Now Playing: Astral Chain

It took me some time to wrap my head around Astral Chain, but once I did, it became a serious contender for my GOTY. I wrote a blog post recently in which I talked about games ‘driving in the same direction’ – how so many AAA games are turning into generic, by the numbers, open world ‘live service’ clones. Stale, unoriginal and bland. Inoffensive.

And then a game like Astral Chain comes along. It’s fresh. New. Packed full of cool ideas and engaging mechanics. It’s not afraid to try new things, to mix up its formula and continually challenge the player to learn and experiment. It’s everything I think I needed from a game, at just the right moment. It reminded me just how much f**king fun and ridiculous games can be.

The core story of Astral Chain may be dark and serious, but the game knows how to lighten the mood. I won’t spoil the story, but it takes some expected and some unexpected twists as you progress. There are some aspects in which it isn’t entirely clear – I’m still not sure exactly what one character was hoping to achieve through their actions – but though the plot may be a little messy in terms of story, the game does get the character stuff right and delivers a satisfying conclusion in that regard.

 

The game is structured into chapters, each broken down into smaller sections which, when you complete the game, can be replayed as you please. And you’ll want to replay these chapters because so many of them have areas you weren’t able to access the first time through as you hadn’t yet unlocked the necessary skills.

Just playing through the game once will likely take between 25-30 hours, so it’s already a fairly substantial experience. And that play time only increases once you begin to revisit missions in order to discover all the cool little things you missed on your initial run. Adding yet more value is the post game combat missions. I don’t know exactly how many of these there are but there’s a lot – I saw someone online say there are 71, but I can’t be sure because I’ve not unlocked them all yet.

I already talked at length about the combat in Astral Chain in my First Impressions post so I won’t repeat myself here. But as I said in that post, the sheer amount of combat options you have is kind of ridiculous. When you factor in the five Legion types, the 3 weapon types, the various sync attacks based upon Legion and weapon type, the Legion special abilities, skills and command abilities . . . I’m still unlocking and experimenting with them.

 

Because as I said in my FI post, Astral Chain is a game which encourages and rewards creative play. It’s not just about finishing battles quickly or taking zero damage – it’s about winning with style. It’s about mixing up your play, switching Legion types and utilising special attacks to build a massive chain of bonus points.

Once you understand this is how the ranking system works, it’s pretty easy to figure out a regular pattern which will all but guarantee an S+ rank on every combat encounter, but that’s not really the point. The game just wants you to have fun and be as creative and as stylish as you can.

Combat isn’t the only part of Astral Chain though, as the game has a pretty substantial exploration and environmental puzzle element too. Between combat encounters you’ll get to explore the various environments of each chapter, seek out hidden items or bonus missions, or simply chat to local npcs who will help flesh out the world and story.

 

And whereas so many other AAA games are cramming in every cosmetic micro-transaction they can, Astral Chain just doesn’t care and gives you some pretty extensive cosmetic customisation for both character and Legion all as part of the package. You don’t have to purchase f**king colour schemes in this game. In fact, you unlock a lot of the cosmetic stuff by completing in game ‘orders’ – think achievements – as you play.

Graphically, Astral Chain looks fantastic. It’s bright, vibrant and it’s easily one of the best looking games on the Switch. And no, the 30FPS lock really isn’t an issue. Because I play primarily on PC, I’m normally more aware of that kind of thing, but – aside from a couple of ‘busy’ areas – Astral Chain felt smooth to play.

Oh, and the music. The music is great. The only thing I don’t like about the music is when it ramps up to a fast paced, urgent beat at the beginning of a chapter when you just want to wander about and explore your HQ. It feels a little silly.

Overall, Astral Chain is a fantastic and enjoyable experience. It’s got a substantial quantity of content and plenty of gameplay depth to keep exploring beyond your initial run. It’s a timely reminder of just how colourful, unique and crazy video games can be. It’s pure arcade, action packed fun and it’s a strong contender for my GOTY.

9/10

No Man’s Sky: Beyond

Another year, another No Man’s Sky update. It’s the game I keep going back to, but I just can’t seem to commit. Every year No Man’s Sky gets a major overhaul patch, this one being Beyond. And for 10-20 hours I do enjoy my return to this procedurally generated universe. But I never seem to stay.

I guess it’s because despite all of the new features, quality of life improvements and system overhauls, the core gameplay loop of No Man’s Sky has never really changed – it’s still a game about gathering resources in order to travel to another star system, in which you’ll gather more resources in order to travel to the next star system, in which you’ll gather . . . and so on.

