Demon Slayer The Hinokami Chronicles Review (PlayStation 5)
Story
The story of this game covers the first season of Demon Slayer and the movie as well. It offers a good enough substitute for the real thing, however, unlike other Shonen's which span many many episodes, I feel this one had less need to be as condensed as it is in the game. Demon Slayer has a very fast paced story, so it is more fit for a shorter story mode, however I feel it was a bit too short and skipped on too many vital details. However, it does offer extra scenes in the memory fragments you can collect when exploring or unlocking different challenge panels, so it somewhat makes up for what is not shown to the player. Either way, it is a fine enough experience.
Gameplay
Seeing as the developers are CyberConnect2, you already know what to expect here if you have played any of their previous anime fighters. Flashy combat, easy to understand and jump into kind of gameplay, with hints of depth that expand if you wish them too. However, Demon Slayer plays quite differently from say Naruto Ultimate Storm. In demon slayer, less emphasis is focused on movement and more on combos and strategy and being defensive. Movement is much more stiff and not as fast as in Storm, so you have to be smart about how you use it here. Once you get hit you are stuck unless you can get out of an attack using your team member. Which takes the entire gauge, so you have to weigh your options carefully. When using specials, you also cannot freely recharge the gauge like in Storm, it fills up on its own, so you have to be conservative with it as well. The combos are satisfying to pull off here, and you can also either boost, or use ultimate skills, which are self explanatory. I found myself getting accustomed to the controls after only a little while, so they are not too hard to learn. Playing as the demon slayer allows you to team up with any other slayer, or Nezuko, and switch between them using a bit of the ally gauge. However, when it comes to playing as demons… You are all alone. You do not get an ally, but to make up for it, you get a demon gauge which is sort of similar to the ally gauge. It fills up over time, and can allow you to escape an enemy combo at the cost of the entire meter. You can also use one to unleash powerful blood demon arts, depending on if you have one or two bars filled.
Demons are quite fun to play as, and offer a different experience from playing as slayers while also being similar enough that it’s not too jarring going from one to the other. The story mode offers great exploration with the story and is quite fun to go through. It recreates moments from the anime so well, and being able to explore the environments freely was quite fun and something I was not expecting at all. It surprised me! There is also VS mode, which allows you to fight locally, online, or with CPUS. There is training mode where you practice combos and learn lessons with specific challenges from certain characters. Although, speaking of characters, the game's roster is a bit of an issue. At least base roster concerned, the problem is too many characters are repeats and reskins of others. There is an academy version of most of the main slayers, and while it is cute, they do not offer any change in moves from their original character aside from a different ultimate animation. I would have rather seen more playable characters who are actually in the story that we do not get to play as. Also, considering the manga has been done for quite some time now, I do not know why they cut the story so short at only the first season and the mugen train when they could have done Season 2 at least considering it ended up being DLC. I just feel it should have been in the main game, but I digress. Either way, it is a lot of fun both by yourself, with friends, and online or offline. If you play on PC or PS5, then there is also a toggle for 60 FPS which is nice, although a lot of the animations will still play in 30 such as ultimate's. Overall, the gameplay gets a good score from me, quite enjoyable!
Music
IT IS THE DEMON SLAYER OST! IT IS UTTERLY FANTASTIC AND HYPE AT NEARLY EVERY TURN! I absolutely love it to pieces and there is not much else to say here it just slaps so hard honestly no cap fr fr.
Presentation
ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE VISUAL SHOWCASE FOR CYBERCONNECT2! ONCE AGAIN, THEY PROVE THAT THEY ARE JUST THE GODS OF ANIMATING ANIME GAMES IN 3D! Like holy shit, every frame and special animation looks like it took it straight out of the anime. Despite the game being in 3d, I often found myself doing a double take because some stills literally looked like I was watching the anime despite it not being in 2d. It just looks that good. It is an amazing work of art in its presentation, utterly phenomenal and it is essential to honoring ufotable's own amazing animation. All in all, it speaks for itself.
Completion Process
Pretty simple here, and was not too challenging at all. Completing all the story, doing training, some specific actions in versus mode, and all S Ranks made for a pretty natural Platinum without much need to go back to anything. It was very streamlined and did not take long at all. Pretty good rating on completion here.
Conclusion
Demon Slayer The Hinokami Chronicles is a wondrous showcase of all the talent that CyberConnect2 possesses. It is yet another magnificent addition to their catalog of fantastic anime games. It is a bit light on content, but it makes up for it with amazing content for what is there as well as amazing animation and very fun gameplay. They still remain my favorite anime game developers. I look forward to their next project! (Pls be Bleach for Bosses sake) And do not forget to set your heart ablaze!
Wrap-Up
THANK YOU FOR READING! Demon Slayer the Hinokami Chronicles is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam, and Nintendo Switch!
