Platinum Game's Evolving Design | An Astral Chain Analysis
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2019
- I struggled a lot articulating everything I wanted to say with this one, but it's finally done. A video analyzing Astral Chain and how it reflects Platinum's development as a game studio.
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"But seriously, where the hell is Bayonetta 3??"
God I felt that.
As I tell the Bayonetta Speedrunning Discord, "It's been 21 months since we last heard anything about Bayonetta 3."
It was obvious Platinum was dumping everything they had into Astral Chain, so I am guessing they are just now starting development which would make the game being released around 2021 by my estimates.
@@worsel555 I don't know. Platinum is a big studio, it has almost 200 employees. So it for sure, staff is split up on some teams. I think that Bayonetta 3 is coming next year.
@@boxlover8244 21 months, no screen shots, no comments about how the game is coming along other than "We're working on it!", nothing. By now we should have seen or heard ANYTHING but it's zilch. I think they pulled a Square, when they showed off the trailer for FF7 Remake in 2015 but actually had not started work on the game for another two years. Platinum put out a teaser and then got drawn in to doing Astral Chain.
@@worsel555 but Nintendo usually doesn't show anything about their games till the release date is near. Between astral chain announcement and release, it's has been a few months. The same did it with Mario oddisey, Xenoblade, Luigi's mansion, etc. They sometimes start show something a year before, but after Metroid prime 4 delay. They sure don't want show more games very soon. Besides, this year had to be the year for astral chain, and show something about Bayonetta could make people stay focus on it instead of Astral chain
Last I heard, Bayonetta 3 was still scheduled for 2019, but seeing as it's almost October and we've heard nothing about it means we won't be seeing it any time soon…which makes me sad
Astral Chain is so amazing, what I love about PlatinumGames is that whenever they create a new IP they force you to learn and adapt to a completely new style of gameplay. I'm one of those try-hard hermits that have got a Pure Platinum on every level on all difficulties of Bayonetta 1 and 2 and even after having to master the mechanics of those games to do that I still felt challenged with Astral Chain. It's also crazy that this was the game creators FIRST time directing a game and it turned out this good, give this man a medal.
I heard Platinum Games add depth to the gameplay & maybe even the A.I. when played on higher difficulties.
Can you confirm this?
I have Astral Chain but haven't played it yet & I've never played a Platinum Games game but was intrigued by the idea that they make the game deeper when you set it to a more challenging level.
AI is more aggressive and the enemy order is usually remixed, which means you need to play and learn the systems better, so the depth only comes from the player, not that depth is locked away to higher difficulties.
@@Foxcade I understand now, thank you. Makes sense.
everyone please play and Support Astral Chain. It's freakin dope.
THIS
File 8 is tedious and I don't know if I want to complete it to move on - it is THAT bad.
@@mekudu-man3804 you're bad, imo
@@jb8876 nah, the chapter is. And I misspoke I meant file 9.
@@mekudu-man3804 believe me there isn’t a single game out there where every part is enjoyable to play if you didn’t push through that one part then honestly it’s your lost masterpiece of a game
The potential the story and characters have is one of the main reasons why I want a sequel to this game.
They have the gameplay down already and know it's a success. Really, they probably only need to tweak some things, make some fun minor additions, and then I think if a sequel is made it should devote more focus to the world building, story, and characters because I think it can all be pretty great.
Though I loved every second of the gameplay, the one disappointment I felt when I beat it is that I wanted more done with the characters. The entire time I was playing I felt like a lot of the characters had a lot of potential, and I was sad that said potential wasn't utilized. Like, Kyle? When he was introduced, I thought he seemed like a really fun character and I remember thinking "Can't way to see what he does later in the game!" But... he doesn't get to do anything.
I think this is something that can (and I hope) gets rectified in a potential sequel. I'd love for these characters to end up being as fun and memorable as characters from Platinum's other series'.
One aspect about Astral Chain that I appreciate comes from my experience playing Devil May Cry 1 and 3. They're great games but the one thing that DMC 1 and 3 that annoyed me was the time score it would give you. The games give you all sorts of collectibles to find and locales to explore but the game also punishes you if you take your time looking around. I know, the time score is more for your subsequent playthroughs when you have found everything and you're shooting for that high score. It was still irritating that the game mocked me for having the audacity to explore the stage a little. That's why I like that Astral Chain doesn't demerit you for looking around the level at your own pace.
