A new Astral Chain gameplay trailer showcases nine minutes of the game’s setting and combat. Along with the action on screen, the Astral Chain gameplay trailer contains in-depth explanations of the game’s features through subtitles at the bottom of the video, detailing Astral Chain‘s story set-up and combat mechanics.
As we learned in the Astral Chain reveal, the upcoming Platinum Games title takes place in a city called The Ark. Players take on the role of an officer in the Neuron police task force, linking up (literally) with a creature called a Legion to battle otherworldly enemies called Chimeras and investigate Chimera-related mysteries. The game features a lock-on targeting combat system, and players fight Chimeras using a baton for melee that can transform into a gun for range. In the new trailer, we got a brief look at some other weapons, but we also got to see a whole load of other new combat info.
ALSO: Best Fire Emblem games, ranked | From Sacred Stones to Path of Radiance
The Astral Chain gameplay trailer showcased the game’s five Legion types—Sword, Arrow, Arm, Beast, and Axe—each with their own fighting style and unique ability. The Sword Legion has swords for hands, seems to be a general, balanced fighter, and has a stun ability. The Arrow Legion shoots rapid or powerful, single-shot ranged attacks and can be used to aim precision slow-motion shots at enemies in third-person. The Arm Legion punches things and can be worn as a suit of armor. The Beast Legion can be ridden around the world and dishes out crazy-fast jumping and spinning attacks. Finally, the Axe Legion deals heavy attacks in wide arcs and can create a bubble-like shield around the player. Most of these abilities will have uses outside of combat for puzzle-solving and exploration.
Speaking of which, the Astral Chain gameplay trailer also gave us a look at the game’s investigations. Players can use a sort of “detective vision” to search the environment for clues, use a Legion to eavesdrop on conversations, and use the Beast Legion to follow scent trails. It’s not clear what exactly players will be investigating, but given the fact that the Chimeras are apparently corrupting people and places around The Ark, it’s likely that Neuron will need to investigate rumors of hidden Chimera activity around the city.
In addition to these details, the trailer also showed a few other combat techniques. First off, we got a look at Chain Commands, which are special moves you and your Legions can pull off using the chain that connects the two of you. The chain can be wrapped around enemies to perform a Chain Bind, locking them in place. The Chain Bind move is also used outside of combat to seal off the gates Chimeras use to enter The Ark. The Astral Chain gameplay trailer also showed off the Chain Counter command, which effectively turns the chain into a sling shot, launching enemies back and making them immobile for a time. Finally, the trailer showed off Sync Attacks. When the player character flashes blue, players can press a button to initiate one of these attacks, which combine the player’s and their Legion’s strength to deal additional damage. If performed during combos, while dodging, or when summoning a Legion, the Sync Attacks can be used to pull off powerful and flashy animated moves.
Astral Chain launches on August 30, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. You can watch the full new trailer below.
