Is file 11 boss really that tough? At worst I've had to use two batteries on the boss for file 9 mostly because the mechanics were janky as fuck. Other than that I maybe died once or twice the entire game. Guess I'll find out tonight...
I mean that mechanic work with trailing missions for just to blend yourself with people and surrounding .stealth section required you to move around quicker than trailing missions so cut out that animation seem reasonable.It still baffles me how this game has an actual cover mechanic which it only uses in that one Carlos side-quest (where you have to trail a suspect), but not it stealth mission where it would have been applicable.
I'm not going to lie, I'm having a really hard time with Astral Chain. I really like the combat system, the general mood and vibe of the game, and the conceptual idea of side questing alongside main questing in hub-like levels. But I find the actual structure and pacing of the game an absolute bore. It's such an unfocused mess of boring quests in weirdly semi-restrictive hubs that try to offer a bit of freedom yet are also presented as part of structured levels. A lot of the side content is terribly boring and a slog to push through, but the game nevertheless pushes you into these sections of games in order to present the levels themselves.
There's this weird unfocused, unsureness to what the game wants to present and have you do. Does it want to be an exhilarating moment-to-moment character action game? Does it want to be more open and free with side questing? Actually getting through levels and to the moments where optional, missable content exists is slow and meandering, but also restricted to the "file" structure. I can already feel I don't want to replay the levels to discover things, because I don't like most of the side content, so much of it is repetitious and dull, and even just getting into the files and playing through them is a huge slog.
The game has so many exciting, exhilarating moments but the structure is robbed of the snappiness of stuff like Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising, but also the completely free, adventitious, relaxed and open discovery of Nier Automata. It tries to combine elements of both of these directions but ends up worse than both, even if there's moments of brilliance inside the messy structural wraparound.
And it's a shame, because I've found I have to force myself to play the game. Frustratingly this isn't a case of a game I actively dislike and am forcing myself through for some fried reason (to see a story through, for example). I still really like a lot of what Astral Chain has to offer. So much so that I want to experience that stuff first hand. When it's kicking goals it's fantastic. But every time I think about what I need to endure to get to these points, I just groan at the shit I need to dig through to get there. Play sessions are such a slog.
All of this is in combination with technical and design issues I've already voiced; 30fps does the game no favours, the camera is awful, the visual readability is a mess, and more. The platform is objectively awful because of measurably imprecise jumping (you do not land exactly where you place your legion). I also think the controls are shit and find them unnecessarily convoluted (which I will also put down to the learning curve, but man, there's some weird function idiosyncrasies here), and other oddities like trying to navigate your legion but having them catch on props and other junk in combat zones. It's a painfully anti-user friendly set of game systems, and not in the way The Wonderful 101 was with its rough tutorials. This is just...rough.
So yeah. Bit of a rant, just some thoughts. I'll see it through because like I said when it's great it's marvellous. But as it is Astral Chain is almost definitely my least favourite major production from Platinum. There's so much greatness to elevate the quality, but the lows subjectively bring it down for me. It just doesn't have the tighter polish, specifically in pacing and structure, that I enjoy most from my favourite Platinum titles.
I'm not going to lie, I'm having a really hard time with Astral Chain. I really like the combat system, the general mood and vibe of the game, and the conceptual idea of side questing alongside main questing in hub-like levels. But I find the actual structure and pacing of the game an absolute bore. It's such an unfocused mess of boring quests in weirdly semi-restrictive hubs that try to offer a bit of freedom yet are also presented as part of structured levels. A lot of the side content is terribly boring and a slog to push through, but the game nevertheless pushes you into these sections of games in order to present the levels themselves.
There's this weird unfocused, unsureness to what the game wants to present and have you do. Does it want to be an exhilarating moment-to-moment character action game? Does it want to be more open and free with side questing? Actually getting through levels and to the moments where optional, missable content exists is slow and meandering, but also restricted to the "file" structure. I can already feel I don't want to replay the levels to discover things, because I don't like most of the side content, so much of it is repetitious and dull, and even just getting into the files and playing through them is a huge slog.
