Sega and CyberConnect2 have teamed up once again to bring us a new Demon Slayer game. Following in the footsteps of their previous mainline fighting game in the franchise, Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2 delivers an action-packed all-round great experience.
Is it worth checking out? Should you grab your sword right now? The answer to that is quite straightforward this time around.
Story and Campaign
In Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2, players will take on the role of Tanjiro Kamado after the events of the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train arc of the manga and movie. Players will play through multiple story chapters, which follow the story quite closely, and if you’re familiar with the Demon Slayer anime/manga, you’re in for a treat here. Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is essentially letting you play through the story with lots of content that fans will be glad to enjoy because of how well done it is.
Players will take on the role of Tanjiro or one of his pals and explore a very limited environment in each chapter. In these smaller maps, you’ll be able to explore and collect items and memory fragments. The latter of which will play anecdotes of lore and story/world building, which flesh out the tale in a great way. This, combined with the game’s very flashy, cinematic boss battles, means that Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2’s story mode is excellent throughout.
It would have been nice to have a larger, more open world to explore, similar to how the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games were presented, but alas, this isn’t the case here. CyberConnect2 and Sega, if you’re reading this, just go all out next time and make a full-fledged open-world Demon Slayer game and use the full potential of Unreal Engine 5 to make it happen. You clearly already know how to do this, so what’s holding you back?
Recap Content
The story of Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2 also includes a “recap” of sorts for the first game and the Mugen Train arc, but this is extremely barebones, being just a few battles with not much else to it. It does the job of onboarding you into the full story of the game’s main story mode, but don’t expect a complete retelling of the events covered by the first game.
In fact, if you’re going to get into the Demon Slayer games, I would suggest you either watch the anime, read the manga or play the first game before diving into this one so as to get maximum enjoyment from everything on offer here. Fans of the franchise will love this game as much as I did, for sure, but newcomers might find some of the more complex terminology a bit overwhelming if they come in here blind. With all that said, though, this is still a Shounen genre franchise, so it follows a formula, but it does it really well throughout.
Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2’s story follows the franchise’s story up until the Infinity Castle arc, so there’s still a bit more to come. Whether or not this will be a future game with the remaining story or if it will be a future DLC remains to be seen.
Gameplay and Combat
Moving on to the gameplay, Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2 refines the combat from the first game a bit more, and honestly, it feels so much smoother. I’m not sure if it’s my memory being hazy, but I remember the first game feeling a bit more punishing than this one when it came to performing attack combos. This time around, it looks and feels great, and it’s really visually appealing because of Unreal Engine 5 powering things. Pulling off an Ultimate Attack is spectacular no matter which character you’re using, and thankfully, you can also change your Ultimate Attacks.
Battling is a mixture of using the right combos, grab attacks and more powerful flashy skills to defeat your opponent. Standing still will let you charge your skill gauge with a meter that also charges for every attack you perform, which will eventually let you unleash your Ultimate Attack against an opponent. Very similar to the game’s predecessor and to the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games albeit watered down somewhat. Nevertheless, it’s still quite fun, though more complex fighting game aficionados might find this game too simple compared to Street Fighter and Tekken, for example.
Roster and Characters
The roster of characters might come across as a tad disappointing, too, at first glance, since essentially, there are a lot of the same characters just with a different outfit or skin. However, as you progress through the story and unlock more characters, it becomes a lot better with more choices, and there is some planned DLC in the works too, which will further flesh out the roster.
Online Matchmaking
At the time of writing this review, the online matchmaking has been hit or miss with long queue/wait times and some really bad latency issues, though this may have been my own internet acting up. Your mileage will vary with online matchmaking, as with most fighting games, so do keep that in mind.
Audio and Presentation
The game has a lot of bonus content in the form of a gallery and lots of lore tidbits, which really flesh out things. Players can also choose from the English dub or the original Japanese voice acting, and honestly, both dubs are great, but I just have a preference for the original Japanese since it’s packed with so much emotion that the English just doesn’t reach in my opinion. Most of the game is fully voiced, and this is great to hear. The soundtrack is excellent, and the sound effects themselves are top-notch stuff.
Graphics and Performance
Graphically, Unreal Engine 5 powering this game was the right choice. It runs flawlessly on my PC (Intel Core i7-14700KF, 16GB DDR5 RAM, RTX 3070TI) and it looks fantastic too. CyberConnect2 have mastered the anime art style aesthetic for the games they develop, and they’ve really brought Demon Slayer to life here.
Final Verdict
Overall, Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2 does justice to the franchise and is well worth picking up. The story mode is the star of the show here, and the boss battles are truly amazing. If you’re a fan of the franchise, definitely give this game a look. Coming in at around 10 hours long, the game is quite short, and the longevity is expected to lie in the Versus mode and the Hashira training mode.
However, unless you’re super into playing these modes, more casual gamers will just invest their time into the story mode and call it a day. Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is still a great game, though, and gets a solid recommendation from me.
Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hinokami Chronicles 2
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Game code was provided to us for the express purpose of reviewing.
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