With the rise of one of the most popular shows of this decade Demon Slayer, there is no surprise that a game followed. Demon Slayer: Hinokami Chronicles is a tag team 3D arena fighter developed by Cyber Connect 2 who have developed other popular anime games like the Naruto Storm series and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. However, is this game a cash grab, or is it a solid additionto  the Demon Slayer franchise?

Presentation

Demon Slayer has been known for its beautiful animation and art style, which this game complements. The high quality visuals, paired with the phenomenal cutscenes and attack animations  are reminiscent of the show’s magnificent attention to detail.

Story Mode

When you first open the game, it immediately takes the player to one of the first major fights of the show:  Tanjiro versus Sabito. Here the player is introduced to the controls of the game. After that is the first real boss fight, immersing the player into the action and not having to fiddle with a menu. The Hinokami Chronicles follows the story of season one up to the end of the Mugen Train movie, so it is a great way to get into the series. The developers want the player to play the story first, but that may not be what players want to do. Most players who pick up the game have already watched the show, so they just want to go into online or versus matches; however, most characters must be unlocked from story mode to be played in other modes. The story isn’t long and is actually very entertaining; however, this may still be an issue for those who just want to quickly pick up and play.

Character Roster

Each character represented from the show is displayed perfectly through the gameplay and specific movesets. It started as a measly 12 character roster (Not including the Academy characters which play the exact same as other existing characters) and quickly grew to a much better 18 character roster with free post launch updates adding the Demon characters. Players won’t’ have a problem finding a character that they want to play as.

Gameplay

The basic formula of a Demon Slayer character consists of a basic combo with three different finishers, three special moves, a heavy attack, an aerial combo and dive, a boost and surge mode, and an ultimate attack. Demon slayers also have the added benefit of having a partner to switch to or call in for an assist attack. Each character has unique moves and even if some visually look the same, they behave completely differently. Notice I said demon slayers and not demons. Demons play solo meaning they do not bring another character alongside them to battle. Instead2, they are given two demon skills and the ability to regenerate health during boost and surge mode. With the vast movesets and the ability for demon slayers to switch characters, the movement and techniques one can do is vast to say the least.

Online

Unfortunately, the online mode for this game is where it may fall flat for certain people. The online stability when playing is not that great when you don’t use an ethernet cord or have stable wifi connection. This causes matches to be unplayable at certain times. When it works it works, but it’s still a glaring issue for those who want to advance through ranks and get better. There are different ranks you can reach the more points the player gets. If the player loses then they lose points. It is an effective ranked system to gauge how skilled different players are globally.

Practice Mode

There is not much to say here, the practice mode is serviceable for practicing combos and testing certain teams. There are some things that are missing like a recording function, but other than that it serves its purpose. 

Training Mode

Training mode is definitely the weakest part of this game. In this mode, players fight the demon slayer roster and try to complete three objectives in each fight. It may seem neat at first, but it is way too easy and very repetitive. Players are awarded points for doing so and those points can be used to unlock characters early and even get cosmetic items for your player card in the online mode. The game would have been better without this mode. 

Player Feedback

This may be an odd thing to point out, but it must be stated that the developers truly care about this game. This is necessary because there are cases when the developers of games seemingly ignore fans of the games in terms of issues. This is not the case with Hinokami Chronicles. Based on the target of patches being released for the game, the developers are listening to players and aim to make every character either fair or more viable. It’s a small detail, but it adds reassurance to players who may want to play the game long term.

Closing Thoughts

Demon Slayer Hinokami Chronicles is an amazing game that offers a great story mode both visually and narratively and a phenomenal fighting system. If you don’t want to play the story to unlock characters then this game may not be for you, but even then it doesn’t ruin the experience. Demon Slayer Hinokami Chronicles is available on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation and goes on sale often.