It was brought up that one of the forum's most desired Switch game released just recently and there was never actually a thread for discussing it. So, did you buy it? Why/why not? If you did, what did you think of it?

I am most interested in what people think about Astral Chain outside of being an Action game. The investigation and exploration parts; are they satisfying?

The combat gets a lot better as the game progresses. In the first few files it's pretty basic but by the end of file 4/5 it improves significantly. A Metroid situation might have been preferable, where you start out with all the upgrades and then lose them, but unfortunately with action games it usually takes a long time to get used to the complexities of the games, so it might have been overwhelming. 

I passed on it, for now. I'm more of an RPG guy, and this is more of an action type game with some RPG elements. It's on my list, but far down on games I'm considering.

I'm liking it so far, but I'm only at case 3 yet. It has a very cool atmosphere and the sound is fantastic. The battle system is typical Platinum: it gets better and better the more I got used to it and the further I progressed. And I really like this police vibe, I think it feels very fresh and unused.

I have it, didn't buy it though. Will start it in the next few days.

I'm on case 8 or 9 I think, I have over 17 hours put into the game so far. The game just gets better and better as it goes along, with some impressive set pieces as the game progresses.

I'm 10 hours in (on Case 6), and so far it's good. I like the atmosphere and music, but the combat is still a bit iffy to me. It's definitely gotten better since the start of the game, but it doesn't feel as fluid as Bayonetta (not like they were aiming to do that so it's not surprising, but still). The exploration parts are fun, but feel very janky at times. There are plenty of nooks and crannies that require you to use the chain jump, but as a result of poor collision detection, invisible walls, or janky positioning, it can feel frustrating at times to the point I've just given up on exploring a few places.

The story is good so far though, very different to anything else I've played.

Man I really want this game - While I appreciate all the ports, I definitely crave just a straight up flashy brand new Switch title, as I haven't played a ton of those lately. Like the concept of light + dark worlds and the action-based gameplay.

But right now there's just too many games I'm burning through. Tales of Vesperia, Gears 5, Borderlands 2 DLC & 3, Mana Collection, Game Pass Stuff I want to try, plus stuff I gotta cover for reviews. Soon enough.. Maybe I'll jump on it if I see a price drop. Even if it's like $8 or something, just some incentive to pull the trigger. $60 is usually too much for me to shell out for a game unless it looks mindblowing. 

Finished it this week and i like it a lot. Really diggin' the artstyle and the deep battle system,but i think it overstays it's welcome with almost 30h (i'm not particularly good at action games, though) and the last chapter is just busywork.