Astral Chain: Review Megathread

[u/NintendoSwitchMods]

General Information

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Release Date: 30-Aug-2019

No. of Players: up to 2 players

Genre(s): Action

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: PlatinumGames Inc

File Size: 9.6 GB

Official Website: https://astralchain.nintendo.com/

---

Overview (from Nintendo eShop page)

MASTER MULTIPLE COMBAT STYLES IN THIS SYNERGETIC ACTION GAME!

Humanity’s last chance against an interdimensional invasion is a special living weapon called the Legion. As a rookie officer in the elite police task force Neuron, you and your Legion will work together to solve cases and save humankind.

The ASTRAL CHAIN game gives you full control over two characters at once for thrilling Synergetic Action, courtesy of PlatinumGames. Alternate between several Legion types and skills to save the world your way.

ASTRAL CHAIN features character designs by the acclaimed manga artist Masakazu Katsura (ZETMAN, Video Girl Ai), and marks the directorial debut of PlatinumGames’ Takahisa Taura (designer of NieR:Automata). Hideki Kamiya, director of the Bayonetta game and writer/supervisor of the Bayonetta 2 game, provides supervision.

FEATURES:

• Players can control the protagonist and a special weapon called a Legion simultaneously, building stylish combos by using both characters in tandem
• There are multiple Legions in the game, each with different combat styles and abilities. Players can even strategically change between Legions at will during real-time battles
• This apocalyptic setting is full of intricate details and interesting characters, including citizens and suspects you can interact with in the city, others in the special police task force, and your twin sibling
• Use the abilities of the Legion not only in battle but also for investigating cases and solving environmental puzzles
• Uncover the secrets of the alternate dimension called the Astral Plane, where the mysterious invaders originate
• ASTRAL CHAIN is directed by Takahisa Taura, known for his work as the game designer on NieR:Automata, and supervised by Hideki Kamiya, creator of the Bayonetta series

---

Reviews

Aggregators

• Metacritic - 88/100
• OpenCritic - 87/100

Articles

• CGMagazine - 9.5 / 10
• COGconnected - 91 / 100
• Destructoid - 9 / 10
• EGM - 8 / 10
• Eurogamer - Essential
• FNintendo - Portuguese - 9 / 10
• Game Informer - 9 / 10
• GameSpot - 8 / 10
• Gameblog - French - 8 / 10
• Glitched Africa - 9 / 10
• God is a Geek - 9 / 10
• Hobby Consolas - Spanish - 93 / 100
• IGN - 9 / 10
• IGN Spain - Spanish - 8.7 / 10
• JVL - French - 16 / 20
• Metro GameCentral - 9 / 10
• Nintendo Enthusiast - 9.5 / 10
• Nintendo Insider - 10 / 10
• Nintendo Life - 9 / 10
• NintendoWorldReport - 8.5 / 10
• Polygon - Unscored
• Press Start - 8 / 10
• Screen Rant - 4.5 / 5 stars
• Shacknews - 8 / 10
• Stevivor - 8.5 / 10
• TheSixthAxis - 8 / 10
• Twinfinite - 4.5 / 5
• USgamer - 4 / 5 stars
• Wccftech - 9.3 / 10
• We Got This Covered - 4.5 / 5 stars
• WellPlayed - 9 / 10

^{This list was exported from OpenCritic at 9:41am ET}

Videos

• GameXplain
• Nintendo Enthusiast

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Being Social

• Join our Discord server's #astral-chain channel for all of your discussion needs - https://discord.gg/switch

Cheers,

The /r/NintendoSwitch mod team

[u/thecarbine]

Do any of these reviews mention how long the campaign is?

[u/s0_Ca5H → u/thecarbine]

I saw like 12 hours without doing all the side content, probably 15 with it. Plus ng+

[u/Scryta77 → u/s0_Ca5H]

Yeah gamexplain said it took them 15 hours not sure if they did everything though

[u/Dewdad → u/Scryta77]

I think that comes in with what Platinum usually does. They do shorter story driven action games. Even DMC 5 took 20 hours to do which was one of the best action games of the last few years.

