Nice job. This track is lit. Also... I am glad you covered your ass by talking abou the protagonists ass and the improvement of ass-thetics of the ass cheeks that have come from years and years of ass lighting, ass texture, and ass rendering improvements. All hard ass work from platinum and other studios and software developers. Also this song kicks ass as I write this..
Both him, and rebeltaxi are some of my favorite TH-camrs to binge watch and definitely deserve more attention, especially Thor, I love the unique insight he provides on a lot of lesser known gems
Me: "Oh hey Astral Chain. Don't really care about the game but i'm interested in what Thor has to say about it." **Thor sneaking in a mini review of yet another weird PS1 game with sexy ass menus and style** Me: "Of course."
Only in Astral Chain can you go from high octane fights with giant monstrosities to peaceful garbage collecting and helping a guy get to a restaurant called "Larger Burger"
Astral Chain finally feels like something that would come from Clover Studios again, an more involved and weird game in the vein of Okami, it took basically 11 years, but I'm glad they are starting to make this type of experiences again.
Astral Chain won me over immediately cause it uses dithering shading for the hologram stuff. made me miss ps1 and psp dithering. love that shit. its a dumb thing to win me over but the game also turned out to be really good so i win
Thank you so fucking much for these. It's been driving me crazy not being able to find what game he was playing at 2:22. It reminded me a little of final fight wise and I love that game.
I've been watching Mr. ThorHighHeels for something like 1-2 years and even back a couple years ago I didn't know why he wasn't more popular,and I still dont know. Mr. ThorHighHeels you are my favorite youtuber never change.
Reminds me a lot of the Trails/Kiseki series where often enough the NPCs have their own storyline and drama that develops as you go through the story and they react to the development of the world, passage of time, and other characters' reactions that come out of it. I feel like Japanese devs gets it better that it's the community, the people, that make a world feel alive.
something a friend once told me a long time ago that I still think about regarding the difference between western and japanese media "American media is about how something looks, while Japanese media is about how something feels." and you can see this in things like ghibli movies, where the tears are huge and globular and cartoonish, because if you're that sad, that's how it FEELS.
Similar to this, I remember a study where eastern and western participants were shown a video of an fish swimming around in an aquarium setting. When asked "What is this?" those from the west tended to say "a fish" and those from the east tended to say "a water scene." Western is very materialistic- about "things," and eastern thought can tend more towards context.
What a smart man said while looking at Kyriu slap a man with a box on his head and it's just spinning: "and this is why Japanese games are better than American games"
DAT ASStral chain, had to do it. Interesting title, The PS1 one too. Gonna check em out.
4 ปีที่แล้ว +1
Seriously the best moments I've had in years of gaming, where these leisure moments with the other players, just chatting about random stuff and spamming emotes. I still don't know how no one has tried to mash both things into one game: there's all the adventures, dungeons, lore, all the good stuff, but combined with a strong social interaction system, just as you'd have in actual social games like Second Life.
it's that essence. that interactivity that makes you feel like you are actually somewhere new. few people talk about it with more clarity than my Boi Thor 👍 great vid
Doesn't Deus Ex: Human Revelution also kinda do the living open world thing too? Actually the design ethos of the "immersive sim" genre(?) kinda lends itself to the more Yakuza-style open hub than the GTA-style sandbox.
It's mostly the difference between inhabiting a place, playing with a place, and being a tourist in a place, just like people do in real life. Great video as always.
If you like what the did with NPCs in the hub you should check out the Trails series (also know as Kiseki in japanese). Basically every npc is uniquely named and every time you progress the main story foward every npcs dialogue changes and it creates a feeling that they are real people with lives that will progress interdependently of yours. You don't even half to talk to basically any of them but it adds so much context to the world and makes it feel more real that any game world i've seen before. Also it has an overarching narrative that spans across the entire series and characters reappear from previous games which is pretty insane considering the 10th game is coming out. Super interesting series that is doing something i haven't seen anywhere else.
Excellent video, I've always had a fondness for just being able to chill and do kind of pointless but fun things in a hub or home base. Even though its "down time" it doesn't make me wish I was out playing the main meat of the game, its just a different kind of fun to what's the main draw, it also just feels cozy.
two years late to this video but i bought astral chain when it came out and then just. never touched for some reason but this video makes it seem like its right up my alley and i want to actually try it now. Towns like in FF12 where you can talk to everyone and they respond to things you do in sidequests or the main plot are a huge reason why i love storytelling in games so much because they create a feeling of not only present in the world but an active part of it too, and no non-interactive medium can do that as well i think
I remember a quest in Nier Automata, where chick constantly erases her boyfriend's personality to create a perfect man. It was the best quest I have ever seen.
