Astral Chain

Astral Chain
We are Legion!
Protagonist(s): Astral Chain Protagonist Genre(s): Action-Adventure Hack-and-Slash Platform(s): Nintendo Switch Release Date: August 30, 2019 Developer(s): PlatinumGames Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan

Astral Chain is a hack-and-slash action-adventure game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. First announced during a February 2019 Nintendo Direct and having an estimated five-year development cycle, it was released on August 30th, 2019.

Why It Will Be Our Savior

1. While many many PlatinumGames-developed titles have great combat systems that are well-created and fun to master (including the Bayonetta trilogy and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance), the one featured here is unique in that you can control two characters at once; in this case, you play as a Neuron officer whose name, gender and appearance can be customized and a mechanical being called a Legion to pull off various combo attacks.
   • In particular, the Sync Attacks that are performed by pressing ZL whenever a combo is executed are especially satisfying to use. This concept of the Sync Attacks also pays homage to the vehicle attacks from one of Platinum's previous games, Transformers: Devastation.
   • The dual-character gameplay may have also served as the basis for that of Bayonetta Origins.
2. Stylish, animesque presentation, with gorgeous cel-shaded graphics that make the game pop and great character designs by renowned manga artist Masakazu Katsura.
3. The soundtrack, composed by Satoshi Igarashi, is great despite being largely forgettable, with the EDM-inspired score accompanying the cyberpunk aesthetic well.
   • The vocal tracks ("Savior," "Dark Hero" and "The Answer"), sung by William Aoyama of INTERSECTION and Filipino singer Beverly, are also worth listening to.
4. Throughout the game, you obtain five different Legions, with each having a unique play style and different strengths and weaknesses:
   • The Sword Legion, unlocked at the start of the game, is the most balanced in terms of strength and speed and can use Blueshift on Redshifting civilians as well as gathering data to help solve the cases.
   • The Arrow Legion, unlocked in File 03, excels in ranged combat, which is especially useful against flying enemies, and can even hit out-of-reach targets or switches using its arrows.
   • The Arm Legion, unlocked in File 04, can lift heavy objects that others cannot, equip itself to the player so they can cross puddles of purple slime that otherwise slow them down, and move floating platforms towards them.
   • The Beast Legion, unlocked in File 05, can't hover like the others, but can cross disintegrating platforms in the Astral Plane when the player rides it, as well as track down specific people and/or monsters by their scent.
   • The Axe Legion, unlocked towards the end of File 08, is the slowest yet most powerful Legion, with strong attacks, a force field to protect the player from enemies or hazards, and bombs that destroy cracked walls.
5. Each Legion has a skill tree known as Legion Learning, and while they share some skills, there are also ones exclusive to each different type of Legion, such as the Sword Legion's blades shielding the player, the Arrow Legion can slow projectiles down, the Arm Legion can summon black holes, the Beast Legion can howl to stun foes, and the Axe Legion has bombs.
6. A memorable cast of characters, including the clumsy but adorable Neuron Officer Marie Wentz (who also dresses as the company's mascot, Lappy), the protagonist's commanding officer Olive Espinosa, their younger twin Akira Howard (who is always the opposite gender that the player selects for the protagonist; their likeness is also used for Yoseph's Noah Project) and Kyle Merkulov, the leader of the Hermits.
   • Yoseph Calvert is a decent primary antagonist, being responsible for the Chimera invasion and creation of Noah, while Jena Anderson is a very intimidating secondary antagonist who can summon Homunculi and warns the protagonist of Neuron's dark secret.
7. Great worlds building, especially once you explore the quarantined Zone 09 in File 06.
8. There is a large variety of enemies to fight, consisting of Chimerae, Homunculi, Aberrations, and Hermits.
9. The boss fights peppered throughout the game are epic, with particular standouts including:
   • The Enceladus encountered in the Astral Plane near the end of File 02.
   • All of Jena's Homunculus fights that you encounter throughout the game.
   • The one-on-one fight against Kyle after you dispatch his henchmen in the middle of File 06.
   • The fight against Jena herself at the end of File 09:
     • First, you fight her Aberrant form atop the Neuron HQ helicopter pad.
     • Second, her Asymptote form is fought in the middle of a highway.
     • Lastly, you chase her Apotheosis form on floating platforms above the highway.
   • The fight against the Dark Legion-fused Akira in the Ark sewers at the end of File 10, where you learn to Fuse with your Legion. It's also a very sad moment for the protagonist, as they learn that their twin has been possessed by Yoseph.
   • The final battle against Noah in File 11, especially Noah Prime.
10. Your character obtains many types of clothing and accessories that can be used to customize them, including a mascot costume of Lappy.
11. Good replay value, in no small part due to the amount of Skills your Legions can learn and the ability to revisit Files to uncover new secrets.
12. Towards the end of File 09, the protagonist gains the power to Fuse with their Legion, which is fully under control by File 10 and remisicent of Devil Trigger from the Devil May Cry franchise. When you Fuse with your Legion, you gain a move set specific to that form and gain health equal to half of the damage you deal to enemies.
13. Once you defeat Noah, you unlock File 12 and can complete a variety of post-game challenges that put your Legion's combat skills to the test, especially the R3 missions.

Bad Qualities

1. The story is quite mediocre, and some plot points (such as Yoseph being the main antagonist) are predictable.
2. Sometimes the frame rate can drop when there is too much happening on-screen, as is to be expected for a Switch game.
3. While the graphics are amazing, the light flashes can be hard on photosensitive players' eyes if there are too many of them.
4. As previously stated, though the soundtrack is good, it is still forgettable compared to other PlatinumGames soundtracks.
5. This game has one of the strangest uses of a silent protagonist in recent years, especially since the protagonist has an established backstory: they are the elder of the two twins who join the Neuron Task Force, as well as having a mysterious past connected to Zone 09. The only times they ever speak are when they shout "Legion!" and voice an internal monologue during the intro of File 12.
6. There are some pace-breaking stealth sections scattered throughout the game, and they are very easy to fail, especially on your first time through them; luckily, only a few are mandatory to finish the game.
7. The English acting can be hit-or-miss; some characters, such as Marie and Kyle, sound fine, while others, like Jena, suffer poor voice direction.
8. The very start of the game and the end of File 09 have motorcycle sections, which are clunky compared to the rest of the game.
9. The dodge mechanic, unlike the one in the Bayonetta' trilogy, is hard to get used to due to the shorter pause frames that leave little time to counterattack or Sync Attack. This often makes avoiding attacks harder and often requires the use of healing items, though to be fair, your rank at the end of each mission is not penalized for taking damage or using items.
10. The co-op gameplay, where one player controls the protagonist and the other controls the Legion, is clunky compared to the single-player version.

Reception

Astral Chain received generally favorable reviews from critics and players alike (scoring 87/100 on Metacritic), with many praising the dual-character combat, presentation, and world-building, though it received minor criticism for its use of a silent protagonist.

By the end of 2019, Astral Chain had managed to sell over 1 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling games on the Switch.

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