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

I’ve been a fan of Demon Slayer since the anime first began airing and became a worldwide phenomenon, and when The Hinokami Chronicles came out in 2021, I jumped on it. It wasn’t perfect, but it captured the style and flair of the series well enough to keep me playing. Now we’ve got The Hinokami Chronicles 2, a direct sequel that picks up where the first game left off. If you enjoyed the first entry, there’s a good chance you’ll be right at home here. This is very much a “bigger, better, more” follow-up rather than a radical reinvention.

The game builds on the foundation CyberConnect2 laid with the original, expanding its roster, refining its combat, and pushing deeper into the anime’s storyline. This time around, the main story covers three arcs: starting from the end of the Mugen Train arc, moving through the Entertainment District arc, and closing with the Hashira Training arc. If you’ve been keeping up with the anime, you know these are some of the most exciting and emotional stretches of the story, and the game does a solid, if slightly compressed, job of telling them.

As someone who doesn’t really dabble much in online modes of most fighting games, playing through the main story is easily the highlight for me. While it’s not a perfect substitute for watching the anime, it captures the key beats and energy of the show well enough to make you want to keep going. The cutscenes are polished, the voice work is authentic (more on that later), and the pacing is fast enough to avoid too much dragging.

What I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did was simply running around in the world of Demon Slayer. The game gives you pockets of environments to explore, whether it’s the streets of the Entertainment District lit with neon lanterns or the training grounds where you’re put you through your paces. It’s not open-world by any stretch, but the freedom to wander between objectives, talk to NPCs, and find collectibles adds a welcome breather between fights and offers an experience that’s new for the Demon Slayer franchise.

The sequel also adds side quests to the story mode, giving you reasons to revisit areas and pick up odd jobs from NPCs. Sometimes it’s hunting down an item, other times it’s talking to a certain character or fighting off demons. I’ll be honest, most of these side quests are pretty forgettable, and they rarely deliver big rewards, but they do sprinkle in some nice bits of world-building for fans who want more than just the main story beats.

The biggest upgrade from the first game is the character selection. Where the original launched with 18 playable fighters, The Hinokami Chronicles 2 drops a whopping 40 into your hands. It’s a huge leap, and it dramatically changes the variety of matches you can set up in versus mode.

Characters from the newer arcs, like Tengen Uzui, Gyutaro, and Daki, bring flashy new move sets to the table, and even fighting the Hashira feel distinct enough from each other to keep things interesting. Some are better balanced than others, which is often the case with anime arena fighters. There are definitely a couple of “meta” picks if you want to dominate online, but overall, this expanded roster makes the combat feel fresher for longer.

If you’ve played the first game, the combat will feel instantly familiar. It’s primarily a 2v2 fighter where you pick a main character and a partner, and you can tag them in mid-combo or use them to extend your offense. Regular attacks are quick strings, special attacks are flashy and situation-specific, and the Ultimate Arts Gauge builds up as you fight, letting you unleash the game’s show-stopping cinematic attacks.

The Ultimate Arts are still jaw-dropping, and in true CyberConnect2 fashion, they’re dripping with style. Fans of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series will recognize the studio’s flair for over-the-top cutscenes, every slash, flame burst, or thunder strike feels like it’s ripped straight from the anime.

A new addition I really like is the tag-team Ultimate Attacks. If you’ve got the gauge to spend and set up the attack properly, they’ll team up for a combined finisher. It’s purely overkill in the best way possible and easily one of the most satisfying things in the game to pull off.

That said, while the combat is flashy and accessible, it’s still fairly simple at its core. If you’re looking for deep combo mechanics or highly technical play, or deeply analysing hit boxes, this isn’t the game for that. It’s more about spectacle than precision, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing given the source material.

The Hinokami Chronicles 2 comes with a healthy selection of modes. There’s the aforementioned main story that lets you play through the events of the 3 included arcs, travel between key areas and complete side missions. There’s also Versus Mode: Letting you play locally, online, or against the CPU. With the expanded roster, this mode has a lot more life than in the first game. Training Mode: A straightforward but useful space to learn the mechanics, try out combos, and experiment with different fighters. There’s also a viewable story recap. This one quickly runs you through the events of the first game’s arcs in a condensed format. It’s fine as a refresher if it’s been a while since you played or watched the anime, but it’s no replacement for actually experiencing the full story. It skips too much to work as a complete substitute. This last point is actually one of my biggest gripes. I really wish CyberConnect2 had just included the first game’s content in its entirety. Dragon Ball games often retell the whole saga every time, and it would have been fantastic to have a definitive Demon Slayer game that covered the entire story up to this point in one package.

Visually, the game is gorgeous. It sticks close to the anime’s clean, cel-shaded look, with character models that pop against colorful backdrops. The animations during fights, especially the Ultimate Arts, are flashy, detailed, and almost always a treat to watch. The game doesn’t quite reach the sheer visual high points of the anime (which is almost unfair to expect, given how much Ufotable spoils us), but it comes surprisingly close in some moments. Audio is another strong point. The performances are rock solid, with both Japanese and English voice tracks available. The English dub is fully intact at launch, which is becoming a rare luxury for anime-based games. Even better, the original anime cast is back to voice their characters, which helps the whole experience feel authentic. The soundtrack reuses some themes but also introduces new tracks that fit the tone of the arcs perfectly.

While I’ve enjoyed my time with The Hinokami Chronicles 2, it’s not without its rough edges. The side quests, as I mentioned earlier, feel undercooked and don’t always justify the detour from the main story. Combat, while fun, could benefit from a bit more depth to keep advanced players engaged beyond the spectacle and elevate the series to something that a more hardcore fighting game audience could consider playing competitively.

The lack of full story integration from the first game is probably my biggest disappointment, it feels like a missed opportunity to make this the go-to Demon Slayer experience. Also, while the expanded roster is great, a few characters feel like clones or have slightly too much overlap in their move sets. 

Final Thoughts

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is a textbook example of a sequel that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but makes the ride smoother and more exciting. It builds on what worked in the first game, adds more content, gives fans more characters to play with, and delivers another round of high-energy, anime-faithful action. It’s not perfect, some side content is forgettable, combat depth is limited, and the decision not to fully integrate the first game’s story stings, but when you’re in the middle of a flashy fight, pulling off a perfectly timed tag-team ultimate, those complaints fade fast. If you’re a Demon Slayer fan, this is a no-brainer. If you’re just here for a casual, visually spectacular fighter with an anime twist, you’ll have plenty to enjoy. Just don’t expect it to completely replace the anime or the first game—it’s more of a companion piece than the definitive Demon Slayer experience.

For me, though, it’s a worthy sequel, and I’m already looking forward to seeing how CyberConnect2 tackles the next arcs when the time comes, and hopefully consolidates the complete story and all characters in what would be the definitive Demon Slayer game.

A PS5 review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

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