't know if this game is worth to get for me

@ThanosReXXX Would anyone actually take a game review by either of those outlets seriously in the first place?

@Racthet916 Well, I know I wouldn't, but I only knew Vice, so that's how far my knowledge of these two goes. As for what anyone would do:
I don't like to speak for others, so I'll leave it up to their own discretion.

@Agramonte I mean, it does have AA if you play in docked mode, which I think is a nice compromise. But yeah, this game needs AA, more than most.

I "LOVE" how these people always makes the switch feel inferior and that things "are strange", but "for switch it's a well made game". Keep in mind, "for switch" , cause on other consoles it would apperently be utter garbage, but "for switch" it's a nice made game. With other games as well, "it's a definite downgrade from other console, but for switch it's good, but a definite downgrade." "Did you get it's a DOWNGRADE?". Wregh. Always so condescending. Hate DF.

@Barbara001 Hardware wise, the Switch is like a mediocre mobile phone from several years ago. It IS a technical marvel to get solid ports of some modern multiplatform games, and there always will be compromises is resolution, effects, etc. to make it happen. Similarly, top of the line Switch games will be inferior in these aspoects. The raw performance is way, way weaker on the Switch than PS4 or Xbox1, let alone "serious" (and expensive) gaming PCs.

I don't think DF are condescending. The fact that they test Switch games all the time means they recognize the relevance of the platform, that they don't think performance is everything, etc.

@link3710 Yeah. Saw that in the video

We have an old 32inch 720p TV in the bedroom. Setting it up there when I get home tonight and play some that way. Figure that will look better than the main one,

I was going to do it anyway because FE text size in handheld make my eyes tired long before I want to stop playing it.

@gloom I agree, the controls are a bit different from other games which make them harder to master. I confuse the buttons alot. Only 3 hours in so I hope I'll get it soon.

Digital Foundry says there is a lack of support for surround sound. Then, dear Digital Foundry, why does this game sound above AAA quality and way better than most of other AAA Switch games?

@Agramonte I don't think the lack of AA is too terrible. It's noticable but not off-putting. Haven't bothered putting up our 4K tv since moving into the new place so we've been using the 1080p one that was already installed and I think this is the absolute best looking game on Switch.

@Barbara001 Except they don't hate on the Switch and quite frequently lavish it with praise.

I actually enjoy most of the DF videos I watch. I find them interesting and objective rather than critical. I played an hour earlier, and when I sat down to play it again tonight, I actually deleted my game save so I could experience the opening of the game again - it's that good!

@Cosats ...One has nothing to do with the other. The sound engineering on the game is great, but apparently they did set up any channels other than normal stereo to play it out over.

Nintendos setup for surround sound is so frustrating! They can afford to use dolby they have used it before!!

@link3710 I repeat with different words in order to make myself clear. The in-game sounds sound so incredibly well that surpass many Dolby surround games I had the chance to play.

@Cosats It could have the highest sound quality in the world, it doesn't change that it isn't surround sound. If you don't have a surround sound setup, which it seems you don't, you won't notice any difference. I have a 5.1 setup and it really stands out. For the record, some SNES games have surround sound.

@Lordplops I'd like that option too. Adding a patch that at least gives a menu option to have the character you play as participate in talking in the game would be great. I mostly want a 60fps mode though (maybe 620p docked could help swing that).

@Barbara001 I hear what you're saying, but I think they cover Switch a lot because it's popular and DF viewers like the Switch. I mean, they like it too and have said so. I can see how you feel they are condescending toward the Switch, but I appreciate how much they like it and support it while also being honest about what's going on with games on Switch.

@nintendolie I agree. I'd much rather have a lower resolution game or whatever it takes to get it running at 60fps. It's so much more fun with fast action games. 60fps is also more fun with slow investigation games, just not as crucial for gameplay response. I'm really enjoying Astral Chain and highly recommend it, but I definitely think Bayonetta 1 & 2 look way, way, better because of their smoothness. Even aside from frame rate those two games just look great. I strongly hope Bayonetta 3 also runs at 60fps.

I like the DF sound thing where they play a bit of a song they think is good. It gets me to pay particular attention to a track, and I usually like it. Also, I just enjoy this video in general. Digital Foundry videos about the Switch are just like candy for me : ) Sometimes I think I'd rather just watch videos about the frame rates of various games than actually play games.

Loving the game, great soundtrack, love the style of the game aswell. Took me a short while to get used to controlling the main character and the legion but not I have the hang of it and its great fun and you can pull off some cool combo's. My only issues was how well they explained how to use the legions skill such as the sword legions slash. It mentioned it briedly but as I was doing something else I forgot and took me a while to work out how to use it by pressing L. But over all loving it. I am hoping the later chapters get longer though as I have played for 6 hours and I am half way in to the game. If not its no problem as I will be starting again on Platinum classic.