The game has so many exciting, exhilarating moments but the structure is robbed of the snappiness of stuff like Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising, but also the completely free, adventitious, relaxed and open discovery of Nier Automata. It tries to combine elements of both of these directions but ends up worse than both, even if there's moments of brilliance inside the messy structural wraparound.
And it's a shame, because I've found I have to force myself to play the game. Frustratingly this isn't a case of a game I actively dislike and am forcing myself through for some fried reason (to see a story through, for example). I still really like a lot of what Astral Chain has to offer. So much so that I want to experience that stuff first hand. When it's kicking goals it's fantastic. But every time I think about what I need to endure to get to these points, I just groan at the shit I need to dig through to get there. Play sessions are such a slog.
All of this is in combination with technical and design issues I've already voiced; 30fps does the game no favours, the camera is awful, the visual readability is a mess, and more. The platform is objectively awful because of measurably imprecise jumping (you do not land exactly where you place your legion). I also think the controls are shit and find them unnecessarily convoluted (which I will also put down to the learning curve, but man, there's some weird function idiosyncrasies here), and other oddities like trying to navigate your legion but having them catch on props and other junk in combat zones. It's a painfully anti-user friendly set of game systems, and not in the way The Wonderful 101 was with its rough tutorials. This is just...rough.
So yeah. Bit of a rant, just some thoughts. I'll see it through because like I said when it's great it's marvellous. But as it is Astral Chain is almost definitely my least favourite major production from Platinum. There's so much greatness to elevate the quality, but the lows subjectively bring it down for me. It just doesn't have the tighter polish, specifically in pacing and structure, that I enjoy most from my favourite Platinum titles.
Doesn't matter.Quick question, when I start new game +, is all the database stuff I've taken pics of going to carry over too? It better
Also I adore this game but it sometimes really baffles me with dumb decisions
Putting red matter to collect on the escaping the tunnel crystal section while riding on beast legion in ARI is nothing but just infuriating. With the way that section is set up, why the fuck would they do that?!? You can collect all the red matter the entire chapter, and get completely screwed at this part. That's such fucking bullshit.
Is file 11 boss really that tough? At worst I've had to use two batteries on the boss for file 9 mostly because the mechanics were janky as fuck. Other than that I maybe died once or twice the entire game. Guess I'll find out tonight...
Go to your PC and access File Select, you will be greeted with the rank summaryWhere can I see my previous ranks of earlier files? Like for every red/blue case. Thanks in advance!
edit: Also, anyone know a good video walkthrough for chapter 10 and beyond? I was using underbuffed but s/he only has file 1-9 uploaded.
Thanks!Go to your PC and access File Select, you will be greeted with the rank summary
So what you suggest is to have Files as these linear Action missions while all the exploration (outside of maybe Astral Plane) is localized in the big city hub?Ditch the file structure, let me go where I want in the city during down time and let me do secondary missions whenever I feel like it.
And yes, make Parry and the piercing Legion dash part of your standard moveset. Why are they attached to random obscure ability codes? How many people who played this game know there's Mahaa-Kalaa style parry in this game? I wager not that many.
Parry attack I think. some I frames stuff you can look in here https://imgur.com/a/vL4edct#KhHuLApWhat is the parry ability called? I read about it but then forgot. Also, what legions have i-frames on their sync attacks? Beast and arm? Thanks!
Yeah, a big hub that updates between chapters. You could make it a giant extension of Neuron HQ and contextualize it as going on patrol.Please no open world. The structure is cool how it is. I just want a hub to go back to between files but the mission structure should stay
My Parry comes with an ability code called Call Lock +0.5 secWhat is the parry ability called? I read about it but then forgot. Also, what legions have i-frames on their sync attacks? Beast and arm? Thanks!