Imma get this when I have a Switch. Reoccurring fun side quest side characters is a thing i like very much in games. Gravity Rush 2 has more minor side characters that show up more often, like a writer who avoids deadlines and pretends to be the characters he writes. Driver San Francisco also has some. My favorite side characters were the Japanese students trying to street race for college money. With a newfound hubris, the driver's bro gets distracted from college and sees more money in races and keeps coerces him into races. Only, it wan't him doing the driving, it was you possessing him. The switch lineup is lookin good but something I noticed that Ninty consoles pre-Wii had more variety of racing games. I guess racing game devs, and its audience prefers the pc and the more HD consoles. Speaking of racing games, I am a fan of the Choro Q games, Road Trip Adventure especially. RTA is jank, but I love that game. I would very much like a modern, less janky but still quirky Road Trip, my dream racing rpg. Forza Horizon might be the cloesest thing that will scratch that itch, and is probably the peak of open world driving games rn, but man it's missing the characters and quirkiness. *Also, please play Gravity Rush 2.*
Fast RMX might be my fave racing game on the switch. Well, it was until Crash Team Racing came out for it. Mario Kart isn't bad, and I've actually put a ton of hours into it. But sometimes i like to play a big skill video gamw
I'm 100% sure I've never played Astro Trooper Vanark yet that entire Hub section feels like I've spent dozens of hours in it. That must be because I played tons of PS1 games with similar pre-rendered BG environments growing up but I can't for the life of me remember any specific ones.
21:06 You gotta do a P.N.03 review! I was so hyped around that game and unlocked everything which was somewhat monotonous but I had a whole extended history in my head around the minimum of that game, like that there were previous P.N.02, 01, etc in my mental stories. At that time there was all this hype around Gamecube's "Capcom Five" and I would talk to everyone about this concept all day. Eventually barely any of that plan stayed how it was told initially as exclusives, but that concept got me into Killer7 as well.
Easily one of my favorite channels on yt so far. From creating original music to even the aesthetically pleasing presentation. Always look forward to the next video!
its probably closer to that then an actual rhodes tbh. theres this thing in FL studio called the 3xosc. its a very basic synth that can easily be tuned to make v lofi jazzy sounding sounds. i used that for the main melody and bass here.
As far as the characters in particular go, it seems like they cater very much to the MHA modern anime fan. IDK, I've been playing through SMT DDS recently and the characters in that game albeit being a variously coloured hair anime troupe, have more depth in their dialogue than what it seems like from what you showed in here.
I never even knew about this game as it's on a console I don't have but this seems like it builds up on things Platinum Games learned from Nier Automata.
Metal Gear Rising, Bayonetta, Nier Automata, Astral Chain are Platinum most famous games. The secret to their success isn´t the fast combat hack n´slash, it is thicc ass protagonists.
Glad to see more good coverage for Astral Chain. Even if it wasn't strictly the best game of the year, it was still my favorite, simply because it did feel interesting and fresh. Plus I do also find that I love the Japanese style of open world games. They just click with me in a way that only one Western open world game (Red Dead Redemption) ever has. I'd rather have a smaller, richly detailed world with tons of stuff to do than a big, empty world without much to do other than screwing around. I'm also the sort of guy who actually really enjoys when games have diversions that, even if not the most engaging in a vacuum, really adds to the immersion. Astral Chain's police work definitely provided this. In a similar way, RDR did this with things like the stage coach rides and cattle herding minigame. Both of these games could have been made without these diversions, but they wouldn't have the same feeling that they do.
Talking of Clover, *Okami* is a game that deeply conflicted me as to what is open world, open ended, wide open world etc. You go from South of Japan to the North, and yet each individual area is one giant level, with character interactions, secrets aplenty, hidden mechanics and lots of metroidvania like stopgaps which open up after you get certain ability. Granted it is more Zelda than Shenmue. NPCs are laid out very JRPG fashion where you can walk up to them and talk, but there are fun interactions with barking, biting or with brush techniques.
I'm really surprised you didn't mention Steambot Chronicles (aka Bumpy Trot) in this video. That's another example of a Japanese style open world game that does GTA by way of Shenmue and Zelda. That's a game that downright encourages you to mess around in it and immerse yourself. One minute, you could be playing a saxophone on the street for some pocket change, another you're battling steampunk mecha, and the next you're buying and selling stocks in what I'm guessing is the only time any game actually attempted to implement a system like this.
FUCK FINALLY SOMEONE ACKNOWLEDGED VANARK'S EXISTENCE. Although I don't remember nothing about the walking part, I just have memories of playing the starfox-like levels (without at the time knowing what was starfox)
i discovered your channel the other day, since i kept watching some of your videos, now iam dubbed, you sir are one amazing video game reviewer! lost of hidden gems and old games here.
