Platinum is known for its action titles, especially with games like Bayonetta, Nier: Automata, and Metal Gear Rising. Astral Chain is the latest version exclusive from the company for Switch, and it offers quality action gameplay, an interesting story, and lots and lots of style.
The game is already intense: your first mission is to chase at high speed on a motorcycle until you reach the place surrounded by strange creatures from the Astral plane, the chimeras The Neuron Soldiers Team is an elite police force that deals with the problems caused By these creatures that cannot normally be seen by ordinary people. The Neuron uses enslaved chimeras as its primary weapon, the Legion. Their control is only allowed by Astral Chain technology, a chain that transcends the astral plane and allows the user and the Legion to enter into near-symbiotic synchronization.
During the game, you play as the silent protagonist, one of Captain Max's twin sons. I suggest you choose the character you don't want to play with, highlighting the personality of your brother or sister. You will remain silent throughout the game.
A mystery of the best anime style is the basis of the story here.
The game is divided into four parts. Before missions, you can explore the Union base of operations. There you will have combat tutorials in a training room to hone your skills and learn all the details of the fight, which is fast and full of color and explosions. You can also color your legions, upgrade your equipment, and buy items to prepare for the next mission.
At the beginning of each mission, you need to explore the stage, talk to the NPCs, and in survey mode, collect clues and learn a little more about what happened in the area. There are also a series of smaller missions, called "Blue Cases", that are being processed. Most of them are simple missions, ranging from mini-games or puzzles to missions to retrieve an item, capture an NPC, or even face some enemies. The quirk, which is also one of Platinum's charms, is present here, with some examples of missions where you have to help other cops carry boxes, balancing them so as not to disappoint them, or even grab a multi-account ice cream. For a little boy
Once you have explored and understood the real threat, you enter the second and best part of each mission: the fight. It's sleek, fast, and with more bang than a Michael Bay movie. You will face chimeras and people corrupted by Redshift, a type of disease caused by interference from the astral plane. He uses a weapon called the X-Baton, which is a police baton that can be turned into various other forms, such as a weapon for ranged attacks or a sword for slower and more powerful attacks.
You are fragile and cannot take much damage caused by raw chimeras. Therefore, your movements must be well calculated, involving a lot of dodging and approaching at the right time. If you set the time to deflect an enemy attack, it will cause a slight slowdown in time and an opening for a graceful counterattack. In addition to your character, you also control your Legion and it is with this strange combination that the game shines in its infancy. In the wee hours of the morning, it can seem difficult to control two characters at the same time during the fight, which reminded me a bit of the game of V in Devil May Cry 5.
You can have Legion attack a specific target or move it freely with the other analog (the one that controls your camera) and use the current that connects you creatively to launch enemies that charge you or even tie you down. that cause a small opening and do a lot of damage.
These are different legions that you will get during the game, with different skills and play styles such as faster attacks with less damage, slower attacks, and even an attack focused on ranged attacks to catch the enemy's enemies. Harder to steal. reached.
Each chapter is divided into mini-missions and at the end of each chapter you get a score based on your performance in that fight. Don't worry if you only get C and D in the beginning, it is quite normal to learn, and in future missions, you may get an A, an S, or even an S +. This performance evaluation mode is only available on game difficulty. Standard level, called standard for Platinum games, but there are some simpler modes if you don't want to have a lot of challenges.
On the astral plane, between fights, you will find platform sections and puzzles to solve, as well as the collection of red matter fragments scattered on the map. Close to the fight, these excerpts might seem a bit repetitive and monotonous, but it's still a good time to rest after an intense fight against a mini-boss or legion of Chimeras.
summary
Astral Chain is the latest Nintendo IP address that we want to see more and more of. A very elegant platinum-style action game, with a funny story and good anime. Although some parts of the game are a bit tiring, like collecting thousands of pieces of red material hidden in the landscape, all other points are excellent game. I just wanted to see a little more personality in the character that I am. I chose, starting a bit the cliché of the silent protagonist.
This analysis was made from a copy provided courtesy of Nintendo. Astral Chain is available on the Nintendo Store