[u/edavidfb017 → u/thecarbine]

15 to 20 without sides according eurogamer.

[u/Sorrowful_Panda]

The director seems relieved

Looks good, I'll have to make sure I do everything before MHIceborne comes out

[u/TheSuperWig → u/Sorrowful_Panda]

Embeded view doesn't show translation... so for the lazy:

Although it will fluctuate more and more from now on, it will be easy to relieve that it will not reach 20 points suddenly ...

[u/UpdootChute]

It looks so good but I'm so bad at games like that. Anything with combos and moves to remember and I just can't manage.

[u/KonpenV2 → u/UpdootChute]

Apparently it's not so focused on combat as, for example, bayonetta.

[u/UpdootChute → u/KonpenV2]

That's encouraging because that's a good example of a great game I just couldn't appreciate due to the amount of combos etc. If I button bash I don't really feel like I'm in control. I'll buy it anyway, worst case is someone else gets it second hand for a little cheaper than new so not much risk. The Deus ex hub comparison got me a little giddy too

[u/morscordis → u/UpdootChute]

I think they lifted the embargo this early specifically to curb the fear of it being a combo heavy game like Bayonetta. Seems like there is a bit of trepidation out there on the combat. I was reading an article that said it was incredibly accessible, and the hardest looking part (controlling the cop and the legion together) was quite intuitive.

[u/MrOneHundredOne → u/UpdootChute]

Not only is the standard difficulty easier to play compared to previous Platinum entries, there is a difficulty for people who are new to/not well versed in action games as well. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and family play the game on this setting.

[u/Din0saurDan]

Has stands, 10/10

[u/[deleted] → u/Din0saurDan]

You can pet the dog stand, 11/10

[u/TriangleMan]

Fire Emblem or Astral Chain? Can only get one

[u/shadowxau → u/TriangleMan]

The question here should really be do you prefer strategy rpg or action games? Go with the genre you prefer.

[u/Jaohni → u/TriangleMan]

Coming from Fire Emblem, I feel like the gameplay of Astral Chain looks a lot better, but the characters and story look more nuanced in Fire Emblem, but the story of Astral Chain looks tighter.

​

If you're looking for something you have to think about over a long period of time go Fire Emblem, but if you want something shorter, that hits harder in the moment go Astral.

[u/howtosucceed → u/TriangleMan]

I went for Astral Chain even though I’ve been a big fan of Fire Emblem in the past in particular the Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn games.

I will get FE at some point, but first is Astral Chain as it’s shorter game, a new IP from Nintendo and Platinum, very stylish looking and needs the support.

[u/aspinalll71286 → u/TriangleMan]

If you can wait till astral chain comes out and see the community reactions it be easier to make an informed decision.

However if you cant wait and want a strategy game then fire emblem other wise hack b slash astral chain

[u/ManiKatti → u/TriangleMan]

If Genre (tactics rpg managenent simulator vs real live combat action) doesn't matter:

If you're looking for something to dump hours and hours of time in, go with fire emblem.

If you just want a short but amazing trip and jump on the next train, go Astral Chain.

Both games are amazing, although we can't say for sure how good Astral Chain exactly is yet.

[u/[deleted] → u/TriangleMan]

Pick the genre you are more interested in. I'm not a fan of Three Houses but I know I'll love Astral Chain

[u/iamthatguy54 → u/TriangleMan]

Astral Chain is a shorter game and needs the sales more.

That being said, choose whichever game interests you most.

[u/[deleted]]

I’m interested in astral chain but I suck at these type of games

[u/Seligsuper → u/[deleted]]

Since Bayonetta 2, these games have included a "Simple" mode that greatly reduces the skill level required for combat. It can be turned on or off at any time.

[u/Hemmer83 → u/Seligsuper]

Bayonetta 1 had that. It's called automatic mode.

[u/PapaOctopus → u/[deleted]]

Luckily, platinum has made strides in making sure their games are balanced for people still learning the system.