I'm not going to lie, I'm having a really hard time with Astral Chain. I really like the combat system, the general mood and vibe of the game, and the conceptual idea of side questing alongside main questing in hub-like levels. But I find the actual structure and pacing of the game an absolute bore. It's such an unfocused mess of boring quests in weirdly semi-restrictive hubs that try to offer a bit of freedom yet are also presented as part of structured levels. A lot of the side content is terribly boring and a slog to push through, but the game nevertheless pushes you into these sections of games in order to present the levels themselves.
There's this weird unfocused, unsureness to what the game wants to present and have you do. Does it want to be an exhilarating moment-to-moment character action game? Does it want to be more open and free with side questing? Actually getting through levels and to the moments where optional, missable content exists is slow and meandering, but also restricted to the "file" structure. I can already feel I don't want to replay the levels to discover things, because I don't like most of the side content, so much of it is repetitious and dull, and even just getting into the files and playing through them is a huge slog.
The game has so many exciting, exhilarating moments but the structure is robbed of the snappiness of stuff like Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising, but also the completely free, adventitious, relaxed and open discovery of Nier Automata. It tries to combine elements of both of these directions but ends up worse than both, even if there's moments of brilliance inside the messy structural wraparound.
And it's a shame, because I've found I have to force myself to play the game. Frustratingly this isn't a case of a game I actively dislike and am forcing myself through for some fried reason (to see a story through, for example). I still really like a lot of what Astral Chain has to offer. So much so that I want to experience that stuff first hand. When it's kicking goals it's fantastic. But every time I think about what I need to endure to get to these points, I just groan at the shit I need to dig through to get there. Play sessions are such a slog.
All of this is in combination with technical and design issues I've already voiced; 30fps does the game no favours, the camera is awful, the visual readability is a mess, and more. The platform is objectively awful because of measurably imprecise jumping (you do not land exactly where you place your legion). I also think the controls are shit and find them unnecessarily convoluted (which I will also put down to the learning curve, but man, there's some weird function idiosyncrasies here), and other oddities like trying to navigate your legion but having them catch on props and other junk in combat zones. It's a painfully anti-user friendly set of game systems, and not in the way The Wonderful 101 was with its rough tutorials. This is just...rough.
So yeah. Bit of a rant, just some thoughts. I'll see it through because like I said when it's great it's marvellous. But as it is Astral Chain is almost definitely my least favourite major production from Platinum. There's so much greatness to elevate the quality, but the lows subjectively bring it down for me. It just doesn't have the tighter polish, specifically in pacing and structure, that I enjoy most from my favourite Platinum titles.
I mean, it's on on rail section.
I love this motorcycle and its segments.
Semi Open World Sequel where we drive around town on this Bike when?
Do you have Fusion available?Yeah I'm gonna be YouTubing the ending. It's been a ride but that final boss, yeesh.
Yeah but I used it too early and didn't charge up in time for the final section
They can both come as main abilities as well, I have a Parry Attack with no subs and a Legion Rush with 2 subs. I think abilities are randomized, so if you are hunting for something you can farm the level 12 missions which after the first completion will each reward you with a specific ability.My Parry comes with an ability code called Call Lock +0.5 sec
The sub-ability itself is called Parry Attack
Legion rushing move (throw with flicking the right stick that goes through enemies) is called Legion Rush and it came bundled with an E-Convert Range +100%.
THIS is what's so weird. These come bundled as sub-perks of mundane modifiers. At leas these particular samples.
Oh hi, combo videos! Was waiting for these to start materializing.
There's a lot more potential for air play in here than a few people give it credit for.
There's a number of moves that look like launchers to me.Those look cool, but is there the only launcher the perfect evade+ZR move? All combos start with that :/
Damn, if there's one tweak I REALLY want for part 2's combat, it's to give me the damn thing for my standard moveset. Parry is a random drop I need to farm, lol.They can both come as main abilities as well, I have a Parry Attack with no subs and a Legion Rush with 2 subs. I think abilities are randomized, so if you are hunting for something you can farm the level 12 missions which after the first completion will each reward you with a specific ability.
