Astral Chain Reviews
PlatinumGames have shown yet again why they are masters of the action-adventure genre. Astral Chain delivers a fun and engaging story that is enhanced with fast paced combat with a unique tethering mechanic. It’s a game that’s right at home on the Nintendo Switch. If you’re a fan of PlatinumGame’s previous offerings or like games with anime art directions and tropes you’re going to have a lot of fun with Astral Chain.
Astral Chain is PlatinumGames newest adrenaline shot, that's clearly inspired by a lot of previous titles from the studio. It takes the best of out of all those games and delivers a kick-ass adventure that's a must play for the fans.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Astral Chain is a gem that—despite its flaws—prospers on two points that are as salient as they come where games are concerned: originality and fun.
Astral Chain is an ambitious game that gives players almost too many options. Whether you decide to stick to the captivating storyline or want to fill up your photo album with pictures of your Neuron co-workers or decide to clean up the streets of all that pesky Red Shift (that only you can see), you'll easily lose yourself in the beautiful world of the game. Astral Chain pushes the boundaries of what an action game can be, but it doesn't get so experimental that it loses sight of its goal -- which is to present an intriguing and layered story while giving players lots of horrifying monsters to kill.
Astral Chain turned out, undoubtedly, a very pleasant surprise. The ability to amalgamate different types of games, a multifaceted Combat System and able to show all the capabilities of Platinum Games in the sector, has given life to a peculiar Hack And Slash, solid and damn fun.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A one of a kind combat experience and Platinum’s most well-rounded adventure to date. A killer combo in every sense of the term.
In many ways, Astral Chain manages to have a big range and targets different types of players, no matter which genre (or genres) it implies that it belongs to.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Part RPG, part open-world quest-a-thon, but mostly an action game with a pretty neat tag-team mechanic that takes a while to master, Astral Chain is anything but a slog. In essence, Takahisa is clearly taking the diversity and open-ended nature of his past game and putting it all here in this Nintendo Switch title. Next to Splatoon, this is definitely one of Nintendo's best new IPs in a long, long while.
Astral Chain is one of my favourite games that I’ve played recently, largely because of its combat system. It’s incredibly fast-paced, satisfying, and deep, especially when you get comfortable enough with the system to start going out of your way to explore it. There are so many options at your disposal, and none of them feel bad to use or extraneous, even if certain things feel a bit cumbersome at first. That isn’t to say that the game is perfect, considering the somewhat ill-advised stealth segments, unreliable Chain Jump, and woefully underutilized motorcycle, but I think the stellar combat makes up for those shortcomings. If you enjoyed the gameplay in the other work of Hideki Kamiya – such as Bayonetta and Devil May Cry – or Taura’s previous work Nier: Automata, Astral Chain will likely be right up your alley. It’s well worth the $59.99 USD for the over 30 hours and counting it’s offered me so far, and it’ll be much more before I find everything hidden in the various stages. Even if some of the more auxiliary mechanics may fall short, Astral Chain is still one of the best action games I’ve played in quite some time.
Astral Chain delivers the full PlatinumGames package while revising a number of gameplay elements that allow more players to appreciate the studio's love for combat.
Where we’re treated to true cinematic experiences across all major platforms, that deliver some of the most expansive worldliness that can only be achieved by a plethora of untapped potential in gaming. This is it. Astral Chain is one of the best video game’s of 2019.
In short, Astral Chain is fast, intense, stylish, beautiful, atmospheric and frustrating, it's nowhere near perfect but it's perfect enough in the impression it lives after you're done playing. This is one of the most technically impressive and fun experiences you can find on the Nintendo Switch and at this point, it's safe to say that it's a must-own, as it's easily one of the best games of 2019.
Astral Chain feels like the culmination of Platinum Games’ work, combining sleek character-action gameplay with well-defined progression mechanics, a striking world, and more than a few memorable moments.
A truly creative and intense hack and slash-RPG hybrid, with a magnificent combat system and sadly irregular exploration scenes.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Astral Chain carves a niche for itself in the stylish action genre through its diverse gameplay options and unique two-character controls.
Astral Chain definitely falls within the higher tiers of Platinum Games’ offerings. It boasts a wholly unique and fully-realized gameplay mechanic, above-average world-building and characters straight out of animé, a memorable soundtrack, and more than enough replay value, all glistened with a coat of polish that will have you itching for more, even once you’ve completed its twenty-odd-hour campaign.
PlatinumGames certainly did not disappoint. Almost all the course of the game I could not get bored, because activities lurked all the time. One of the few things that is a bit annoying on the game is the fact that the chapter can't be played 100% right away, because often there are activities requiring a Legion you don't already have. You must then go back in future chapters to complete these activities. The length of each chapter and the overall storyline also seemed great to me, and I had finished in about 18 hours. For a great combination of catchy story, amazing stylization and heaps of fun fighting, I'll give solid recommendation 9 out of 10.
Review in Czech | Read full review
The excellent combat, coupled with the intriguing story, are capable of keeping your eyes glued to your Nintendo Switch screen for hours. Astral Chain fells like a true PlatinumGames experience through and through.
Review in Greek | Read full review
There are a lot of good ideas displayed in Astral Chain but very little is well executed. A sequel with improvements could be exciting
"Action game that shines like neon lights."
Review in Finnish | Read full review