Chaos Legion.
From the stylish and action-packed opening moments to its deep and complex combat system, Astral Chain is a game that can satisfy on many different levels. From mastering the use of weapons called Legions, you’ll dash out of the way of devastating attacks, and swoop in close for a few quick hits, and then pull off spectacular combo attacks all in the dressing of a neon future anime aesthetic that is quite simply gorgeous to look at. While Its story is largely predictable and fairly forgettable, Astral Chain is an explosive thrill-ride that needs to be taken.
Going into Astral Chain, and being a fan of Platinum games, largely because Bayonetta 2 is one of my favorite games of all time and Nier: Automata is very impressive as well, I had a fundamental idea of what to expect here. Helmed by Takahisa Taura, the man behind Nier: Automata, Astral Chain started life due to the cancellation of Scalebound, a title originally set for release on the Xbox One platform. After the title was tweaked to serve the future sci-fi aesthetic instead of a fantasy one, something Nintendo themselves is partially responsible for, Astral Chain would take its inspirations from various cyberpunk anime such as Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell, a personal favorite series of mine.
You play as one half of a pair of siblings that are brought into your father’s secret task force, a division of police that uses living weapons called Legions. These creatures are essentially invisible to the general public and can offer assistance in fighting similar creatures that have bled into our world. You can pick male or female and then the opposite will be your voiced sibling throughout the game. In my case, my character was female and her brother is alongside you for much of the ride. Sadly, your own character is voiceless, apart from grunts and screams, and despite them having a voice actor assigned to them, should you instead choose male and then be joined by his sister, you are surprisingly silent, despite the story really craving your emotional involvement. It’s a bizarre choice that still doesn’t make any sense and by large makes several conversations and moments feel less impactful. While I am not against voiceless protagonists, it feels at odds here with how the story pans out and what is expected of your character’s interactions.
You are brought into the task force very early, and much of the story itself is very predictable as nearly everything you expect from it will happen. The early moments, the role of the sibling, and even the ‘twist’ is something you can see coming a mile away. While the story beats are less involving, it is the action spectacle here that will sell you what the game can offer. Nearly every action-packed cutscene features some heart-racing series of events and the music choices present here are insanely good, especially a battle later on that has you in combat to a song that felt like I was watching the opening to an anime. For as much as I was let down by the story, the stylized action built around the narrative is second to none and is what kept my interest throughout much of the game. While I still feel let down by the last encounter, I was still blown away by what Astral Chain does right during my journey.
Equipping and mastering your Legion is the basis for how combat will naturally evolve as you add more of these weapons to your arsenal. You yourself will have a gun and two melee weapons that you can upgrade, but the real depth of Astral Chain is how you swap out and perform combo attacks with your Legions and the wide range of special attacks that they can use. You’ll start with the Sword Legion, one that I tended to keep as my main throughout the entire experience. You’ll eventually gain more, each with their own unique looks and abilities, but the starting Legion moved and attacked in ways that felt like what I wanted from them. As you take in battle after battle you’ll earn currency you can use to upgrade them, granting them additional ability slots and attacks that make them more useful, such as equipping one of your Legions with the ability to grant you a shield, something that came in handy more times than I could count. This system is somewhat similar to the Plug-in chip system to Nier: Automata, but far more simplified. You also need to maintain your Legion between missions by extracting crystal shards from their chassis, and I’m surprised that you cannot use the touch screen on the Switch to assist in this via handheld mode.
Legions will act on their own during combat encounters, with using their own unique attacks, so you don’t always have to move them around manually. You can also use the chain that is connected between the two of you to slingshot enemies that charge at you or swing them around foes to trap them in place. As you strike with your own weapons, a blue flare will pop up and indicate that you can perform a sync attack, a blow that does more damage than your typical strikes. It also comes with some invincibility frames that can help in timing it just right to avoid some serious damage since the camera here can often swing away from nearby enemies you have in focus. Legion attacks and having them out alongside you consume energy, and you’ll need to wait a few seconds to summon them again, though, it doesn’t really take long to recharge them. You can upgrade the energy meter to have them out longer, which does help considerably later on when the enemies get stronger and in larger numbers. There is also a killing blow you can perform with your Legion, but sadly every single Legion has the same overall animation and it became tiresome to see it for the 300th time.
