Full disclosure, I’ve never watched a single episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. However, I was immediately interested when I saw the trailer for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles. So, when it was released on Nintendo Switch, I decided to reach out to the folks at Sega to take a crack at it.

Not watching any content around Demon Slayer was intentional for a singular reason. I wanted to pick up the game and see if an entirely unaware person could play, understand, and enjoy the game. Surprisingly, I think the developers have struck the perfect balance between giving enough information on the characters, and not bogging the game down with exposition and filler.

To sum the game up concisely, Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles is a fighting game in 3D arenas, that takes place in two main sections. There’s the Story Mode, which lets you experience the first season of the anime and the plot of the first film in a variety of exploration segments as well as climactic battles. Then there is the VS mode, which allows you to pit yourself and another player (either locally or online) in intense 2v2 battles with your favorite Demon Slayer characters.

Before we get into the story mode, let’s discuss the combat. Regardless of what character you play, you can attack, use skills, dodge, jump, and guard. Some of these things can be used in tandem with one another to make other abilities work. For example, if you push forward on the stick and guard, you’ll make a parrying action. If you parry the opponent’s attack it opens you up for a death blow, or at least for some heavy counter-attacking.

Characters also have a boost gauge, which can either be used to boost and enhance their strength and speed, or it can be used to fuel Ultimate Arts. Ultimate Arts are super moves that will allow you to deal massive damage. In story mode, there are also segments where you may need to do a Quick-Time Event, or simply press a specific button at the right time in order to deal with a boss battle gimmick.

The story mode takes place in essentially three segments. You start on the aptly named “Storyline” which is a timeline that lets you move chapter by chapter between levels. However, branching off those levels are memory fragments which show little vignettes and parts of the story that provide context for the main story events and characters. Memory fragments can be collected in the exploration portion of levels, as well as from achieving specific requirements in each level.

Each level is broken up into an exploration segment and combat segments. Sometimes there will be smaller battles in the exploration segment. However, at the end of each chapter, there is always a boss of some sort. The bosses start out simple enough, but they quickly become more challenging. I find the bosses very clever though, since depending on the boss, the mechanics and gimmicks may change.

Outside of the main levels, you can also do side missions that are usually just a battle that tests your skill against an opponent you may have faced before, just with another character. I really like the way the story scenes unfold. The visuals are very well done, and it almost looks like you are actively taking a playable role in the anime itself.

I also like the controls and the smoothness of the combat. My only main complaint in regards to the combat is that there isn’t really a progression system in the story mode. I personally would have liked something that maybe gave you more health or made it feel like you were actively growing stronger as you progressed through Tanjiro’s journey. The QTEs are a little annoying, but they’re somewhat forgiving so it is less obnoxious.

I can understand that as a fighting game in general, the developers at CyberConnect2 may not have wanted to invest in RPG-esque mechanics like that. However, I think it would have spiced things up for the single-player mode a bit more. Clearly, the VS mode is more of the focus here. There are 18 playable characters to start with, though you can purchase DLC that adds more fan favorites to the roster.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles is a solid action game. You can experience the beginnings of Tanjiro’s story with story mode, unlocking costumes, fighters, and other such content. Alternately, you can take on a friend in VS mode, either locally or online. This isn’t the type of fighting game designed for competitive play, so keep in mind that this is more of a party game.

I really enjoyed my time with The Hinokami Chronicles though, and it makes me want to sit down and see what the anime is like. Who knows, maybe it’ll be my next binge-watch like Fairy Tail was after I played the game for that.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles was provided by SEGA for this review.

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles

$59.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Gorgeous Visuals
• Smooth Combat and Engaging Gameplay
• Solo and Multiplayer Modes
• Easy to Understand Controls
• Unique Boss Fights

Cons

• QTEs are Mildly Annoying
• No Progression in Story Mode