Man, I was so excited when this game started up because it really just throws you right into the swing of things. There's no extended prologue or even much of a summary. One of the first screens you see once you boot up this game for the first time is you're thrown into a fight with a simple command list in the corner taking on one of the first bosses in the game. You don't have a health meter or anything and you're not sure if things are entirely scripted or if you're supposed to take down the boss in front of you. Things feel kinetic, the combat feels fluid, and you really get a sense that the game is just firing on all cylinders. But then the more I played the game, the more that feeling and excitement slowly began to die.

It has been quite a while since I played and reviewed the previous game, Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles, but I don't remember it being this slowly paced. Much like that first game, this one is inspired by the popular anime series Demon Slayer with a story mode that is broken up into chapters. The visual presentation of the storytelling is actually very solid. CyberConnet2 created incredible cell shaded graphics to create something expressive and engaging. The colors are bright, the expressions are delightfully cartoon and the dub is incredibly solid. I'm actually surprised at just how much voice acting is actually in this game. There's definitely a lot more voice lines compared to the first game and the lip sync is a lot more seamless.

The problem with the game is its pacing. This game drags its feet so hard you would think it had 2 ton weights strapped to them. Some of this is due to the games performance and presentation. I played this game on the switch and while the games' actual animations are solid, navigating through the story does feel like a chore. The cutscenes in each chapter go on for way longer than I feel like they're supposed to with a lot of dead space in between character actions. The game gives you the option to skip cutscenes, but it only does so one scene at a time. So if you want to get to the actual game, you're gonna have to hold that B button to skip through multiple cutscenes which are accompanied by a loading screen in between each cutscene. I don't know how this is on other hardware but this version of the game can have load screens lasting anywhere between ten and thirty seconds which doesn't sound like a lot but when you're doing that back to back multiple times, it could take minutes before you're actually able to engage with the game as a player.

Let me put it this way, outside of the teaser and the tutorial prologue, it took me almost fifteen minutes to get to the first real fight in the game. If you decide to watch all of the cut scenes, it could take about twice that amount of time because of how slowly paced the story is told. Even if the cutting themselves are charming, it's not enough to justify just how long you actually spend with them. This isn't helped by the fact that the game loves to pad out the actual in-game narrative progression as much as it humanly can. When you're able to escape the cutscenes, you are put in very small, very cramped worlds where you can complete side missions and collect items that can potentially help you in combat. Most of the side content is optional, but the problem is that the game forces you to engage with its gimmicks before you're ever given the option to decide on whether or not you want to engage with them at all in the first place.

These gimmicks are kind of cute like how Tanjiro can track down demons via their scent or how Zenitsu can listen in on conversations due to his enhanced hearing. However, it's hard to be enamored by these gimmicks when it feels like they are strictly here just for the purposes of extending your stay time in the small overworld. If you're looking for somebody, you have to listen in on multiple conversations just to track down where they are instead of just going from point A to point B. But if you took those gimmicks out, then you would barely have a reason to explore the overworld aside from some side content. The items you can find can give you a boost during combat and there is some nice lore that can be found in journals scattered throughout but the benefit didn't feel like it matched the hassle. A lot of it boils down to just running around talking to NPC's, which gets boring very quickly.

So the cut scenes are slow, the multiple loading times in an attempt to skip the cut scenes still add up, and when you are actually allowed to engage with the game, you are bogged down by gimmicks, sidequests, and mini games. Isn't this supposed to be a combat game? Yes it is! That is hands-down, the bread and butter of this game and definitely the thing that I got the most enjoyment out of. It just sucks that it takes so long for us to actually get to the real meat and potatoes.

Even on the Switch, the combat is fluid and responsive. There are bright particle effects with some crunchy sound design as you deliver light and heavy attacks. You're fighting in a 3D arena and you are allowed to do quick dashes in order to maneuver around your opponent. There's a guard feature, which is surprisingly durable, but you can be punished if your opponent manages to string combos together to break it open. Make sure you have your finger on that guard button because if you hesitate for a second, you're going to get juggled very easily and very brutally. In the main story, the combat feels pretty balanced. Most of the characters have very unique movesets and elements pertaining to their attacks. It's very easy to understand and the game tries to mix it up with the introduction of tag battles. Sometimes, during the story mode or versus mode, you're allowed to bring on teammates who can support you. You can freely switch between them in the middle of combat or have them quickly jump in to perform an additional attack. Not everybody is allowed to form tag teams and some character selections feel a little bit like cheating because you're basically selecting two characters that are taking up one character slot. But at first, things did feel like everybody was well balanced and experimenting with multiple character combinations for unique finishers was fun.

The problem is that in the verses mode and during the late game where things get harder, you begin to notice how easy this game's combo system is to abuse. It is very easy for you to stream together multiple combos utilizing quick attacks, heavy attacks and your teammate. If you can nail this down, then you could potentially deplete most of your opponents health before they even have a chance to swing their sword once. That sounds exciting except when you're on the receiving end of it and as far as I can tell, there is only one way to get out of a jungle when you find yourself in one. There's a button dedicated to dodging out of the way while your opponent is in the middle of hurting you with a combo, but this mechanic isn't always accessible in combat. It's tied to a gauge that refills during battle. So while you might be able to do it the first time you get attacked, if your opponent follows up quick enough, then you're just sort of forced to sit there and take it and hope you don't die by the time you hit the ground so you can launch a counterattack. So eventually the combat just boils down to “juggle them before you get juggled yourself” and I did not find that fun.

So you have to go through all of that waiting to get to combat that starts off fun and engaging, only for it to highlight its flaws the more time goes on. Playing this game felt like I was pulling on a thread to an old sweater. The more I plucked away at this little thing, the more it began to unravel and what I'm left with is a game that is OK at best but at worst it feels like a chore to get through. There is definitely effort that was put into it regarding the character animations, voice acting and the bass combat system is very solid. However, it is also very easy to abuse and the sheer amount of padding in the game means that you're spending more time waiting for things to happen than actually engaging with the material. I'm very disappointed in this installment and find it very hard to recommend very casual audiences.