Astral Chain: All you need to know about gameplay details and storyline

Astral Chain is an action-adventure title in development by the critically acclaimed Japanese studio called Platinum Games. Even though the studio's logo is enough to make one's eyes water for this upcoming highly-anticipated Nintendo Switch exclusive title, there are still many things one need to know to actually have a concrete idea about what Astral Chain is all about.

Fortunately, Nintendo recently released a nine-minute long action trailer for the game, describing its various mechanics and gameplay features.

If you haven't watched it yet, here are all the gameplay and story details that were revealed which will make you ooze for this game in excitement even more.

#6 Enemy

In the semi-open world of Astral Chain, alien beings called Chimeraas have evaded the Neo-Tokyo region of the Earth from Astral Plain and are polluting the city's population with something called "red matter" and hence, pulling them into a wormhole.

#5 Player Character

Players can portray the role of a male or a female Neuron agent whose job is to protect the world from an unsustainable apocalypse. If one choses to play as the female Neuron agent, then the male counterpart will serve as an NPC twin of the same.

#4 Legions

Just like other Platinum games titles like the critically acclaimed Nier Automata or Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, Astral Chain's biggest focus remains its combat.

What makes it different from other games is the addition of living weapons called 'Legions'.

Legions can be summoned during battles to fight alongside the player character and hence provide aid in the combat. Different types of legions have different abilities that can prove beneficial according to the situation.

Players can swap between Legions in real-time also which makes combat more strategical and fun. Also one should note that Legions can only fight alongside the players for a certain amount of time. When the gauge gets empty, the Legion vanishes.

#3 Types of Legions

In Astral Chain, Legions will be of five types which are Sword Legion, Arrow Legion, Arm Legion, Beast Legion and Axe Legion.

Sword Legion is the most basic type of Legion which does slashing attacks on your foes. It can also be used to stun enemies. Arrow Legion is preferred when players choose ranged attacks over closed attacks. Arrow Legion can shoot lasers onto the enemies. This also provides better accuracy than other kinds of Legions.

Arm Legion is actually the melee build of the Legion which does heavy damage from its arms but is slower than the Sword Legion. It can also be worn as armour to prevent damage from incoming attacks.

Beast Legion summons different creatures which does quick damage from its claws as well as revolving forward slash like damage. They can also be used to ride to traverse faster around the world.

Axe Legion which one might have already guessed, is heavy weaponry in the form of an axe which does long slashing damage but it is relatively very slow when compared to other types of Legions. Axe Legion can also be used to create shields to prevent incoming attacks.

All the Legions can also be customized as players can spend different abilities and skills to make them more powerful and suited to their preferred playstyle.

#2 IRIS

Astral Chain is not all about slashing different types of monsters with your swords or your Legions. As a Cop, the game will allow you to explore different locales, investigate and solve mysteries.

Here's where IRIS comes in. IRIS is like Witcher Senses from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or the Eagle Vision from the Assassin's Creed Games. It helps analyze the environment and aids in the investigation. Exploring and solving crime scene puzzles will be a major aspect of the gameplay, which serves as a major departure from the previous Platinum Games titles.

Such a feature will also allow players to lay back and enjoy the game's more serene moments, which may align a little with Platinum Games' most recent hit title called Nier Automata.

This shouldn't come as a surprise as Astral Chain is Takahisa Taura's debut directorial project. He previously worked as the game designer for Nier Automata.

#1 Combat

Aside from the Legions which can prove really beneficial during combat, there are plenty more options for players to toy around with. The main character in Astral Chain wields a shiny sword as well as a chain which can be used for a multitude of activities.

For example, the chain can be used to bind the enemies while your Legion does heavy damage to them, or throw them away after countering their attacks.