I thought I read that Astral Chain had a kind of dual stick control thing going on? This is not really the case, except in one specific instance. Game play is set up like this:
Left stick: Move/Run
Right stick: Camera/lock-on (and switch targets)
D-pad: Switch between baton or gun
B: Dodge (You can do "perfect dodges" which are similar to activating witch time in Bayonetta)
+: Turn on AR-style info system. Gives you enemy health read-outs and NPC bios and such.
ZR: Attack
ZL: Summon your Legion (left stick and ZL will tell the Legion what directions to go in. You can also use it to call it back to you.)
R: Put Legion away (you can only leave it out for a certain amount of time before it "overheats" and needs a recharge)
If you hold ZL down and use the right stick, you can control the Legion's movement directly. This can be used to make it run around an enemy and wrap it up in the chains, freezing it in place and letting you freely beat the shit out of it for a period of time.
You can also use ZL and the left stick to send the Legion shooting out towards enemies who are about to charging at you. If you time this right, you'll knock the enemy of the charge and counter it.
So it really isn't as crazy as some of the videos might make the game play seem- you're controlling your own character 99% of the time and the Legion just helps you beat the shit out of everyone.
The game also offers a babby-mode that will play itself for you, like Bayonetta 2 did, if you just want to see the story. Oh, and you can go to your locker at the station and change up your character's appearance at any time. Speaking of appearances, the character designs really scream "Masakazu Katsura." Many of the characters look like they came right out of Double Decker! Doug & Kirill and your Legion looks like armor from Tiger & Bunny, lol.