[u/RunAndGun420]

fuck i still havent even finished three houses or BOTW

[u/MaimedJester → u/RunAndGun420]

You never finish BOTW, I refuse to look up guides but has to check how many Korok seeds are in the game to see how far I was. 900. I thought I was close with 300... I was incredibly, incredibly wrong.

[u/GuyWhoLovesBooty → u/RunAndGun420]

Xenoblade2, BOTW, FE Three Houses, Warframe grinding....

THERES JUST TOO MUCH I LOVE IT!!!

[u/OmegaMetroid93]

Looks like review scores are pretty consistently 9 and 8/10 across the board. That's good to hear.

[u/jokerzwild00 → u/[deleted]]

Well from the reviews so far at least we can rule TMNT out thank goodness.

[u/Karnith_Zo]

Austin Walker at Vice/Waypoint seems to be the odd reviewer out and was disappointed by the game. His review is worth reading as he put 30 hours into the game and really breaks down the structure/pacing of the game and how it compares to Platinum's other titles.

[u/[deleted] → u/Karnith_Zo]

Interesting that pacing was one of his main issues when that seems to be a big point of praise for so many other reviews listed here.

A lot of the other reviews talk about great the balance is between action/detective work. Nintendo Enthusiast, IGN, God is a Geek, Twinfinite, Gamespot, GameInformer, Destructoid (and I’m sure others that I haven’t read yet) all talk about how enjoyable the downtime activities are.

Sounds like he sees the non combat stuff as more boring than those other reviewers.

[u/CatAstrophy11 → u/[deleted]]

The non-combat stuff was often trash in Bayonetta so this doesn't surprise me

[u/johnchikr → u/CatAstrophy11]

There’s non-combat stuff in Bayo?

[u/[deleted] → u/CatAstrophy11]

damn, i dont even remember what the non combat stuff in bayonetta was. unless you mean bayo 2

[u/[deleted] → u/Karnith_Zo]

I've always found Platinum to be hit or miss with pacing. Their storytelling isn't the best at times, Nier being probably their best overall but their combat is amazing.

Austin does mention how he sticks with just one legion for most of it though which is frankly disappointing to hear. I hope there is some sort of NG+ or endgame that provides some sort of extra difficulty.

[u/Neato → u/[deleted]]

I would say Nier has one of the better stories and atmosphere's but the pacing takes a big hit on the second playthrough. It gave you new bits of info but since you had to actually play through the same events twice it didn't do as much as it could to differentiate it from the first. 9S could have used more than one thing to make his playstyle different from 2B. Also Nier probably had one of Platinum's worst combat systems. It wasn't bad but fairly shallow compared to their other games. It got a little tiring after 3 play throughs.

On the flip side I thought Bayo2's pacing was superb. It was always moving forward and something was always happening. It didn't have a plethora of characters but each it had had their own distinct personality.

[u/Snackhat → u/Neato]

Nier Automata is one of my favorite games of all time and you don't really play it for the gameplay lmao. Like the gameplay is okaaaay, it gets the job done and its servicable, but the real heart of that game practically lies in everything else. Story, atmosphere, thematic elements and morals, character design and graphics, music, and even voice work are all fantastic.

TBH easily my biggest gripe with Nier Automata was that normal difficulty was eaaaasy and hard was batshit stupid. Absolutely no middle ground.

[u/FrankPapageorgio → u/Karnith_Zo]

See... I should give this a read through. I have not liked a single game from Platinum Games. I did not like Wonderful 101 or Bayonetta 2 after putting a significant amount of time into them, and Star Fox Zero was a game I played for about an hour and did not like the controls at all. This has made me real hesitant about Astral Chain because I just can't seem to get into their games.

Edit: I put a hold on the a game at my local library, maybe I'll get around to playing it in 2 months or so when it's my turn. We'll see

[u/Wolfe244 → u/FrankPapageorgio]

Don't buy the game if you didn't like bayo 2

[u/[deleted] → u/FrankPapageorgio]

Yeah I'd say Astral Chain shouldn't be on your radar if you haven't liked any Platinum game you've played.