21powah I’m pretty sure that was changed in 5
@@robindabank9616 True, but Hideki Kamiya wasn't involved with 5 so I figured 1 and 3 were more relevant to a Platinum discussion.
To be fair, first playthrough on a Devil may cry is just tutorial/introduction. You are supposed to give at least a second run.
@@21powah Kamiya wasn't involved with the series after 1
@@Lazypackmule Egg on my face then!
Funny thing about Chaos Legion; it was originally developed by the same people that went on to form Clover studio, the same studio that evolved into Platinum games much later on down the line. That's what makes Astral Chain so neat in hindsight; it's the next generation of devs taking a crack at a concept that had only ever really been tried by the previous generation of that exact same dev team, this time refining and polishing that concept using all of the lessons that they'd learned along the way.
I wish more people who pick up Astral Chain go back and give Chaos Legion a look just to see exactly how far back the roots of this style of game go. It'll even give them some idea of why the guy that was brought in to do the design work for Astral Chain was the guy behind Zetman.
I liked chaos legion but I thought astral sucked
@@ryanwood6754 Late reply, but that's an interesting statement that i would be interest in further clarification for. What makes you like Chaos Legion so much more over Astral Chain, if i may ask?
As someone who has only played metal gear rising, Vanquish and Astral Chain, I would like to give some specific reasons Astral Chain is my favorite from them based on your critiques. To me, it really came down generally to immersion built through great pacing and there always being interesting things to do with your legions..
While I would have preferred an active protagonist with character, I did get the full benefit from them letting you project. I really imagined I was in the game, the only difference between me and my character being that I did not train to become a police officer. The right choice would have been to give them emotion due to the issue you mentioned with needing other characters to react, but I was able to live with this as a missed opportunity rather than a negative.
In terms of the story, I think the structure is a symptom of a trade-off rather than the actual issue. This world felt incredibly well defined, but even if this is the longest Platinum Game, it's still a Platinum Game. As such, I believe they decided to make a story that hit all of their world building so you would feel like a part of the world, and as such could only spend so much time on the story. As each self-contained story was good, I give it a break. I also believe it was paced very well, with parts such as chapter 7 being full throttle all chapter and chapter 8 being entirely a cool-down chapter. Not to mention that it make sense why you are the hero here. Instead of just "You did a good with your legion," it's "You did a good with your legion and we have no other options." This plus being imprisoned after chapter 6 really made the story feel more realistic; I am actually a police officer, not a perfect protagonist in a police uniform. Little things like that caused me to really enjoy the story.
Lastly, I only agree with your opinion on the blue cases in terms of replay value. If I had to pick one specific why I set the game above Revengeance and Vanquish, it would be the downtime out of combat. In these games, exploration was looking for a chest in a battlefield you went through or listening to a (well-written) codec call, which felt too passive or uninteresting to warrant not moving immediately moving to the next fight, messing with pacing. Here though, not only do the Legions make puzzle solving more interesting, but the expert worldbuilding makes what you find interesting as well. I'm not a fan of platformers, so I appreciated the puzzle style over the usual platforming fair, and it helped me feel one with the legions just as much as combat. Like an actual police dog, they weren't just there to attack enemies, but also to help with the more mundane aspects. And the NPC's in this game! I can verbally from a seperate room give you the full tour of neruron HQ, mentioning every NPC, about half of their names, and a character trait/fun fact about each of them. And I fondly remember the graffiti artists, the vending machines, Carlos, the room the cats are kept, the kids who got to play soccer because I took the time to kick a ball to them. Having those characters to fight for honestly was the biggest reason past the combat I felt compelled to keep playing.
Thank you for reading through all of that if you did, TH-cam comment reader. If you wondered why people like Astral Chain a lot, I hop that gives you a perspective. I imagine Wondeful 101 is more unique, Bayonetta is more polished, and Nier: Automata has a much better story. But for the games I've played and my taste, Astral Chain sucked me into the game in a way I have not been since playing Xenoblade X, the game in my profile picture, and it did not let me go until 3 houses plus a dual STEM major college schedule finally pulled me out. I'm one of those people who wants a sequel, not because of the "game good, give sequel" mentality that I think can be a bit too prevalent, but so that they can give a more focused story and a better main character to make an even more memorable experience with this awesome world and combat system.