I think this vid made appreciate Astral Chain way more then I normally would. I know before I watch this, I intended to get Astral Chain for the combat. Now I explore the world, talk to the characters and get interested in their arcs. Though it still doesn't change my opinion on the frame rate. I know the director wanted to make an interesting style and world more then a stable frame rate. But I will always prefer 60 over visuals. That and the particles can be a bit too much that I don't know what's going on
Everytime I watch your videos it both makes me want to play a bunch of semi-obscure video games and challenges my actual knowledge of video games (probably less vast than I think) but both of these things ramp up to being a highly successful video game TH-cam video
Mass Effect should've been on the examples used. The thing with these kind of games, is that most people dont have the "patience" to deal with hese kind of stuff, secret side quests, minor character development that you, as the player, have to find, interact, and react to it constantly in order to keep it moving. Take Mass Effect as an example, fits perfectly in everything you just said in this video, with a character like Conrad Verner appearing in all three games in a wacky manner and finally getting some sort of "fulfillement" to its arc in ME3... Or you can say fuck it and just play the game and do the important things only which are the ones that WILL have a huge impact on the rest of the game, but there are a bunch of secondary missions, decisions and actions that still have an impact, even if its minor, its still referenced and part of the development of the "world". People can like the history of the game, yes, can like its gameplay aswell, of course, but know every snippet behind all of its character both main and secondary? of most of the world the game takes place in it? not so much, because they either started those missions and exploration and in the long run stopped caring because it was taking so long and their time adjust just couldnt let them enjoy the game to its fullest because of work, chores, studying, etc. But even like that they still got most of the main point of it and most importantly, had fun. Which is a shame, they should make an effort in order to complete (not 100% with stuff like collectibles) a game to its ful in both main, and side things IF those side things include side storys and character development of other characters, or the world itself. But time restrains us all in different ways i guess
I think a western game that FEELS more "japanese inspired" or is surprisingly vibey is Red Dead Redemption 2. It's one of the few open world games that it's equally concerned about scale, interactivity and it's side missions DO tell stories about characters like in Yakuza or most japanese games.
The environment in Chrono Cross does look more polished than most pre-rendered rpgs from the ps1 era. And so are the 3d models, to be honest. It almost feels like a ps2 game in some scenes.
Damn!! I remember this thanark game!! Always curious about this one. Always playing it after school, lost it, then forgot about the tittle.. until now. If Im trying to describe it, this kinda game can make you feel like these in game location like your own home or school. You get familiar with it and its peoples, and feel safe and warm and comfy while you're there. I know Im weird
Thor did you ever have a look into japanese fishing games, from the more popular Fishermans Bait series and Reel Fishing to the non translated games like Uki Uki no tsuruki? Whats your stance on the genre? Definately some good escapism is to be had there
Ok as soon as you started talking about the mascot quest you said enough I'm playing this game I already had it but I only played the opening I should have give it more time
I remember when this channel was under 10k maybe 8k hard to rememeber exactly but im excited when i see the subs go up, 40k now. These are most anticipated videos. Have you ever thought of doing lets plays, i hate to even ask cuz this is all so perfect and i dont want to fuck with it.also, MORE SEXY STAGES!!
It makes me wonder what Mother Base could have had going on if Kojima and his team had been able to actually finish MGSV. They probably had all sorts of weird fun stuff planned.
@@MacMan2152 Dude, the entire ending of the game was cut. Pretty sure that's important. Guarantee if they had another year or so of development, Mother Base would have been way better.
@@gnarkillguch if the ending has been already created and they just cut it it means the ending was bad. I've never played the game yet, i am playing through the third game now, I want to play them all so I might be very wrong with this. As far as I know the second game couldn't have been finished too but they've managed to make it a satisfying ending despite time constraints. Moreover, if it wasn't the first time konami cut off the budget (and it certainly wasn't), why would they waste time on unimportant bullshit and don't make the most important things first and less important later.
I was sceptic about this game as I couldn't figure out what kind of game it really is besides being Platinum. All this from watching the trailer that raised more questions and didn't really answer a single one of my questions. I was never a huge fan of sandbox worlds as I seldom finish them because they usually have little drive and/or good enough story incentive to beat them. I do love hub worlds on the otherhand and as a kid I spend time in them just fooling around because that was fun to me. You certainly made Astral Chain seem more interesting and gave me a slight better idea what it's about but guess I'll have to look for answers still. 14:00 Nevermind I thought the Astral Chain block was over guess my questions may still get answers yet. Okay it's Open district now I get it. Thanks for providing me the answers I wanted, Thor! Also damnit don't lure me towards getting Astral Chain. I have enough games to play as it is! Anyway great video and thanks for the very much needed entertainment here on youtube.
