With the year coming to a close I did what many do and looked back on what I had played this year. 2019 was a great year for action and RPGs for me with games including Sekiro, Fire Emblem (which honestly deserves a blog post by itself with how it absolutely floored me), Outer Worlds, DMC V and RE2 to name a few.
One game stood out to me as being so unique I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks even after completing it, that game being Astral Chain. The game's unique combat system feels so good even at 30fps that I can't help even now going back to play it on pt ultimate difficulty and trying to S+ all files. And while its story is ridiculously contrived with little to no meaningful change in the world after the events of the main plot, it did enough to keep me moving forward with the sole motivation to kick some ass with my legion. I think I'd chalk up the beauty of the combat system to the fundamental idea of having a second character to control at will and how the game seamlessly switches from button mashing to a more thought-provoking system where, instead of memorising particular attack chains like in Bayo, I'm left thinking about the right time to control my legion and utilise it's skill all while considering my character's positioning in the fight, managing the stamina meter and choosing the right time to finish opponents to get my health back. This constant interplay of different mechanics left me always on my toes in each combat encounter, trying to find the optimal skillset and tactics for each opponent - which was refreshing as an action fan.
Alhough, that isn't to say this game isn't without its flaws, enemy variety could be a lot greater especially in the post-game (File 12) where almost all of the hard enemies are just re-skins with more health and, as I mentioned before, the story could've been stronger as I feel like the foundations were already very intriguing, by the end of things I was left with more questions than answers.
Anyway, that's enough about my thoughts. What did you guys think about this game? How far did you get and was there anything you hated about the combat system?
One game stood out to me as being so unique I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks even after completing it, that game being Astral Chain. The game's unique combat system feels so good even at 30fps that I can't help even now going back to play it on pt ultimate difficulty and trying to S+ all files. And while its story is ridiculously contrived with little to no meaningful change in the world after the events of the main plot, it did enough to keep me moving forward with the sole motivation to kick some ass with my legion. I think I'd chalk up the beauty of the combat system to the fundamental idea of having a second character to control at will and how the game seamlessly switches from button mashing to a more thought-provoking system where, instead of memorising particular attack chains like in Bayo, I'm left thinking about the right time to control my legion and utilise it's skill all while considering my character's positioning in the fight, managing the stamina meter and choosing the right time to finish opponents to get my health back. This constant interplay of different mechanics left me always on my toes in each combat encounter, trying to find the optimal skillset and tactics for each opponent - which was refreshing as an action fan.
Alhough, that isn't to say this game isn't without its flaws, enemy variety could be a lot greater especially in the post-game (File 12) where almost all of the hard enemies are just re-skins with more health and, as I mentioned before, the story could've been stronger as I feel like the foundations were already very intriguing, by the end of things I was left with more questions than answers.
Anyway, that's enough about my thoughts. What did you guys think about this game? How far did you get and was there anything you hated about the combat system?