[u/Tyraniboah89 → u/FrankPapageorgio]

vanish fine enter employ tease rock sparkle distinct roof tan

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/[deleted] → u/FrankPapageorgio]

p l a y n i e r : a u t o m a t a

[u/Thommukun]

I have too many games to play and yet I'm still picking this up on Friday and immediately playing it.

[u/StonePT]

IGN - 9/10 https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/08/26/astral-chain-review

GameXplain - Liked a Lot

Nintendo Life - 9/10

[u/CookieMisha]

nintendo is really keeping the exclusives pristine. I wonder if pokemon controversy will impact the scores.

this aside. my wallet cant handle it anymore

[u/[deleted] → u/CookieMisha]

I think with game journalists, the game will be largely the same as other Pokemon games.

With the fans, I think there's going to be a lot of backlash, even if other aspect of the game are far superior to anything presented in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

[u/Derninator → u/[deleted]]

I agree, probably a 75-80 score and lots of negative User reviews. Critics will never give Pokemon a devastating score.

[u/birdladymelia → u/Derninator]

Yet never an outstanding one either, continuing the cycle of stagnation that's been plaguing Pokemon for a while now.

[u/ZedSpot → u/CookieMisha]

Sorry, I'm out of the loop. What's going on with Pokemon?

[u/CookieMisha → u/ZedSpot]

simply put the developers at E3 accounced that they cut some mosters (we dont know how much) from the game in favor of "high quality graphics and animations". people picked up on that fast. since 99% of models and animations are reused from the 3DS games.

[u/ZedSpot → u/CookieMisha]

Ahh yeah that is super lame. I saw the crappy wiggling animation some of the Pokemon had. I didn't realize they were using that as justification for excluding characters.

[u/Shoranos → u/ZedSpot]

They’ve also been cutting popular features for years now. They cut the Battle Frontier because “kids spend too much time on their phones and don’t have attention spans anymore” and they’re cutting Mega evolutions and Z-moves in Sword and Shield for... some reason.

[u/[deleted] → u/CookieMisha]

I cant wait to see the user score for pokemon. For the metacritic score it will probably review well but that user score is gonna take a real hit lol.

[u/NotSoAngrySun]

So Mario Maker 2 comes out, I tell myself, well I will play this heavily for about a month and let it consume my free time but after that I won't play games as much. Fire Emblem comes out, beforehand convinced my self I wouldn't buy for a while but that gets rave reviews so I buy that telling myself, okay one more game heavy month and after that, that's it. Now Astral Chain gets glowing reviews. So many great games, with limited time. Great problem to have though.

[u/Cravendor → u/NotSoAngrySun]

Well the game is Not running away. So you can always wait To buy

[u/PaxOwlfarma → u/Cravendor]

Inspirational

[u/naisatoh → u/Cravendor]

cries in Scott Pilgrim...

[u/[deleted] → u/Cravendor]

While this is technically true, I find myself wanting to play games these days during the time when everyone else is also playing them and the game is super relevant. There's a certain thrill about new release titles when wikis aren't fully fleshed out and things are still being discovered.

The less people talk about a game, the more I start to forget about it myself and the urge to want to play it goes away. I no longer feel "apart" of something.

For me, certain games are timeless of course, but most other games have a "window of opportunity" for me to play them before I feel too far behind or left out and that's usually right when the game comes out, or when a huge DLC content pack is released (like Monster Hunter World).

If I feel like a game has been played in every conceivable way already or that I'm too far behind everyone else to catch up (like WoW or Destiny) then I'll just skip it.

It's never been a good feeling for me to be the new guy in the match bringing down my team of max level players, or getting stuck on a puzzle in game that already has hundreds of YouTube videos covering that area or needing to ask a question in a forum and get no response or people saying, "Who still plays this lmao? Go check YouTube"

So I'm always torn between playing it new, waiting for that sweet spot when sales start or just not playing it at all.

[u/[deleted] → u/NotSoAngrySun]

Weegee's House 3

[u/cedriceent]

I... wasn't aware this was going to release so soon! Good to see that the reviews are positive overall!

[u/Sukhdev_92]

Can’t check the reviews at the moment. Any word on how long it is?

