Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles 2 - Switch Review

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is an arena fighter from CyberConnect2 that explores from the Entertainment District arc through to the Hashira Training arc in the hit anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Picking up the story from the first Hinokami Chronicles game while including a brief recap of the story covered through a few battles, The Hinokami Chronicles is a bigger, better, and more satisfying release for the popular franchise. However, you have to either already know the story or have played the previous release to fully appreciate the experience—you’ve been warned.

The Good

The Hinokami Chronicles 2 has expanded the playable roster to over 40 characters, which gives players a wide variety of play styles to choose from. Nezuko’s close-quarters brawling fighting style was my personal favourite, as it felt like there was weight behind every hit. The controls are the same for every character, though, so you don't have to learn new combos every time, just how each individual attack works.

CyberConnect2 captures big anime moments so well and this is mostly realised in everyone's ultimate attacks. Whenever they connect, it switches to a short cutscene of the attack being executed and if it gets the kill, you'll get a small character flashback moment as well. For some of the coolest moments, though, you have to dive into the story mode and when you defeat a boss, you'll have to complete a few quick-time events before you get the hype action sequences. These moments make the story mode that is full of cut scenes feel a bit more exciting.

TL;DR

• Large roster of playable characters
• Big flashy moments

The Bad

The last time I played an anime arena fighter was Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 oh so many years ago, so I was incredibly rusty on the mechanics. I felt like The Hinokami Chronicles 2 gives a very bare-bones explanation of how to play an arena fighter, mostly with text and one introductory fight that you can get through with basic button mashing. A more expensive tutorial that delved into the mechanics and more advanced techniques would've been very beneficial here.

While playing the story mode, there are sections when you have to explore around to reach an objective, and as you do so, there are hidden collectibles found throughout the map. These will give you the in-game currency to unlock costumes and characters earlier, small story moments, and character thoughts on things they find. The annoying part about this is the characters will constantly say the same voice lines urging the player to get back onto the critical path and stop exploring. I found this to be unnecessarily grating. 

The Hinokami Chronicles 2 just throws you straight into the middle of the story, so if you have no context on anything, you'll be very confused. While I've read the story, it's been a fair few years since experiencing it, so a reminder on the details is welcomed and beneficial for any newcomers.

TL;DR

• Lacking tutorial
• Repeating voice lines while exploring
• Expects you to know the franchise

Final Score: 7/10

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is a title that is definitely for fans of the series and provides a new way to experience the story. While flaws exist, especially in the tutorial space that can lead to players not used to fighting games to just button mash their way through, there is still a lot of fun to be had at the core. If you're a fan of Demon Slayer and arena fighters, this is a very easy recommended purchase, but that's such a narrow field of appeal that I feel it's a missed opportunity to bring in new fans to the franchise.

Thank you for checking out our Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles 2 Switch review, thank you to SEGA (via Five Star Games) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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