-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
So... Astral Chain is GoTY
- Thread starter Ocarina_117
- Start date
I enjoyed it quite a bit until about file 7 or 8 when the investigation and non-combat stuff started to overstay its welcome. I also had issues with the combat, how unnecessarily busy it was visually and how much I fought the controls to do basic things (not a fan of splitting up basic legion tasks over 5 legions as opposed to 1 or 2).
That said, I mostly dug it and it was a pretty solid title. Story could have been much better though. It sort of just existed and I couldn't help but think of this skit the entire time:
That said, I mostly dug it and it was a pretty solid title. Story could have been much better though. It sort of just existed and I couldn't help but think of this skit the entire time:
Speaking of sound, the game only supports stereo, which is ridiculous.
I got the same impression.
It is struggling to make it into my top 10 games of the year so far and that is even before next week when Pokemon comes out.
I do love it though. Fun combat, I like the legion gameplay, but the story is a bit cliche and I'm not entirely sold on the setting. Luigis Mansion 3, Fire Emblem 3 houses, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Yoshi, Mario Maker 2, Links Awakening are all above it IMO.
I haven't played RE2 but I reckon it would be ahead too.
Glad you love it so much though OP, it is a fantastic game.
I do love it though. Fun combat, I like the legion gameplay, but the story is a bit cliche and I'm not entirely sold on the setting. Luigis Mansion 3, Fire Emblem 3 houses, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Yoshi, Mario Maker 2, Links Awakening are all above it IMO.
I haven't played RE2 but I reckon it would be ahead too.
Glad you love it so much though OP, it is a fantastic game.
I can't think of a more disappointing game I played this year. Given that Nier: Automata is an all-time favorite of mine and I am in love with Astral Chain's aesthetic it's surprising that I had force myself through it. Found the game to be a fairly joyless slog. Won't be anywhere near my top 10 list this year.
Made it about an hour before thinking "oh, this is one of the bad Bayonetta games" and turning it off and never touching it again. Not enough time to really give a fair shot but nothing about it seemed noteworthy and I have no interest in anime cops in 2019.
Great game, but with blemishes, needs a sequel to iterate in the right areas to deliver a real gem.
Also enjoyed the shit out of exploration in this game. Like in file 6, you can go off-track at one point and discover a boss fight you won't see anywhere till the post-game.
Chapter 8's mere existence brings down the game though. Now that was a real slog.
Also please hire a writer. The world-building is good, the characters had potential to be decent, but the writing doesn't do much with any of it and then decides to just recite Evangelion at some point.
Please improve this shit, because the lore bits set things up for the sequel and depending on how those things are executed, it can be interesting or can be discount Guren Laggan.
Please don't be the latter, but if you have to, execute it better OK?
Also enjoyed the shit out of exploration in this game. Like in file 6, you can go off-track at one point and discover a boss fight you won't see anywhere till the post-game.
Chapter 8's mere existence brings down the game though. Now that was a real slog.
Also please hire a writer. The world-building is good, the characters had potential to be decent, but the writing doesn't do much with any of it and then decides to just recite Evangelion at some point.
Please improve this shit, because the lore bits set things up for the sequel and depending on how those things are executed, it can be interesting or can be discount Guren Laggan.
Please don't be the latter, but if you have to, execute it better OK?
Last edited:
I agree on the GOTY call. It's so much FUN to play, even for me who isn't good at character action games.
do we really need to explicitly preface every opinion in the world with "this is what I think"
come on
Definitely in my top 5. Some of the chapters were just too long and the stealth sections were quite bad, but I really enjoyed the combat, exploration, that every Legion was useful and serves a specific purpose, the insane boss fights and overall presentation. Great game.
I gave it a 7.0 in my personal games app.
It has decent combat but most encounters were easily won by mindlessly using the legion's special attacks, switching to the next legion, unleash special attack etc. all while beating and occasionally evading. The last two bosses were awesome but I beat them the same way. It is often enought to even get S ranks because it doesn't matter if you get hit yourself.
I know the system has more depth to it but the game rarely actually required me to use it.
The game also has some bad chapters, side missions and repeated levels. Story is nothing special at all.
It has decent combat but most encounters were easily won by mindlessly using the legion's special attacks, switching to the next legion, unleash special attack etc. all while beating and occasionally evading. The last two bosses were awesome but I beat them the same way. It is often enought to even get S ranks because it doesn't matter if you get hit yourself.
I know the system has more depth to it but the game rarely actually required me to use it.
The game also has some bad chapters, side missions and repeated levels. Story is nothing special at all.
Last edited:
I really enjoyed it for about two hours, came back to it later and hated it. I just kept getting stuck on stupid things like having missed the switch I needed to hit to lower a wall and spending like fifteen minutes trying to figure out what the game wanted me to do. Same goes for the investigation stuff. It just felt like the game wanted me to do one very specific thing to be allowed to move on that wasn't at all clear.
combat is a lot of fun though
combat is a lot of fun though
For me it's either Death Stranding or Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.
They share some weird similarities and I think a combination of the two would probably result in my favourite game ever.
Astral Chain is awesome, but I don't know if it even makes my top ten of the year. It's been a good year for video games...
They share some weird similarities and I think a combination of the two would probably result in my favourite game ever.
Astral Chain is awesome, but I don't know if it even makes my top ten of the year. It's been a good year for video games...
Understandable why bayonetta 3 is taking time.
After this, I'm pretty sure bayo exploration won't be about going backward to previous arena to find a secret. Nintendo probably asking them to make a more robust experience than a simple bta core.