to be fair astal chain as a whole isnt exactly mind blowing. its one of those "rock solid 7/10" type of games, where its good, but it also isnt gonna rock your socks off or anything. i just focused on the cooler bits here
I always like watching your videos at night . dunno why that is or why i prefer that . maybe many of your viewers do that too . Like dipping back in seeing what your upto . your gaming tastes are similar About astral chain . platinum games have alot of credit for making quailty games i think some ex members of old MGS games ive heard
"Here's this thoughtful essay on how astral chain's weirdness beckons to the best elements of weird, funny open ended japanese games and creates a very authentic world also nice ass"
"hanging out in san andreas ,........" me nervously watching the x in the corner to take the video off open emulator and play us squadron a super punishing snes game !!! i also enjoyed astral chain !
while i agree with the point about japanese open worlds having more detail @3:46 i thought it was the other way around, about jrpgs being excel spreadsheets while wrpgs being more about playing a role? japan didn't make planetscape torment, or disco elysium after all
Still waiting on a sale for Astral Chain. If it’s been on sale, it’s been infrequent and I missed it. It reminds me a bit of Nier: Automata, one of my favorite games, though that doesn’t have the same sort of hub
Ya know, you'd really like Xenoblade Chronicles. Shit has a few different towns that are filled with people that interact and have relationship charts, and you can do little quests with em thats like, little favors. Not to mention each of your party members has a VERY detailed relationship with every other party member. Ntm the plot and gameplay is amazing but Everyone says that. Also, vid good as usual
![[#2024MAMA] G-DRAGON - 무제(Untitled, 2014)+POWER+HOME SWEET HOME+뱅뱅뱅+FANTASTIC BABY | Mnet 241123 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ox29z5Nf1Uk/mqdefault.jpg)
heres a song that i made that i used in this video soundcloud.com/adolfnomura/topaz
im sure itll end up on an album at some point
Nice job. This track is lit. Also... I am glad you covered your ass by talking abou the protagonists ass and the improvement of ass-thetics of the ass cheeks that have come from years and years of ass lighting, ass texture, and ass rendering improvements. All hard ass work from platinum and other studios and software developers. Also this song kicks ass as I write this..
Thor
How do u fight in high heels?
20:39 GAME NAME PLEASE?
This guy is so freaking underrated.
Both him, and rebeltaxi are some of my favorite TH-camrs to binge watch and definitely deserve more attention, especially Thor, I love the unique insight he provides on a lot of lesser known gems
He's taking off now guys.leave reccomends everywhere
He has 100k subscribers
So is ur comment.
Me: "Oh hey Astral Chain. Don't really care about the game but i'm interested in what Thor has to say about it."
**Thor sneaking in a mini review of yet another weird PS1 game with sexy ass menus and style**
Me: "Of course."
OF COURSE!
The editing of this video is amazing. It shows how much you know both in visual language and about the subject. You're so talented. Also, ass.
one of the best TH-camrs
Only in Astral Chain can you go from high octane fights with giant monstrosities to peaceful garbage collecting and helping a guy get to a restaurant called "Larger Burger"
Yea. Both things not belonging in one game together.
DevilGearHill No, they work here
ah yes, only in a game like [game title] can you [description of aforementioned game title]
Honestly it sounds a lot like the tonal flow of the Yakuza series. Yakuza style hub and side-questing + cyberpunk anime sounds rad as hell.
Bro, spoiler alert. No, but I love this game and the insane side quests lol
Astral Chain finally feels like something that would come from Clover Studios again, an more involved and weird game in the vein of Okami, it took basically 11 years, but I'm glad they are starting to make this type of experiences again.
And you can draw circles with the chains that remembers a lot Okami.
Astral Chain won me over immediately cause it uses dithering shading for the hologram stuff. made me miss ps1 and psp dithering. love that shit. its a dumb thing to win me over but the game also turned out to be really good so i win
Shenmue is so influential in this regard, huge open worlds with a lot of interactivity. it definitely made its mark in the Japanese videogame scene
“Fuckaroundability”...
I like that
The game at 2:22 is Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance for PS2.
The game at 21:07 is P.N.03 for GameCube.
Thank you so fucking much for these. It's been driving me crazy not being able to find what game he was playing at 2:22. It reminded me a little of final fight wise and I love that game.
Thanks
Don't know if any of you guys can help me but do you know what the game at 4:00 is?
@@firstnamelastname5612 Dead of the brain.
Thanks, I actually played both at some point but I forgot the name of Beatdown, I used to get confused with Urban Reign.
All this talk about Akira’s butt and no discussion about our lord and savior: Alicia’s giant thighs?
I've been watching Mr. ThorHighHeels for something like 1-2 years and even back a couple years ago I didn't know why he wasn't more popular,and I still dont know. Mr. ThorHighHeels you are my favorite youtuber never change.
