Finally got around to playing this game a little over a month ago, and man oh man do I love it. Prior to Rise's release, this was the only game that I wanted a Switch for, and looking back now, buying one just for it would've been worth it. Had I played it when it came out back in 2019 it would've easily been my Game of the Year for that respective year (yes, it really is THAT good).
Given all that glowing praise, I of course felt like putting a little something out for it, so here's a quick run-through of my favorite postgame arena challenge (which also has one of my favorite music tracks: Zone 09 Midnight Combat Phase). Astral Chain's combat is rather simplistic and not very deep, but it makes up for that by being extremely meaty, stylish, and all-around satisfying. Whaling on enemies feels super cathartic and never gets old. I made a number of big mistakes here (mainly during the second to last round), but I think this is a solid enough showcase of what it's all about.
