Astral Chain

 Switch
User Score
8.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3468 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,079 out of 3468
  2. Mixed: 143 out of 3468
  3. Negative: 246 out of 3468
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  1. Yuke
    Jul 29, 2022
    4
    Spoiler-free.

    Most overrated game on Metacritic, probably.

    - Story gets only told via text documents and still many things won't get explained.

    - Silent protagonist ist super pointless in this scenario.

    - Camera movement is borderline broken.

    - Fight-System is okay and sometimes fun.

    - Graphics are very good for a Switch game.
  2. Phaidros
    Sep 3, 2019
    4
    I am stunned, how the well known sites and reviewers are hyping this game.
    For me it plays like a 10$ game, unpolished and uninspired. Graphics are nice, but that is all.
    Pro:
    - graphics
    Cons:
    - sloppy programmed acting of the characters
    - uninspired story
    - no reason to play it, basically. Predecessors (Bajonetta, Nier Automata) are way better
  3. AceAscendus
    Sep 9, 2019
    4
    30fps... lmao, this game is overrated and mediocre, just another cheap and uninspired side project for Nintendo by Platinum Games. Astral Chain, Bayonetta 3, Babylon's Fall are all being worked on at the same time by B-Team members and are small side projects to scam idiots out of their money, that is why Kamiya is not involved with them. Platinum game has 2 MAIN projects that are both30fps... lmao, this game is overrated and mediocre, just another cheap and uninspired side project for Nintendo by Platinum Games. Astral Chain, Bayonetta 3, Babylon's Fall are all being worked on at the same time by B-Team members and are small side projects to scam idiots out of their money, that is why Kamiya is not involved with them. Platinum game has 2 MAIN projects that are both currently secret and being designed for next generation consoles, these are the real GOOD games we will see from Platinum Games and Platinum Games have stated that they will own these IPs and want to become a proper independent studio, similar to From Software and Capcom. We are going to see great things from Platinum Games. So these two next gen titles will be PC/PS5/XboxScarlet multi-platform games.… Expand
  4. ps3fan2
    Aug 30, 2019
    4
    Fantastic graphics but everything else is really mediocre or outright poor. Go buy Devil May Cry 5 or Bayonetta for a true action game experience. Gameplay is worse than NieR Automata's.
  5. LenkaGodEater
    Sep 20, 2019
    4
    The character design is amazing and the game has a nice pace to it. Being mission based rather than open world is the better fit allowing levels to be replayed on higher difficulty while seeming out secrets or side quest at times. Overall a must own for switch
  6. bingbang
    Jun 22, 2020
    4
    Definitely a case of game that's not for me. I thought this was the one to convert me to stylish, button combo action, and gave it a solid 15 hours before I had to quit. Frustrating, headache inducing combat. I later switched to Unchained but that only replaced the frustrating combat with boredom. So, yeah. Not for me. Also, playing as a cop. Yuck.
  7. TempoTheMan
    Aug 12, 2021
    4
    cool gameplay at first, and after 6 hours just boring, story that didnt click with me and ended in an anticlimactic and very open way, and **** endgame, just grinding 50 boring missions with an already boring spammy combat to get to the true boss, which also was anticlimactic, I hope you listen to me and dont waste your money on this game unless you adore spamming moves
  8. Ansb
    Dec 6, 2022
    4
    No invulnerability frames, sword mode unprecis, enemy who one shot in last levels, dodge useless, etc...
  9. MaroBaro
    Aug 31, 2019
    3
    I was very excited for this game however it is fairly disappointing.

    Technically the game is a mess. It runs with 30FPS like many have said and that sucks, but the larger issue is that the FOV is tiny which is a huge problem fighting mobs as you are supposed to fling your legion at enemies, then jump to it at a precise moment... however the camera rarely actually points at where you are    I was very excited for this game however it is fairly disappointing.

    Technically the game is a mess. It runs with 30FPS like many have said and that sucks, but the larger issue is that the FOV is tiny which is a huge problem fighting mobs as you are supposed to fling your legion at enemies, then jump to it at a precise moment... however the camera rarely actually points at where you are flinging him. this is why people say the bosses are most enjoyable because you can just target them and more or less the camera will stick to them but for 90% of fights you are fighting at least 3-4 enemies at a time and it is a mess... and you are doing it all in 30FPS. i guess what i am saying is that the fighting, which is by far the main attraction, ends up as a button masher.