Videogame Reviewer: Graphics, Musics, Gameplay, Story etc.
Thor: *BUTT*
Reminds me a lot of the Trails/Kiseki series where often enough the NPCs have their own storyline and drama that develops as you go through the story and they react to the development of the world, passage of time, and other characters' reactions that come out of it.
I feel like Japanese devs gets it better that it's the community, the people, that make a world feel alive.
Ayo someone that knows trails
something a friend once told me a long time ago that I still think about regarding the difference between western and japanese media
"American media is about how something looks, while Japanese media is about how something feels."
and you can see this in things like ghibli movies, where the tears are huge and globular and cartoonish, because if you're that sad, that's how it FEELS.
And when they wanna show off a spectacle they know how too
Similar to this, I remember a study where eastern and western participants were shown a video of an fish swimming around in an aquarium setting. When asked "What is this?" those from the west tended to say "a fish" and those from the east tended to say "a water scene." Western is very materialistic- about "things," and eastern thought can tend more towards context.
Ehhhh, that seems a bit reductionist to me
honestly thats not a bad way of putting it. exceptions being there of course.
What a smart man said while looking at Kyriu slap a man with a box on his head and it's just spinning: "and this is why Japanese games are better than American games"
Red Dead 2 is the most western western Japanese open world game
The way that you articulate things that I've FELT but never KNOWN is unbelievably fulfilling.
"Took a good 10 years to surpass Old Snake's ass and Astral Chain was the one to do it"
me: *THIS MAN DIDN'T PLAY NIER AUTOMATA*
Also, Catwoman's butt in the Arkham games
DAT ASStral chain,
had to do it. Interesting title, The PS1 one too. Gonna check em out.
Seriously the best moments I've had in years of gaming, where these leisure moments with the other players, just chatting about random stuff and spamming emotes.
I still don't know how no one has tried to mash both things into one game: there's all the adventures, dungeons, lore, all the good stuff, but combined with a strong social interaction system, just as you'd have in actual social games like Second Life.
it's that essence. that interactivity that makes you feel like you are actually somewhere new. few people talk about it with more clarity than my Boi Thor 👍
great vid
Doesn't Deus Ex: Human Revelution also kinda do the living open world thing too?
Actually the design ethos of the "immersive sim" genre(?) kinda lends itself to the more Yakuza-style open hub than the GTA-style sandbox.
It's mostly the difference between inhabiting a place, playing with a place, and being a tourist in a place, just like people do in real life.
Great video as always.
This is really cool. Good way to think about it.
If you like what the did with NPCs in the hub you should check out the Trails series (also know as Kiseki in japanese). Basically every npc is uniquely named and every time you progress the main story foward every npcs dialogue changes and it creates a feeling that they are real people with lives that will progress interdependently of yours. You don't even half to talk to basically any of them but it adds so much context to the world and makes it feel more real that any game world i've seen before. Also it has an overarching narrative that spans across the entire series and characters reappear from previous games which is pretty insane considering the 10th game is coming out. Super interesting series that is doing something i haven't seen anywhere else.
"Bing Bing Wahoo!"
- Carl 'CJ' Johnson
ok you convinced me to buy it
Last time I came this early, I got an S+ rank
Excellent video, I've always had a fondness for just being able to chill and do kind of pointless but fun things in a hub or home base. Even though its "down time" it doesn't make me wish I was out playing the main meat of the game, its just a different kind of fun to what's the main draw, it also just feels cozy.
two years late to this video but i bought astral chain when it came out and then just. never touched for some reason but this video makes it seem like its right up my alley and i want to actually try it now. Towns like in FF12 where you can talk to everyone and they respond to things you do in sidequests or the main plot are a huge reason why i love storytelling in games so much because they create a feeling of not only present in the world but an active part of it too, and no non-interactive medium can do that as well i think
I remember a quest in Nier Automata, where chick constantly erases her boyfriend's personality to create a perfect man. It was the best quest I have ever seen.
I remember ,cause it horrified me.
I 100%d the game a long time ago and somehow don't remember that. 😅
Man, Astral Chain is such a fantastic game. Going to have to re-play it once I clear through my backlog a little bit.
Astral Chain was the first game I got for my Switch, earlier this year. Yes, before *any* first party title. And I don't regret that.
Imma get this when I have a Switch.
Reoccurring fun side quest side characters is a thing i like very much in games. Gravity Rush 2 has more minor side characters that show up more often, like a writer who avoids deadlines and pretends to be the characters he writes. Driver San Francisco also has some. My favorite side characters were the Japanese students trying to street race for college money. With a newfound hubris, the driver's bro gets distracted from college and sees more money in races and keeps coerces him into races. Only, it wan't him doing the driving, it was you possessing him.
