Demon Slayer is one of the biggest anime series at the moment, it has seen incredible success from manga sales and the Mugen Train movie.
It was only a matter of time before Koyoharu Gotouge’s dark fantasy would be adapted into a video game and last year fans were treated to a new fighter.
After the success of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles on the Playstation 5 and Xbox series consoles, fans will now be able to play the title on the Nintendo Switch.
CyberConnect2, are renowned for taking popular anime series and crafting them into amazing games, has adapted Demon Slayer.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles is an arena fighting game that also covers the first season of the anime into a game.
Demon Slayers' plot focuses on Tanjiro Kamado, a young boy who after a long trip returns home to find his entire family, but his sister Nezuko is killed by a demon.
Whilst trying to save Nezuko he is confronted by Giyū Tomioka, a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, who tries to kill Nezuko as she has turned into a demon.
After a desperate struggle from the siblings, Giyū decides to give Nezuko a chance as she defends Tanjiro rather than eating him.
Tanjiro and Nezuko then head off to meet with Giyū’s teacher Sakonji Urokodaki and from there Tanjiro’s epic battle with the demons begin.
The Hinokami Chronicles does a great job at retelling all the major moments from the first season.
There is some filler content that has been thrown in to help progression in the Story Mode, but the developers should’ve stuck to the main script as they don’t expand the lore or add depth to the story.
Visually, The Hinokami Chronicles is an almost flawless recreation of the anime and I’m not surprised as CyberConnect2 has a great track record.
Each of the cel-shaded characters is a precise replica of their anime counterpart with CyberConnect2 paying so much attention to the finer details of each character.
For instance, there are a few characters who use Water Breathing techniques, but each of them executes similar attacks using their unique mannerisms.
Cutscenes and special moves are a visual spectacle for fans as they perfectly capture some of the best moments splendidly.
The Switch version plays really smoothly and even though the overall performance does not match up to the 60fps you get on other consoles, I was really impressed with the lack of performance issues in this port.
The Hinokami Chronicles features top-tier voice-over work with the entire cast from both Japanese and English dubs returning.
The soundtrack features the majority of music from the anime. The audio and voice acting are both fantastic just to add to the great fan service.
The two main modes players will be slaying demons are the Story and Vs Modes with the others being training, archives and rewards to view unlockables.
Story Mode is a single-player adventure that follows the first season of the show. Made up of eight chapters the mode features various different elements, filled with exploration, boss fights and great cutscenes.
Each level will see players control mainly Tanjiro and explore an open area, each area is filled with memory fragments and Kimestu Points.
After fighting demons, each level ends with a boss fight made up of gorgeous cutscenes and clever quick time events.
Players will need to complete this mode to unlock various characters and it's probably the easiest way to do so.
The story mode is fun and captures and recreates the major plot points amazingly. The exploration segments do become repetitive, as you can only take predetermined routes through each level.
Vs mode will allow players to battle using their favourite team of characters, in online and offline fights.
Matches will see each player control two characters, sharing one life bar between them. For some reason, all fights have to feature two characters per team and you can’t do a one-on-one fight.
Training mode features a lot of challenges that can help players master one character. This is a nice mode that adds more depth to the game and will help competitive gamers fine-tune their skills.
Reward mode is where players can view conditions for unlocking extra content and a place to spend those Kimestu Points.
Much like Naruto’s Ultimate Ninja Storm series, The Hinokami Chronicles is an arena fighter that allows players to try and recreate their favourite fights in a 3D battleground.
The fighting system is made up of light attacks that can be strung together to make combos that can be linked with each character's skills.
Skills will be either Breathing Techniques or Blood Arts that are very easy to execute during gameplay.
Each character has a skill gauge that will let players perform skills until it runs out, this is a good way to stop the skills from being spammed.
The game also features dashes and even a method to parry attacks to help with defensive strategies. Players will also be able to power up their characters by using special attacks called Boost and Surge, they can generally be game-changing and should save crucial moments.
Overall The Hinokami Chronicles gameplay is fairly simple and very easy to understand, which is good for its huge audience who might not be hardcore gamers.
It is a lot of fun and the simple controls allow the fast and flashy combat to look great on the screen despite who is playing.
But the lack of depth in gameplay and characters' skill set can make the overall experience really repetitive.
Verdict 4/5
The Hinokami Chronicles isn’t complex enough to challenge fighters like Dragon Ball FighterZ or Guilty Gear, but it is a fun title that will really please fans of the series.
The stunning cutscenes, filled with original music and voice actors have led to one of the most faithful video game adaptations of any anime. I really look forward to any future games that come out from this series.
It's a brilliant port that feels right at home on the Nintendo Switch.
Demon Slayer - The Hinokami Chronicles is out now for the Nintendo Switch on 10 June and out now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S and Windows
