A Slaying Success?
With the highly anticipated Infinity Castle movie not set to reach our shores until September, Demon Slayer enthusiasts might be wondering how to cope in the meantime. Well fortunately, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is here and developers CyberConnect2 are looking to deliver yet another dose of 3D arena fighting action.
Can Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 successfully build upon its predecessor with the additional wealth of anime content at its disposal to draw from?
Anime to Arena
Let’s dive straight into the heart of Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2, the Story Mode. It picks up right where the first game left off with the culmination of the Mugen Train arc and introduces handy tutorials for the fighting as well as exploration sections. Essentially you’re going to experience situations and encounters inspired by the Entertainment District, Swordsmith Village, and Hashira Training narrative arcs from the anime. That’s basically three seasons’ worth of content, which is why there’s seldom a dull moment throughout the chapters ahead.
Storytelling is done through the use of cutscenes featuring the character models and, occasionally, some still shots from the actual anime. While there’s obviously no substitute to watching the story play out in the popular TV series, The Hinokami Chronicles 2 manages to capture the essence of it very well. It’s excellent in terms of visuals, with awesome character designs and eye-catching, exciting, action. The voiceovers do a terrific job of conveying the emotion too, especially in the most crucial confrontations.
Fast-Paced Fights and Unique Foes
The battles themselves are nothing short of flashy, with the aforementioned cutscenes complementing the fast-paced antics that immediately follow. Despite the pace, frantic button-mashing won’t get you anywhere against these rather ruthless enemies. For the most part it’s about patience as you’re sussing out their attacking arsenal, evading where possible, before unleashing a barrage of your own. There’s a real uniqueness to each foe and so every contest is thrilling. Not every villain comes alone however, which poses an entirely different threat as multiple enemies, almost like a horde, must be slain in order to proceed.
In regards to combat as a whole, there’s certainly a feeling of it being simple enough to grasp, but quite tough to put into practice and become an elite slayer. You’ll be able to perform cool skills like Tanjiro’s Water Wheel and Zenitsu’s Thunderclap and Flash, as well as regular attacks that help create chain combos. Alongside these moves, there’s the Ultimate Art special that initiates a neat cutscene.
On the defensive front, guarding, dashing, quick-stepping, and even parrying are all viable options. Add in the tag team elements, allowing you to bring in another character to do a bit of damage or take you out of harm’s way, and you’ve definitely got variety in place. Heck, there’s also the potential to activate a team-based Dual Arts manoeuvre, depending on who your support partner is.
Exploration and Collectibles: Beyond the Battles
Once you can bring it all together, it’s a real blast, and because the Story Mode focuses on playing as many different characters, it won’t get stale. As for the exploration segments, they’re much better than those in the original game, with added gimmicks to make things more interesting.
During exploration, you can partake in a few side quests, use a character’s unique abilities – like Zenitsu’s enhanced hearing – to aid in tasks, and wander around seeking out collectibles scattered all over the place. The latter is the best part as you’ll find Memory Fragments to watch as well as a ton of items to customise your Slayer ID, including quotes and photos. In fact, there’s almost a constant stream of items coming your way through chapter rewards and character mastery. Hence, you always feel as if you’re achieving something, even when you don’t get the elusive S Rank for your efforts.
One of the new features that will be very useful in Story Mode, but not limited to, is the chance to equip gear to characters. Customising these loadouts could increase general attack power, defense, provide resistance to poison, or regenerate a huge portion of health when the bar is depleted beyond a certain point. Some battles might require different loadouts, so it’s great to see multiple slots and a good selection of gear to unlock, either through progress or purchased from the in-game shop.
Versus Modes and Training Paths
Upon completing everything that mode has to offer, you have a few other things to check out in Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2, starting with the standard Versus modes. Whether offline or online, prepare for two-on-two affairs using whichever characters you prefer. It’s quite basic in terms of offline, because there’s not much to work towards as it’s just a one-off match against CPU or a local friend. For online, you can test yourself in a Ranked outing to climb a leaderboard or aim for bragging rights in a casual setting. Alternatively, joining a group room of like-minded individuals leads to a ‘winner stays on’ setup, team battles where you try to claim victories for your team, and partake in a tournament.
And then there’s The Path of a Demon Slayer mode, which you should perhaps consider indulging in first to be honest. That’s because it’s basically a recap of some of the most intense battles featured in the Unwavering Resolve and Mugen Train story arcs. There are six encounters, with you mainly playing as Tanjiro, but that’s not much of an issue as the fights are fairly swift – like over in a minute kind of swift. It’s worth a gander to watch the cutscenes, get a few rewards, and refresh your memory a tad, however there’s a real lack of difficulty compared to the Story Mode conflicts.
The Training Paths offering is quite intriguing and has potential to bring added longevity beyond the main mode. Here, you can choose one of the Hashira, the highest ranking members of the Demon Slayer Corps, to challenge. After picking your combatant though, you must compete in a series of battles in order to reach the Hashira. This is a good way to hone your skills as there are different conditions to win each match and your health, or lack thereof, carries over to make it a real test. You could certainly spend a decent amount of time here, levelling up the mastery of various characters in the process.
A Stacked Roster: Playable Characters and Demons
And speaking of characters, specifically the playable kind, the roster is stacked compared to the original game. With over 40 available at launch, you won’t have just the usual suspects to choose from like Tanjiro, Inosuke and Nezuko.
No, you can expect a plentiful number of Upper Rank demons, Hashira, and even some special multi-person options for you to take onto the battlefield too. There’s Tengen Uzui, Daki, Gyokko, Mitsuri Kanroji, and many more memorable faces ready for selection. Trying each of them at least once is a must, if only to see the differing breathing style manoeuvres, Blood Demon Arts, and Ultimate Arts they possess.
A Strong Sequel for Demon Slayer Fans
Ultimately, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is a definite improvement on its predecessor and delivers exciting arena fighting befitting of the anime. Story Mode is packed with intense encounters, stylish cutscenes and rewards you constantly. Beyond that, the Training Paths are the only guaranteed source of longevity, with The Path of a Demon Slayer lacking in depth and the versus modes hardly lighting the world on fire.
Still, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is more than capable of satiating your need for Demon Slayer action.
Important Links
The Hashira UNITE as Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is Available Now! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-hashira-unite-as-demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-the-hinokami-chronicles-2-is-available-now/
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 Announced; Release Date Confirmed; Features Revealed – https://www.thexboxhub.com/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-the-hinokami-chronicles-2-announced/
Buy Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-the-hinokami-chronicles-2/9p70rhnv16w5
There’s a Deluxe Edition too – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-the-hinokami-chronicles-2-deluxe-edition/9P654K0TV40S/0017