And that loop is fun, for a time. But if that loop wants to sustain my interest – to keep me engaged – then No Man’s Sky needs to stop building more layers upon its original foundation, and instead return to that original foundation and improve upon it.

 

Don’t get me wrong, all the new features, mechanics and quests they’ve added have done a great job of providing some much needed direction for the player as they progress through the game. One of the key issues I identified with No Man’s Sky when I initially played it back in 2017 was that the player needed more direction and incentive to explore – a reason to push on.

And over the last couple of years with the Atlas Rising and NEXT updates, that’s exactly what the game began to deliver. Beyond continues this trend – not only overhauling and improving existing systems, but also building upon those structured systems to provide a more robust and engaging experience for the player.

 

But like I said, what No Man’s Sky really needs to do now is return to the original foundation, because it’s that foundation that hasn’t really changed since release. At its heart, No Man’s Sky is a game of exploration. It’s about travelling from one planet to the next. But in the last three years, despite these major updates, you’ve still seen pretty much everything No Man’s Sky has to offer in terms of planets, environments, plants and creatures once you’ve visited just a handful of systems.

Once you’ve travelled to several systems, you’ll have seen pretty much everything No Man’s Sky has to see. I said during my NEXT update that – ‘once again, I still think they need to massively expand the flora and fauna components, as repetition becomes a serious problem once you’ve visited several worlds.’ It was true at release, and it’s still true today. So if we are going to get another major update to No Man’s Sky, I seriously hope that’s what they focus upon.

The Beyond update also overhauled the multiplayer / co-op aspect of No Man’s Sky, but because I don’t have any friends, I can’t really comment on it. It also added VR integration into the game, but because I don’t (currently) own a VR system, I can’t comment on this either – but I do plan to pick up a VR set in the near future, and I’m sure I’ll give No Man’s Sky another spin when I do.

One thing I think it’s important to note about Atlas Rising, Next and Beyond is that these major updates of No Man’s Sky, have all been free. Some may argue that, given the state of the game at release, they couldn’t really charge for fixing and adding content that was originally promised.

But we’ve now moved far beyond (pun intended) those promises, and No Man’s Sky has evolved into a very substantial experience. I certainly won’t complain if they keep knocking out these major updates for free, but I also won’t blame the developers if they do decide that the time has finally come to start charging for them.

I said at the end of my original review of No Man’s Sky that – ‘It has its moments. It’s okay. I probably won’t play it again.’ How wrong was I? And I’m glad I was. I guess I’ll see you again, same time, next year.

Astral Chain: First Impressions

Astral Chain is set in 2078, in a world ravaged by corruption from another dimension. What remains of humanity has retreated to ‘The Ark’ – a megacity constructed upon an artificial island. But this last refuge is now under threat, as creatures known as ‘chimeras’ enter our dimension through mysterious gateways. Unless humanity can find a way to stop them, we’ll face extinction.

This is where you come in as a newly recruited officer of Neuron – an elite police task force. Neuron intends to fight fire with fire, by capturing and enslaving chimeras and transforming them into weapons – Legions – capable of closing the gateways and defending The Ark.

It’s a pretty dark set up for a plot, but don’t fret – this is a game where, despite the dire odds, you still have time to rescue stray cats, pop into portable toilets, and dress up as a cartoon dog to spread cheer to your overworked colleagues.

Astral Chain is a Platinum Games title, their first on the Switch (if you don’t count the Bayonetta ports) and a new IP. I absolutely adore the Bayonetta games, and NieR: Automata was my 2017 GOTY. But I wouldn’t say I had very high expectations for Astral Chain prior to release. In fact, I really wasn’t sure what to make of it.

It’s obviously a third person action game at its core, but the combat isn’t quite what you might expect. It’s also an RPG, with a level up system and a variety of skill trees. But it’s also a platform / environmental puzzle game. To say there’s a lot to unpack when describing Astral Chain would be an understatement.

At the time of writing, I’ve played AC for about 14 hours and I reckon I’m about half way through the game. But even now there’s certain features and mechanics I’ve still not unlocked. And it’s only now, 10+ hours into the game, that it finally feels like I’ve got a decent grasp of the combat system – and I know there’s still a hell of a lot I need to learn.

Your character has a basic character attack combo (with 3 different weapons) and a dodge which is pretty basic on its own. But you don’t fight alone in Astral Chain – you fight alongside one of five Legion types, each with its own attack style and special abilities. You don’t control the Legion directly as such – you can move, position and focus its attacks on the target of your choice – but the Legion attacks automatically.