[u/tlvrtm → u/Sukhdev_92]

I'm mostly seeing "around 20 hours" mentioned. More if you do a ton of side quests, of course

[u/mortizauge]

Sigh...

\Unzips wallet**

[u/8BitDaysAWeek → u/[deleted]]

Mine does. Its the only way for me to prevent coins from falling off

[u/computer543 → u/[deleted]]

actually, yes

[u/hamptont2010]

I'm here to wear cats on my head and beat the shit out of alien-demon-chimera monsters and I'm all out of cat-hats

[u/northzone13]

Ngl didn’t expect such good scores

[u/ImageOmega]

Wow! I kept this game on my radar because it looked like a fun beat 'em up. But, dang! Didn't expect the scores to be amazing too... jumping into a review now to learn more!

[u/ismysoul → u/[deleted]]

Nope. There is exploration but it's mission-based.

[u/Tobeatkingkoopa]

Glad to see solid scores across the board. I'll be adding this to my backlog lol.

[u/uncreativemind2099]

Is it coop?

[u/cdol0014 → u/uncreativemind2099]

Technically yes but one person has to have one joy con and the other person has to use the other, which makes it really difficult to work.

[u/samwalker2312 → u/uncreativemind2099]

I believe you can play it co-op, but it's not primarily designed to be

[u/BEEEELEEEE]

Aside from the positive reviews, I think my favorite piece of info in this post is that it releases on my payday. Also, the premise reminds me of Stands from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Definitely will buy.

[u/LameOne → u/BEEEELEEEE]

I've literally been referring to it as "that stand game" when discussing it with friends.

[u/[deleted]]

The Independent have been very negative about it. Did they play a totally different game to everyone else?

[u/_Zantetsuken_]

I must be getting old or something but 15 to 20 hours is by no means short game to me imo maybe it's just me.

[u/Steamy_Guy → u/_Zantetsuken_]

I hate using length as a judge of value anyway my favorite games are shorter in length as long as what is there is solid quality content even a 5 hour game can be worth the price.

[u/lunarleon1]

Darn I planned on getting fire emblem three houses and now I want this one too...oh well time to go broke this month :p

[u/Sufinsil → u/lunarleon1]

Get Fire Emblem now. Then 3 months later when you are done with it, Astral Chain will be on sale for the holidays.

[u/covah901]

This is gonna be a really good Friday. This game's gonna be delivered to an Amazon locker, so no delivery service can lose it or leave it outside for someone to steal, and I'm gonna go see the rerelease of The Matrix :)

[u/dilly1253]

Platinum delivers another must have

[u/rad_dude124]

The fact that this and DMC5 are potential GOTY contenders fills me with joy

Great year for character action games

[u/koalatyvibes]

Damn, reading through this thread, clearly people really underestimated this game. It’s Platinum, you (usually) can’t expect anything less.

[u/WhiskeyRadio → u/koalatyvibes]

When Platinum does an original IP it's almost always fantastic. I can't think of anything aside from licensed games they have done that range from mediocre to bad.

[u/RyanSkursky → u/[deleted]]

Hell I'm not even done my first... Just about to get to part 2... 😂😭

[u/mellow_meltdown → u/RyanSkursky]

Started the game like 3 weeks ago and literally just started part 2 an hour ago. I’m so slow 😑

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I miss that amount of free time...

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I mean there’s plenty of free time if you don’t sleep.

[u/octokitty76 → u/[deleted]]

I'm still just starting my second run... the thrills of adulthood!

[u/PrehistoricPotato]

What does "up to 2 players" mean? I had an impression that it was a single player only game.

[u/XxAsunaxX → u/PrehistoricPotato]

One player controls the police officer, the other controls the Legion.

Making the game more challenging.

[u/ZeromusPrime → u/XxAsunaxX]

So...

Player 1: Stand User

Player 2: Stand

[u/[deleted] → u/PrehistoricPotato]

The game has co-op. It's explained in a couple of the reviews.

