Mare
This game is a must-play, you have to experience the pawns, combat, and its amazing classes. Cant wait for #2!
Pros :
The pawns were a cool idea with a deep AI system behind it. The fact the pawn's behaviors change based on your actions is cool enough!
The combat & classes were some of the best I had ever seen in a game. Playing as a magic archer was a lot of fun and felt awesome. This game combat is 10 out of 10. if you want a game where the combat feels and looks great this is the one. And you have so many classes to choose from, all with unique playstyles.
Dragons! The main villain (who is a dragon) is so menacing.
Cons:
The story was trash. Didn't make sense half the time, or just wasn't explained well enough half the time. When I beat the game I didn't really care because I didn't care about the story. Thankfully the gameplay is good enough to make you want to keep playing.
Too many fetch quests. about mid-game, the story just falls off and get super weak and you're just running around doing a quest that feels like they have no connection to anything.
No fast travel till later on and even then, its an item you have to buy. There are also no mounts. That got annoying fast especially when you were constantly trekking across wide open fields.
Pros :
The pawns were a cool idea with a deep AI system behind it. The fact the pawn's behaviors change based on your actions is cool enough!
The combat & classes were some of the best I had ever seen in a game. Playing as a magic archer was a lot of fun and felt awesome. This game combat is 10 out of 10. if you want a game where the combat feels and looks great this is the one. And you have so many classes to choose from, all with unique playstyles.
Dragons! The main villain (who is a dragon) is so menacing.
Cons:
The story was trash. Didn't make sense half the time, or just wasn't explained well enough half the time. When I beat the game I didn't really care because I didn't care about the story. Thankfully the gameplay is good enough to make you want to keep playing.
Too many fetch quests. about mid-game, the story just falls off and get super weak and you're just running around doing a quest that feels like they have no connection to anything.
No fast travel till later on and even then, its an item you have to buy. There are also no mounts. That got annoying fast especially when you were constantly trekking across wide open fields.
2019
if you’re into HacknSlash, this is a Nintendo switch must-play. Besides the few hiccups, it’s on the path to something great. The combat was fresh, and I enjoyed exploring the world. This is a game that gets both better and worse over time. As you play, things will improve like the combat while some get worse, like the story for instance.
World: 5/5
Astral chain's world is one of the game's stronger points. The devs nailed the sci-fi setting they were going for. The police slash futuristic aesthetic is fleshed out and works really well. Overall I loved the atmosphere this game gave.
Characters: 2/5
The characters in Astral chain are good because they are memorable, they have personalities and nuances that make them easily stand on their own. But it stops there. Once you get past the early chapters all the cast gets thrown to the side and forgotten. All the characters in Astral chain have a good base but they’re just never fleshed out.
Combat: 4/5
The combat consists of controlling your character, a legion (Think Brothers gameplay) and utilizing the chain. It takes a while to get used to the combat as there are a lot of controls and it feels quite overwhelming, but once you get it down, controlling and switching between the legions becomes super fun. With that said, the entire time I was playing, I did feel the combat was missing something to smooth it out. Maybe it was due to the clunky camera and legion movement with the stick. But it does get better when you unlock sync attacks and perfect dodge.
Boss fights: 4/5
Most of the story-related boss fights were amazing, good challenges, soundtrack, and camera angles, they felt "epic" like a boss fight should. That being said, unfortunately, the story-related fights are a few, the majority of boss fights that weren't related to the story consisted of spamming the one right legion until they die – pretty boring.
Detective segments: 3/5
Most of the police/detective segments were also boring. There are some that are interesting at first, like using your legions to eavesdrop on civilian conversations, but by the fifth time you’re told to do it, it starts to lose its charm and you'll want a skip button. Too repetitive and tedious.
Story: 2/5
The story was poorly written. It had a good build up and I was intrigued but then it kills one of the main villains who the game had been hyping up and never exactly explains what their point was (if they even had one to begin with) . By the end of the game when “all is revealed”, it still doesn’t make sense and is underwhelming. The story wasn’t even mediocre, it was just downright bad.
World: 5/5
Astral chain's world is one of the game's stronger points. The devs nailed the sci-fi setting they were going for. The police slash futuristic aesthetic is fleshed out and works really well. Overall I loved the atmosphere this game gave.
Characters: 2/5
The characters in Astral chain are good because they are memorable, they have personalities and nuances that make them easily stand on their own. But it stops there. Once you get past the early chapters all the cast gets thrown to the side and forgotten. All the characters in Astral chain have a good base but they’re just never fleshed out.
Combat: 4/5
The combat consists of controlling your character, a legion (Think Brothers gameplay) and utilizing the chain. It takes a while to get used to the combat as there are a lot of controls and it feels quite overwhelming, but once you get it down, controlling and switching between the legions becomes super fun. With that said, the entire time I was playing, I did feel the combat was missing something to smooth it out. Maybe it was due to the clunky camera and legion movement with the stick. But it does get better when you unlock sync attacks and perfect dodge.
Boss fights: 4/5
Most of the story-related boss fights were amazing, good challenges, soundtrack, and camera angles, they felt "epic" like a boss fight should. That being said, unfortunately, the story-related fights are a few, the majority of boss fights that weren't related to the story consisted of spamming the one right legion until they die – pretty boring.
Detective segments: 3/5
Most of the police/detective segments were also boring. There are some that are interesting at first, like using your legions to eavesdrop on civilian conversations, but by the fifth time you’re told to do it, it starts to lose its charm and you'll want a skip button. Too repetitive and tedious.
Story: 2/5
The story was poorly written. It had a good build up and I was intrigued but then it kills one of the main villains who the game had been hyping up and never exactly explains what their point was (if they even had one to begin with) . By the end of the game when “all is revealed”, it still doesn’t make sense and is underwhelming. The story wasn’t even mediocre, it was just downright bad.
2018
Amazing looking pixel art game with shallow and boring gameplay. Nothing interesting to keep me going, even the story so far was lackluster. There is nothing that stands out about this game except for its art. Glad I got to try it for free from epic.
9/10 experience, especially for its time. The camera angles and action made for an intense cinematic experience that kept me on edge and wanting to play. Another thing this entry does well is balancing the action and downtime. I never felt bogged down in the shootouts or when traversing as both were given just the right amount of screen time.
My only complaint is that the story wasn't anything special, there was no twist as things turn out just as you'd expect, the only good thing about the story was Laura's crewmates/friends and guessing who would die next.
Overall a good game that does video gaming right without trying to be special. ( I have never played the original so I can't compare.)
My only complaint is that the story wasn't anything special, there was no twist as things turn out just as you'd expect, the only good thing about the story was Laura's crewmates/friends and guessing who would die next.
Overall a good game that does video gaming right without trying to be special. ( I have never played the original so I can't compare.)