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Astral Chain -- August 30th 2019

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26 minutes ago, Tim B said:

This is almost selling as much as Super Mario Maker 2 on Amazon UK now. Could well be No. 1 in the UK next week.

I image Control will take the top spot. It will have more days on the shelf ( comes out on Tuesday ) and it's on multiple platforms.

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45 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I image Control will take the top spot. It will have more days on the shelf ( comes out on Tuesday ) and it's on multiple platforms.

Yep, that's the main reason it's likely to outsell Astral Chain. Despite me literally never hearing of it until two days ago.

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I'm aware of Control, I get why it will have mainstream appeal but it has never struck me as a "must buy" title, it's just not a game that's for me and that's fine.

Astral Chain on the other hand, day one because it looks like a must buy exclusive Switch title that I actually want to play.

It all comes down to choices and different audiences, there will probably be plenty of people buying both games but for different reasons.

I've been looking forward to Astral Chain for a while as it's from a developer I like and its got just the right amount of interesting gameplay with what looks like an entertaining plot.

Plus cats... lots of cats, I can't say that isn't a factor in my decision to buy the game because it blatantly is. :D

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I’m working very very *very* near the Control demo at Insomnia 65 and there doesn’t seem to be much interest in it, FYI. Played it this morning before work and it’s pretty good though.

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1 hour ago, Tim B said:

I’m working very very *very* near the Control demo at Insomnia 65

Get a room, you two.

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I’m really looking forward to the game. I actually know pretty much nothing about it too, I remember the first reveal and liked it. Have it preordered but have watched no videos or anything since. I’m hoping going in blind will make it even more great. 

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The game is reviewing very well. The gaming press do love Platinum's offerings so this isn't really a surprise.

Launch trailer.

I'm interested to see how I get on with the game. I'm not a huge Platinum fan (Bayonetta has to be one of the most overrated series I've played) so the review scores don't mean much when it comes to me and their games.

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I won't be able to play it for a while but I'm definintely buying this on Friday to show my support. Would absolutely love for Platinum to have a big hit on their hands with a new IP

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Astral Chain is still selling more than Control on Amazon UK, even though Control was released today. Could be a very close chart race! 

Is Amazon the biggest games retailer in the UK? I would imagine it is.

Edited by Tim B

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Still no movement on my order from Simply Games, do they no longer send stuff out early then? :blank: It's been a while since I've pre-ordered anything.

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31 minutes ago, RedShell said:

Still no movement on my order from Simply Games, do they no longer send stuff out early then? :blank: It's been a while since I've pre-ordered anything.

They still ship early. I got Mana Collection and Control off them on Saturday, despite them not being released until Tuesday.

It seems that there's some kind of issue with this though. Shopto sent their copies out yesterday but Simply Games didn't, so I don't think it's a restriction being placed on retailers from shipping them early.

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Ordered from Nintendo, they shipped it yesterday afternoon, I just got confirmation that it will be delivered tomorrow.

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Just got in from work to find my copy waiting for me. I was shocked because I swear I cancelled my Shopto order in favour of the special edition from the Nintendo store. I clearly need to keep an eye on what orders I've got where. :p 

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WOW! This game is so incredibly stylish. It looks totally unlike anything else on Switch and feels more like a PS4 release in its presentation. It really is like being in a movie, the cut scenes, overall impression and music are just so good.

I was a little worried at how daunting the combat looked in videos I had seen, but there is a tutorial at the start. I've only played for a couple of hours but I already had difficulty defeating the first big boss. There are only slight similarities to Bayonetta from what I can tell. I've enjoyed the exploration/detective parts just as much as the action thus far. I cranked the difficulty up to the harder setting when I was given the option, which seemed like the right thing to do.

This game is going to do very well commercially.

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I’ve had a review copy of this for a couple of weeks - you guys who are just about to delve into it are in for a treat! I completed it on Sunday night (29 hours!) and have been spending some time this week going back over missions to try and find more hidden secrets. Honestly, there are so many collectibles and achievements in this game though, I know I’m not going to be coming anywhere close to 100%ing it, but for those of you looking for something to really sink your teeth into for a long time, this game is perfect.  

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6 minutes ago, Mike said:

 but for those of you looking for something to really sink your teeth into for a long time, this game is perfect.  

That's definitely what I needed right now. 12 more hours left to finish Fire Emblem.

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13 minutes ago, Mike said:

I completed it on Sunday night (29 hours!) and have been spending some time this week going back over missions to try and find more hidden secrets.

Casual or Normal(?) please?

Edited by Tim B

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Just now, Tim B said:

Casual or Normal(?) please?

It was the standard difficulty - though to be honest, I’d probably recommend new players jump straight into standard Platinum difficulty.

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Yeah, playing on Casual is a bit on the easy side but having to complete the game for a review kind of makes it necessary... It can also make the game flow a bit better, and then you can turn it up when replaying the missions later on.

I know I'm not going to 100 % it - that red matter cleanup is just too stupid! But finding the cats and the toilets (haven't found any, actually!) is kind of fun. I really want to know what the reward for finding all the cats is. :)

I had hoped that the combat was a bit more like Bayonetta with combos and perfect timings but it's far more accessible. On casual, though, it can feel a bit like button-mashing because you hardly take any damage at all and can just do what you want - hence the name, I guess. I haven't been even close to dying when playing through it.

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52 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

Yeah, playing on Casual is a bit on the easy side but having to complete the game for a review kind of makes it necessary... It can also make the game flow a bit better, and then you can turn it up when replaying the missions later on.

I can see me playing on this difficulty. I love the character action genre but I do suck at it. I'm not one for learning combos and aiming for S ranks and i'm quite happy to button mash my way to victory. :D I do the same when playing the Devil May Cry and Bayonetta games.

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46 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I do the same when playing the Devil May Cry

You do WHAT now?

First you tell me you glitched your way to an easy Mile High Club trophy and now this? WHO ARE YOU?

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Just now, drahkon said:

You do WHAT now?

First you tell me you glitched your way to an easy Mile High Club trophy and now this? WHO ARE YOU?

 

 

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