The switch lineup is lookin good but something I noticed that Ninty consoles pre-Wii had more variety of racing games. I guess racing game devs, and its audience prefers the pc and the more HD consoles.
Speaking of racing games, I am a fan of the Choro Q games, Road Trip Adventure especially. RTA is jank, but I love that game. I would very much like a modern, less janky but still quirky Road Trip, my dream racing rpg. Forza Horizon might be the cloesest thing that will scratch that itch, and is probably the peak of open world driving games rn, but man it's missing the characters and quirkiness.
*Also, please play Gravity Rush 2.*
Fast RMX might be my fave racing game on the switch. Well, it was until Crash Team Racing came out for it. Mario Kart isn't bad, and I've actually put a ton of hours into it. But sometimes i like to play a big skill video gamw
no YOU play gravity rush 2
ThorHighHeels ok
I'm 100% sure I've never played Astro Trooper Vanark yet that entire Hub section feels like I've spent dozens of hours in it. That must be because I played tons of PS1 games with similar pre-rendered BG environments growing up but I can't for the life of me remember any specific ones.
21:06 You gotta do a P.N.03 review! I was so hyped around that game and unlocked everything which was somewhat monotonous but I had a whole extended history in my head around the minimum of that game, like that there were previous P.N.02, 01, etc in my mental stories. At that time there was all this hype around Gamecube's "Capcom Five" and I would talk to everyone about this concept all day. Eventually barely any of that plan stayed how it was told initially as exclusives, but that concept got me into Killer7 as well.
Easily one of my favorite channels on yt so far. From creating original music to even the aesthetically pleasing presentation. Always look forward to the next video!
highest quality content around here. love the track "topaz" btw! that fender rhodes almost has that emu sp1200 feel to it!
its probably closer to that then an actual rhodes tbh. theres this thing in FL studio called the 3xosc. its a very basic synth that can easily be tuned to make v lofi jazzy sounding sounds. i used that for the main melody and bass here.
As far as the characters in particular go, it seems like they cater very much to the MHA modern anime fan. IDK, I've been playing through SMT DDS recently and the characters in that game albeit being a variously coloured hair anime troupe, have more depth in their dialogue than what it seems like from what you showed in here.
I *do* comprehend.
I never even knew about this game as it's on a console I don't have but this seems like it builds up on things Platinum Games learned from Nier Automata.
Metal Gear Rising, Bayonetta, Nier Automata, Astral Chain are Platinum most famous games. The secret to their success isn´t the fast combat hack n´slash, it is thicc ass protagonists.
Hey man,
This is an excellent edited video analysis, as always.
Look forward to the next one.
Good stuff as usual.
Glad to see more good coverage for Astral Chain. Even if it wasn't strictly the best game of the year, it was still my favorite, simply because it did feel interesting and fresh.
Plus I do also find that I love the Japanese style of open world games. They just click with me in a way that only one Western open world game (Red Dead Redemption) ever has. I'd rather have a smaller, richly detailed world with tons of stuff to do than a big, empty world without much to do other than screwing around.
I'm also the sort of guy who actually really enjoys when games have diversions that, even if not the most engaging in a vacuum, really adds to the immersion. Astral Chain's police work definitely provided this. In a similar way, RDR did this with things like the stage coach rides and cattle herding minigame. Both of these games could have been made without these diversions, but they wouldn't have the same feeling that they do.
Talking of Clover, *Okami* is a game that deeply conflicted me as to what is open world, open ended, wide open world etc.
You go from South of Japan to the North, and yet each individual area is one giant level, with character interactions, secrets aplenty, hidden mechanics and lots of metroidvania like stopgaps which open up after you get certain ability.
Granted it is more Zelda than Shenmue.
NPCs are laid out very JRPG fashion where you can walk up to them and talk, but there are fun interactions with barking, biting or with brush techniques.
You and Tim Rogers are the coolest thing videogames have going on right now.
I'm really surprised you didn't mention Steambot Chronicles (aka Bumpy Trot) in this video. That's another example of a Japanese style open world game that does GTA by way of Shenmue and Zelda. That's a game that downright encourages you to mess around in it and immerse yourself. One minute, you could be playing a saxophone on the street for some pocket change, another you're battling steampunk mecha, and the next you're buying and selling stocks in what I'm guessing is the only time any game actually attempted to implement a system like this.
Bumpy Trot is so cool. Kbash has a decent video on it
@@stoop..kid.. I watched it. It’s alright but there’s a reason I go to Thor for the best gaming content.
FUCK FINALLY SOMEONE ACKNOWLEDGED VANARK'S EXISTENCE.
Although I don't remember nothing about the walking part, I just have memories of playing the starfox-like levels (without at the time knowing what was starfox)
Vanark does look really cool. Thanks for the heads up about it existing.