Like they often try to do more with rpg than empty labyrinth dungeon, battles, repeat...
After this, I'm pretty sure bayo exploration won't be about going backward to previous arena to find a secret. Nintendo probably asking them to make a more robust experience than a simple bta core.
Like they often try to do more with rpg than empty labyrinth dungeon, battles, repeat...
Dropped the game like a hot potato. Glad someone found enjoyment out of it. The story was trite. The detective work was repetitive.
Will agree with OP that the OST was well done.
I'm glad OP found THEIR GOTY. I don't think we will see astral chain in many if any GOTY lists for content creators/outlets though.
Will agree with OP that the OST was well done.
I'm glad OP found THEIR GOTY. I don't think we will see astral chain in many if any GOTY lists for content creators/outlets though.
Chapter 8 is a drag, but 9 is nearly non-stop good shit.
10 has some iffy bits, probably the best side-content (haven't touched 11's though) IMO, and a mad hype finish. 11 is the end-game so just about what one would expect.
I don't see it topping most lists, but it's a highly rated, well-received game. I can't foresee it being a complete no-show.
I absolutely love the game overall, and it's for sure in my top 10 this year, but I had enough problems with it to prevent it from coming anywhere close to the top spot, especially in a year this packed. It also just really made me want a modern JoJo's game in this exact style that we're never gonna get, so that hurts
It may be top 5 for me, but so far Sekiro, FE 3H and Re2 are the 3 games (in that order) that I'm sure will be in the top positions. And I didn't even played CS III, the game I'll surely enjoy more from this year.
AC is amazing though, it has some rough spots here and there but it's far more ambitious and complete than DM5, that is maybe one of my biggest disappointments this year. AC is a top 10 game from this year, this is sure.
AC is amazing though, it has some rough spots here and there but it's far more ambitious and complete than DM5, that is maybe one of my biggest disappointments this year. AC is a top 10 game from this year, this is sure.
It's really fantastic. Got a bit too much padding but that's just games these days. Resident Evil 2 tops it on my list.
I liked it. Silent protagonist makes the game laughable during emotional moments.
Also, we got DMC5 this year.
Also, we got DMC5 this year.
I'm gonna have to ignore all side content and exploration in this game if I ever go back to it. The pacing is just such a let down for me.
Ignore the side-content as much as possible and beeline for the finish.
If you thought 7 was crazy, I think 9 will be good for you.
Chapter 8 really fucking blows and I say this as someone who enjoys this game's side stuff.
I
I'm at the end of 08 and right now and I don't get all the hate. JUST SKIP all the side missions it throws at you. Its fine.
Hell no. I thought this game was an absolute letdown for myriad reasons. I'm actually kind of shocked it reviewed as well as it did.
One thing is clear to me. There are no top their GOTY candidates this year. There's been a lot of really good games, but nothing in the league of GoW, RDR2, BOTW, Mario Odyssey, Witcher etc.
It's going to be interesting. I'd be leaning towards Sekiro but it's not a genre that everyone loves. There are so many games in with a shot this year I think it's going to be a real mixed bag.
It's going to be interesting. I'd be leaning towards Sekiro but it's not a genre that everyone loves. There are so many games in with a shot this year I think it's going to be a real mixed bag.
I just find those side-missions to be some of the worst and the file has them front and center, so most players tend to engage with it and then get increasingly frustrated with stuff like box moving.
What compounds it is that they are red cases and are ranked. Those really should have been blue. 6 has a blue case which is mechanically identical to the box case, but doesn't rank on how well you managed to wrestle with the wonky mechanics and dressed up in a way that makes it amusing and thus relatively enjoyable. Bringing a huge tower of ice-cream scoops to a needy child is hilarious due to how ridiculous it is, moving boxes is just a chore... and you're graded for it.
I didn't consider it GOTY material, but I thought it was pretty damn great and very entertaining until File 08. That chapter felt so bloated, frustrating and tiresome with all those stupid side tasks, dumb minigames and uninteresting filler gameplay parts that I put the game down and moved on to other games. I still would like to return to it as I've heard the final chapters are still very good but even the idea of returning to that part of the game annoys me. Maybe I'll just attempt to drill through it some day and get on with it.
I don't know. I liked it well enough for what little I played of it but I have absolutely no desire to pick it up again.
The silent protagonist shtick needs to die.
The silent protagonist shtick needs to die.
All content you consider filler, which is true in the case of file 8, is optional.
Chapter 9 is fire and it remains at a high level until the end, with an amazing final boss.
Definitely sitting atop my GotY list so far, it's got it's flaws, alot of which stem from being a new IP with new ideas I'm sure. But despite that it rises to be far greater then the sum of it's parts. Can't wait for a more refined sequel.
The production values for the localization weren't exactly stellar.
I actually liked the car puzzles but I wish that it didn't judge on time.
Did have a much better art style and soundtrack than DMC5, and generally had more creative boss fights, greatly held back by its framerate and grading system.
And it doesn't feel like a true Platinum experience without a ton of references to their other titles. I don't think there was a single one. I guess it's more of a Kamiya thing but at least Hashimoto did his fair share in Bayonetta 2.
I actually liked the car puzzles but I wish that it didn't judge on time.
Did have a much better art style and soundtrack than DMC5, and generally had more creative boss fights, greatly held back by its framerate and grading system.
And it doesn't feel like a true Platinum experience without a ton of references to their other titles. I don't think there was a single one. I guess it's more of a Kamiya thing but at least Hashimoto did his fair share in Bayonetta 2.