During theE3 2019 Nintendo Direct, a newAstral Chaintrailer gave fans a closer look at Platinum Games' forthcoming action title and pinned a release date on it. Additionally, the game was featured as part of Nintendo Treehouse Live, a series of live streams that Nintendo hosted throughout the duration of E3 2019. While many of the details that were confirmed during these streams were standard fare for action games, one in particular stood out as being a bit bizarre.
In a Nintendo Treehouse Live segment dedicated toAstral Chain, the hosts of the stream encounter something like a portable toilet while playing the game, and they are given an opportunity to “use” it. Interacting with the toilet simply turns the screen black briefly, and the hosts joke about taking “a quick bathroom break” and having had “too much water.” However, the inclusion of this toilet inAstral Chainis not some sort of one-off gag, and the game’s director,Takahisa Taura, offers more details.
Specifically, Taura, speaking through a translator, indicates that there is a different toilet “hidden in every stage” of the game, and that “something good will happen” to those that locate everyAstral Chaintoilet. Toilets thus function, essentially, as collectibles in the forthcoming title, and whileAstral Chainis certainly extremely far from the first game to feature hidden items, not many other titles focus their collectibles around the bathroom.
Furthermore, toilets are not the only thing that players will discover as they exploreAstral Chain, and Taura mentions that “lots of cats appear” in the game as well. These cats can be found in “all kinds of places,” and it seems as though they will serve as yet another collectible for players to track down, though that is not explicitly stated by the game director.
While theAstral ChainE3 2019 trailerput a heavy emphasis on the game’s serious story and fast-paced action, the details provided through Nintendo Treehouse Live convey that there is also some whimsy to the title. Now, with theAstral Chainrelease date fast approaching, fans just have a bit longer to wait before discovering what perks will come to them for finding all of the game’s toilets and cats.
