Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles review

Reviewed on: PS5

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles is the latest game released by Sega, developed by the capable CyberConnect2.

Dear diary: I have always been a fan of CyberConnect2 and its anime games, and I was amazed by the gameplay change they created in the series’ transition from Narutimate Hero/Accel on the PS2 to Narutimate Storm on the PS3. Ultimate Storm 4 is one of the most complete anime games out there, but I confess that when I started playing this Demon Slayer, I was hating every second.

From the promotional videos, Demon Slayer The Hinokami Chronicles appeared to have the same gameplay as the Storm series, but this time using the PS5 hardware and all the knowledge CyberConnect2 gained over all these years making anime-based games. So here I (innocently) expected a revolution like last time. But the game is basically a Naruto Storm with a Demon Slayer skin, with few changes to the gameplay.

The main change is that instead of the “Circle” button being the attack button, here the attack button is on square, but you can still do different finishers by using the directional pad up or down during the combo.

The triangle button, a.k.a. the chakra button, is now the Skills button, which are 4 for each character (simple button, button + directional, button + guard, and pressing the button during a jump).

Battles are in pairs, and you can call your partner to perform two different attack Skills, and also call them to break an opponent’s combo; in reality, your partner picks you up and pulls you out of the middle of the enemy combo.

There is also the Super Special/Ultra/Ougi or whatever you call it in your neighborhood. Here, it is officially called Ultimate Art, and they look gorgeous, in that CC2 standard we are already used to.

Unfortunately CC2 dropped the ball and could have gone a bit further with the fan service and created some “imaginary” Ultimate Arts using pairs, even if that barely exists in the manga or anime. The Naruto games are full of Specials like that.

The low number of characters is also a bit disappointing. And it seems even smaller because the game has 2-vs-2 fights. CyberConnect2 even had the nerve to leave separate icons for 6 characters already in the game, but now in school outfits, when the only difference between the normal and school versions is the different Ultimate Arts.

CC2 has already said the game will receive 6 characters for free via DLC (2 have been released: Rui and Akaza), but it still seems like little. Maybe it’s not even their fault, since these games need to follow the Anime and not the Manga, so they can’t use all the existing material from the series.

The collectibles during the adventure missions are quite silly, picking up the game’s money, or memory fragments that can be watched later. When you finish chapters with a high grade (from D to S), you unlock puzzle pieces that, when completed, form an illustration. Each puzzle piece also shows what was unlocked, such as a voice, image, outfit or even a new character. If you can’t get a high rank, you can use the game’s money to buy the puzzle pieces and unlock things.

During Story mode, the game alternates between exploration parts, cinematic cutscene parts, and battles against regular enemies and bosses. The boss battles definitely deserve to be played by those who follow CC2’s work or like the Naruto Ultimates. The QTE scenes look beautiful as always and, unfortunately as always, there is no option to re-watch them without having to input the commands.

The game is short, it’s very easy to finish it over a weekend and even get the Platinum trophy. And CC2 was certainly aware of this, placing parts where you are forced to walk slowly, going from one corner to another on some maps, to give the feeling that the scenario took longer to finish.

Anyway, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles is a good game, especially for those who like the anime, but it gets a 7 because of some silly choices that could have been avoided: few characters, no Brazilian Portuguese subtitles (let alone dubbing), a story mode with many dragging, slow moments, a lack of fan service content.

The quality of the animations, boss battles and their finishing scenes, the Ultimate Arts, all of it has CC2’s pedigree, but that alone isn’t enough to make the game a must-play.

The game was kindly provided for review.