History YMMV / AstralChain

** ''Astral Chain'' was originally pitched as a game set in a fantasy world before Nintendo suggested the futuristic setting. The director of ''Astral Chain'', Takahisa Taura, would end up leading assistant developmental duties for Creator/PlatinumGames on ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'', which featured a completely fantasy-based setting.

** ''Astral Chain'' was originally pitched as a game set in a fantasy world before Nintendo suggested the futuristic setting. The director of ''Astral Chain'', Takahisa Taura, would end up leading assistant developmental duties for Creator/PlatinumGames on ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI''.

* HarsherInHindsight: With numerous {{NPC}}s wearing face masks and an event known as "the Pandemic" in the game's backstory, it can be hard to remember at times that the game was released about one year ''before'' the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19 Pandemic]], not after.

** Your character
*** Why risk everything to investigate [[spoiler:Sector V in the first place, on the word of a terrorist? [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Did Jena hit a nerve in your character by mentioning your past?]] Do they harbor any doubts about where they came from? And if so, is their ButThouMust moment a case of your character wanting to find answers about that, the player's input be damned?]]

*** His reveal as [[spoiler:the BigBad of the game pretty much subverts pretty much any doubts about his intentions for humanity. He is a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist obsessed with becoming a god and having his name remembered throughout history as a DarkMessiah, even if it means using and disposing of anyone he deems as expendable. He does appear to still somewhat want to bring humanity salvation, but it's clear that he has a callous disregard for human life given that he is willing to use his own underlings as pawns and guinea pigs in his schemes. The thing that isn't completely confirmed is his involvement in the Pandemic that engulfed Zone 09, the birthplace of the Twins whose mother gave birth to them while redshifting and died. Is Jena speaking the truth when she says he's responsible? Or she is simply telling lies to try and get the player to turn against Yoseph? The former appears to be more or less true given who we are talking about, but it's never fully confirmed in-game.]]

* OneSceneWonder: Kyle is literally only present in one file and a scene in the epilogue, not to mention only encountered because of Jena's clues pointing toward his group, but his distinctive design and more sympathetic motives have made him one of the most popular characters from the game.

* JustHereForGodzilla: A good portion of players find the game's combat system (once it's completely opened up) to be enjoyable enough on its own in spite of the game's weaknesses in other areas such a flimsy, cliche-laden plot and an insistence on focusing on trivial investigative work in the first half of most chapters.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The story is viewed as being this by even fans. While it is no means bad and it does have some great moments at times, the overall story is rather bland, cliche-laden and forgettable.

* PresumedFlop: People will swear up & down that the game was a big failure, in the event that they even bring the game up when talking about [=PlatinumGames=]' output. However, the game sold over a million copies during its launch year, exceeding Nintendo and Platinum's expectations and making it one of the studio's best-selling titles behind only ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' and the original ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}''.

* CommonKnowledge: People tend to refer to the protagonist as Akira Howard. This is specifically the name of their younger sibling, with the player character [[HelloInsertNameHere having no canon name]].

** The FriendlyFandoms with ''Xenoblade'' gets even funnier when '' VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' introduced the Ouroboros, which not only visually look like Legions, but [[spoiler:also require fusion (in ''Xenoblade's'' case with another person) similar to the Legion Fusion obtained near the end of the game.]] Additionally, most of the ''Xenoblade 3'' cast has [[ElectronicEyes eye implants]] that are called irises, which provide [[DiegeticInterface many of the same functions]] as the ''Astral Chain'' IRIS, like enemy identification and the in-game map.

** The FriendlyFandoms with ''Xenoblade'' gets even funnier when '' VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' introduced the Ouroboros, which not only visually look like Legions, but [[spoiler:also require fusion (in ''Xenoblade's'' case with another person) similar to the Legion Fusion obtained near the end of the game.]] Additionally, most of the ''Xenoblade 3'' cast has [[ElectronicEyes eye implants]] that are called [[NamesTheSame irises,]] which provide [[DiegeticInterface many of the same functions]] as the ''Astral Chain'' IRIS, like enemy identification and the in-game map.

** What with the gameplay being based around playing as a PuppetFighter, there's a reason why a number of jokes about the game being a sci-fi take on ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' comparisons have been made.

** It can also be seen as one to the ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' series, especially ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX''. The Ark has been visually compared to New Los Angeles, while Neuron has drawn comparisons to BLADE for both being elite forces the main protagonists belong to. Meanwhile, fans of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' have noticed similarities between Legion and Blades, as both are bonded in some way to their human partner.

** The FriendlyFandoms with Xenoblade gets funnier when '' VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' introduced the Ouroboros, which not only visually looked like Legions, but [[spoiler:also require fusion similar to the Legion Fusion obtained near the end of the game.]]