Games Like Astral Chain

What Made Astral Chain Work

Astral Chain's trick is that you control two things at once — your character and a Legion on a chain, and the chain itself is a weapon you can wrap around enemies. Between fights it is a police procedural where you interview people and look for evidence. Recommending pure action games only covers half of it.

Astral Chain was made by PlatinumGames and published by Nintendo for the Switch in 2019, directed by Takahisa Taura with Hideki Kamiya supervising. You play a police officer in a future city under attack from Chimeras, fighting beside a Legion chained to your wrist, so every fight means controlling two characters at once.

9 Games Like Astral Chain

1. Ba

   1.Bayonetta(2009)

   PlatinumGames' own template, and the combat depth is the closest match.

   Why it fits: PlatinumGames, 2009. The studio's signature action game: Witch Time after a perfect dodge, and long combo strings.

   What is different: One character, no Legion partner, and no investigation — it is pure combat and spectacle.

   Where to play it: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, Switch, PS4 and Xbox One.

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2. Ni

   2.NieR: Automata(2017)

   Platinum combat with a pod companion and a story that keeps changing shape.

   Why it fits: PlatinumGames with Square Enix, 2017. Astral Chain's director Takahisa Taura was its lead game designer, and the combat shares that fluid dodge-and-chain feel.

   What is different: Simpler combat, and a far more melancholy story built around multiple playthroughs.

   Where to play it: PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch.

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3. De

   3.Devil May Cry 5(2019)

   The best-feeling character action game of the generation.

   Why it fits: Capcom, 2019. V fights through summoned familiars, the closest thing elsewhere to commanding a Legion.

   What is different: Three separate characters and a deeper style system, but no partner to control.

   Where to play it: PS4, Xbox One and PC; Special Edition on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

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4. Th

   4.The Wonderful 101(2013)

   Controlling a crowd rather than a character — the same divided-attention idea.

   Why it fits: PlatinumGames, Wii U, 2013, remastered for Switch, PS4 and PC in 2020. Command a crowd of heroes by drawing shapes.

   What is different: Seen from above, and you draw shapes to form weapons — it takes time to click.

   Where to play it: Wii U; remastered for Switch, PS4 and PC.

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5. Me

   5.Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance(2013)

   Platinum again, and built around one very good mechanic.

   Why it fits: PlatinumGames for Konami, 2013. Aggressive parrying and precise Blade Mode cuts.

   What is different: Short, with one mechanic — the blade parry — and none of the investigation.

   Where to play it: PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

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6. Sc

   6.Scarlet Nexus(2021)

   Anime action with a psychic-powers version of the Legion system.

   Why it fits: Bandai Namco, 2021. A futuristic city, psychic powers, monsters from another plane and an anime-style squad story.

   What is different: Longer and talkier, and the psychic throws replace the chained partner.

   Where to play it: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

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7. Pe

   7.Persona 5(2016)

   If the daytime investigation half was what hooked you.

   Why it fits: Atlus, 2016. Tokyo by day and supernatural dungeons by night, with Personas fighting alongside you.

   What is different: A turn-based RPG with a school calendar; no real-time action.

   Where to play it: PS3 and PS4; Royal on PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch and PC.

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8. Gh

   8.Ghostwire: Tokyo(2022)

   Supernatural incidents in a modern Japanese city, with an investigative tone.

   Why it fits: Tango Gameworks, 2022. A supernatural Tokyo where you fight Visitors from another world with hand-gesture magic.

   What is different: First-person spell combat, simpler and much slower.

   Where to play it: PS5, PC and Xbox Series X|S.

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9. Tr

   9.Transformers: Devastation(2015)

   Underrated Platinum action if you want more of the same combat.

   Why it fits: PlatinumGames, 2015. Short, sharp character action with transforming combos.

   What is different: Short and licensed, and it was pulled from digital stores, so a physical copy is the realistic route.

   Where to play it: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

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Where to Start

Bayonetta is the closest in combat depth and it is on Switch too. If the police-procedural half pulled you in, Persona 5 Royal is the long, satisfying answer. For more Platinum in the same shape, The Wonderful 101: Remastered.

How We Picked These Games

Picks had to come from the same combat tradition — PlatinumGames and the character-action games around it — or share the setting of a future city invaded from another plane.

Which One to Play, by What You Liked

If you liked Astral Chain for fighting alongside your Legion, try Devil May Cry 5 and The Wonderful 101. V's familiars and Platinum's crowd of heroes are the nearest equivalents.

If you liked Astral Chain for PlatinumGames' combat, try Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Transformers: Devastation. The same studio's other action games.

If you liked Astral Chain for the neon city and police work, try Scarlet Nexus and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Cities overrun by things from another world.

If you liked Astral Chain for the anime style, try Persona 5. If the look and the cast mattered as much as the fights.