Astral Chain Review: One of Platinum Games’s best titles

During the February 2019 Nintendo Direct, Platinum Games announced a curious new title for the Nintendo Switch: Astral Chain. Set in a futuristic cyberpunk city, the game sees the player joining a special police task force to battle interdimensional creatures that have destroyed most of the world.

While the game isn’t an RPG in the traditional sense, it contains a lot of RPG elements and a surprising amount of depth. Together with a combat system that is easier and more intuitive to control than it has any right to be, it forms the basis for one of Platinum’s best titles to date. I even named it as one of my favorite games of 2019.

The RPG Spotlight’s Top 10 Games of 2019

Another year has come and gone. 2019 feels like it went by in a flash, but it saw a lot of major game releases. Here are my top picks for 2019, in no particular order:

Kingdom Hearts III

First up, we have a game that was a long time coming. Kingdom Hearts III was first announced at E3 2013, and is billed as the end of the Dark Seeker Saga that comprises every game in the series up to this point. And as a finale AND a true leap to modern hardware, this game doesn’t disappoint. The Disney worlds feel large and alive, with more complex level design than the games that preceded it. The combat is the series’ best since Kingdom Hearts II, and while the story isn’t perfect, it managed to deliver an emotional conclusion to a story over a decade in the making. I’m really looking forward to the Re:Mind DLC and what it might add.

Kingdom Hearts III is currently available on PS4 and Xbox One.