This is a lot for a response
File 8 sucked ass tho - File 7 was too short imo, especially cuz the boss was just a recycled one which was a let down for me and sucked the urgency nad tention out of the chapter. I really wanted to redo it afterwards, but I didn't have the last Legion, so it didn't make much sense. But then came File 8 which was a huge stinker, especilly cuz you can't justbreeze through it, but have to do all these chores that just fell ass. I paused the game for a week because of it and I don't know if I can and will make it through this very tedious chapter, because it is that bad and annoying. I just hate shit like that in a game and especially in an action game - kills all the fun and the hype, not good.
The story was severly lacking and offered no explanation for anything
Astral chain from what i played has been tons of fun and badass
Post Post-Apocalyptic settings are always so fascinating to me, and the setting in Astral Chain appears to one
You can make just about any kind of world you, as long as it’s genuinely interesting and makes sense in the context of narrative.
Favorite examples being:
Nier: Automata
Horizon Zero Dawn
Final Fantasy X (loosely, rather than the apocalyptic event being a series of events leading to a collapse of a civilization, it’s a singular physical entity destroying everything in its path every ten years. Having repeated this cycle 100 times by the time the events of the game happen.)
Death Stranding
Kingdom Hearts (If you REALLY want to get technical and dive into the lore.)
The first Darksiders (the opening begins with the start of the apocalypse and picks back up 100 years after the fact.)
There’s a few others that I can’t think of off the top of my head just now.
THANK YOU!!! For pointing out the obvious connection between Chaos Legion and this game. I feel like I’m the only person who saw it given how old and obscure Chaos Legion is. Definitely a game that needs to come back
I actually enjoyed Astral Chain more than NieR Automata. I don't think either was bad, though as much praise as NieR received for its story, it was such a chore to playthrough and wasn't very fun for me.
While Astral Chain, I've completed twice already.
Having the play the game again as 9s made the game kinda hard to finish for me, the second half of the great and all but the hill getting up was rough
The area is too large and spaced out imo. Made it too much running instead of fighting
As well as not being a police officer, I'm sure you aren't an anime boy either.
How's Astral Chains story?
@@nelsonw.9483 it’s simple does what it needs to do but if I’m being honest you don’t buy platinum games stuff for story lol but everything else is masterpiece level especially once you beat the tutorial
A new Foxcade video is always exciting. Nice!😎
Enjoyed the analysis.
One element that really makes me feel Astral Chain stand out, and why people are saying it's their best (screw that, Vanquish still takes that imo), is how refreshing it is. Like many of Platinum's games, they break the mold and don't play like a DMC or GoW. Astral Chain reminds me of Metal Gear Rising, it's a breath of fresh air, something uniquely different.
Regarding the limiter. Should be noted how important Red Matter is, as it allows you to stack double meter. Same with FusionCanceling effecively giving you infinite legion-meter, though I understand you didn't want to mention it because of spoilers.
The chips, they're pretty good. Some stat changes are very typical as you note, but you're doing the game a disservice for not calling out the other ones like Slow and Omega Armour that change the game very much.
I do feel the ranking system is pretty interesting. On the one hand it removes the presence of "checkpoint reload" that fueled Bayonetta and MGR:R's 'high level play', on the other it really is leading to it gaining the repuation of 'it's just a masher', which we're seeing more and more sadly.
But one thing that I really feel is the strength of Astral Chain is its single character focus. Action games are focusing more and more on having multiple playable characters, making foes play less to the strengths and weaknesses and more play to work against all the characters. Here there's only one, so they really play to your strengths. This is also shown in the boss fights which are more than just 'hit it until it dies', with enviromental hazards or platforming emphasis.
My biggest critique, aside from the slow burn as you mentioned, is that the fact that you cannot activate Legion skills without coming to a full stop. I think the game would've been a lot more active and saw the player influence the combat more together in that sense if that were the case. I'm currently almost done with my No Upgrade Run, and I've done a lot more 'team work' in that run due to lacking Skills, while on my regular save on I more use quick syncs paired with legion skills.
