Astral Chain

Genre: Spectacle Fighter / Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Astral Chain is a Spectacle Fighter with elements of Action-RPGs that has the player taking the role of a cop in a post-apocalyptic future where the remnants of humanity are gathered together on a giant floating city called an Ark that is besieged by extra-dimensional beings called Chimeras. The player fights off these monsters through the use of Legions, captured Chimeras that are chained to the player and fight alongside them.

The presentation in Astral Chain is absolutely slick, with some large, detailed environments, nice textures, good use of lighting and reflections, highly-detailed subtly cel-shaded characters. There is a huge amount of imagination that went into the overall look of the game, especially some of the game’s bizarre, otherworldly locales. I wouldn’t go quite as far as to say that this is one of the best-looking games on the Switch – the environments are a bit sparse and I did notice a bit of aliasing here and there, and the characters’ mouths don’t sync up properly to their spoken dialogue… but overall, this is a very impressive-looking game.

And while the mouths don’t match up well to the words, the actual spoken dialogue is fairly well-acted, with the game very much having the feel of an anime. In fact, the game’s soundtrack feels like it was directly inspired by classics like Ghost in the Shell, with some of its songs being pretty damn catchy. And of course the game’s odd and imaginative story feels like it could have come straight out of an anime, with elements of Ghost in the Shell and Evangelion.

When it comes to the gameplay, you know you’re in for something special when you see Platinum Games is doing a Spectacle Fighter, but I feel like they’ve really outdone themselves this time. This game feels like nothing else they’ve ever done, and I don’t know how the heck they came up with it, but the entire experience is absolutely bursting with originality.

When it comes to combat, at first the gameplay here is pretty standard, almost like a simplified version of Platinum’s work in other games like Bayonetta. However, the game gradually reveals its surprising depths. Players control their character using the left stick and attack using the right trigger. On its own, there’s not much variety to the human side of the combat – players can string together combos, do dodge rolls, swap between a few different types of weapons, and use items, but nothing as elaborate and intricate as the fighting system in Bayonetta. However, this is only half the story.

See, with the left trigger, players can summon their Legion, who goes to where players aim and without further input will fight enemies on his own. However, players can also hold down the left trigger to direct the Legion’s movement using the right stick. As the game progresses, players learn an increasing variety of techniques that combine the human and Legion together in concert – wrapping the chain around enemies or using it to trip up charging enemies, or having the Legion tug the human toward him to cover distance or join in on a combo. It takes some getting used to, but the combat in this game is immensely satisfying and extremely original. And while at first things may have seemed a bit simple and repetitive, that’s only because there is quite a lot to go over here, and the game is smart enough to pace itself out so it can reveal its depth to you slowly enough so you can grasp it all.

However, that’s not where the originality here ends. In another departure from games like Bayonetta, Astral Chain isn’t all about the action. Breaking up the action sequences are crime scenes the player must investigate, talking with witnesses and using an Arkham-esque “Iris” vision mode to piece together clues to track down the culprit. These areas also allow for a fair amount of exploration as well, with players looking for pickups to improve their score, often calling for clever use of their Legion, who acts as your bloodhound, hazardous materials cleanup, and bridge to out-of-reach areas. Depending on how thorough you are in these areas, you could score more resources to power-up your abilities back at the headquarters in-between missions.

To be clear, these areas are self-contained and separated into chapters, and the only way to return to one after you’ve left it is to replay the chapter after the fact. However, they make this a much more thoughtful game than most Spectacle Fighters, and do a wonderful job breaking up the combat so you have a bit more variety in gameplay.

Oh, at some point I should mention the two-player Co-Op, so I guess I’ll do it here. Um… it exists? Basically, all it does is split the functions of the controller among two players, which is a bit strange and awkward, with one player controlling the camera and Legion’s movement, while the other controls the human character. It works, I guess, but I feel like players expecting a full co-op experience will be disappointed that they can’t actually control the legion’s attacks, and this feels more like ticking off a box on a features list than adding a good feature to the game. It’s nice that it’s here, but it feels tacked-on.

Largely when it comes to complaints, all I have here are nitpicks. I’ve already mentioned that this game is slow to reveal its full depth, and some players may not realize at first that depth is there. Also, you’ll occasionally find yourself in an otherworldly Astral Plane, and as fantastical as these areas are, they often look pretty samey from one area to the next, and are sprawled out a bit too much. And while it’s nice to be able to go back to replay old chapters, I kinda’ wish that this game had an interconnected world that let you go back and revisit prior areas. Also, while I mostly find this game’s approach to platforming (sending out your Legion and having them tug you toward them) to be really fun and original, it can be a bit finicky at times and it’s annoying when the game decides you’ve hit an obstruction mid-jump and has you plummet into the abyss, losing health in the process.

Still, I stress that these are all minor complaints. Overall, Astral Chain is an absolute must-have on the Nintendo Switch. It’s wildly original, with fun, deep, and refreshingly unique combat, separated by engrossing investigation gameplay, set in an imaginative world that’s rendered using wonderful graphics, a great soundtrack, and an overall aesthetic that will have any serious fan of anime smiling. If you’re a Switch owner who enjoys Action games, this should be one of the first games you get.

tl;dr – Astral Chain is a Spectacle Fighter like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta, but it plays wildly differently than those games, with a refreshingly unique chain combat system, some Action-RPG elements tied to Arkham-like investigation sections, and a fantastical world inspired by classic anime, all in a package with a truly excellent presentation. This is a must-have game on Switch, especially for fans of Action games and especially especially for those looking for something truly different. Do not miss out on this game.

Grade: A+

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