Oh shit it all got philosophical so fast I wasn't ready. And me thy thought thee thor to be but a mere pesant, you truly are blessed by the glitch.
i discovered your channel the other day, since i kept watching some of your videos, now iam dubbed, you sir are one amazing video game reviewer! lost of hidden gems and old games here.
I think this vid made appreciate Astral Chain way more then I normally would. I know before I watch this, I intended to get Astral Chain for the combat. Now I explore the world, talk to the characters and get interested in their arcs.
Though it still doesn't change my opinion on the frame rate. I know the director wanted to make an interesting style and world more then a stable frame rate. But I will always prefer 60 over visuals. That and the particles can be a bit too much that I don't know what's going on
Oh god....that brief clip of Rose from the Legend of Dragoon...took me all the way tf back...
Everytime I watch your videos it both makes me want to play a bunch of semi-obscure video games and challenges my actual knowledge of video games (probably less vast than I think) but both of these things ramp up to being a highly successful video game TH-cam video
Also I dont have a switch, tim rogers made me want a switch, you've made me want a switch. I guess I need money.
i had never even heard of Astral Chain before randomly finding this video, but now i love it
lmao when the Fuck Tha Police instrumental came in early in the video I had to check that my spotify wasnt on in the background
Yo, from what game is that "a hitman has appeared", "Shoot/get horny" thing? I laughed my ass to that
its called The 25th Ward
2B's ass: "Do I mean nothing to you?"
Awesome, super game. Loved watching
Woah, I was playing this like Bayonetta thinking it was just a linear spectacle fighter.
I'm totally gonna replay it to see it all.
Mass Effect should've been on the examples used. The thing with these kind of games, is that most people dont have the "patience" to deal with hese kind of stuff, secret side quests, minor character development that you, as the player, have to find, interact, and react to it constantly in order to keep it moving. Take Mass Effect as an example, fits perfectly in everything you just said in this video, with a character like Conrad Verner appearing in all three games in a wacky manner and finally getting some sort of "fulfillement" to its arc in ME3... Or you can say fuck it and just play the game and do the important things only which are the ones that WILL have a huge impact on the rest of the game, but there are a bunch of secondary missions, decisions and actions that still have an impact, even if its minor, its still referenced and part of the development of the "world". People can like the history of the game, yes, can like its gameplay aswell, of course, but know every snippet behind all of its character both main and secondary? of most of the world the game takes place in it? not so much, because they either started those missions and exploration and in the long run stopped caring because it was taking so long and their time adjust just couldnt let them enjoy the game to its fullest because of work, chores, studying, etc. But even like that they still got most of the main point of it and most importantly, had fun. Which is a shame, they should make an effort in order to complete (not 100% with stuff like collectibles) a game to its ful in both main, and side things IF those side things include side storys and character development of other characters, or the world itself. But time restrains us all in different ways i guess
I think a western game that FEELS more "japanese inspired" or is surprisingly vibey is Red Dead Redemption 2.
It's one of the few open world games that it's equally concerned about scale, interactivity and it's side missions DO tell stories about characters like in Yakuza or most japanese games.
Thor can we have a So ive been playing on Kane n lynch 2: dog days? It fits perfectly the PS3 era misunderstood generic third person shooter subgenre.
hanging out in Chrono Cross apreciatin the environtment listenin to the msuic. Pre rendered BGs underrated.
The environment in Chrono Cross does look more polished than most pre-rendered rpgs from the ps1 era. And so are the 3d models, to be honest. It almost feels like a ps2 game in some scenes.
Damn!! I remember this thanark game!! Always curious about this one. Always playing it after school, lost it, then forgot about the tittle.. until now. If Im trying to describe it, this kinda game can make you feel like these in game location like your own home or school. You get familiar with it and its peoples, and feel safe and warm and comfy while you're there. I know Im weird
*5* *seconds* *in*
TTTTTTTTT
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Damn, son. Asstral Chain, indeed.
Thor did you ever have a look into japanese fishing games, from the more popular Fishermans Bait series and Reel Fishing to the non translated games like Uki Uki no tsuruki? Whats your stance on the genre? Definately some good escapism is to be had there
Breath of fire 3 and 4 are good fishing games with rpg elements here and there.
I come for the meta editing.
I'm never disappointed.
As i watched i only thought about the one game series that accomplishes the nice hub with extensive world building perfectly, the Trails series.
You convinced me to buy it, then I realized it was on the switch.
fck ~ i love your videos so much >.<
always happy to see a new upload from you ! ♥️
I was on the fence about this game but after this, I think I'll pick it up
As someone that has no way to buy a switch I have to beg platinum to make a PS4 and PC port
I had a great time playing this game, had good atmosphere.