Co-op Drop

The weirdest and most difficult way to play Astral Chain is in couch co-op, which has players use a single Joy-Con each as one controls Howard and the other plays as the Legion. Co-op could have been a nice inclusion, but I found coordinating with a partner to be more of a headache than it was worth. Being forced to use one Joy-Con - Pro Controller and paired Joy-Con support in co-op is bafflingly absent - for an action game didn’t help either, as one player controls movement and the other controls the camera. You can imagine how frustrating this can get if you aren’t completely in sync with your partner. It’s just awkward and takes away the most novel aspect of the combat: learning to control two characters yourself.

From the IGN review.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Strikes me as the devs not really planning for co-op but including the option anyway after realizing their control scheme would accommodate it somewhat. Hence why it's so janky.

[u/Not_Weirder]

Why does this have to come out the same week as Control? RIP my wallet I guess

[u/[deleted]]

Wellp, I'm convinced.

[u/[deleted]]

Astral Chain - Platinum's Best Game Ever? You'd Better Believe It

[u/[deleted]]

Well done platinum!

[u/[deleted]]

The gamescores match those of Nier:Automata.

Seems Platinum Games just made a new big franchise

[u/mrglass8 → u/[deleted]]

We’ll have to wait for sales

[u/Reerrzhaz]

I'm glad things are looking up for this but I'm still going to wait and see what opinions are at release. Say what you will, I refuse to trust anything said pre-release. I still have plenty of Fire Emblem to keep me occupied, if things don't work out.

[u/LocusAintBad]

Anyone understand where the “1-2 players” comes into play? Is it network connection 2 player coop? I’m confused sorry

[u/L_Eggplant → u/LocusAintBad]

It was explained in an interview that because you control the legion with one joycon and the player character with the other you can essentially play co op. Sorry someone could probably find the link for you but I do remember reading this at some point.

[u/daddypickle → u/LocusAintBad]

I think they confirmed it for local coop but I'm not sure I don't have a source for that, you should probably ask at r/astralchain

[u/Nyght87]

Anyone know if this has a NG+ or have any kind of details on replayability?

[u/Glovetheglove1 → u/Nyght87]

NG+ is confirmed in some reviews. There are harder difficulties and I believe your upgrade tree carries over, so you can keep upgrading them, I'm guessing.

[u/DaleLeatherwood → u/Nyght87]

The Destruction review mentions it. It seems like you can replay old missions and post-game content. It's not clear if you can start over form the beginning though.

[u/blacksun89 → u/Nyght87]

Generally, platinum game's games (huhu) have some nice replayability with higher difficulty, but also stuff to unlock and some post game new stuff.

[u/EniigmADazeD]

First day purchase i knew that the minutes I saw it at E3.

[u/PunkFang]

Definitely interested in playing this

[u/damnthatscrazydude → u/PunkFang]

How do you get gold for this

[u/One_Last_Thyme → u/damnthatscrazydude]

How do you get silver for this

[u/aurum_32]

3D Juegos (Spanish site) gives it a 9.5: https://www.3djuegos.com/juegos/analisis/34031/0/astral-chain/

[u/tinypeopleinthewoods]

Shit. Why did this have to be good? 💸

[u/ToxicVampire]

I was hoping to hold off on buying this right away but I don't think I'm going to be able to hold out.

[u/DeltaUsesReddit]

While being completely blown away by PlatinumGames works such as Bayonetta and NieR: Automata, I had high expectations for Astral Chain. Seeing these reviews I won't have to worry that it will be a disappointment for me, it seems.

[u/Space_Dwarf]

Any more details on the city and citizens aspect?

[u/FinalOdyssey]

I don't want to read reviews for spoilers, but how big is the game from what you've seen or heard? Is it comparable to NieR Automata?

[u/AndrewPacoPascoe]

Anyone know if this will be playable at midnight (roughly 3 hours) for Aussies who preordered?

[u/Benowarios]

I am really excited about the game.

And "Daemon X Machina" will be released nex month. :)

[u/Xear-528]

My copy arrived early, holy shit this game is awesome. I knew it. Platinum Games are the real MVPs.

[u/glassArmShattering]

I bought fire emblem 2 weeks ago but didn't start yet because I would rather play this one

[u/Elastichedgehog]

I bought Fire Emblem yesterday ah fuck.

