Astral Chain Switch Analysis: A New Direction For Platinum Games? 

Having a data base on this would indeed be very interesting and would show us how optimized the games are.

I agree. And you could do it while testing handheld mode to save time!

@@dr.sciencewizard1518 for this i prefer the technical analysis from Gamexplain, because they explain what they talking about

I think the difference won't worth the efforts. The batt only lasts so long regardless

That would basically require a defined benchmark mode for each game, unless you want random results every time you try to test a game :)

Sound like a marketing declaration.

Funny how this game will probably end up being better than pokemon

@@paghahanapngkaluluwa7432 I don't think the two are even remotely comparable. It's like saying Splatoon 2 is a better game than BOTW or that Smash is better than Mario Maker 2. It's impossible to compare them as they are completely different classes of games

Hopefully Bayonetta 3 features this mechanic.

@@NoKnuckles Graphic, mechanics and gameplay wise. The Atmosphere of Astral Chain is absolutely amazing. I don't expect much from pokemon shield and sword.

You can very clearly see the same lighting engine and baked GI that Nier Automata used on display, just cut down to fit on the switch. Now I finallly have zero excuse to not own a switch.

I think this is one of those games, that has an art style, that'll age really well in the future. Also, I look at this game, and then I remember that Bloodstained ran like shit on the Switch, and looked like ass, on the Switch.

@@FSAPOJake Doubt that. On Nintendo consoles maybe but they don't have anything technically impressive for current-gen standards or for PS4 and Xbox One more specifically.

@@weaverquest nier was ALMOST 60fps on weakling ps4. It was a good job

@@Limerain Very unstable 60 fps and with underwhelming graphics. Devil May Cry V, on the other hand, looks WAY better on PS4 and very close to locked 60 fps. Also, Nier Automata's PC port is still broken and is only fixed by mods to this day.

Alexander Edge you can find some same kind of that specimen here in the comments...

@@Prisoner_ksc2-303 That's the case with most console exclusives. There is always going to be angry fanboys upset that they cant play the game.

@@baltoderpfish9471 They are upset because it isn't TV exclusive. The possibility of playing anywhere is 0/10 for those people.

Critics and fans both review bomb with their scores.

@@baltoderpfish9471 Exactly, if you go to metacritic most likely all exclusives have some reviews with 0 because people don't like the console the game is available. It happens regardless on what console the game is on.

Me tooooo.

Me threeee .. its really fun!

Great game

Plan on buying it soon too!

i want to say me four but still

And im fascinated by Nier Automata on my Xbox One X. Still have to complete it, but im gonna by this game on my Switch, cause my guess is I am gonna be fascinated by this as well.

@@shonuff8880 I was never a huge fan of automata's art.

“Astral Chain is another example of that can be achieved with exclusive development when a game is optimized for a chosen platform without worry of needing to port it elsewhere. Of course, running the game on PC would see much better results for obvious reasons. . .” What you say makes no sense - at least in the way you presented it. Saying that the game running on PC would produce better results is no different than saying the game on PS4 and/or Xbox One would product better results (and for obvious reasons). PC would run at 4K/60 and the consoles would run at 1080p/60 with all versions benefitting from upgraded textures, effects, and AA. And this is remedied very simply. The game could’ve been a timed exclusive, saving most of the money for the initial version and release of the game while they are ported up once the original game is finished. The game could be ported to other systems, and it’d be fine: it has nothing to do with it being permanently exclusive.

Just Cause 3 is an example of a game which had barely any work on optimisation

Thank you for this, so many seem to remain under the false impression that the talent is only in the spec sheet.

@@MysticalMastodon No, you missed the point entirely. The point is it's not always about a brute force method to get better results which is what some developers rely too much on. MS relied on that when they introduced the Xbox One X forgetting (yet again) it's about high quality games first THEN they can brag about the spec sheet if they want. Bragging about specs without any killer games/awesome IP library to show is putting the cart before the horse. In most cases ports work best in Xbox One X's favor because it is superior to PS4 Pro on the spec sheet. But who cares when the ports are good enough on PS4 Pro? Or better yet play the PC version and crush everyone else. Yet another example of why well developed exclusives are better to show off the potential of a platform. Microsoft's own first and second party exclusive development/IP library pale in comparison to Nintendo and Sony's. MS got away with it last gen because 360 had awesome 3rd party support that hid that weakness. In this gen, they needed choice first and second party development/better IP library to carry the weight, EXCLUSIVES but weren't quite good enough when it mattered. MS isn't buying up studios just for kicks. They need those exclusives to show off the next Xbox. Sony didn't buy Insomniac just so they can port Spiderman to other platforms. Quite the opposite. I'm waiting for the announcement that Nintendo is going to buy Platinum. Savvy? Optimization and superior art direction with the focus on one platform still serve as the best examples of what specific hardware can do.