FINAL REVIEW SCORE: TASTY!/10
Story
The story of this game covers the first season of Demon Slayer and the movie as well. It offers a good enough substitute for the real thing, however, unlike other Shonen's which span many many episodes, I feel this one had less need to be as condensed as it is in the game. Demon Slayer has a very fast paced story, so it is more fit for a shorter story mode, however I feel it was a bit too short and skipped on too many vital details. However, it does offer extra scenes in the memory fragments you can collect when exploring or unlocking different challenge panels, so it somewhat makes up for what is not shown to the player. Either way, it is a fine enough experience.
Gameplay
Seeing as the developers are CyberConnect2, you already know what to expect here if you have played any of their previous anime fighters. Flashy combat, easy to understand and jump into kind of gameplay, with hints of depth that expand if you wish them too. However, Demon Slayer plays quite differently from say Naruto Ultimate Storm. In demon slayer, less emphasis is focused on movement and more on combos and strategy and being defensive. Movement is much more stiff and not as fast as in Storm, so you have to be smart about how you use it here. Once you get hit you are stuck unless you can get out of an attack using your team member. Which takes the entire gauge, so you have to weigh your options carefully. When using specials, you also cannot freely recharge the gauge like in Storm, it fills up on its own, so you have to be conservative with it as well. The combos are satisfying to pull off here, and you can also either boost, or use ultimate skills, which are self explanatory. I found myself getting accustomed to the controls after only a little while, so they are not too hard to learn. Playing as the demon slayer allows you to team up with any other slayer, or Nezuko, and switch between them using a bit of the ally gauge. However, when it comes to playing as demons… You are all alone. You do not get an ally, but to make up for it, you get a demon gauge which is sort of similar to the ally gauge. It fills up over time, and can allow you to escape an enemy combo at the cost of the entire meter. You can also use one to unleash powerful blood demon arts, depending on if you have one or two bars filled.
Demons are quite fun to play as, and offer a different experience from playing as slayers while also being similar enough that it’s not too jarring going from one to the other. The story mode offers great exploration with the story and is quite fun to go through. It recreates moments from the anime so well, and being able to explore the environments freely was quite fun and something I was not expecting at all. It surprised me! There is also VS mode, which allows you to fight locally, online, or with CPUS. There is training mode where you practice combos and learn lessons with specific challenges from certain characters. Although, speaking of characters, the game's roster is a bit of an issue. At least base roster concerned, the problem is too many characters are repeats and reskins of others. There is an academy version of most of the main slayers, and while it is cute, they do not offer any change in moves from their original character aside from a different ultimate animation. I would have rather seen more playable characters who are actually in the story that we do not get to play as. Also, considering the manga has been done for quite some time now, I do not know why they cut the story so short at only the first season and the mugen train when they could have done Season 2 at least considering it ended up being DLC. I just feel it should have been in the main game, but I digress. Either way, it is a lot of fun both by yourself, with friends, and online or offline. If you play on PC or PS5, then there is also a toggle for 60 FPS which is nice, although a lot of the animations will still play in 30 such as ultimate's. Overall, the gameplay gets a good score from me, quite enjoyable!
Music
IT IS THE DEMON SLAYER OST! IT IS UTTERLY FANTASTIC AND HYPE AT NEARLY EVERY TURN! I absolutely love it to pieces and there is not much else to say here it just slaps so hard honestly no cap fr fr.
Presentation
ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE VISUAL SHOWCASE FOR CYBERCONNECT2! ONCE AGAIN, THEY PROVE THAT THEY ARE JUST THE GODS OF ANIMATING ANIME GAMES IN 3D! Like holy shit, every frame and special animation looks like it took it straight out of the anime. Despite the game being in 3d, I often found myself doing a double take because some stills literally looked like I was watching the anime despite it not being in 2d. It just looks that good. It is an amazing work of art in its presentation, utterly phenomenal and it is essential to honoring ufotable's own amazing animation. All in all, it speaks for itself.
Completion Process
Pretty simple here, and was not too challenging at all. Completing all the story, doing training, some specific actions in versus mode, and all S Ranks made for a pretty natural Platinum without much need to go back to anything. It was very streamlined and did not take long at all. Pretty good rating on completion here.
Conclusion
Demon Slayer The Hinokami Chronicles is a wondrous showcase of all the talent that CyberConnect2 possesses. It is yet another magnificent addition to their catalog of fantastic anime games. It is a bit light on content, but it makes up for it with amazing content for what is there as well as amazing animation and very fun gameplay. They still remain my favorite anime game developers. I look forward to their next project! (Pls be Bleach for Bosses sake) And do not forget to set your heart ablaze!
Wrap-Up
THANK YOU FOR READING! Demon Slayer the Hinokami Chronicles is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam, and Nintendo Switch!
FINAL REVIEW SCORE: TASTY!/10