Vanquish is still the only game I think that Platinum will never be able to top. Shinji Mikami leaving was a huge loss to the company.
@@benkai343434 Fully agree, Mikami, paired with the feeling of 'we have to prove ourselves' really brought out their best. The stars just aligned.
Just finished this game today, yet another Platinum classic tbh.
Good video! 👍
the guy who did character design is the manga artist of some of my fave manga growing up. so this game really hit the spot aesthetically, and nice gameplay
one of the best action game this year so far platinum always nailed it , great video as always
It felt like an excellent launching pad for a franchise
There is so much potential here for a sequel
Great video, with comedy at the right moments. Personally I prefer Astral Chains style of ranking because, to be honest, getting hit as little as possible while killing quickly and cool should be a basic desire in anyone who plays these type of games. I don't need a ranking to motivate me to get hit less.
I also really really enjoyed the side content, which others seem to either hate or find meh.
Also, put a trigger warning on 16:16 That shit made me sigh every time.
Yeah same. If anything the side content is a bit of fresh air before the more oncoming madness. I think it's one of those people don't like change things
First, happy to hear SPD getting a shout-out. Second, I've been playing Daemon X Machina recently and alot what you said about silent protag of Astral Chain can apply to Daemon's CAC I played as.
The track that plays when you are back at the police station gets stuck in my head all the time.
I've been looking forward to this
Thank God somebody mentioned Chaos Legion! That game's dope and deserves recognition, dammit!
I still own Chaos Legion. But the game that is truly deserving of recognition is BUJINGAI. Now, that's an amazing game😂🤣😆
That game was straight 🔥... Had so much fun wrecking with all the different Legions.
This is probably their most unique combat system that's still can be compared to Bayonetta. Most action games they've made felt like Bayonetta except this. And I was extremely disappointed to find out that they dropped Granblue Fantasy since it looked to be a true action RPG that respected party roles and was wondering if they were running out of ideas. Thankfully even if this game isn't their best it's at the very least a stepping stone for something else and maybe they might take risks again? Like a Vanquish sequel that doesn't follow military shooter standards? Or a successor to the MGR formula? Or even that stupid Ninja turtles game done right.
Play wonderful 101
Correction, scientists are not from neuron, but from A.R.I.
And Neuron and the rest of the Ark police use ARI technology and ARI personnel are also working in Neuron.
@@pablotomasllodra4423 yes. But it just like saying that lion is a cat and domestic cat is a cat. But domestic cat is not a lion.
I needed that Fire Emblem reference!!!
I was wondering lately when the next Foxcade video would show up. It's been a while. This seems like a perfect way to make a comeback though. Also what got my mind on it was that I finally got around to Assault Spy, which your video on was really the big thing that got me interested in the first place. Definitely worth finally checking out.
And on the scoring system in this game, I like it in some ways, but others I'm less thrilled with it. When it comes to the combat anyway. But there's nothing I outright don't like about it. I do like that it rewards you using your full arsenal and making combat that looks varied, and gets you to get to grips with everything you have. I don't mind so much that it doesn't punish items or death, but that is perhaps a bit too forgiving. Ever since I I got over the initial hump of trying to understand the game, it was almost more of a challenge to get anything under S+ on normal fights. But maybe they could punish death somewhat, but not items? After all you could argue that keeping an eye on health and picking a good moment to heal is a part of the overall combat skills. I hate the non-combat rankings with a fiery passion though. Pretty much all those missions are awful, have nothing to do with the combat mechanics, and are weirdly harsh. It's not fair that my ranking for a chapter gets docked because the gyro controls for carrying boxes is broken, or stuff like that.
I'll be honest I felt like I was playing an overlord game the whole time.
Which one? The anime or the one with minions. If it's the latter, I can see it
@@alecberry1823 yeah the game. Don't get me wrong I loved both games but I just couldn't shake that feeling.
I beat the game but you have unlocked so much more content than I’ve seen I stopped playing few weeks back but I’m boutta pop that cart back in
With the mention of controlling two characters connected by a chain.... Knuckles' Chaotix anyone?
