Playing the odds
Astral Chain is complicated, but enjoyable
Astral Chain
Nintendo
Available on: Nintendo Switch
At the end of each of Astral Chain’s missions, a menu pops up on screen asking if you’d like to advance to the next “file” with the same “play style” or difficulty level. I can’t think of another game that so frequently reminds its audience of such options, and I wondered why the developers of this flamboyant new action game might do this.
It became clear after my performance on the first couple of files was deemed worthy of a D rating. Having played through a good number of PlatinumGames’ back catalogue — and generally fared much better — I was rattled by my first few hours with this decidedly odd action game.
Astral Chain follows the story of twins — a brother and sister — who work for Neuron, an elite police force dedicated to defending humanity against an alien threat posed by “chimeras,” powerful creatures from another dimension who are invisible to most humans. Aided by bleeding-edge technology, a select number of Neuron’s employees are entrusted with Legions, captured chimeras who are chained to the wrist and neurologically linked to their operator. Figuratively speaking, I could feel my brain working overtime as I tried to get used to guiding a Legion and one of the twins at the same time.
As is usual for most action games, movement of your agent is mapped to the left thumbstick while the right thumbstick controls the camera. Pressing the left trigger calls your Legion, which then can be steered by holding the left trigger and manipulating the right thumbstick. On top of that there are buttons for switching weapons, switching Legions, using items and using your Legion’s special abilities.
Throughout the campaign, you’ll acquire different Legions who each have their own unique characteristics. Learning to keep track of two avatars on the screen and to effectively use the chain between them can be tricky unless you are enviably ambidextrous.
When you factor in Astral Chain’s unusual duo avatar mechanic with the ins-and-outs of mastering the game’s fighting mechanics, it’s easy to get your fingers tangled up.
Three difficulty levels are available: Unchained, Casual and Platinum Standard. In Unchained mode the game does the fighting for you so you can concentrate on the story. Casual mode forgoes the letter grade evaluations. It also allows you to continue six times, after getting knocked down, before a Game Over screen appears. Platinum Standard gives you two continues.
Astral Chain was directed by Takahisa Taura, whose 2017 game Nier: Automata was selected as one of The Washington Post’s best games of the year.
Astral Chain, which looks like a stylish heavily-inked manga, flaunts its affection toward animals. You can even walk your Beast Legion like a dog. If only more big-league developers dared to be this bonkers, the industry would be that much more untamed.