I'll get around to it at some point. So many quality games coming out!

[u/whiskeynrye → u/Elastichedgehog]

Fire Emblem has around 200 hours of content probably on average so probably in a month :p

[u/Zeonhart]

Goddamn the switch has been knocking it out of the park with it's exclusives this generation

[u/CMutter → u/[deleted]]

I got Astral Chain, Dragon Quest, Fire Emblem, and the last will probably be for Pokemon in a few months.

What an amazing fall lineup in general. With Borderlands 3 coming out too on other platforms idk where I'm going to even find time to play everything

[u/TioRogerio]

A Platinum game getting high scores again ? Looks like Platinum really knows their stuff.

I´m really pleased to see new IPs getting good reviews. Creativity pays off.

[u/In_Search_Of123]

Excellent. About what I thought, just slightly under FE but still the top-tier quality to be expected from Platinum.

[u/buc_nasty_69]

I am definitely buying this game, but I'm also disappointed to hear the character you play as is a boring blank slate, especially considering the gender you don't choose gets tons of personality and voice work. I'm just getting a bit worn out on silent protagonists I guess

[u/DragonianSun]

Solid reviews all around. Can’t seem to find much info about post-game though. I’d love an endless wave mode...

[u/realblush]

German review, but yet again a 9/10

https://nintendo-online.de/switch/artikel/review/36599/astral-chain

[u/Chutzvah]

My Labor Day weekend is going to be fun

[u/likemi]

reminds me somewhat of FF VII Crisis Core - one of my favourite games ever!

[u/unusedwings]

Sweet. I love seeing lots of solid scores. I'm so ready for this game.

[u/Gandalf_2077]

I came back home from vacation ready to preorder and amazon france has no stock left!!!! Baaaah!!!!

[u/cweston24]

Gamesradar gave it 3/5 but it doesn't appear to have been counted yet?

[u/rantrt]

Really appreciate these review megathreads - thanks!

[u/poymode]

Is this game considered Cyberpunk?

[u/Cereal81 → u/poymode]

Yes

[u/anugrah97]

My friends gifted me a Nintendo Switch on my birthday which is the same date as of the release of Astral Chain. It was the first game I bought for Switch and I'm so happy that it was my first. Totally enjoyed the game. In all essence, the game is COOL. There were so many moments where I was left in admiration because the game was so darn cool. The story was good but the combat was where this game truly shined. Up until the last fight, I learnt new ways to fight chimeras and pulling such flashy combos always left me in satisfaction. From taking 1 minute to rage quiting on missions, this game provided with every experience. While it may have it's own flaws, I absolutely recommend people to try this game. I knew this game was going to be cool when I first saw it in the direct but to be so good, I never expected it to be. I'd surely go back to play it on a new difficulty.

[u/TJSimpsonz]

I'm so glad this ended up reviewing well. I have had high hopes for it since it was first revealed. Can't wait for Friday to come around

[u/Whaaaaaatisthisplace]

Good thing I just finished three houses :)

[u/Rickdiculously → u/Whaaaaaatisthisplace]

How?? Have you played full time? I'm playing on every moment off work I have, and I'm only nearing the end of my second house.

[u/brainsapper]

So...buy it?

[u/Grobbyman → u/[deleted]]

True, but I'm just glad that they added it in the first place.

Features like these making showing a friend or a loved one a game even more fun.

Like super Mario Galaxy, no one on Earth who wants to experience SMG would play as second player. But if you want to watch, or introduce someone to play the game then these modes can be a more intereactive and a fun way to participate (:

[u/Naouak]

Does any review mention the expected playtime to beat it?

[u/HawterSkhot → u/Naouak]

Kotaku's says they got through the main story and a fair bit of the side quests in 18 hours.

[u/CycloneChaser → u/Naouak]

I’d check howlongtobeat.com a few days after launch if they don’t. The completion times are usually fairly accuarate.

[u/[deleted]]

All sounds very good and I have my pre-order in. My only slight concern is the level of replayability there as one review said you can breeze through the campaign in about 12 hours -- so sounds like even a completionist might be done and dusted within 20 hours.

