Movie, TV, and anime tie-in games used to be a lot more prevalent on consoles. It seems when one happens, chances are the results are going to be more decent at the very least or even amazing. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles falls in the middle of the pack according to reviews. Fans of the anime are probably going to devour it like the demons in the show devour flesh. Plus it is a good way to get ready for season two of the anime.
Fighting game enthusiasts might not be blown away by it due to some setbacks such as the roster and overall content. Are there ways for Sega and CyberConnect2 to make the game a better experience through patches? It’s never too late to try. So, if they follow these steps, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles could become one of the greats.
6 Tanjiro’s Run Speed
The filler content in-between the big battles is not the best just like the anime. Most maps are pretty linear and if they aren’t, the side quests aren’t going to provide many satisfying additions to the story. The thing that really weighs down these moments isn’t the content itself but how players access it.
The majority of the campaign is played through Tanjiro. His running speed is more like a slow jog. This means it can seem like an eternity to get to a destination. The feeling is even worse if gamers have to backtrack which will happen for some side quests. Inosuke is pretty fast during the one time players get to use him so matching that speed with Tanjiro’s would be appreciated.
5 Difficulty During Story Mode
There are no difficulty settings during the story mode. The campaign does branch off with some side battles that can be adjusted afterward. The harder the difficulty taken, the better the reward. The first time through has no settings though which is odd since the versus mode does. Playing a match versus characters with the CPU has a wide array of difficulty settings for all types of gamers.
Again, it’s strange then that the story is missing this feature. There is a plus side to all of this. If players fall in battle they can choose to continue right where they died. This will recharge all meters but keep the enemy's health where it is at. The trade-off to this is that the ranking at the end of the fight will be lower. It would be nice to see new settings but at the same time, this feature is nice enough as it is.
4 Remove The Watermarks
Taking pictures at any point in the game will leave a watermark on the lower left side of the screenshot. These watermarks are very small and hardly noticeable on the PS5 since the native size of photos is huge. It’s strange then that these watermarks even exist at all. Likewise, there are moments in the game where the video and photo capture are completely blocked.
This happens every time a player opens up a memory episode that retells smaller events from the anime such as Tanjiro’s past in a more light novel-like setting. It also becomes blocked in the last half of the final episode. There are so many ways to get past recording blocked content now. If there is a will there is a way and this content will be streamed and put up on YouTube. Since that is the case Sega should go ahead and remove these blockers and catch up to most modern games.
3 Add A Photo Mode
Since there are ways to get around blocked features, those issues aren’t as big as not having a dedicated photo mode at all. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles is one of the best-looking anime adaptations the gaming industry has seen in quite some time from a visual standpoint. Moments of the game can even look better than the show which is saying something because Demon Slayer is already a gorgeous-looking anime.
The melding of 2D and 3D works well while exploring the world and fighting in it. That’s why it would be so great to capture the more climactic moments with a well-timed photo. For example, using photo mode right before a special lands would be something worthy of hanging on the wall. Most AAA games incorporate photo modes at some point during development so hopefully, this feature will get patched in sooner rather than later.
2 Add A Jump Button In The Field
Characters like Tanjiro can jump while in battle but they can’t do it in the field. There are dedicated areas where players will jump or dash through objects. These areas are highlighted by blue mist-like waves.
The parkour nature of these stunts is smooth, but it makes the world feel gated. Not being able to jump down from these heights can add to the frustration with the running speed. Since jumping is allowed in battle, it would be nice to see allowed in the field as well. The more power is given to players’ movement in the field, the better.
1 Add Demon Fighters ASAP
Right now the roster has a nice set of fighters. Players must complete the campaign in order to unlock them all but that shouldn’t take more than a few hours. It’s a bit of pain for gamers that want to jump right into competitive play but at least the conditions are easy enough to meet. The actual downside to the character list is that there are no villains in it.
Anime fighting games, or fighting games in general, thrive on allowing players to choose from both sides of the table. CyberConnect2 famously worked on the Naruto fighting games which indeed allowed gamers to choose heroes and villains. No demons on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles’ roster is a letdown then but there is hope. Apparently, there is free DLC in the works, but there has been no word on when that will hit. That’s nice to hear, but there should have been a few villains at launch at least.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles was released on October 13, 2021, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X.