Yeah you´re right. IMHO this is what makes AC´s combat so different from previous P* games, you have very few options to stay in the air safely dealing damage.There's a number of moves that look like launchers to me.
Like Arm's and Axe's back-forward commands, although I haven't tested those.
Edit: Yep, take a closer look at around 1:30. Axe back-forward is indeed a launcher, it seems.
Yup, I agree. I still haven´t found which mission (if any) in level 12 gives you the Parry Attack, will let you know if I come across it as I´m also hunting for it :PDamn, if there's one tweak I REALLY want for part 2's combat, it's to give me the damn thing for my standard moveset. Parry is a random drop I need to farm, lol.
While I think that the groundedness of the combat system is kinda overstated by some people, I think they could safely expand air play in the sequel without detracting from that uniqueness. For one thing, they could have all the command moves have their own aerial permutations with associated Syncs.Yeah you´re right. IMHO this is what makes AC´s combat so different from previous P* games, you have very few options to stay in the air safely dealing damage.
Lots of useful tips in this post, thanks.I finally managed to beat Noah in Pt Ultimate. What a shitshow, almost everything that wasn´t a melee attack was a OHKO, not a fan of that. The boss was very cool and with a more balanced damage output it could be really fun to fight, I like how a lot of attacks can easily be stopped by the correct Legion technique, though it´s also true that just riding the beast will get you through anything.
I´m going through the file 12 missions in Pt Standard now, it´s amazing how easy things seem now after beating the game in Pt Ultimate. I like a lot the combat system but I also think it´s not balanced at all: It seems like the devs just made everything overpowered and then just throw in a bunch of enemies at you to try to overwhelm you, but with Howl, Slow Shot and Gravity Bomb you can gain instant control of almost any battlefield and you still have Axe´s barrier and shields or you can ride Beast to become untouchable. There should be some special type of attacks that can break Axe´s barrier in one hit, other to hit you when you´re riding Beast and some special kind of floor (maybe summonable by enemies) where Beast can´t walk.
I don´t like that some times the camera will fuck you over and if you just mash buttons and unleash techniques in a panic you´ll most likely destroy all the enemies and even get a S+ (seriously, the ranking system is just horrible, it has no meaning at all). The camera shouldn´t be that bad and you should get killed if you act mindlessly.
Also, there´s really bad checkpoint placement. This wasn´t an issue in Pt Standard as you rarely died, but playing through Ultimate without using healing items it´s a different story. For example, there´s this time you have to tail a guy, then a portal will open and you´ll get into a lengthy fight. If you lose you spawn right back at the base so have to go search for the guy to start the mission again, skip the cutscenes, perform the tailing sequence and then go back into the Astral Plane to do the fight again. Same with the stealth sections, if you find a secret portal and lose the fight you´re put back at he beginning of the level and have to do all the stealth section again. It tremendously disencourages trying to get good at the game as if you die 3 or 4 times you´ll eventually become so tired of the preceding sections that you´ll give in and just use healing items or whatever to get it over. Even the final boss does something like this in a lesser extent: If you die you have to skip a cutscene every time,. It´s not too long, but after some tries it starts piling up. What is more bizarre is that the section already puts you right at the start of the boss, there´s nothing more to do so why did they have to bring you right before the cutscene every single time? At least the game allows you to select specific parts of a file to jump into and you can get out as soon as you beat that part you want, but it still could do better. I hope Bayo3 gives you straight access to every single verse from a menu and just cuts out the bullshit. These games are designed to be replayed and master the nuances of the combat system, yet at the same time they always have some bullshit that tries to make it as tedious as possible.then watch an unskippable cutscene of the boss summonning those platforms into the air and taking you with him
I´d really like for there to be a way to detect Beast and Arrow´s collectibles more easily once you´ve gone through the level 2 or 3 times. I´m not going to walk through each level a 4th time walking the Beast legion all around while looking with the camera at every corner, that was nice 2 or 3 times, but enough is enough. BTW, when I realized that the Beast legion wouldn´t detect hidden spots if you weren´t manually moving it around I wanted to scream. Having it walk besides you or riding it doesn´t do anything :(
I think that once I´m done with the file 12 missions I´ll be done with the game, the combat system has a lot of depth but there´s nothing in the game to incite you to master it.
