E3 2019: Astral Chain Ropes us In

Platinum Games has a weird relationship with Nintendo: basically nonexistent, until they suddenly decide that Bayonetta desperately needs to join the cast and Bayonetta 2 should be a Wii U/Switch exclusive. Now suddenly the two companies seem to love each other to bits, and Platinum Games is delivering a brand-new IP to the console with Astral Chain, which is about… ghost… robot… cops?

Look at the trailer.

The few survivors of a massive global disaster gather together in a futuristic megacity. Now it’s your job to protect them against otherworldly invaders–but you’re not alone as a member of a special police task force equipped with sentient armaments called Legions. In this brand-new action game from PlatinumGames, control the protagonist and a Legion simultaneously to chain stylish combos. Change Legions on the fly to vary your style and unleash a variety of abilities. The last remnants of humanity depend on you, and to save the world, you must investigate its dark side. Astral Chain launches on the Nintendo Switch on August 30th, 2019.

I kid, of course: the game looks fantastic, refreshingly different (I do love the over-the-top anime astatic and cops in hot pants), and if there’s one thing you can reliably count on Platinum Games to do, it’s deliver some kick-butt gameplay… something we saw for ourselves with the follow-up Nintendo Treehouse.

August 30th is still a way away, and while I won’t say I’m entirely sold on it yet, I’m certainly at least window shopping.

...ALSO PORT NIER: AUTOMATA TO THE SWITCH YOU COWARDS.