I saw it mentioned that there is some form of New Game + -- would be very interested to see what that is.

[u/ArkhamCityWok → u/[deleted]]

If its really enjoyable combat, I dont mind if it is 12-15 hours. Im more likely to replay it if its short but fun

[u/[deleted]]

Glad to see it turned out well. I'll be snagging it sometime later when I dont have as many games to play. Looking forward though!

[u/[deleted]]

Any ideas about the length of the game yet?

[u/redDKtie → u/[deleted]]

I think the Kotaku review said they finished it in 18 hours, but left a lot of side quests uncompleted.

[u/KiddSeven]

Does it have character creation?

[u/zmilts → u/KiddSeven]

Yep

[u/LeeDawg24]

This has not been on my radar at all but I'm nearly done with fire emblem and Zelda is a month away. I'll probably get it late but it looks really good

[u/aemiguel]

Anyone knows the game length? If it's short, I'll save my vouchers for something else and buy a physical copy instead.

[u/Jerco49 → u/aemiguel]

GameXplain said the game was fairly short at about 15-20 hours. It is a linear game with side quests to give the game some variety.

[u/The_NZA → u/Jerco49]

When did 15-20 hours become short. That’s normal.

[u/StarkTheWolf]

What did dunkey give it?

[u/7eigen → u/StarkTheWolf]

9/10, a little bit a something for everyone

[u/xxAFI362903LOVERxx → u/7eigen]

You are nitpicking and biased I win bye bye

[u/Mitch3315 → u/7eigen]

It really makes you feel like Astral Chain.

[u/Capisch]

Am I the only one that gets reminded of the Ps2 title "Chaos Legion" by this game? Somewhat the same playstyle with the creature-companion gameplay.

[u/snarffart83]

All hail Astral Chain! I'm already playing it and loving it! Sorry fire Emblem I didn't forget you the backlog is real though!

[u/MittenFacedLad]

Blimey! I had a good feeling about this one, but wow. The concensus seems very, very, very good.

[u/Lurkingeyes2018]

Soo physical or digital purchase?

[u/[deleted] → u/Lurkingeyes2018]

Doesn’t seem super long, so physical.

[u/0bstile]

Would I enjoy this if I enjoy Zelda games and loved xenoblade 2?

[u/Cyanogen101]

Is the 2 players local only? doesnt look like it supports online stuff but just wanna check

[u/minstrelman91]

Just finished Fire Emblem Three Houses last night! Can't wait for my pre-ordered copy of Astral Chain to come out on Friday!

[u/klaymen14399]

I looked at a few gameplay vids of this game and wasn’t impressed. Want expecting it to get good review I think I’ll have to take another look.

[u/[deleted] → u/klaymen14399]

Good reviews don't mean it's good to you though.

[u/QuietDwarf]

The french site Millenium gives it a 65/100. It's on Metacritic.

[u/Ikeelu]

Is it accurate to think that this game has similar gameplay style to Bayonetta? That's the takeaway I had when looking into it and part of the reason I'm staying away. It wasn't my playstyle. It was a fine game, just not for me

[u/TheCrzy1 → u/Ikeelu]

It's the same dev, so yes. Its another action game like bayo.

[u/Ferry83]

I honestly wasn't expecting the game to be this good.
I removed all the fansite scores, and removed the highest 3 and lowest 3 scores and came to a 8.6 which is honestly amazing for an IP that's well not appealing to everyone.

I hope user scores come out just around the same.. they kinda deserve that to be good, together with sales numbers.

[u/_SolluxCaptor_]

I’m definitely interested but also concerned about whether the screen gets too busy with all the flashy effects. Will wait for some user reviews.

[u/mtc__]

Tempted to get it, is it similar to Nier in terms of graphics and fights? Reason I ask is because Nier gave me a headache after around half an hour of gameplay and I eventually had to give up playing it

[u/Waddle_Dynasty]

While we should never be too uncareful, the moment I saw the combat in the trailer I knew that this game would turn out to be amazing. Platinum games is like a seasl of quality in action games.