@@MysticalMastodon multiplatform release is out of the question considering this was convinced as a first party IP to begin with.

It seems like it's somewhat common in fights.

@@brownchair2698 unless you are really playing extremely close attention, you will never notice it, so much is going on onscreen with flares, sparks, and all that. a tiny drop for a fraction of a second isn't noticeable.

@@bern9642 It certainly can be noticable. Plus being so close to the edge like that will absolutely lead to even more severe drops in further into the game.

@@brownchair2698 i finished the game and i didn't notice any of the frame drops. maybe if i were paying close attention to it i would. But the frame drops lasts a fraction of a second and are not large enough. they are in no way distracting.

@@bern9642 I did notice some. Some fights had drops which were there for practically the whole duration.

that`s like literally the most subjective part of a videogame.

@@brownchair2698 It probably doesn't help that the resolution of the game on the Switch isn't exactly stellar compared to a modern gaming PC.

@@androidtechgeek Yeah. Nier Automata's art style does have a reason for being the way it is. Although the textures.... I wish that they would have increased the resolution of the textures.

You'll be happy game is nice!

slim boss yea.. i know haha

So true, but this game has them both! It's actually the best looking game on the Switch by far, and dare I say... the best game on Switch??

IMO, artstyle always trumps high budget realistic graphics. Cuphead, Persona5, ZeldaBOTW, etc. and now Astral Chain all are living proof.

@@hanzohattori9576 As long as it looks and plays good I'm all about it. And Blasphemous is coming out next week so I'm praying that games turns out good!

I love playing games on ultra settings on my gaming PC but I also love going back and playing through Metroid Prime Echoes, or Viewtiful Joe on my GameCube. Astral Chain is a fantastic looking game with an addicting gameplay that immerses you in a cyber punk, sci fi, action packed, Japanese, anime experience. It's definitely a very unique game in my multi platform library :)

I wish it were at least on pc. Then I'd buy it. I've already tried playing it on my friends switch I guess it was ok. I just don't like the limitations. I want to be able to use any controller I want or tweak the graphics to my liking.

Wonderful 101 was awesome too. And then we get the big one, Bayonetta 3. One the best partnerships in the industry.

his love for all aspects of games comes through and often makes me want to buy whatever game he's talking about

Kai oh man brace yourself

Kai yes it's an amazing console on par with last gen consoles

CHRISTIAN R. Yeah cause you just know these guys will tear it to shreds and CONSTANTLY moan about the poor muddy quality...

The Golden One yeah so?

@@apacheY2K Slightly better than last Gen...Witcher 3 runs sub 20 fps on PS4 Would love to see it run on PS3.

Yup. Just like Spiderman, SunsetOverdrive, Persona5, Bayonetta2 etc. all games that were made by 3rd parties yet owned, funded and released on 1st party consoles (though in Bayo's case the IP belongs to Sega but Bayo2, Bayo3 and the OST for Bayo1 belong to Nintendo).

Their frustration is justified, though. It'd be like releasing a movie, but only showing it in certain cinemas, and only selling the DVD in one store. Nobody wants that. Or having 4 different streaming subscriptions. Or selling paintings that everybody could enjoy as limited edition, and never selling any more. Or three music streaming platforms to listen to what you want. Nobody wants that, either. Console devs need to make their console and the user experience around it the selling point, not fake exclusivity. I suspect game devs (not console makers) would make more money if they could publish on all platforms, and users would win as well. Console makers may not, unless they actually innovate, like Nintendo tends to. That's also a win for us. It makes little business sense to sell to a small pool of users, when you can sell to several different pools. Unless you profit from console sales, but even then, most people aren't going to buy two consoles.