No surround sound? What decade is this?

Wonderful game. My only complaint is that you can't change the spoken language to Japanese with English subtitles, which is how I usually like playing these sorts of games.

Absolutely loving it so far but I need to get a better grasp of the controls/battle mechanics as I’m playing on the harder difficulty and sometimes it’s cutting it a little close. I’m having really fun and it’s definitely a new and refreshing experience, welcome astral chains to the Nintendo IP family!!!

It really bothers me that they did not implement multi-channel surround sound, I am very big on sound, even old GameCube games that use the old Dolby surround sound sound great on my Dolby Atmos system when up-mixed. This really bothers me that they just used just the left and right speaker, that is baffling to me.

@graysoncharles I think Bayonetta 1 and 2 run at 40 to 55fps on Wii U, but substantially better than that on Switch. I've certainly felt like they run well enough on Switch, and I don't like Hyrule Warriors (Switch version) type junk where it's jumping around in the 40s all the time.
Also, I'm sure you're correct about resolution, but there are games like Fire Emblem Warriors, Unravel 2, Darksiders, etc where I believe the main (if not only) thing changing is resolution in order to achieve 60fps. As you might imagine I really love those games. I wish it was way more common for games to have a high frame rate mode.

Digital Foundry ? Ohhhh...then...WHO CARES ?

@Matroska
"For the record, some SNES games have surround sound."
...Wait, what?

@Barbara001
Such an odd, illogical comment.

DF commented on the lack of 5.1 audio because a) the Switch supports 5.1, and b) it's been standard in AAA games for well over a decade. It's mentioned because it's a genuinely odd omission.

As for it being good for a Switch game, again, what did you expect? The Switch is extremely weak hardware. That Astral Chain manages to look as it does is impressive, for the hardware. Had this game been on the PS4 it would have looked far superior.

@CorvoRevo And yet you cared enough to come into this article and whinge. Why?

@Mountain_Man There's an option to do that on the title screen options menu.

@Joeynator3000 yup, back in the day they experimented 😁 I believe SSF2 had Q Virtual Surround Sound courtesy of Capcom and Vortex too i believe. King Arthur's World...probably quite a few more. It was a lovely thing to listen to was the old SNES.

@Mountain_Man Of course, you can! You have to be in title menu and then change the audio to Japanese and the subtitles will be in English. I did it and it worked!

@Joeynator3000 Yeah, the SNES was pretty amazing. Don't forget some games even had voice acting, like Star Ocean's opening cutscene.

http://www.hdtvarcade.com/hdtvforums/index.php?/topic/1508-snes-games-with-dolby-surround/

Sub 60fps? Pass....

@CorvoRevo all the people posting, yourself included appaz....

@gloom just activate "unchained mode" and set up what you want to automate - your legion will be semi or fully autonomous

@60frames-please, you are mistaken, because for "performance mode" games use reduced textures, lightning and effects along with reduced resolution to jump from 30fps to 60fps. I'm glad this game has a very stable fps, even if it's 30 - don't like games that has variable fps and jump +/-10 or more frames. at least here we have smooth "cinematic" experience.

Nintendo and Platinum paid off Digital Foundry too?!? They’ll be lucky to turn a profit on this one no matter how it sells.

@ramu-chan Ah, thanks for that... you can't do it in game, so I just assumed it wasn't possible.

@Indielink Well I think people have different threshold for things. I always crank up AA on PC when at 1080p. I find it distracting

Good to hear on the TV front. I'll be testing it on a 32inch 720p TV. and a 42 1080pTV.

I'm liking the art style - so I'll end up playing it however looks best. I can go back to FE on my commute.

@Barbara001 Cannot be a downgrade if it's exclusive .

All I can say is that if you're a graphics whore and 60FPS snob then don't even bother with the Switch. For that matter, don't bother with consoles at all and get a good gaming PC instead.

@Agramonte That's true. I think I'm just used to it at this point. My laptop isn't the most powerful these days so anti aliasing is usually one of the first settings I crank down if I'm trying to bump the framerate a bit.

You'll probably see some edges on the 42 inch but that smaller one should look real pretty. There is some level of anti aliasing in docked mode but it's not perfect.

@Indielink Yeah, got everything set up today and It looks great on the 32!

Dropping AA in portable is a great way to save resource better spent elsewhere, As it's unnoticeable on the small screen I'm amazed this is the first time we have seen it. Any how, Great game!

@Agramonte The AA is only missing here in hand held, First party (Zelda and Odyssey) did suffer no AA even in docked but not here. 100% with you on Nier, I still find it quit moving just thinking about it sometimes. In my lifetime top 10.

@monterxz Got it. I'm so grateful when it's a choice. Games look clearer and much better to me when they're 60fps. I can also say that I'd much rather have a steady 30fps (like Astral Chain pretty much has) than jumping around in the 30 to 55fps range.