    The structure of the game doesn't fare much better although that is mostly a matter of taste, and my taste don't like it :) For a hack and slash action game there are long stretches without actual hacking and slashing.

    During half of the game you end up solving mundane puzzles that are not very thematic. basically most of the puzzles in this game will be right at home in BOTW for instance. seriously, stepping on 2 panes to unlock the next section, have to hit 3 flying balls at the same time to open the next section. simple and uninspired.

    puzzles in action games really break the flow too. for instance you go to training and you get tutorials for all those cool and useful fighting stuff, and next mission was to have to talk to every person in a city block. the mission didn't mark who i need to talk to (just who i have talked to) so I spend the next 45 minutes, ended up watching an youtube video) because there was this kid in a corner not marked in any way, that i had to press A next to.

    Or a little later, I am fighting, its good, then I they tell me i have to hit 3 moving balls at the same time. That took a few tries and completely ruined the pacing of the whole level, which was already ruined because there is a dumb puzzle between every fight.

    And a lot of bosses are puzzles in themselves, like a mario boss. you have to do specific things to be able to hurt the boss. there is no creativity, just use this skill in this exact way and then you can do dmg for a few seconds, rinse and repeat 20 to 30 times.

    in a way the combat is not even that original as it is basically DMC5 crow character, the guy that doesn't fight directly you know but uses animals and stuff.

    overall, i think the game is a technical failure and whatever good design may exist I for one could not get to it. i still have strong respect for platinum games and will pre-order their next game no questions asked. they are trying new things, it just doesn't always work out.    … Expand
  10. evands
    Dec 12, 2021
    3
    Huge repetitive mess!!! It doesnt know when to end. Like 7 times I thought the game would end and then it starts all over again. The director was having ideas everyday and inserting as he pleased.

    It doesnt know if it is a action hack'n slash, or rpg or stealth. Mix all them together and you have a boring repetitive (including the music) game. story is cliche AF. even naruto didnt    Huge repetitive mess!!! It doesnt know when to end. Like 7 times I thought the game would end and then it starts all over again. The director was having ideas everyday and inserting as he pleased.

    It doesnt know if it is a action hack'n slash, or rpg or stealth. Mix all them together and you have a boring repetitive (including the music) game.

    story is cliche AF. even naruto didnt have so many cheesy dialogues and predictable story points. You play the chapters already knowing the boss doesnt die and will come back later.

    All the good score were made by people that played 3 to 5 hours max, and all of them say they will come back to play the game later and just give high score fo this **** Even critics didnt finish this game or got to half of it to realize how bad this exclusive game is.

    Buy for 20 bucks if you can, Not worth full price.    … Expand
  11. FranchuteKikito
    Sep 4, 2019
    3
    This is such a meh game, I can not understand the hype around it, It does not excels in anything, is pretty but no different from many other arts I've seen in other Japanese games, and that this level of graphics are running in 30 fps is just a shame.
  12. MrWonderful32
    Sep 1, 2019
    3
    In my 20 plus years of gaming I never seen such an overhyped and overrated game such as Astral Chain, the initial first hour of the game is so slow pace that almost made me stop playing, the framerate is God awful, theres framepacing issues all over the place, the pacing of the game has no direction as it seems to be fluffed up with meaningless busy work, the graphics are okay but theIn my 20 plus years of gaming I never seen such an overhyped and overrated game such as Astral Chain, the initial first hour of the game is so slow pace that almost made me stop playing, the framerate is God awful, theres framepacing issues all over the place, the pacing of the game has no direction as it seems to be fluffed up with meaningless busy work, the graphics are okay but the whole "Cell shaded " look is played out already and it's mostly used to Hide the switch's shortcomings, the whole Cell shaded look is pretty outdated by today's standards, ....yes it was great on zelda botw but now its just redundant and getting old, in conclusion...Astral Chain is just not worth the asking price as it plays more like a budget tittle than its AAA price suggests.… Expand
  13. Neatqt
    Nov 10, 2019
    3
    Cast: 2/10
    Story: 2/10
    Fun: 2/10
    Gameplay: 4/10