BTW, some nice combos:
- Use Axe´s shields, then Hit Rush.
- Change to Arm, use Gravity Bomb.
- Change to Sword, activate Circle Swords. The enemies should already be gathering around the Gravity Bomb, so bind them all and perform the followup Sync attacks. Alternatively you can Hit Rush with Sword after binding the enemies and call out Axe or Arm to manually attack the binded enemies (Gladius combos with Axe will destroy most mobs). Axe´s shields should stop you from being interrupted if any enemy escapes the bind too soon.
- You´ll most likely have now destroyed 4 or more mobs, making the rest of the encounter very easy. If they´re still standing use Howl, as they´ll all still be close together after the Gravity Bomb you´ll most likely stun all of them.
- Use Slow Shot to stop the survivors from attacking. By the time it runs out you´ll most likely be ready to unleash another Gravity Bomb if you want to, but it´s rarely needed at this point as all that´s left is probably the boss if there´s one.
They can both come as main abilities as well, I have a Parry Attack with no subs and a Legion Rush with 2 subs. I think abilities are randomized, so if you are hunting for something you can farm the level 12 missions which after the first completion will each reward you with a specific ability.
Those look cool, but is there the only launcher the perfect evade+ZR move? All combos start with that :/
I would leave Files pretty much as they are now but you would have the option of keeping secondary missions for after doing the File mission you're on.So what you suggest is to have Files as these linear Action missions while all the exploration (outside of maybe Astral Plane) is localized in the big city hub?
I support tightening up, but I'm not sure I'd like it that much. I'd rather have them improve investigations.
Yeah, I'm for tightening up the individual files, but I don't want exploration to be relegated to some hub world.I would leave Files pretty much as they are now but you would have the option of keeping secondary missions for after doing the File mission you're on.
Here's a really minor tip that isn't really useful, but is cool.
I love this, lol. I know what I'm going to try next time I play.Here's a really minor tip that isn't really useful, but is cool.
So pressing ZR while sprinting makes you do a cool slide kick, right? So when you need to access something behind a shutter, do you crawl under it like some loser or do you slide under it like a styling Stand Cop boss that you are?
I'd say put them through one of those newfangled AI upscalers but it'll only highlight just how bad the AA is in AC.I feel like every screenshot I take in this game is a pixelated mess.
Which is a shame, because it's the kind of game were I take alot of screenshots.
Collectible collection rate is shared between all difficulties (as well as blue missions) so you could play through Pt Ultimate while finding the ones you missed.Finally managed to get S+ in every case on PT Standard. The majority is not hard to get. But I had a hard time in some of them.
Next, I'll probably get all the collectables. Then, I'll finally start with File12.
PT Ultimate run is most likely gonna be my final act with the game. lol
Still so much to do. I love it
I know but thank you!Collectible collection rate is shared between all difficulties (as well as blue missions) so you could play through Pt Ultimate while finding the ones you missed.
Dirty Legions auto-attack less actively.Playing through Pt Standard again to get S+ on everything.
Does anyone know what does Legion maintenance do?
Has this been confirmed? I also read that they move more slowly but haven´t seen any confirmation either way. BTW I´m trying to not clean my Legions to see if I feel anything different, but haven´t found anything yet.
Supposedly Taura has confirmed but I haven't seen the confirmation firsthand.Has this been confirmed? I also read that they move more slowly but haven´t seen any confirmation either way. BTW I´m trying to not clean my Legions to see if I feel anything different, but haven´t found anything yet.