@@hanzohattori9576 Technically there hasnt been any found proof there is some contract with Sony for Persona! Like with Yakuza, it really seems Sega wants to keep both franchise Sony exclusive with no real help from Sony! Also Sega had reported a 70% loss in an invester meeting some months back stating they made incorrect calculations in the market! Take that as you like!

@@O1OO1O1 So....justified to act like a 6 year old brat review bombing a game for no reason other than hate? Don't we have better things to do in life?

@@robertwallen1582 incorrect calculations for what market? Also, if i recall, sega has expressed wanting to bring their franchises more and more to PC and other consoles. Also, yeah, sony did not fund Persona5.

Oh man. Can't believe it's been that long

I hope they fix the combat with those patches not gonna make a huge difference fixing 29 frames to get 30.

yeah been playing 8hrs now and haven't noticed a single frame drop. this game runs perfectly it needs no patching.

balto derpfish 8 hours?!? The bloody thing was just released yesterday 😱

@@alsamiyasfh4416 Australia is 1 Day ahead of everyone else I got my copy almost 3 days ago now.

Agree, for some reason the city landscape reminds me of Cyberpunk 2077

Give a developer the power of a PC and watch em almost not even try. Give them the power of Switch lite and watch them actually work.

@jvalex18 just getting bored of photorealism already

@@trungnguyenhoang6821 +1

@@trungnguyenhoang6821 To be fair no game really looks too photo realistic. A lot of them still look gorgeous. They do pour a lot of time into crafting those games. I wouldn't undermine their effort.

Brown Chair I think once we truly start hitting a plateau in graphics, finally true creativity can thrive. It seems like developers rest on their technological laurels at the expense of “soul” and creativity. Eventually that won’t fly anymore and they will have to start putting real effort in. I think we’re starting to see that, actually.

Looks like a PS3 game.

@@dcta51 so? Still looks great

@@AlphaladZXA i didnt say it didn't

@@dcta51 The Switch might not come close in power to the PS4 but it blows the PS3 out of the water as it's 3 times more powerful than a PS3. That's quite impressive considering it's basically a $160 tablet, $80 for joy cons and $60 for the dock = $300.

@@saysoun752 whats amazing most of us is that its doing xbox one and ps4 ports and doing them shit well visually all in handheld mode.

tnh you haven't seen anything yet Combat doesn't start till 2-3 mission.The 1 mission sucks.

Sean T Torres Arroyo its funny isn’t it:) it’s like toxic people can’t stop being toxic, they just flip the script. And makes no sense when people accuse switch owners for being Nintendo fanboys, isn’t a fanboy someone who hates on other platforms they don’t own? And people who just love video games in general love all platforms. But if you dare to own also a Nintendo system then you’re a fanboy and Nintendo is only for kids... love how even that has turned out to be untrue. Besides there’s nothing wrong with consoles also having games for kids or just cutsie games that anyone can play. Not every game needs to be mature, it’s great to have a mix of everything in my humble opinion. I certainly started gaming in the 80s as a kid. All of those toxic arguments are just ridiculous. I’m loving it how Nintendo is proving everyone wrong now. And I own a switch, ps4 and Xbox one. The only reason I don’t have a gaming pc is because I can’t afford one but I would otherwise. Besides the competition only improves the industry. And we all get great games to play 🙏. And yeah the switch has so many great games now that it’s hard to even keep up or have the funds for every game, I have to choose which games to buy and which I’ll leave for later because I can’t even afford to buy every game. So glad Astral Chain was one of the ones I picked up! 🙏 and fire emblem, and soon Zelda and Luigi’s mansion 3... grandia hd collection. So many amazing games now it’s not even funny 😅

@@lassesuurmunne8340 I only have Switch because I don't have that much time for other consoles. I always preferred Nintendo, but I'm not hating on other consoles. I got everything I need on the Switch.