Me: bought game at launch
Also me: wait, Sword's L1 is a *PARRY?*
Astral Chain is SO GOOD, I loved it a lot! I hardly have complaints about the game, except for the underutilization and missed potential of the investigation bits and the silent protagonist. Aside from that I loved everything about the game.
Great video!
Great video
Astral Chain is awesome
With this and both Bayonettas, I should probably get a Switch at some point.XD Thank you for another great video. :-)
you should bayonetta 1 and 2 is one of the best ever action games
The character illustrations ring a bell, I'm sure I've seen that style before.
Edit: Yep, That's Masakazu Katsura from Zetman, Video Girl AI and I''s
28:58 “but that’s just me and my correct opinions again” lmao I love you
So upon the very beginning of the video, I was sold on this game from that one ten second clip. I am now buying a Switch and this game as soon as I can.
so you touched on it, are you every going to do a retrospective/review of transformers devastation since i believe that it's a very underrated game, just curious sinse you brought it up in this
One phrase:
AsTAURAl Chain.
I think we'll be seeing more Taura-Platinum Games titles in the future. I see Astral Chain as the 2nd Taura-Platinum Game.
Honestly I would just love for them to go back to a pure action game without of bunch of RPG super armor elements clashing with the core system. This has really been bogging down my experience since nier automata. This game is really enjoyable and I get what they're trying to go for but its like multiple clashing with themselves. Honestly besides bayonetta, transformers devastation comes at a close second best to me.
Nier is sequel tho. Platinum just cannot change its gameplay.
What ever pont you’re trying to make doesn’t make sense you can really only use that reason for nier a game that they don’t own that they were helping to make nier is owned by square it’s a rpg that won’t change just because they asked another developer to help and this is nothing like that astral chain is definitely an action game maybe you just can’t keep up
@@showmeyourmoves8551 well its a sequel to a game that was never praised for its combat, they could easily change the shit and no one would fault them for it
I hate when games overcomplicate things with unnecessary damage buffs... seriously, this is the reason I love dmc5. Pure gameplay without the technical bullshit.
Definitely my favorite platinum game, and I've played them all extensively. It just feels so fresh. It really starts to feel like two units fighting as one as you get more skilled at using all the legions. I just can't put the game down. It's going to feel weird going back to a single action game when I'm so used to this dual action system.
I really don't care about the rating system though, if you're having fun you're having fun regardless of the rank. I'm simply enjoying the game more just by playing it than I did trying to perfect my skills for perfect ratings in bayo2.
Chaos Legion? Nice.
Please cover Transformers: Devastation, it's a great game that so few people talk about!
I never realised before how the story flits around, and has plot holes, and plot points that just go nowhere or otherwise taper off. I reckon I prefer the world that is presented moreso than the story, and my opinion is that Astral Chain is excellent overall.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this game. I finally got to play this game a couple of weeks ago. I have mixed feelings about this game. There's potential in this game, yet there are some stuff that holds this game back from being truly great. The music for me is either really exciting and fun to listen to, especially when it comes to the boss fights, but when you're not busy with fighting, it seems kinda so-so. The theme for the police station sounds kinda boring and generic to me.
The gameplay is very interesting and it feels very unique. It definitely took some time getting use to it. I know there is a locked-on target for your enemies, but there were some instances of where the camera doesn't focus on the enemy or it gets caught up with something. I dunno. It just felt a bit weird in certain places.
You hit the nail on the head about the avatar and how everyone reacts to the character, but the character doesn't react much. If we're gonna have a silent protagonist, I want them to express themselves. Otherwise, it just feels stilted and disconnected. I get what Platinum was doing with this character, but it just doesn't work. It's like what you said, what's better then projecting? Relating.
It's the same feeling I got with Link from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There is a story reason why he doesn't talk, but that's explained away through text, instead of a cutscene. I know, it's kind of a tradition that Link doesn't talk in Zelda games, but still. I think they could still make him more expressive even if he doesn't talk.
If this game ever gets a sequel, I want them to refine and improve the gameplay even more and maybe have better payoff with certain story beats in the story. I do see the potential in this game. It just needs some refine retooling.
The fact that you added a Jojo reference makes me want to scream in happiness.
Honestly Astral Chain is just a really strong game. Though it's kind of a cheesy b-movie story, and you know what, I like it for that. Goofy is right up my alley. Someone please call the anime cops, he's really creeping me out.
