Demon Slayer: Hinokami Chronicles – Everything We Know So Far

With the massive success of the Infinity Train movie, it’s no wonder that we’re getting a Demon Slayer game. A ton of new information has been revealed in the past few months, so what do we know so far? 

The upcoming Demon Slayer game is being handled by CyberConnect 2, the studio that made the excellent Dragon Ball Z Kakarot and the Naruto Ultimate Storm series. Much like those games, Demon Slayer: Hinokami Chronicles will be a 3D fighting game, complete with the crazy CyberConnect ultimate attacks that we know and love. 

With both a story mode and an offline and online versus mode, it seems that Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hinokami Kappuuten will be catering to the non-competitive amongst us, as well as the players who strive to top that ranked ladder. We don’t know too much about the story mode right now, other than some screenshots that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen season 1 of the anime. With a japanese release date finally being revealed, fans should expect a story mode reveal very soon.

Versus Mode

We know much more about versus mode, thanks to some demo footage and trailers being released online. The versus mode roster has ballooned in the past months, almost quadrupling since the game’s reveal! Here’s a full list of every character we know so far:

• Tanjiro Kamado
• Nezuko Kamado
• Zenitsu Agatsuma
• Inosuke Hashibira
• Giyu Tomioka
• Sakonji Urokodaki
• Sabito
• Makomo
• Shinobu Kocho
• Kyojuro Rengoku
• Tanjiro Kamado (Hinokami Kagura)
• Murata
• Tanjiro Kamado (Kimetsu Academy)
• Nezuko Kamado (Kimetsu Academy)
• Giyu Tomioka (Kimetsu Academy)
• Zenitsu Agatsuma (Kimetsu Academy)
• Inosuke Hashibira (Kimetsu Academy)
• Shinobu Kocho (Kimetsu Academy)

Since the first reveal of the game, all but the first five on the list have been added to the roster. Whilst you’ll of course notice that some names are repeated, the Kimetsu Academy and Hinokami Kagura variants aren’t just skins. Each of these characters seem to come with a completely different or somewhat altered moveset, rather than acting as a Smash Bros style echo fighter. Whilst these school-based alternate characters are a cool way to flesh out the roster, we can’t help but wonder where all the demons are.

How Will It Work?

Whilst it’s easy to assume that the game won’t be including content that takes place after the Mugen Train Arc (the most recently animated arc), there’s plenty of memorable villains from the manga to pick from, as well as a few more Hashira-rank slayers that aren’t included right now. Kibutsuji would make for a wonderful final boss to a story mode, and the so-far unanimated members of the Twelve Kizuki make perfect sense too. Here’s hoping we get more playable demons added before release – Rui would be my first choice. The game IS called Hinokami Chronicles after all (no more spoilers here, go watch the show!). 

Every versus match is a 2 vs 2, with each side swapping between the two characters they’ve chosen a limited number of times each fight. This system works great for Marvel vs Capcom, so let’s hope that Hinokami Chronicles can recreate the system’s success.

When Will It Release?

We finally know exactly when Demon Slayer: Hinokami Chronicles will be released… in Japan. Scans from the new issue of japanese magazine V-Jump finally confirm the rumoured release date of October 14th, 2021. Alongside this comes the announcement of some bonus editions and collectable items that will be released alongside the game, although some of these are bound to be exclusive to Japan. However, one item is all but confirmed to come with the English release. Hinokami Chronicles’ Deluxe Edition is releasing in Japan for 9,900 Yen, which converts roughly to £65. Whilst this price is of course subject to change before release, £65 is the go-to price for deluxe editions, and we’re confident that Demon Slayer will follow suit. 

Stay tuned to keep up with more Demon Slayer: Hinokami Chronicles news! Here’s hoping that CyberConnect 2 brings us yet another excellent anime fighting game. 

Demon Slayer: Hinokami Chronicles comes to Playstation, Xbox and PC on October 14th 2021

What do you think about the upcoming Demon Slayer game? Loving what you see? Hoping your favourite character gets added? Let us know over at our Twitter! 

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