Game Review | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I often declare that I don’t enjoy anime. You’d never say that if you looked at my statue collection or hear me talk about Tokyo Ghoul, but what can say? If there is something I enjoy more than watching anime, it’s denying that I watch anime.

My partner is constantly on a quest to find anime that I’ll enjoy and not complain about when it’s on. After amassing a rather glorious collection of Demon Slayer statues, he decided it was time to introduce me to the show – and man, oh man am I hooked. So hooked that when I saw a game based on the show was out, I jumped to play it – and I’m in my 30s, I don’t just jump for anything anymore; my knees can’t take it.

Suppose you don’t know anything about the story of Demon Slayer. In that case, it follows two siblings, Tanjiro and Nezuko, who are the only ones in their family left after demons murdered their parents. Their tragedy doesn’t end with becoming orphaned, though, during the attack on their family, Nezuko starts to turn into a demon herself. The story chronicles the pair as they search for a way to make Nezuko human again and avenge their parents.

I will say this if you’ve played Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles and find yourself enjoying the story, then make sure you either watch the anime or even read the manga so that you can experience it in its entirety. The Hinokami Chronicles follows the anime as closely as it can from the start until the end of the Mugen Train arc but even with both the original English and Japanese cast returning to voice their characters in it, it’s just not the same, and you’ll be missing out.

For all the leaps made in gaming over the last few decades, most fighting games still struggle to incorporate story and exploration alongside combat in a way that doesn’t just feel like an afterthought, which is why I generally try to steer clear of fighting games unless I’m already invested in the franchise it’s based on. The Hinokami Chronicles is no exception to this problem. Throughout the game, it’s obvious how much it struggles to find a balance between telling the story and making that story fun to play. As it stands now, The Hinokami Chronicles is too expensive for what is essentially an interactive show. Unless you go into it as a superfan who wants to spend more time in Demon Slayers world, I can’t foresee the same having any longevity.

The story or single-player mode in The Hinokami Chronicles is divided into eight chapters, each of which will see you travel through a very linear set of maps while solving puzzles and completing quests. You need to play through this mode even if you are only interested in multiplayer as this is how you unlock rewards like costumes and bonus characters to play. Overall this sounds pretty great; however, the reality is a slow, dreary slog that will have you wishing for a fast-forward button.

The quests and puzzles were okay, but all in all, it just felt like I was playing through a very slow and tedious cutscene that didn’t even really need me. Also, the characters have the slowest movement speed imaginable. I just couldn’t help but feel the same rage I do when I’m trying to walk down an aisle in a shop, and I’m stuck behind someone who has no other plans for the day.

The combat is pretty fun and easy to grasp, but if you’re going into it with expectations of combat that can rival other anime fighting games like Naruto or My Hero Academia, you’re going to be disappointed. The controls are simple enough, with all your normal attacks mapped to one button and all your special attacks on another. The trick comes in with then combining these buttons with the directions of your joysticks to unlock unique combos depending on the direction.

However, trying to simplify the controls is also where the combat suffers. If you want to do a normal attack, you will push the joystick forward while pressing the attack button. If you want to do a heavy attack, you will flick the joystick forward while pressing the attack button. And yes, trying to land the exact attack you want every time is as frustrating as you imagine.

Where The Hinokami Chronicles shines, as is the case with most anime games, is with the multiplayer. It’s still got all the flaws and all the combat frustration, but somehow, when you’re sharing the experience with others, it feels much more forgivable. You can choose to play local or online, with local being the obvious choice as revenge is a dish best served hot and piping while the person responsible for beating you is in the same room. I will say the multiplayer did get stale fast, though. With only 12 different characters to choose from, the novelty wears off after just a few rounds.