The use of a nameless unvoiced protagonist in this game is such a baffling decision when so much of the story hinges on their relationship with their twin and their dad, characters they have no way of interacting with meaningfully. Like, in the scene where Max sacrifices himself, you see him have a passionate heart-to-heart with Akira, followed by turning to your protagonist and saying, "hey you!" It's just so clunky and ruins any emotional impact the moment can have. Same as how every scene needs an additional character to exposit the protagonist's feelings to their face ("he's your own brother! You must be SO upset!")
astral chain is my favorite game of all time but this issue bugs me SO MUCH and i'm glad many people agree with this sentiment you and i have the same understanding of the situation - silent protagonists are fine, but only if done properly. this one just, wasn't handled the right way. mc being silent would have only worked if they didn't have established relationships with max and akira (and hell, even jin) but because they do, and are supposed to have emotional connection to those characters, when their reactions are as stale as they are, its so disappointing. i forget who said it but one of the devs said in an interview that they made mc customizeable for the sake of immersion, but what i think they failed to understand is that they already accomplished that with the world and the fantastic art direction to go with it. having your sibling get stabbed right in front of you while your character doesn't even scream out in anguish just, completely shatters any and all immersion. i really hope mc becomes a real character if we get a sequel, would make me and so many others so happy
0:35 This is also a problem with the upcoming Fire Emblem Engage: instead of giving the player the option of customizing and creating their own avatar, we are forced to walk around with a preset red & blue haied avatar that looks like a walking Pepsi and Colgate ad 🤣 But to my knowledge, at least that character talks. 6:33 also, wow, are you telling me even EA's fail of a game: Mess Effect Androgenda does a better job at the whole brother/ sister sibling dynamic thing than this game? Thats embarrassing lol White Knight Chronicles on PS3 also had the pointless silent protagonist problem. It felt especially weird in that one since you could play as the true lead character, so your avatar was just some silent weirdo stalking the main party 🤣
The use of a nameless unvoiced protagonist in this game is such a baffling decision when so much of the story hinges on their relationship with their twin and their dad, characters they have no way of interacting with meaningfully. Like, in the scene where Max sacrifices himself, you see him have a passionate heart-to-heart with Akira, followed by turning to your protagonist and saying, "hey you!" It's just so clunky and ruins any emotional impact the moment can have. Same as how every scene needs an additional character to exposit the protagonist's feelings to their face ("he's your own brother! You must be SO upset!")
Dark hero was probably one of the most hype boss battle was so awesome! Music really put it over the top for me!
honestly one of my favorite boss themes of all time, the fact that it changes depending on which sibling you're playing as is even cooler
@@nikua_ not often I come across someone that talks about Astral Chain but when they do you better believe I'll subscribe
love the video nikua! really well explained
astral chain is my favorite game of all time but this issue bugs me SO MUCH and i'm glad many people agree with this sentiment
you and i have the same understanding of the situation - silent protagonists are fine, but only if done properly. this one just, wasn't handled the right way. mc being silent would have only worked if they didn't have established relationships with max and akira (and hell, even jin) but because they do, and are supposed to have emotional connection to those characters, when their reactions are as stale as they are, its so disappointing.
i forget who said it but one of the devs said in an interview that they made mc customizeable for the sake of immersion, but what i think they failed to understand is that they already accomplished that with the world and the fantastic art direction to go with it. having your sibling get stabbed right in front of you while your character doesn't even scream out in anguish just, completely shatters any and all immersion.
i really hope mc becomes a real character if we get a sequel, would make me and so many others so happy
Nice video!
Yeah, I definitely see where you're coming from. That's one of the main things I wanted to change in my Astral Chain Abridged series.
0:35 This is also a problem with the upcoming Fire Emblem Engage: instead of giving the player the option of customizing and creating their own avatar, we are forced to walk around with a preset red & blue haied avatar that looks like a walking Pepsi and Colgate ad 🤣
But to my knowledge, at least that character talks.
6:33 also, wow, are you telling me even EA's fail of a game: Mess Effect Androgenda does a better job at the whole brother/ sister sibling dynamic thing than this game? Thats embarrassing lol
White Knight Chronicles on PS3 also had the pointless silent protagonist problem. It felt especially weird in that one since you could play as the true lead character, so your avatar was just some silent weirdo stalking the main party 🤣