    Not Recommended
    ----------------------
  14. jsh710
    May 1, 2022
    3
    boring boring story. confusing colors moving so fast, can't recognize what I playing. waste my time and money. my worst game of nintendo switch.
  15. Nihon
    Aug 30, 2019
    3
    If you want a good action game buy Bayonetta, Nier Automata or MGR. This game has none depth.
  16. Lohenwolf
    Aug 30, 2019
    3
    30 FPS action game. In honesty there shouldn't be anything else to say but I can go the extra mile in telling you why you should stay away from this game, or at the very least dissuade you from paying full price for it. They decided to not let the game speak for itself and will flood you will cinematic shots and anime set pieces that distract away from the actual gameplay (which on it's30 FPS action game. In honesty there shouldn't be anything else to say but I can go the extra mile in telling you why you should stay away from this game, or at the very least dissuade you from paying full price for it. They decided to not let the game speak for itself and will flood you will cinematic shots and anime set pieces that distract away from the actual gameplay (which on it's own is pretty good). If they removed how many times the game decides to interrupt the flow of gameplay it would have been much better. Purchase it on sale if you really have to or try to borrow it from a friend since its only like 15 hours long.… Expand
  17. CaptPease
    Sep 2, 2019
    3
    Couldn’t get it to work at first. After 3 hours of customer service with a woman who definitely hates my guts, I finally got to play the game. It was buggy, generic, and had a lackluster story. Extremely disappointed, was looking forward to this game awhile now.
  18. BrapBrapPewPew
    Sep 2, 2019
    3
    This is a game about making circles... its aggressively mediocre. Boring and bland. What happened? How is this popular? It looks worse than some phone games. I'm disappointed I spent the money for it, was really excited actually. Love the bayonetta series, why did they waste their time on this.
  19. happybear
    Oct 23, 2019
    3
    This game contains a lot of locations in the "parallel world" with extremely poor level design (like "organic levels" in DMC5).
  20. dredpiratejaymo
    Apr 15, 2020
    3
    I thought it was mediocre at best. I couldn't get into it. The story was lame, the battle system was clunky, the art was unimpressive, and the levels were too linear. 3/10 is a charitable score.

    I feel like some of these 10/10 reviews may not be legit...
  21. Ingleberg
    Feb 1, 2021
    3
    boring, combat is a joke, music is awful and repetitive, designed to put you to sleep, just like the rest of the game. couldn't care less about any of the characters or their motivations, this just feels really half @$$ed honestly. i'm done after a couple hours. I can't believe how much money they're asking for this. unbelievable. I've never had a more boring gaming experience in my life.
  22. jlittrell03
    Jul 30, 2021
    3
    The only positive I can give this game is the developers ambition as well as there style. Everything else is either subpar or just straight up awful. This game is severely overhyped. Combat is interesting for about an hour then gets increasingly dull by the time you’ve finished. The story is just straight up bad. It’s the most generic rip off of a bad Shonen with a dash of Evangelion atThe only positive I can give this game is the developers ambition as well as there style. Everything else is either subpar or just straight up awful. This game is severely overhyped. Combat is interesting for about an hour then gets increasingly dull by the time you’ve finished. The story is just straight up bad. It’s the most generic rip off of a bad Shonen with a dash of Evangelion at the end and it handles it extremely poorly. Everything about it is extremely predictable and there really aren’t any likeable characters. Your protagonist that you pick doesn’t say a word the whole time and that severely holds it back. Some games like Zelda know how to do this right, but this is an option where it’s done poorly. On top of all that, the English voice dub acting is just not good. All the supposedly emotional moments are laughable. All of the detective files, which is about 40% of the game, all feel like filler just to pad the runtime and make it unnecessary long. Overall, terrible game and completely overhyped, don’t waste your money.… Expand
  23. Jofe
    May 15, 2022
    3
    Could be fun, but his story is mediocre and the camera problems are unbearables.
  24. Skyward_Hearts
    Sep 3, 2019
    2
    Let me start by saying, no, this isn't a fake review by a Sony fanboy like a lot are claiming all negative reviews are. I am more likely to be a Nintendo fanboy, my favourite games of all time are Nintendo exclusive, the Switch is my favourite console ever, I pretty much only play Switch and PC these days. Not only that, but I am a huge fan of Platinum Games, who I believe are responsibleLet me start by saying, no, this isn't a fake review by a Sony fanboy like a lot are claiming all negative reviews are. I am more likely to be a Nintendo fanboy, my favourite games of all time are Nintendo exclusive, the Switch is my favourite console ever, I pretty much only play Switch and PC these days. Not only that, but I am a huge fan of Platinum Games, who I believe are responsible for some of the best action games ever.

