Archive EntryPreservation Record

Astral Chain

Shelf markLIB-0148

Editorial StandingCatalogued · Permanent Record

2019Game

Catalog Information

Original Title: アストラルチェイン
Release: 2019 (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: PlatinumGames
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Region: Region-free Nintendo Switch software
Medium: Nintendo Switch game card · retail edition
Subjects: Action · Character Action · Science Fiction · PlatinumGames · Preservation

Archival Status

Custody: Permanent archive holding
Reference Copy: Nintendo Switch game card in retail case
Filed: October 5, 2026

Curator Notes

Astral Chain is a PlatinumGames action game built for Nintendo Switch and published by Nintendo on August 30, 2019. The player commands a police officer and a Legion — a captured creature bound by a chain — fighting through two bodies at once. Takahisa Taura, lead game designer on NieR: Automata, directed it, with Hideki Kamiya supervising and character designs by manga artist Masakazu Katsura. It was announced in the February 2019 Nintendo Direct and nominated for Best Action Game at The Game Awards 2019. It is a standalone work; the shelf records it without a series lineage.

Collection Documentation

The retained object is Nintendo’s retail edition of Astral Chain on a Nintendo Switch game card. Dedicated artifact views of the individual copy have not yet been filed; the gallery below is held open for that documentation.

Preservation Notes

Access Hardware: Nintendo Switch; compatible Nintendo Switch family hardware
Original Hardware: Nintendo Switch
Playback Compatibility: Nintendo Switch software is region-free. The retained game card is the primary access copy and runs on any Nintendo Switch console.
Preservation Concerns: Game cards are flash media; long-term charge retention, contact wear, and loss of the small card from its case are the principal risks. Any content delivered as an eShop download or update depends on Nintendo’s servers and is not preserved by the card alone.
Edition History: Released worldwide on August 30, 2019, exclusively for Nintendo Switch. A Collector’s Edition was issued alongside the standard retail edition recorded here.
Access Status: Distributed at retail by Nintendo, with a digital edition on the Nintendo eShop.

Connections

Editorial Record: Reserved for future critical writing in Bloodsoaked Media.

Artifact Documentation

Reference photography of the preserved copy held by Bloodsoaked Media. Each view records the edition, materials, and condition of the work in custody.

Space is reserved for official artwork verification, collection photography, scans, and supplementary archival media. Nothing is forced into the record until documentation is filed.

Stewardship History

A permanent chronology of this archival record — filed, revised, and tended over time. Entries accumulate; none are erased.

Oct 5, 2026
Collection Documentation entered
Oct 5, 2026
Connections established
Oct 5, 2026
Official artwork entered
Official Nintendo Switch front cover filed under the Library accession path.
Oct 5, 2026
Curator Notes entered
Oct 5, 2026
Filed into the Library
Accessioned as LIB-0148.
Oct 5, 2026
Preservation Notes entered
Oct 5, 2026
Published to the public shelf