Astral Chain

It was directed by Takahisa Taura, who was previously lead game designer for Nier: Automata, under supervision by Devil May Cry and Bayonetta series creator Hideki Kamiya, and character designs from manga artist Masakazu Katsura. Set in a dystopian future Earth, the game follows the events of a special police task force that protect remnants of humanity from interdimensional creatures and aberrations that invade the planet, with the story centering on the task force's two new twin recruits. Utilizing the titular "Astral Chain", the twins restrain and tether the creatures, employing them in combat and investigation, referring to them as "Legions". The setting of the game draws heavy inspiration from various cyberpunk manga and anime, while the gameplay combines hack and slash combat with role-playing elements and investigative adventure game sections. Segments revolve heavily around the simultaneous controlling of two characters; the player character twin and their Legion. Astral Chain was estimated to have had a five-year long development cycle and follows a slate of previous collaborations between PlatinumGames and Nintendo, with both companies having previously worked together on titles such as The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2. As of December 2019, the game has sold over a million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch. Astral Chain is an action-adventure game where the player assumes the role of a detective from the "Neuron" special police task force, who are tasked with solving cases and investigating incidents that take place in "The Ark", the game's main world. During the course of the game, the player will access the "Astral Plane"—an interdimensional area where they must traverse hazardous terrain, solve puzzles, and battle enemies, similar to that of traditional video game dungeons. Neuron officers are able to summon a tethered familiar known as a "Legion", bound by a chain that is the game's namesake. Include: a sword-based Legion with swift blade attacks that can be used to sever circuitry and interrupt enemy attacks, an archer Legion that can target weak points and distant switches, a Legion with powerful punches that can move large objects, an axe-based Legion which generates a shield and can destroy breakable objects and enemy shields, and a K9 Legion that can track scents, unearth hidden objects, and also be ridden for added mobility and evasiveness. The player begins the game with the Sword Legion, capturing the other four over the course of the game. If the entirety of a Legion's health is depleted, the player becomes unable to utilize it until it has restored all of its health. Combat takes place in real-time, both melee and ranged weapons are used to fight enemies, predominantly the malevolent race of "Chimeras". The player can summon the Legion during combat in order to have them automatically fight with the player to create combo attacks.