Platinum Games has more than Bayonetta 3 in the works. During today's Nintendo E3 2019 Direct, the studio released a new trailer for its upcoming action game Astral Chain. Before we look at the combos and characters featured in the trailer, let's get a crucial factoid out of the way: Astral Chain will launch on Nintendo Switch on August 30, 2019. Right, now here's a quick primer straight from Nintendo:
"In this new synergetic action game from Platinum Games, humanity’s last chance against an interdimensional invasion is a sentient weapon called the Legion. As a rookie officer in an elite police task force, players will work together with their Legion to solve cases and save humankind. Players can change Legions on the fly to vary their style and unleash stylish combos. As they save the world from extradimensional invaders called chimeras, they’ll also interact with citizens, question suspects and team up with members of their task force to solve cases."
Astral Chain is a third-person beat-'em-up with a bit of a single player co-op vibe to it. You play as a Legionis agent bonded with a Legion chimera, and both are integral to combat. You can have your characters attack the same target or send them after different enemies, or you could hang back and support your Legion with items while it handles the frontlines. No matter how you fight, you'll have access to a staggering variety of attacks, and your combo list will only expand as you bond with new chimera. You can also ride them like frickin' Zoids through platforming sections, which is one feature I'm embarrassingly excited about.
It's unclear how many chimera will be tamable - I'm guessing you can't buddy up with boss chimera, for instance - and how many you can wield at once, but this is Platinum Games, so I'm going to bet on their being an irresponsible number of options. Nier: Automata game designer Takahisa Taura is directing Astral Chain, with Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya supervising the project, so there's little doubt it'll deliver classic Platinum action when it arrives this August.
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