Ok as soon as you started talking about the mascot quest you said enough I'm playing this game I already had it but I only played the opening I should have give it more time
I remember when this channel was under 10k maybe 8k hard to rememeber exactly but im excited when i see the subs go up, 40k now. These are most anticipated videos. Have you ever thought of doing lets plays, i hate to even ask cuz this is all so perfect and i dont want to fuck with it.also, MORE SEXY STAGES!!
i used to do lets plays actually! not sure if i'd ever bring them back, but i do plan to start streaming occasionally.
I miss that "So I've been playing" drum and bass :(
23:31 - ASS PHYSICS! THE NEW VIDEO GAME FRONTIER!!
I think you'd appreciate Radiata Stories, if not already. Though it's rather flawed in world-building.
That legend of dragoon bit was too good
It makes me wonder what Mother Base could have had going on if Kojima and his team had been able to actually finish MGSV. They probably had all sorts of weird fun stuff planned.
Don't. Pain. Still hurts... :(
wrong, if it was something important, they would've added it.
@@MacMan2152 Dude, the entire ending of the game was cut. Pretty sure that's important. Guarantee if they had another year or so of development, Mother Base would have been way better.
@@gnarkillguch if the ending has been already created and they just cut it it means the ending was bad. I've never played the game yet, i am playing through the third game now, I want to play them all so I might be very wrong with this. As far as I know the second game couldn't have been finished too but they've managed to make it a satisfying ending despite time constraints. Moreover, if it wasn't the first time konami cut off the budget (and it certainly wasn't), why would they waste time on unimportant bullshit and don't make the most important things first and less important later.
Fucking loved Astral Chain, god I wish they make a sequel. It sold well as well, so no reason not to.
subscribed just because of the "yeah ho" soundclip from juicy j (y)
0:55 alright I'm sold.
23:30 this is the only, real, important aspect of this game.
When I played this I kinda wished the hub world and detective stuff was just the whole game
I was sceptic about this game as I couldn't figure out what kind of game it really is besides being Platinum. All this from watching the trailer that raised more questions and didn't really answer a single one of my questions. I was never a huge fan of sandbox worlds as I seldom finish them because they usually have little drive and/or good enough story incentive to beat them. I do love hub worlds on the otherhand and as a kid I spend time in them just fooling around because that was fun to me. You certainly made Astral Chain seem more interesting and gave me a slight better idea what it's about but guess I'll have to look for answers still. 14:00 Nevermind I thought the Astral Chain block was over guess my questions may still get answers yet. Okay it's Open district now I get it. Thanks for providing me the answers I wanted, Thor! Also damnit don't lure me towards getting Astral Chain. I have enough games to play as it is!
Anyway great video and thanks for the very much needed entertainment here on youtube.
to be fair astal chain as a whole isnt exactly mind blowing. its one of those "rock solid 7/10" type of games, where its good, but it also isnt gonna rock your socks off or anything. i just focused on the cooler bits here
I always like watching your videos at night . dunno why that is or why i prefer that . maybe many of your viewers do that too .
Like dipping back in seeing what your upto . your gaming tastes are similar
About astral chain . platinum games have alot of credit for making quailty games i think some ex members of old MGS games ive heard
B U T T O C K S
Btw can't believe 23:13 is actually being rendered on a Switch, shit looks surprisingly crisp.
I dig that way of the samurai track
Ur vids are always stylin and on point
What's the name of the first two background songs? The one that plays while you talk about AC's combat and then the one after San Andreas footage?
"Here's this thoughtful essay on how astral chain's weirdness beckons to the best elements of weird, funny open ended japanese games and creates a very authentic world
also nice ass"
Most underrated channel
"hanging out in san andreas ,........" me nervously watching the x in the corner to take the video off open emulator and play us squadron a super punishing snes game !!! i also enjoyed astral chain !
Your videos are so exquisite.
Noice video Thor kun.
while i agree with the point about japanese open worlds having more detail @3:46 i thought it was the other way around, about jrpgs being excel spreadsheets while wrpgs being more about playing a role? japan didn't make planetscape torment, or disco elysium after all
Still waiting on a sale for Astral Chain.
If it’s been on sale, it’s been infrequent and I missed it.
It reminds me a bit of Nier: Automata, one of my favorite games, though that doesn’t have the same sort of hub
"fuckaroundability". I'm reborn.
OMG! thanks you! i was seaching vanark for ages, i played has a child and love but i couldn't remember the games name shit i gonna play it right now
Ya know, you'd really like Xenoblade Chronicles. Shit has a few different towns that are filled with people that interact and have relationship charts, and you can do little quests with em thats like, little favors. Not to mention each of your party members has a VERY detailed relationship with every other party member. Ntm the plot and gameplay is amazing but Everyone says that.
Also, vid good as usual