Astral Chain, the latest action game from PlatinumGames, has you exploring a cyberpunk-esque world as a member of the police force. This world has been built to house a large amount of interesting world-building tidbits as well as a number of extra activities to accomplish. Some of these are easy to find and others are somewhat secretive.
This means it's pretty easy for the player to miss out on some interesting secret or a new cosmetic outfit for their character. While missing out on this stuff won't necessarily impact the main parts of the game, it's still something players would like to avoid. To help avoid that, here are 10 Hidden Secrets Many Still Haven’t Found In Astral Chain.
10 File 12
Something that might not be readily apparent is the existence of another File after finishing the game. File 12 requires that you save your game after the credits and then exit and re-load your game file. This will let you access it, in all its extra glory. This epilogue is pretty simple - it's focused on combat missions received from Olive.
File 12 is, from the game world perspective, about cleaning up the corruption around the ark. For the player, though, it's all about the post-game content. This is where you get a lot of extra cosmetics, items, and even bosses. If you really want to challenge yourself then you could also play this on the highest difficulty to prove you've mastered the game's combat.
9 Hidden Bosses
In a game chock full of difficult bosses, you might not think that there would be much more to do after finishing the game but Astral Chain has precisely that. There are two different hidden bosses that you can only fight during File 12, after you've completed the main story missions.
The first of these two is the Jena and Homonculus boss fight. To access this fight you must complete the R1 missions, this will let you fight them by selecting the R1B3 mission. The second and more difficult of the two secret bosses is Aether, and boy does it deserve to be the last boss you fight. You have to beat the main game, go to File 12 and complete every single combat mission before you can fight it. Once it's unlocked, well, good luck!
8 Secret Toilets
Pretty early on you'll encounter a certain NPC who refers to themselves as the Toilet Fairy. This toilet fairy asks you for something quite simple, toilet paper. If you decide to give the toilet paper to them, you will receive some small reward in exchange. The more toilet paper you give to them, the better the reward.
But it's not always easy to find toilet paper as they're hidden along with the secret toilets in each File. There's a secret toilet in each File and completing this side mission will reward you with a cosmetic outfit - the ARI Medical Gear, the same outfit that you can see your twin wear in File 5.
7 Hidden Hermit Hideouts
Even Astral Chain can't seem to resist putting in some secret vendors. During certain Files, you may find a secret hint or overhear about something kind of fishy such as a fake wall next to a restaurant. If you follow these clues then you'll find the hidden hermit hideouts and you'll have the opportunity to buy special items such as the hermit mask.
There are a few of these locations and they're scattered throughout the different Files. The first one that you can visit is in File 3 within Maison Forest. You head right at the first fork and look for the only shutter not blocked by some object, that'll be the entrance. There are more hideouts to discover, specifically in File 4, 5, 8, and 10, so good luck!
6 16-Bit Mini-Game
Before the game was even launched, Nintendo released a tweet from one of the game's directors that revealed the existence of a 16-bit mini-game. It's not until File 08 that you're given the opportunity to find this hidden mini-game. Simply find Marie near the lockers and she'll ask you if you want to help test the game out.
If you say yes then you'll be able to play a Lappy-themed mini-game. In this game, you control a 16-bit lappy who must give out balloons to people who are walking, and sometimes running, down the street. You're given three different colors and each person who crosses your path wears one of those three colors. Simply match them together and you'll earn points.
5 Lappy Costume
Depending on your tastes you'll either love or be freaked out by the police forces mascot. The girl wearing the costume certainly makes it come alive but the amount of times she sneaks up on you is disconcerting. But if you've ever taken a look at that costume and thought to yourself, "I'd like wear that!" Well, Astral Chain understands and lets you do just that.
It does, however, require a good amount of legwork. The costume is separated into different pieces that you must collect. In File 3 you must visit all of Neurons facilities with Lappy. File 5, you must fight Jin and reach max happiness with him. File 7 you just need to speak with Lappy at the start. File 8 has two, one for winning in the balloon bash mini-game, the other for scoring enough points in the quiz. Finally, in File 12 you purchase one from Brenda.
4 Change Your Name
For those of you who like to agonize over your character's appearance during the character creator screen, this may come as a relief. In Astral Chain you can freely customize your appearance whenever you're at HQ. The only things you cannot change are your name and gender. Of course, you could always replay the prologue to change those but there is another way to change your name later.
If you collect enough photos of people and complete the "People Watcher" side quest, you'll unlock the ability to change your name at the locker within Neuron HQ. This can be easily done right from the get-go as there are enough people around HQ to get it done fast.
3 Hidden Cosmetics
Beyond the hidden bosses, merchants and other such things, the bulk of hidden things within Astral Chain are the cosmetics. When it comes to the headwear, that is, hats and such, some are easily attainable by simply leveling up and progressing through the story. Others are much more hidden.
There are two pieces of non-hat headwear that you must go out of your way to find. They are the Cat-Eared Headband and Lazy Cat Cap. To get them you must complete the two orders, Feline Friend and Phenomenal Feline Friend in File 12. In Files 6 and 7 you can find a Cardboard Box and a Police Helmet. Both of these require the use of the arm legion to get past metal doors.
2 More Accessories
Some accessories are tied to the Hidden Hermit Hideouts and are easily obtained with money. Others require more effort, such as the Cat Holomask from File 7. To get this one you need to start heading to the objective, going up the first flight of stairs but then veering to the right until you see a blue pickup that you must chain jump to.
There are numerous more of these scattered throughout the game for watchful gamers to find. Some are pretty easy to find, others require you to take your time with the game and really search each nook and cranny. But if you want your character to look fashionable, then they are must-haves.
1 Police Armor Jacket
Even amongst the list of hidden cosmetics, some are more interesting to find than others. Of course there's the Lappy Costume and the medical outfit from finishing the Toilet Fairy side quest but there's also the Police Armor Jacket. In order to get this outfit, you must be in File 3. Advance to the point where you're in the astral plane and have blocks in your way.
Once you've gotten to this point, you would normally use your legion to lower the blocks, allowing you access. You still do this but instead of advancing, stand on the blocks and raise them up again. This will reveal another flight of stairs which lead to an open area. In this open area you must fight past a mid-boss called C-6 and your reward will be the Police Armor Jacket.