Something I noticed about Bayonetta and Wonderful 101 was how limited their extra systems were. You could mix things together to get items, but using them often hurt your score, or the systems felt puddle-deep, with you figuring out everything they could make in extremely short order. It was nice that Wonderful 101 relaxed penalties for item usage, but still very few people used them. In Astral Chain, perhaps appropriately, it somewhat feels like they're trying to shake off the *chains* of limited or constrained design that were in previous Platinum games.
It's not like I don't appreciate the demanding, precision-focused gameplay of prior Platinum titles, but it at times felt like you were penalized for *playing the game* with the *things it gave you.* It was a bit much at times, and yeah, secret areas' scores not being segregated from the main level's score was always too restrictive.
But for what should feel like an unreasonably restrictive core gameplay system, instead feels like it's practically giving you wings with how many options it's giving you. While your character is perfectly functional, the legions actually feel like more than just your 'other half' -- they feel like 'your other 75%'. The number of extra features to distinguish them is truly marvelous. Like being able to hold your gladius out while riding Beast Legion to drag it on the ground, or being able to jet boost and have hyper armour while wearing Arm Legion. Each legion has so many unique things that it really does feel like you can tailor how you use them into something that reflects you.
For example, until I saw a video of it, I never would have thought of using Arm Legion to drop a black hole and then immediately unchain them to wail on the group with something else - my normal gameplay had me unchaining Arrow to have a constant barrage going, using Beast to stun enemies, then pummeling enemies either on the head or from behind while wearing Arm with critical hit boosts equipped to it.
It always looked like a game I wouldn't like much but after finally playing it this last few weeks I can say it's the most underrated game in the last few years.
Cant wait to play, but first i need to buy a switch
Astral Chain is Scalebound reworked for a cyberpunk setting opposed to a prehistoric meets modern setting.
Just the opposite of how Phantasy Star Online, with its more futuristic setting inspired Monster Hunter's prehistoric meets modern setting.
I think people are blowing thw "wonkyness" of chain jumping out of proportion. If was strange for me at first but after learning how to do it I didn't have any problems afterwards all you gotta do is line the jumps up correctly.
You did job good!
now that i got that out of the way, i want to ask you what will you do next? well i guess Death Stranding because it's the closest one, or maybe something nostalgic to you ? or some anime. maybe you already has something in the process...
what i want to ask is, is there some out of your and ours comfort zone video game that you want make a video about ?
because i would like to see that. something surprising. maybe some obscure game that not many people played, something among the lines of God Hand when it was really obscure.
for instance if i would make a video on something underground i would do on Jagged Alliance 2 because it's such an obscure game that i'm sure no one knows.
so i'm asking you if you have something.
Dude, good video. You touched on all the points that Astral chain is good at and some of its downsides without going too biased in one direction or the other.
Also I swear to Jubileus Bayonetta 3 better make me action-gasm when it releases its trailer because it feels like forever from what we got a glimpse of what's in store for the story.
How are you gonna call us filthy anime degenerates when you have an anime avi too? 😤
He’s being sarcastic, lol. Obviously his furry tendencies give that away.
oh I know 😂, we can’t let em get a one up on us
Also Astral Chain is 70% Jojo references anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
My favorite switch games(and maybe video game). Such a satisfying feel and look to everything. Music is dope. Mechanics are explored creatively. Like there is a lot of great game here. Play it if you haven’t!
It's a Jojo's action-oriented battle. Cool
I seriously believe this is one of the most honest, if not the most honest, review of the game I’ve seen so far. Showcasing all the bad points it has. Don’t get me wrong I love the game, but it could have been much more than it is now. But most of the youtubers kinda ignore this and dub this as an absolute masterpiece.
Or perhaps they just don't mind or care. Who are you to decide whether they're honest or not anyway? Just because it doesn't align with what you think?
