Page 6 • Astral Chain • Gaming • Switch • Eurogamer.net

Deleted user 3 September 2019 19:45:55

THFourteen wrote:

Murbs wrote:
Voice acting in this is woeful. Looks lovely though.

It's your typical OTT anime stuff isnt it? I quite like it. Love the soundtrack, could have watched the intro credits a couple of times!

Not happy to hear there is platforming in this game though... never getting finished.

I'm over half way through and there hasn't been much so far.

neems 3 Sep 2019 21:03:56 4,860 posts
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And it isn't really platforming in the classical sense.

Deleted user 3 September 2019 22:14:55

It's a great game but kind of feel I've seen all that there is to offer now that I have all legions. Hopefully things mix up a bit.

Murbs 3 Sep 2019 22:41:48 24,815 posts
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Ok, it's growing in me. Quote tricky at times too. I do feel like I'm having one of my 'got too much to play, need to cut back' moments though...

neems 4 Sep 2019 04:27:44 4,860 posts
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Sparring as Lappy is great, got some moves.

THFourteen 4 Sep 2019 09:04:04 53,819 posts
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neems wrote:
And it isn't really platforming in the classical sense.

Just finished case 2 i guess its that move legion and pull type thing, i can manage that.

Am enjoying the game and story, but realistically there's nothing more to the game than rampant button bashing, i challenge anyone to tell me they can actually tell whats happening on screen and are able to react accordingly

uiruki 4 Sep 2019 09:24:02 5,243 posts
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Up to file 8, really veering around in terms of my opinion. When the fighting is flowing and going well it’s fantastic but when I’m having to do a shitty sliding puzzle or balancing boxes in between the long runs through the streets punctuated by sending out my Pac-Man to hoover up some astral dots or doing some janky second person platforming it very much isn’t.

Duffking 4 Sep 2019 10:44:09 16,610 posts
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@THFourteen it's not very difficult at all even on Pt Standard but around Chapter 4 I spent a little while in the training room working out what is actually going on in the combat and I'm an S-ranking machine now. It's not so bad, you just need to know what triggers sync attacks and abuse the shit out of them.

atothewest 4 Sep 2019 10:50:11 1,098 posts
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I bought this the other day, haven't had a chance to get any further than the prologue yet though.

Hearing comments like "rampant button bashing" concerns me though, because that was definitely my first impression. I'm never sold on games where the only incentive to learn the proper mechanics is S-ranks or whatever, but you can fundamentally through by just mashing buttons.

Rivuzu 4 Sep 2019 11:23:44 18,383 posts
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atothewest wrote:
Hearing comments like "rampant button bashing" concerns me though, because that was definitely my first impression. I'm never sold on games where the only incentive to learn the proper mechanics is S-ranks or whatever, but you can fundamentally through by just mashing buttons.

Early in the game? Sure. Later on? No. And definitely not if you're playing on a higher difficulty.

Lets also be a little bit realistic. Astral Chain falls into the realm of Combo Fetish games, like Bayonetta, DMC, etc. Yeah you can probably mash through when you're strong enough, but that's not the satisfying gameplay loop you came for. And frankly if you do want to mash, put it on the auto combo easy gameplay mode and just enjoy the story.

neems 4 Sep 2019 11:26:50 4,860 posts
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In all honesty I'm just mashing buttons and I love it. I just unlocked auto-bind last night which looks useful.

Like Duffking says, the main thing is sync attacks.

Tuffty 4 Sep 2019 13:57:01 4,546 posts
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It's weird, some fights I feel I do ok with and get a C rank but theres fights like against Cerberus in file 03, where I get hit a bunch, no real flow or combos to it, but end up getting S+. I try to be as stylish as I can anyway but learning not to get too attached to the ranks. Do they even give a reward based on the rank?

uiruki 4 Sep 2019 14:00:32 5,243 posts
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It’s the score bonus which then goes towards your player rank and (I think) your pay.

It was a lot clearer in Bayo, you get a medal for your time, one for your combos and one for damage taken, which they average out for the verse medal.

Tuffty 4 Sep 2019 14:07:15 4,546 posts
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Ah yes, you do get money I forgot. Yeah it's like DMC5 where you get a bunch of accolades at the end of the mission but theres nowhere in game to describe what you actually did in order to get the 'High Roller' or 'Lucky Strike' titles for example. At least in DMC5 it shows you the red orbs you got next to each one.

