If you're a Demon Slayer sicko like me, you absolutely can't wait for the next anime movie to drop. Until then, at least, we can look forward to Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2, the video game adaptation of the manga and anime.
Into the Entertainment District
At this point in the story, we're entering the Entertainment District arc, and that's where my demo at Summer Game Fest 2025 began. The fight against Upper Moon 6, Daki, has already started, and we're thrown right into the action.
If you played the first Hinokami Chronicles, you'll be right at home with this sequel. Though it's been several years since the previous game, combat does feel largely the same across the board.
Essentially, if the combat clicked with you in the original, it should be just as fun in Hinokami Chronicles 2. It doesn't seem like many changes, if any at all, were made, but then again, did it need to? It's an action-packed, hack-and-slash type of game that doesn't aim to reinvent the wheel.
Combat is focused on one-on-one battles. I got to fight Daki while playing as Tanjiro. In the manga and anime, this is a compelling showdown, as Tanjiro faces his first Upper Moon.
Thankfully, Tanjiro is more than competent enough to stand on his own two feet while he buys time for his friends -- those being Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui, his three wives (yes, three), Inosuke, and of course, Zenitsu.
Inosuke's Mad Dash
After a brief battle with Daki, we switch perspectives to Inosuke. The fight with Inosuke takes place before the first one, weirdly enough, so we get to see Daki in her creepy ribbon form after Inosuke roots out her presense.
I enjoyed this sequence, mostly because Inosuke could barge through the brothel and break doors and other various items spread around the area. It was actually quite satisfying, and the feedback on the controller was great here.
The fight with Daki as Inosuke was also par for the course, but it was cool to see her as a ribbon and also fight with Zenitsu and Tengen's wives as support.
The final fight of my demo, that being against a powered up Daki, was more frantic than I imagined. The previous two battles were pretty simple, but Daki was much more aggressive here. A SEGA representative told me this was by design. It makes sense, too; the stakes of the story are much higher now and Demon Slayer is firing all cylinders now that Tanjiro has to take down the Upper Six.
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 | Final Thoughts
I'm definitely looking forward to finishing the Entertainment District arc (one of the best in the manga and anime), but I'm lukewarm on the others. The following two arcs are my least favorite of the entire series, and I don't know if having it in game form will make those any better.
Swordsmith Village arc is action-packed, sure, but the villains aren't as interesting, and the two Hashira making an appearance don't stack up to the previous ones we've seen.
That's not at all developer CyberConnect2's fault, and I'll be interested in knowing how they make the slower, more mundane moments of the follow arcs into something more exciting. Time will tell, as Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 launches this year on August 5.
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 was previewed Summer Game Fest.
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Austin cut his teeth writing various fan-fiction stories on the RuneScape forums when he was in elementary school. Later on, he developed a deep love for… More about Austin
