Dropped-Game Talks: Astral Chain

Occasionally there are games I drop and, consequently, don't review. I don't drop a game simply because I don't like it, I will play through plenty of games I hate for a more proper review. But sometimes there comes a game that I don't like, but for the life of me, I can't really explain to you why it is I don't like it. To a degree, this largely makes it hard to put out a review I can really call useful when I am unable to articulate what it is about the game that is turning me off.

On the same note, I don't think that entirely discredits the things I do have to say about it. So rather then a full review, since I don't want all that time to go to waste, Dropped Game Talks are where I discuss these games under the full the premise that this is not a proper review of a game, but more of a 'first impression' and musing of a game I won't be making it through.

That said, I really wanted to like Astral Chain and there were a lot of things I can say about the game are really positive. I also wanted a chance to point out how much I disagree with a lot of the current discussion on the game about whether or not the controls of the game are clunky.

I don't know why it is so many of the bigger game sites are saying this, but the average player, myself included, seems to find the controls to handle just fine. You control your character as well your Legion, a demonic entity attacked to you by the Astral Chain. The Legion is partially automated, though you take more direct control while holding down the L trigger, and while doing so the joystick that normally controls the camera now controls the Legion.

It's not very intuitive at first, considering you are controlling two bodies at once in an Action RPG, but the optional tutorials, and a bit of practice in the levels, it's just a unique control scheme that takes some getting used to. Once you do it handles just fine. It's pretty interesting that the chain that connects you to The Legion you are able to wrap up enemies, fling charging enemies backward, and a few other things. The combat, for the first bit of the game, handled quite well.

The story has a few interesting aspects to it as well, though I'll admit early on there is nothing that special going on. It's been sort of the same with the character, it's an interesting bunch even if nothing great has occurred yet. It feels like it could get a bit more interesting in time.

I will heavily criticism the investigation bits where you are trying to find out if there was a Chimera involved in the incident or not. Only those who have controlled Legions are able to see the Chimera, though occasionally there is a sort of corruption in an area that normies can see them. The investigation involves you asking around the area to find out what happened, and looking up clues. Overall it feels like a poor man's version of what you would do in the Batman Arkham games, and furthermore, it feels a bit pointless.

When you get to the first area, you don't actually get to view the 'crime scene' until you've already gotten all the information you can from around the area. This is a bit silly because your Legion can track Chimera. You could have just went directly there to see if you could track one and know for sure if a Chimera was here or not. Not only is the whole process rather dull, but it's entirely pointless from a Narrative standpoint.

I'm also not fond of how cleaning up corruption. Your Legion can clean it up, but the majority of it is directly in your path. All it does is make you stop going forward, and then move your Legion through it all. I think the game would go a bit better if they either cut down the length of theses sections or just cut them entirely and focus more on the combat since that really is where the game excels.

Overall the game does a lot more that I think is solid and enjoyable gameplay then it does things that bother me, but something about the game just keeps me from enjoying any of it. I keep trying, but every time I do I just don't feel any sense of accomplishment or joy as I progress.