Chain jump attack seems kinda finicky too, feels like my legion is right in front of the chimera but I'm just landing in front of it without attacking even though I'm pressing ZR as I'm in front of it. Will have to try it in the training room again, but I'm guessing maybe you have to actually hook the chain around the enemy first. But otherwise I'm really enjoying the game!

Edited by Tuffty at 14:07:58 04-09-2019

ChiefGB 4 Sep 2019 17:48:20 12,553 posts
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And we’rrreeee off, well will be once this patch has installed.

askew 4 Sep 2019 18:11:42 21,552 posts
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I found a portaloo and got some leaves in return. Turns out there must be a toilet in each mission to use.

ChiefGB 4 Sep 2019 22:07:19 12,553 posts
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Well, this is going to be a bit nails. Playing on standard took me about 5 goes on the first proper boss. It’s a bit chaotic. It’s cool but can’t really comment on my feelings yet as that felt a bit unfair.

Oh my, that escalated. just finished file 2 with a C over all, so I’m guessing I didn’t do too badly, scant idea what the fuck was going on but it was pretty cool in the end.

Edited by ChiefGB at 22:31:07 04-09-2019

Graxlar_v3 4 Sep 2019 23:18:49 10,212 posts
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Seen credits on my standard playthrough... screw ultimate 😂

Graxlar_v3 4 Sep 2019 23:20:16 10,212 posts
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@askew have you noticed the toilet at HQ, if not go hunting for funsies

Graxlar_v3 5 Sep 2019 06:27:35 10,212 posts
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Ok.. I have slept on it and my thoughts are mixed.

I loved the combat but when it come to doing anything manual with the legion it become super fiddly and my brain is just not wired to control both characters so I would fluff my lines a lot.

The story is pretty cool and I quite liked a lot of the characters even if they were a bit one dimensional.

The pacing sucked, having to go do an hour or two of ‘busy work’ before a mission properly started just drained the momentum constantly and it gets even worse late on. I like the idea of an open area where you can take on side quests etc, but I don’t think it should have been tied to the mission structure the way it was, especially as a lot of the time it was just busy work.

Overall though I enjoyed my 25-30 hours with it, I will go back at some point and do the post game stuff and maybe re run some missions but I will drop it for now and start ff8 or torchlight.

Rivuzu 5 Sep 2019 10:44:31 18,383 posts
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On to the final File myself, but I already know I'm going to be going back to smash this on Ultimate, try and S+ clear every mission, collect every single cat, shit wipe and dog costume piece possible.

Combat is still stellar to me. Weapon and Legion switching midcombo is letting me pull off some very satisfying bullshit. It's fantastic.

deez 5 Sep 2019 17:01:53 301 posts
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So is casual setting which the game struck me on equivalent to normal, or am I missing out staying on that?

ChiefGB 5 Sep 2019 19:30:38 12,553 posts
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I’ve gone standard, it looks like it could be a handful, but it guilt tripped into going for it by implying standard is the way it’s meant to be played.
It may as well have said “pussies click here” for casual, i’m already thinking I’ll regret it.

Deleted user 5 September 2019 19:36:33

You can change the level at the end of each file anyway.

Graxlar_v3 5 Sep 2019 20:02:58 10,212 posts
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@deez are you enjoying the game? If the answer is eys you are not missing out on anything.

Deleted user 5 September 2019 20:08:15

Think I've burnt out on it. I'm on file 10 and lost the will to play on.

mad_caddy 5 Sep 2019 20:13:58 3,742 posts
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Picked it up on a gamble.
No reviews, nothing.

Not too far in. Wasn't enjoying the first hour or so, but like bayonetta, vanquish etc, I'm starting to get to grips with it and enjoy it. Even if I am a bit shit at the fights, it still looks fucking amazing.

Very pleased with another switch game.
Pro controller is so much more enjoyable to play it on.

chrisno21 6 Sep 2019 07:59:34 2,298 posts
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Left mine on casual, was always terrible at platinum games and I don't feel bad! Combat still fun just not as punishing.

Duffking 6 Sep 2019 12:53:50 16,610 posts
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I did the "training" in file 06 last night and absolutely brutalized everything in it, the list of points on my S+ afterwards was loooong. Very satisfying.

Astral Chain • Page 6