    With that out of the way, let me express how I think this game is utter garbage. First I will list off the positives, as it will be quite quick to get through them all:

    Pros:
    -Interesting world building full of interesting ideas. This is one of the first Platinum Games original IPs that has an intricate and well thought out world design, that doesn't exist solely as an excuse for bombastic action set pieces.

    -Lots of unique and great ideas with combat and exploration using the game's centric gimmick.

    -A distinct visual style with popping colour design.

    Ok, now that's out of the way, let's talk about the negatives, which, in my opinion, is basically everything else:

    -The combat system. Right, so the opening of the game shows you what the combat system is like without the legion gimmick, and I think anyone who would argue this is in any way good is lying. You have one button for attacks and you can dodge out the way. That's essentially as deep as the core combat of your character is, instead of having a super powerful, quick and stylish playable character that feels constantly fun and rewarding, you have a slow, weak and simple human that can't really do a whole lot. Luckily, you are given a legion near the end of the opening, where combat opens up slightly more. Now you have the ability to summon in an assistant who is chained to you, and control where they move. But that is it for now. You get to tell what looks like a fun character where to attack, while you're still stuck being boring. As the game goes on, you get given more and more abilities for your legion and the chain between you is used as a combat mechanic in various ways that are actually quite clever in concept, One of the most fun examples is the way you can make a chain line that acts as an elastic band to fling charging enemies back and stun them. The first time you use it, it feels pretty fun, but eventually, it just becomes a chore to keep doing. Imagine a significantly slower paced version of The Wonderful 101's mechanics. The other thing is you get legion attacks, which you can activate in certain situations or after your one button combos finish. This never seems to go beyond 'press the button' when you see a flash and only seems to add to the flashy visuals than it does to the gameplay. You can also learn parrying, which works similarly to Metal Gear Rising. The game continues like this, where instead of fleshing out your base combat, you're simply given more and more 'extras' to make it more complicated. There are a lot of clever ideas, but they felt more to me like tacked on gimmicks that got in the way of the fun, rather than enhancing it.The entire time I was playing, I was wishing that I would just play as the legion on its own, that actually looks fun. Why is the game getting to have all the fun while I have to deal with the busy work?

    The other huge negative is the camera and lock on controls, which in tight spaces, are **** atrocious. Your view is constantly getting obscured by various objects, walls or other enemies. You can't move the camera manually without locking on to another enemy and changing your camera completely, so you're left relying on the auto lock on to focus on the right thing without getting blocked - which is rare. The developers seemed to know this, so they decided to make the vast majority of the games combat take place is barren, flat and open grey and red areas, sacrificing interesting and varied level design to make the camera more bearable. This ties in to the next criticism:

    The mission and area design. The structure of a mission starts with extremely slow paced, ancient-feeling investigative sections in small and samey urban areas. There is nothing interesting about these sections at all other than a few cool little secrets to find. Other than that, they just serve as a blockade preventing you from just getting to action gameplay at a reasonable pace. Which makes the term 'action-packed' for this game feel quite insulting. Once you finally reach the actual gameplay - the levels are all indistinguishable red and grey cubey areas with very basic and slow paced platforming that feels straight out of a bad PS2 era game, mixed with lite and uninteresting puzzle solving, with a few combat encounters here and there. I honestly feel anyone who describes this game as 'action-packed' is spitefully lying to you. It's slow, awkward, clumsy and altogether all these ideas come together in a poorly executed mess.

    Hugely disappointed.    … Expand
  25. logan1087
    Sep 6, 2019
    2
    El juego es monotono y muy molesto, los colores pastel dan una apariencia extrana y tratan de ocultar la baja capacidad gráfica de la consola con movimientos de cámara extraños, es un intento desesperado por aparentar variedad en este sistema
  26. SnakeLeon
    Sep 4, 2019
    2
    LLevo ya más de 20 horas de juego, la intención es buena, pero mal ejecutada, no se siente la misma sensación frenética de otros Hack and Slash, el gameplay al estar a 30fps se siente muy poco fluído, un hack and slash siempre debe ir a 60fps, es lo que han hecho todos los buenos referentes del género. En un RPG por turnos no afecta, o en juegos de aventura, pero en juegos de este géneroLLevo ya más de 20 horas de juego, la intención es buena, pero mal ejecutada, no se siente la misma sensación frenética de otros Hack and Slash, el gameplay al estar a 30fps se siente muy poco fluído, un hack and slash siempre debe ir a 60fps, es lo que han hecho todos los buenos referentes del género. En un RPG por turnos no afecta, o en juegos de aventura, pero en juegos de este género es indispensable.
    Otra queja es que tiene mucho input lag el juego, y aunque la historia es muy buena, el gameplay defrauda bastante, ojalá mejore después con un parche o algo. Yo lo venderé y jugaré algo más por el momento.    … Expand
  27. Phuz
    Oct 7, 2021
    2
    I started this game and it was really exciting but also so forgettable. I played about am hour and then forgot about it. I do this about every 6 months. I play it and then lose any interest to put it on again.

