Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles is a brawler/fighting game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Sega. The game provides a decent retelling of the story of the Demon Slayer anime. The game's combat system is enjoyable, even if it's nothing special, and feels like other solid anime video games released in the past.
The Hinokami Chronicles follows the story of the first season of the Demon Slayer anime and concludes with the events of the movie. The story is set over a century ago in Japan and follows a boy named Tanjiro. His sister, Nezuko, is transformed into a demon while the rest of his family is murdered, yet her connection to Tanjiro stops her from giving in to her hunger. Tanjiro goes on a journey to join the Demon Slayer Corps, in order to learn more about the true nature of the demons, and possibly find a cure for his sister.
The Hinokami Chronicles tells its story across eight chapters, which are broken up into levels that contain explorable stages, battles, or story segments. The main gameplay loop of The Hinokami Chronicles is its fighting stages. The Hinokami Chronicles is a 3D arena brawler, with the player able to bring in two characters who share a health bar and can be switched mid-battle. The combat mixes a number of different systems, including a skill meter bar for advanced moves, a second character bar that can be used for interrupts or team-up attacks, and a special meter that is used for temporary power boosts and ultimate attacks. Battles are frantic and fun, with the player having access to lots of options at any one time.
The two-player mode is where The Hinokami Chronicles shines. The different systems at play and the limited ability to break out of combos means there is a great back and forth that prevents one side from overwhelming the other. The special meter that allows players to boost and perform ultimate attacks is also saved between rounds, allowing combatants to save their best attacks for when they're needed. The special moves also look fantastic, and with the amazing visuals of the anime giving the developers plenty to work with, when it comes to making explosive sword attacks.
The Hinokami Chronicles single-player mode also shakes things up with boss battles against demons, who possess their own special gimmicks. One disappointing aspect of the game is that it only has a single demon (Nezuko) available at launch, even though many of them are faced throughout the game. Demons are coming in post-launch DLC, but players will have to be satisfied with using the Demon Slayer Corps members in Vs. mode for the time being.
Where The Hinokami Chronicles falters is with its level design. There are lots of stages with discoverable items, with the player able to follow the scent of enemies with Arkham-style vision. These stages feel like filler, with most of their secrets sitting out in the open. This even includes stages that have a lot of potential to be interesting, such as the Tsuzumi mansion and its changing rooms. It's a shame that The Hinokami Chronicles wasn't just a fighting game, as it would have been more enjoyable without the mostly empty exploration stages that break up its more compelling combat.
The visuals in Demon Slayer are gorgeous and match the visuals of the anime, complemented by the voice actors from the show. A lot of the story scenes that aren't vital to the plot are contained in Memory Fragments, which are littered throughout the stage. These can be watched outside of battle and they consist of short vignettes that have additional story segments and funny side moments with the characters, many of which use stills from the anime. These are a nice bonus, and it manages to offer lots of additional narrative content while being optional enough to be separate from those who just want to play the battles.
The Hinokami Chronicles is an enjoyable adaptation of the Demon Slayer anime, but it never tries to be anything greater. The combat is fun, fast-paced, and lets the player wield the explosive moves of the Demon Slayer Corps in a visually exciting way, but the story mode that makes up the bulk of the single-player content is stretched too thin. Fans of the anime should enjoy The Hinokami Chronicles, but it won't have much appeal to those who aren't already familiar with the series.
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 15, 2021. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code for the PS5 version of the game for the purposes of this review.