I really can’t understand how people dont fall in love with this game I want more
Alexander Williams I couldn’t stand this game. The minigames were so tedious for me. Everything was designed to frustrate me. Carrying boxes with motion controls and people deliberately running into me isn’t fun for me. The guy who runs away and I can’t catch him and he stuns me when I get close was so annoying. Times platforming with the weird controls. Then the dodge timing in combat was so strict. I missed so many syncs because it was so busy on screen. Digging up shield enemies or you can’t hit enemies. Just constant frustration. Stealth sections were awful. I wanted to love the game. Everyone else was raving about it. Not for me.
maybe the dull as fuck combat lol and I know the whole "oooh play 2-3 hours and it really kicks in" why would I do that? why would I waste that time just to unlock combos and THEN decide if I wish to continue the game when I can start another game with better combat and story that I know withing an hour if I like it or not
Dude you should do a video on overlooked Platinum games like Transformers Devastation.
I hope it becomes a franchise and we are going to get astral chain 2
When your twin gets impaled, I was legit angry. I was going to kick that b*tch’s ass... until I saw the main character NOT REACT WHATSOEVER REALLY TO THEIR BEOTHER BEING POSSIBLY DEAD... and my anger shifted to the main character.
That was interesting.
Even blank slate Byleth sheds their first tears in the Jeralt scene. What the heck? There are so hype as hell anime scenes in that game, but then some un-anime as hell scenes since anime are known for being passionate, the complete opposite of the main character.
This game is years old why am I still invested? lol
Being a Platinum fan without a switch is actually painful.
I do know about that. It's indeed their best game yet.
So it’s a better version of Spectrobes: Origins?
So i guess you can say its Muda that we will get another JoJo's reference.
Excellent video! I still got some missions to do in «file 12» to complete the game. So far, i really enjoyed Astral Chain. I think it's a good game but not a great one. There are a lot of excellent ideas, but overall, i find that the game lacks the polish to make it a great game. My main complaints are about the writing of the story, the ranking system and some cutscenes. The story had potential but the writing is messy, the motivations of some characters are changing and contradicting so many times...everybody seems to be expandable, the fact that the main character is speechless is a huge mistake. It doesn't work in this game, nor did it work in BOTW. I would rather have a character with real motivations, even if I disagree with those motivations, than a blank slate. The ranking system is not really rewarding, I got too many S+ on normal mode on my first playthrough, it doesn't really push me to try to do better. It would have been more intersting to have someting like bayonetta 2, which I still revisit on WiiU, 5 years after it's realease, to try to have better ranks. Finally, I think the game needed some months to be polished. The lip sync on some cutscenes is awful, the characters' movements are sometimes, really stiff and there are too many disparities in the level of quality of cutscenes. Dispite all of those considerations, I really enjoy Astral Chain, the visuals and the Art Direction are excellent, the soundtrack is solid, with nice recurring themes, the combat system is deeper than what i was expecting, knowing there was only «one» button to attack, there are a tons of secret areas to discover and stuffs to unlock which give the game a lot of replayability. I highly recommend the game.
Uploading on the same day as a certain wolf, I see.
I have no idea what you are talking about... 👀
Who?
@@commandercross2638 Supereyepatchwolf. It's kind of a meme.
9:04 Wait...YOU CAN DO WHAT?!?!?! HOW AM I STILL LEARNING STUFF ABOUT THIS GSME?!
Chaos Legion😁
Hey fox are you still planning on doing that borderlands video?
I keep thinking about it, but honestly all the stuff that happened during the lead up to 3 soured me a little bit. The Nier video I teased around that time is definitely coming first though.
Foxcade Understandable but it would definitely be a shame if that borderlands video never got made.
Seems like a spiritual successor to capcoms chaos legion.
I honestly find this to easily be Platinum's best game.
2:20 gud doggo
If your wearing the lappy suit the scenes are improved 1000%
Jena:you'll make a fine trial run
Player:Bow Wow Bitch
Son of a... I didn’t realize this was a Platinum game. No wonder it’s so popular.
A Correction to the writer:
Demons are Not Chimeras-
these are two distinctly different categories-
demons have “will and reason” but no material body-
Chimeras are animal; which means they have no “will and reason” but they have a material body.
Chimeras are also distinctly mixed between humans (material beings with “will and reason”) and an animal (a material being without “will and reason”) ….
Which results in abnormal creature that probably has no “will and reason”
However, this new Chimera mixed creature could get possessed by a demon and becomes an avatar for the demon to the material world;
thus making this mixed animal a portal for a demon with “will and reason”.
Catholic theology applied.