The Legions are connected to your character via the titular Astral Chain, which also plays an important role within combat. The chain can be used to wrap around and bind enemies, locking them into place or, if you line the chain up correctly, to catapult a charging enemy away. It can also be used to physically pull your character across the map – attacking enemies en route, or engaging them in the air.

When you first start trying to do this – essentially keeping track of two characters at the same time and trying to use your chain as effectively as you can – it can be confusing as f**k. But trust me, it does get easier as you progress. But here’s the thing about Astral Chain – just when you think you’ve got its combat figured out, it adds another layer on top.

As I said, each Legion has its own unique attack style, but they also have special abilities in addition to ‘command’ abilities which you can trigger during a fight. Oh, and you also have powerful ‘sync’ attacks which are triggered by performing combos or perfect dodges. It’s a hell of a lot to learn and a hell of a lot to wrap your head around. But once you do . . . oh boy, does Astral Chain become one of the most fun, engaging and creative combat systems you’ll ever play.

And Astral Chain encourages you to be creative through its ranking system. I thought it would be based primarily on time and damage taken, but though time is a factor, obtaining higher ranks seems far more dependant on how creative you are during each battle. You’re going to want to mix up your attacks, switching between Legion types from one combo to the next. You have so many combat options, so many potential combinations of attacks that it’s kind of ridiculous.

But the combat isn’t the only thing that Astral Chain does well. It also tells an intriguing story with some likeable characters. It has an enjoyable exploration and environmental puzzle element in which you must use your Legions and their various abilities to progress. It has some pretty extensive character and Legion visual customisation. Oh, and the game looks amazing, too. I was a little worried about playing in 30FPS, but aside from one or two busy locations, the game runs silky smooth.

I guess I’d better wrap up this post so I’ve still got something left to say in my review. I wasn’t too sure about Astral Chain prior to release, and I still wasn’t too sure what to make of it when I began to play. It’s a game that certainly takes time to wrap your head around, but now I have, I’m having a real blast playing it.

Blog / Writing Update

It’s been a while since I wrote a general blog or writing update, so I figured it was time to do one considering my posts have dried up a little this year and I wanted to explain why. Although this blog was originally established to support my writing, it quickly became dominated by video game related content – previews, reviews and the occasional opinion piece / rant.

But you may have noticed less video game content over the last year or so compared to previous years. That’s not because I’m losing interest in video games – hell no! – there just hasn’t been that many games coming out that I’m actually that interested to play.

When I look back at my old E3 posts there were always several games I’d be excited for in the future, but over the last few years, that number seems to continually reduce. Like I said, it’s not a question of losing interest in games in general – because the games I am excited about, I am pretty f**ing excited about – it’s just that the number of games I’m interested in seems to get less every year.

I think it might be because so many games lately seem to be driving in the same direction – the ‘live service’ model or whatever you want to call it. So many AAA games are becoming bloated, messy, micro-transaction infested behemoths that make me feel tired just thinking about them. I’ve written many times about how I’m turned off from buying a game because of how f**king complex the initial release of AAA games have become.

Multiple release dates, multiple editions – so many that you need a f**king spreadsheet to work out what you’re paying for and when you’ll actually get to play it. And yes, I know there are still plenty of games that aren’t like this, but it feels like a lot of games I’ve thought about picking up over the last year or so I’ve immediately backed off when I’ve seen that store page listing 4 different release day versions. I ain’t got time for that shit.

I also recently started a new job, so I have even less time for that shit. I remember back when Mass Effect 3 released and I talked about how all the release day DLC bullshit made me not want to buy the game (and I kind of wish I never did) but things haven’t really improved since then – they’ve actually gotten worse. But I guess it must work, right? I mean, they wouldn’t keep doing it if it wasn’t, would they?

And now we’re entering a glorious new age of subscription based services and a push towards live streaming games to your f**king phone. I don’t know why the f**k anyone would want to stick a control pad to their phone so they can squint at the new DOOM, but I guess someone, somewhere must be excited about it.

Anyway, aside from this video game drought, I’ve also been busy working on my books. I finished writing TF, TM & TE a while ago, and since then I’ve been formatting all of my older works into e-book format, ready for release. I don’t know when (or even if) I’ll be releasing them yet because I’m still waiting to hear back from some publishers, but if those approaches fail, I’ll probably aim to put out one new e-book every month or so.