While you do have your own attack abilities with a gun, and two melee weapons, your own character’s combat can feel somewhat basic when looked at it on its own. You do have the ability to perform well-timed dodges and sync attacks, but it’s managing your own attacks alongside your Legion where the game truly starts to show its depth. Each weapon can be upgraded by earning special currency and items that do require a bit of a grind to really take advantage of it. Eventually, you’ll unlock a special melee attack that requires that you fill up a special meter to use, something that is exciting, epic, and action-packed every time you unleash it.
Astral Chain loves its complexity and it can be a bit overwhelming early on as you’ll push through a rapid series of tutorials back to back. While the combat can fall into a simplified pattern, there is certainly a wealth of depth here should you invest into the game and master everything offered to you, especially the in’s and out’s of how your playstyle can change from Legion to Legion. It certainly takes a while to get the handle on everything you can do, and you can practice your moves and abilities in a training facility at your home base. While there is an ability to jump, you’ll need to move your Legion to the spot you want to jump, having it assist you in bridging the gap. This process can be dreadfully slow, and when used in a certain boss battle, it’s a pain in the ass and made that experience a horrible one. During encounters, the biggest challenge comes in knowing which Legion is right for the job while also which attacks to give it to get the most out of it. It can certainly take a lot of time to unlock the best abilities, such as allowing one Legion to go off-leash and then summoning a second Legion alongside it. There is a ton of depth here that can really reward those that are looking for it.
There is a deep customization system to your character with all sorts of hairstyles, colors, and outfits pieces you unlock along the way. I constantly changed up my look several times during the game, and would always check what objectives I’ve met in the menu’s to see what new items I’ve unlocked. There is a wide range of challenges to complete, as well as a deep and rewarding endgame that keeps the action coming, even despite the story itself being over. You can also jump into previous missions to get a higher rank, should that be your thing.
Between the big story moments, you’ll be able to hit the streets and help civilians with their everyday problems, and while some missions are actually very fun, many of them are mundane chores that don’t really entertain on any level. These range from reuniting a mother with their child, moving boxes from one location to the other with awful motion controls when handheld, or tracking down a crime lord with the assistance of an eager and albeit annoying cop. If anything, these locations and tasks allow you to collect resources, items, and money that all contribute to keeping you alive when you really need it. I will say that many of these missions feel like padding or filler, where some activities here felt worthwhile and really showed that some had more care issued to them than others.
Despite the limitations to the Switch hardware, Astral Chain is a gorgeous looking game with bright neon colors and dark blacks that can look incredible in most cases. Smaller details like repetitive level design and its NPC’s are less impressive and feel vastly reused, but overall this is a stunning game to look at both handheld and on the TV. While the resolution hits around 720p most of the time, the game runs at a consistent 30 fps in both handheld and docked, with only minor moments where it can stutter, but it was very rare to see it do so, at least in my experience playing it mostly handheld.
Apart from its bland quests and story, Astral Chain is largely successful when focused on its action spectacle and boss encounters. While I thought the final encounter was a testament to the sometimes poor camera and awful jumping systems, the journey there was a vastly enjoyable one that kept my interest peaked to see what else was around the corner. While I’ve been harsh on many aspects to the game, rest assured, Astral Chain is very impressive overall. Combat is incredibly deep despite your own character’s basic attacks, but knowing how and when to use certain Legions, it added an engaging complexity that is wonderfully handled and exciting to take part in. Astral Chain isn’t my favorite Platinum game by far, but it’s certainly worth checking out and diving into its bright neon future.
Astral Chain was purchased by the reviewer and played on an Nintendo Switch.
All screenshots were taken on an Nintendo Switch.