Sean T Torres Arroyo yeah and that’s fine. Nothing wrong with that, I only play Switch now too because I don’t have time either to play anything else. And nothing wrong with preferring Nintendo. I meant people who can’t accept other people’s tastes and preferences and try to tell you what you’re allowed to like and play. Sorry my ranty comment mate, peace ✌️

@@lassesuurmunne8340 same i have a ryzen 3 and 1060gtx pc and i play my switch more

I don't really like any sort of exclusivity like this. Other people now will be forced to buy a switch in order to play the game. I mean not only that. I have a switch. But I'd prefer playing a game like this on pc. But since Nintendo owns the ip. It'll never come to any platform. Even if it wouldn't be such a bad idea business wise

You can spot Lilie and her Cosmog, they really were inspired by Pokémon !

Man of culture.

I think I recognize most of them except for the last 4 in the back row.

Aqua XD

Legend of Korra Nendoroid!

what about luigis mansion 3?

Jeremy Pooran Vanguish kinda end on a hanging note, and a sequel would be nice.

as long as it lasts more than 4 hours for a $60 game

Vanquish is God Hand of last-gen consoles, overlooked.

Lit So much kick-assness was packed into Vanquish’s run time, it was worth the price. And I’ll pay the price every single time.

@@always_serpico I don't care how much kick-assness it had, $60 for a 4 hours game is unacceptable.

Now imagine this game on an actual powerful console like the ps4 pro or even pc. Great art style + 60 fps + full AA instead of this shimmering mess..

@@nickmotsarsky4382 I'll take the shimmering mess over my PS4 or XB1 as I enjoy playing on the go. My PS4 and XB1 are definitely more powerful but they stay at home while my Switch travels wherever I go.

@@nickmotsarsky4382 As for someone who has played videogames for 40yrs I have learned that just because a game doesn't reach lofty technical standards that it doesn't change my overall opinion of it. Some of my favorite games of all time have technical issues. As much as I love high framerates it doesn't hurt the core experience because it's at 30fps. I have a PC that would probably run this at 144hz or higher and all the "pro" consoles available and I could care less that it isn't on them. BTW calling this game a "mess" tell me you haven't played it because it's not even close to being a mess.

@@faiwaka No, the game isn't a mess. The visible Aliasing is.

@@nickmotsarsky4382 Go home kiddo, you're drunk.

You forgot Fire Emblem

And of course Warfraaaaame.

And Doom Eternal in the horizon

Fire Emblem Three Houses is better than XC2

635574 ewww no, repetitive bullshit that requires thousands of hours of grinding lmao

I mean not graphically. But I guess gameplay wise.

Don't do it... unless you want joysticks drifting

Great time to get one since they just improved battery life and there’s also the lite version ✌️

John is an amazing person and skilled creator, his DF retro videos always makes me feel such incredible joy.

@@franciscor390 hard to argue with that

Exactly! What if Nintendo acquires platinum games, holy smokes.

Frigate6054 at this point I think they should

Frigate6054 eh, I wouldn’t want that. I think the beauty of platinum games is because of it being a third party developer. By changing between publishers, you get a variety of games with the platinum known and love action gameplay but in different settings such as Nier Automata, Bayonetta, MG rising, Astral Chain, Vanquish and the cancelled scalebound. Get what I mean? It’s like Fromsoftware changing publishers, which allows them to keep the “general hard af gameplay” while changing settings such as feudal Japan, Victorian world, and the Medival setting

I love when people get mad at Nintendo getting these Platinum games (like Bayo 2 and 3) while not realizing that Sony and Microsoft passed their opportunity financing Bayonetta 2. If Nintendo is willing to finance these games then they release on their systems. If Microsoft or Sony finance their games, they get them. But mostly they dont.

@@christianr.5868 they should man and theres several reasons why. One Nintendo practically funds alot of their games, two bayonetta 2 or the bayonetta franchise wouldn't exist if it wasnt for Nintendo. Three platinum has already developed a game from an actual Nintendo ip(starfox zero) which was a phenomenal game to me by the way. Four Nintendo and platinum games has a very close relationship. I think platinum games is financially stable as a company but if they ever get in trouble I think Nintendo should swoop in and buy them. Oh and their games also do better and grow a bigger notoriety on a Nintendo platform.

Hey thanks for that information. Wasn't aware of the hardware strains additional surround sound would have. I have a surround sound setup with my switch and other consoles but it's good enough to make stereo sounds super sexy still. Especially with the soundtrack of this game

Good comment.

