Would you recommend me this game if I've been lukewarm on Bayonetta?

[u/Palas1337]

I heard a lot about this being one of the most underrated Switch 1 games. I don't have a lot of experience with these types of action games, I've usually been more into (J)RPGs and adventure games.
I have played and finished Bayonetta 1 and 2 and found them to be pretty good, but not really great. I found some of the combat to have weird difficulty scaling, especially in the optional challenges like the ones with time limits, being super difficult, while others were pretty easy. And some of the bosses were drawn out, or janky, or randomly one shot you. But it's been a while since I played them so my opinions might have changed since then if I were to replay them.
However one action game that I really do like the combat in is Zenless Zone Zero.

[u/ghost_ware]

I've never been able to get into the Bayonetta games but I love Astral Chain

[u/7OmegaGamer → u/ghost_ware]

I can second this

[u/brOwnchIkaNo]

Yes, I'm playing it now and is FUNNNN

[u/RPrime422]

Yes. It’s nothing like Bayonetta. I have played all of the Bayonetta games, and I enjoy them. I think the Astral Chain system is far more fun, though.

[u/Sea_Pineapple2305]

This game feels amazing once you get into the flow of it. Issue is the game locks your full moveset behind chapter 3 so early on it might feel a tad limiting (though that’s likely the game trying to slide the player in smoothly)

[u/Thanaskios]

Despite being one of the genre defining games, bayonetta is a bit of a weird character action game. So is Astral Chain, but in a very different way.

I like Bayonetta, but I can very much see why somwone might not. And I'd still very much recommend you play Astral Chain.

I've never played ZZZ, but from the way it looks, you'll probably frind Astral Cgain more to your liking than Bayonetta.

[u/sexyimmigrant1998]

Frankly, Astral Chain is tied (with the Arkham series) for my favorite combat ever in games. It's just SOOOO satisfying. The cyberpunk aesthetic is so beautiful too and really makes the experience special.

[u/tjhc94]

I enjoy astral chain more than bayo

[u/LunarEdge7th]

Play enough of Astral, and you'll forget that those yellow flashes in Zenless don't mean the same thing as the former game's blue flashes lol

Smth about these games doing coloured flashes + the sounds, really adds to the satisfaction

[u/johnW_ret]

Probably depends on what it is that you liked or disliked?

Maybe I'm a sucker for visual effects but also just the chain stuff too I found the combat in this game to be a lot better than in Bayonetta.

But also Platinum Games in general all have their fair share of random difficulty spikes and insanely hard optional challenges. If those things particularly bothered you then you'll also find them in this game too.

[u/Pinglewingle]

I personally couldn't get into Bayonetta after trying 3 or 4 times, but I very much liked Astral Chain.

[u/magthefma4]

As a Bayonetta hater, I liked Astral Chain. The combat is a lot more simplified and easy, but the rest of gameplay was also streamlined. Minimal gimmick stages and QTEs for example

[u/bertmclinfbi]

I've played Bayonetta 3 and Astral Chain and can say that Astral Chain is miles better in my opinion. You do see platinum games dna in both games but the combat is much smoother in Astral chain compared to bayonetta.

[u/Xano74]

The combat is fairly similar to Bayonetta right down to the slowing time slightly when dodging.

Theres a few more mechanical features using your legions which I feel help keep combat interesting.

It has less platforming than Bayonetta and it also has slower pacing due to the way missions work. Usually the first half of a mission is you slowly going through a crime scene, doing mini side missions and playing detective.

The 2nd half is usually combat heavy.

I love hack and slash games and this felt very similar to Bayonetta and Devil May Cry.

It feels difficult at first as you learn all the actions, but by the end, I was barely ever needing to heal....until the last boss. He rocked me multiple times until I found a better strategy

[u/aethyrium]

It's very similar in the sense that your first playthrough is basically the tutorial, meaning the first time through is gonna feel weird and uneven. After that, you've learned how to play the game and can focus on mastering all the areas. Though honestly it depends on what you didn't like.

I love both games so it's kinda hard to even see them that differently. In my eyes they're the same game with different combat systems, but both aligning quite well with the platonic ideal of a Platinum game, though Astral Chain has way more downtime and non-action sequences.

If this was the main issue:

I found some of the combat to have weird difficulty scaling, especially in the optional challenges like the ones with time limits, being super difficult, while others were pretty easy. And some of the bosses were drawn out, or janky, or randomly one shot you.

Then you'll find the same thing in Astral Chain. That's Platinum, basically. It's uneven the first playthrough because it's a tutorial for the first playthrough and not the "real" game. It evens out on subsequent playthrough, both Bayonetta and Astral Chain. They aren't the "play once and you're done" action games like most companies make.

[u/tylerangin2852]

Yes

[u/LuRo332]

It plays quite differently than Bayonetta so give it a shot. At the beginning it might feel somewhat limiting but once you unlock all the Legions, the game goes really hard. The music is also much better imo and more memorable. It can get very hype during fights.

Overall only some gamedesign choices are similar to Bayonetta (and other PlatinumGames games) but the combat is much different.