Do you have the source for that part where the director tells the lead artist to not give the playable character too much personality?
www.platinumgames.com/official-blog/article/10252
Sorry, I forgot to put the direct sourse in like I planned
The final boss of this game was one hell of a shock at first try.
You gave the female twin the exact same face I did :)
17:30 a resistance group, machines with unique personality and an EXISTENCIAL bot? Hello Nier Automata
Bro I’ve had hit rush as an ability since like the moment I unlocked
It took me a LONG time to get on this game's wavelength. I was fighting it up through the first 8 missions and hating it, but once I started playing it the way its supposed to be played I began seeing those "S" ranks and feeling the groove. I still don't like it as much as a pure single-character stylish action game, but it has merits.
The performance can get atrocious though, its really jarring to see a Platinum game chugging like this since they are usually so good at optimizing their own games. I wish the Switch had beefier hardware to support these types of experiences.
14:08 F for the guy that married Karen and had kids with her.
Does this video have spoilers? Would love to watch but haven't played the game yet...
Hard story spoilers dont start dropping until the story section around 17:40
@@Foxcade gotcha, thanks Foxcade
Needs a sequel
And Arms. *YEET*
THANK YOU FOR POINTING OUT THE GARBAGE CHOICE THAT WAS SILENCING YOUR PROTAG.
I seriously thought I was the only one who had a problem with that.
It really took away from ALOT of the scenes for me.
Definitely not their best work. Issues with camera, visual noise during combat, and various other small issues paired with simpler combat keeps it from making my personal list of great action games. (I did enjoy the W101 multi unite carryover though)
BUT
I think this is a good addition to the Platinum library if only for its fun gimmick and more importantly it’s stab at the biggest adversary of action games since it’s inception: difficulty and ranking. The game carefully avoids using the word difficulty and has settings where you don’t get ranked AT ALL, without making casual players feel like they’re being belittled. Hope this sticks for the sake of accessibility. They aren’t something I would ever use but they’re genius for intimidated but curious players.
Great video!
I still remember my reaction to the Gamexplain's review. It went something like this
Gamexplain: It's slower paced
Me: Okay
Gamexplain: more thoughtful
Me: That's fine
Gamexplain: it runs at 30 fps
Me: ARE YOU FUCKIN KIDDING ME
Maybe they changed the scoring system to synergy instead of efficiency because if the players did too well to try to get the best score, the switch might burst into flames.
Oh no! Look out for Kyle!!
Pfft...Kyle that ain't scary.
Ik
It’s there best game yet
So this is what an action based persona game might look like?
I’m not comparing or belittling it just a similarity I randomly pointed out to avoid making a Jojo reference
No that's jojo referring fist of the north star ?_?
Well probably I'm late as fuck.
But yeah you basically said all my problems with the game especially in the story. It just had so much potential that is throw away.
Kyle is my favorite character in the game. Why? Because he is the only character besides Jena that I found interesting, he has motivations (wich you see during the first half of the mission) and an objective, without really being the bad guy or the good guy.
But returning to Jena, she and yoshep basically search for the same freaking thing. One is with yoshep as the center of the world and the other wants to make all into a minecraft parkour level wich still makes all unmanity into one entity. So okay you want to say nobody was right no? That they have such a twisted mind they think they are salving the world. But then why you try to make them sympathetic (at least with jena)?
There is also the problem that any of the arcs are really finished as you said.
It wasn't so dificult to make around the final battles a escene or two where Alicia Jin Kyle and other characters decide to help you to arrive to yoshep.
You can also make Alicia and Jin scared of your characters after what happened in the second mission or in the final after knowing of your quimera fusion.
And I can keep with ideas that would help these characters all the day, the world is interesting and in fact has good world building, but the cast dont use it at all.
But luckily this don't ruin the game at least for me, the gameplay except a few moments is fun and has creative mecanics.
So in a big part I agree with the good made video.
Thanks for reading this far in this story complain/ranting
Astral Chain is the single best none-ultrafast hack and slash game ever made
like it
Finally got it...
Unleashed the beasts!
Dimacari
Sagitta
Murmillo
Canis
Samnite
So we can have policeman
Joestar
Polnareff w/ IGGY
Atom Heart Father On Probationary
Anubis
...Axe?