Actually the CPU percentage to processing 6 channels of audio in modern cpus is almost nothing. Switch CPU is not that weak. Some games in Nintendo 64 and even in Snes had some kind of surround sound. Todays sound system is not like 90s real time shynthetizers. The decision is likely for lower development costs.

I agree with Zor Mon. Previously dabbled a bit with Wwise and Sequencing Audio (from MIDI) using Vorbis/compressed samples takes a negligible amount of CPU power. The bandwidth required for surround sound is negligible. Take this with a grain of salt but surround would be worth only a few hundred megabytes per second uncompressed. Effects processing is a different story and varies on the plugin/program used. On systems like the SNES or GC there is no performance penalty as it is provided by hardware. That being said it's not likely to be performance reasons for the lack of surround. If it was then it's likely, as you mentioned, bandwidth reasons. The Switch has a weak memory subsystem and the CPU using too much data cripples the GPU performance.

Eh? The NVIDIA Shield supports surround sound easily and uses the same processor.

I'm no expert, and I won't pretend to be, but I think he was more so referencing the fact that no character models can be seen in reflections, suggesting a static cubemap. Could be extremely wrong though, feel free to correct me though.

SSR is far more expensive than cubemaps. Also, playing the game I noticed that reflections most of the time aren't aligned to the reflected environment. That is probably just an animated cubemap.

@@dianavi1893 There are a lot of flat surfaces so, I was going to suggest planar reflections as a possibility, but as you state though, if they are not aligning (I'm simply going off the video, so you'll have more in-game experience). Then you're right that it could be a video cubemap.

Stephen Boyce maybe they are using an hybrid solution so that big landmarks like that huge building looks aligned, because it’s true that the building looks aligned in the video all the time. I’ll check next time I play and let you know what I find.

@@KITPUNK They are standard animated cubemaps. They switch the cubemap in use depending on the position of the camera, and they have a lot of them, that's why distant objects, like that building, almost always look aligned. However, objects closer to the camera don't align.

But...the weekend just got started!

Art design appeals more to you

From an artistic standpoint, yes Graphically, no It's pretty low poly but still looks very pretty on Switch. Just for comparison, 2B's butt has more detail and a way higher polygon count than the female MC's in this game and the difference is very noticeable. Yes I'm making that comparison

I'm more interested if there is a possibility of having automata on switch (it would be me buying it for 3rd time in that case, but still) PG told that Astral chain runs on the same engine and it runs really good. So in theory it is possible to port 2B's butt onto my handheld

@@rumotu If they ever do, hopefully it'll end working better than the pc version. PG all but abandoned the pc port.

Nier is the graphically better game. Astral Chain is the aesthetically better game.

Bayo 3 exists, but... we won't see anything about it for a while.

Lol I thought the same

Platinum Games = Loves Fast Running Games!!!

Well it's like, I'm not saying framerate doesn't matter, it's just... There is one thing that matters more than the amount of frames, and that is whether or not the framerate is stable. Plus there's also graphics design, which does impact your experience and perception of the framerate.

people freak out about fps but lets be honest 30fps is perfectly playable. I would rather a solid 30 fps than 60 fps that dips a lot.

@@baltoderpfish9471 If I had a g-sync monitor I would prefer the second thing you've said.

plus Nier plus Ghost in the shell ... I guess that makes enough of a mix

@@dashmash2233 + cyberpunk neon lights

which one you bought

My mom is from Osaka I visit that place quite often. Try the food it's great.

@@lonelygoner2012 Grey one, debated the Mini but I want to keep the option of docking...

@@naila961 I did last two times I was there :) Certainly will be trying it again, two nights there this time, and 4 nights in Yonago, Tottori Province.

they need to make a overlay for it instead of the white backround.

Even on my 40 inches 1080p TV, it looks good ^^

I have the game playing in my 4k screen and even then it still looks gorgeous! The art direction is just that good.

I have it connected to my 1080p monitor. Ngl it looks kinda bad to me. High resolutions and modern aa have spoiled me.

Don't know Luigi mansion 3 looks pretty good as far as I've seen

It's one of the most impressive Switch title for sure

Its cell shaded, all switch games has this look.

'Arguably one of the best

@@hpickettz34 cell shading is something that ages far better than going for realism