    It's very Hollywood. And Hollywood sucks balls.
  28. Radamanthys777
    Sep 6, 2019
    2
    -Bad story
    -Too easy
    -Bad optimization
    -Bad graphics
    -Goes at 30 fps
    -In short it is a mediocre game
  29. luouxmont
    Nov 11, 2021
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You either keep your character's family alive and be deemed awake yet imprisoned in police jail, or you kill your family and be cursed asleep but gain access to full functionality of the game mechanics. gtfoutta here platinum games. I'm reselling this game for 15 bucks.… Expand
  30. Mr-Lecter
    Sep 10, 2021
    2
    I do not understand what is the hype around this game. Nowadays people become fanboys just because and true gaming experience is being lost. I must say that I absolutely love Nintendo and their exclusives, and Nier Automata is one of my favorite games ever and I'm a huge Bayonetta fan too, and Astral Chain, this piece of crap is SO FAR away from being half as good as previous PlatinumI do not understand what is the hype around this game. Nowadays people become fanboys just because and true gaming experience is being lost. I must say that I absolutely love Nintendo and their exclusives, and Nier Automata is one of my favorite games ever and I'm a huge Bayonetta fan too, and Astral Chain, this piece of crap is SO FAR away from being half as good as previous Platinum Games.

    PROS:
    - I personally like the combat system and gameplay, if there was enough action in the game
    - Graphically it looks very original and well presented (I just think it was a silly idea to make this around COPS, yes you are a cop)

    CONS:
    - I absolutely hated the endless and LAZY chores you have to go through, the side quests are not enjoyable or entertaining AT ALL.
    - The map system fails very often and you get to be lost very easily while doing stupid chores (not fun at all), on top of it the character cannot jump, or get through little babies obstacles, making it even more frustrating.
    - Most of the game you will be talking to NPC's and completing boring tasks and then all of the sudden you fight a boss for 3 minutes, then you start another stupid quest-chore that will take 30-60 minutes and then start another loop of silly quest, gathering clues and other stuff that really takes away the fun, to the point that it makes you regret the purchase. This game is freaking $59.99! I wouldn't even pay $5 to "play" this so called "gem"
    - I'm OK with linear games, but this one is linear and BORING, don't expect to have freedom at all.
    - Characters are not mesmerising not memorable at all, in fact, many of them are annoying, predictable and scripted.
    - You get to have limited customization but most of the items are useless, I completed perhaps half of the game, gotten all the legions and got a lot of items stored that really are not essential to fight battles like you did in Nier Automata or great games like The Witcher series. Besides the methods to use/equip items is very irritating.
    - It gets old VERY FAST, you may feel it is cool the first few days but you will get bored fast.
    - Oh boy the story is utterly predictable not memorable and 0% exciting.
    - NO REPLAYIBILITY - I came to the conclusion that I'm playing this crap just because, but definitely wouldn't play it again nor getting any expansion if there will be any.

    All in all, do yourself a favour and save $59.99, you can get like 5 better games in the Nintendo's Great Deals library. By the way, this is my first review here, to give you an idea of how much I hated it, maybe it helps someone save money and most importantly YOUR TIME. I still do not understand why and how this game gained such good scores, I would give it a generous 2 out of 10.

    Cheers!    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

9
#9 Best Switch Game of 2019
2
#2 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019
70
#70 Most Shared Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 92 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 92
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 92
  3. Negative: 0 out of 92
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 28, 2020
    85
    This one is more of a crowd-pleaser than a game-changer. [Issue #42 – October 2019, p. 68]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    100
    Astral Chain consists of varied genres, but is mostly an action game, which has great ideas and interesting, relaxed humour, that doesn´t spoil its serious plot. [Issue#298]
  3. ZTGD
    Nov 7, 2019
    85
    Despite the hardware limitations and a handful of odd design choices, Astral Chain is one of the best new IPs to hit in recent years and one deserving the attention of every Switch owner.
    Read full review
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