Demon Slayer is one of the hottest anime in the world right now, even if the series is on break for an entire year. Fans have fallen in love with Tanjiro and his quest to restore his sister’s humanity after the demon Muzan destroyed their family. A year between seasons is a long time, and fans might want something to quench their thirst for the Demon Slayer universe.
Fortunately, gaming has no shortage of titles similar to the Demon Slayer series. Said titles allow players to take on the role of samurai fighting to protect humans from supernatural threats, or get revenge for the loss of their families.
10 Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Sees A Brave Samurai Face A Demon Army
The Onimusha series was one of the most popular series Capcom had for the PlayStation 2. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny is one of the best titles of the series, and sees Jubei Yagyu on a quest to take down Nobunaga Oda, who was leading an entire demon army.
Much like Demon Slayer’s Tanjiro, Jubei is driven to take down Nobunaga after the warlord wiped out his entire family. However, the game doesn’t lock anyone into playing only Jubei, as additional characters appear at other points in the story.
9 Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Allows Players To Take On A Samurai Job Class
Stranger of Paradise is a meme of a game when it comes to its ridiculous dialogue and characterizations. It’s also a long way from being a proper samurai storyline. However, the game does have plenty of job classes available to its protagonist Jack. The ability to take on different classes is what makes the game such an enjoyable experience.
Stranger of Paradise has a samurai class available for players. After mastering the Ronin class, players can take on the samurai class and dual their challengers with katana, the way every proper fight needs to happen.
8 Trek to Yomi’s Hero Is On A Journey To Find Who Destroyed His Hometown
A more recent game, Trek to Yomi is a project from Shadow Warrior developer Flying Wild Hog. In this game, the protagonist is Hiroki, who’s on a journey to find the people who ruined his life and wrecked his hometown. This game is unlike most samurai-focused games as it’s a cinematic side-scrolling action title, making it more engrossing than many indie titles but without losing the “game” feel.
Fortunately, players aren’t forced to use only a sword thoughout. Additional weapons are unlocked during the game to mix up the gameplay. Trek to Yomi also has some mythological elements to challenge the protagonist.
7 Yakuza Ishin Has Sakamoto Ryoma Searching For His Mentor’s Murderer
The Yakuza series is a must-play for anyone who likes beat ‘em ups or well-told stories featuring former members of dangerous organized crime syndicates. But Yakuza Ishin takes a different route, setting itself in the 1800s during the Bakumatsu period.
Yakuza Ishin‘s protagonist is Sakamoto Ryoma, who joins the Shinsengumi on a quest to discover who murdered his mentor. Ishin takes everything that works about the Yakuza franchise — including all of Yakuza’s mini-games and great side stories — and sets it in the past, to great success.
6 Brave Fencer Musashi Asks A Great Swordsman To Protect A Kingdom
Long before anyone had ever heard of Tanjiro Kamado and the Hashira, Squaresoft released a samurai action-RPG called Brave Fencer Musashi. The title focused on a swordsman named Musashi who gets isekai’d into another world. There, he’s asked by Princess Fillet to protect the Allucaneet Kingdom from the dangerous Thirstquencher Empire.
Eager to go back home, Musashi battles against threats from Thirstquencher while attempting to collect the Five Scrolls to power up the legendary sword Lumina. One of Square’s better action-RPGs from this era, Brave Fencer should be played by anyone with a nostalgia for the PlayStation 1 era.
5 Samurai Shodown Is A Great Fighting Game For Fans Of Sword Combat
The Samurai Shodown series was one of SNK’s longest-running franchises, and one of the oldest fighting game franchises period. The series was revived in 2019 when the company brought it back during a reboot of the series.
While few people care about the story of a fighting game series, Samurai Shodown is about a bunch of warriors battling to suppress an evil force that’s surfaced in Japan. There are plenty of characters for players to choose from, from swordsman like Haohmaru and Jubei Yagyu to actual spellcasters like Gongsun Li. The variety makes this an addicting game players returned to for years.
4 Samurai Warriors 4 Embraces The Soul Of The Samurai
Not every samurai game is about strategy and whoever’s the most patient swordsman. Sometimes it’s just about the soul of the samurai, and taking down every opponent in one’s path. Surprisingly, Demon Slayer is an anime that doesn’t have a musou game yet, but Samurai Warriors 4 comes close.
There are dozens of characters present in the title, and players can enjoy story modes based on different regions and clans from the era. Players can engage in duels with different opponents in the right scenarios, and live out their dreams of being the most powerful samurai on a field of legendary warriors.
3 Nioh 2 Lets Players Protect Japan Against Yokai
The Nioh series is so similar to Demon Slayer they almost feel like the same franchise — conceptually speaking. In both games, the player dons the role of a samurai-type character responsible for battling yokai to protect humans. NiOh 2 is even more polished than the original, and rather than forcing the player to take on a specific character, it allows them to create their own.
Unlike Demon Slayer however, NiOh grants the player with several special powers which they can use to take on opponents. However, the difficulty is about equal to the difficulty level Tanjiro deal withs during his battles against the high-level demons.
2 Ghost of Tsushima’s Jin Battles To Save His Island From The Mongol Empire
By now, everyone with a PlayStation should’ve heard of Ghost of Tsushima. There’s nothing quite like playing this gorgeous title, which looks stunning considering how old the PS4 was when Ghost of Tsushima launched. The game goes to great lengths to mimic classic samurai films, which lends it a unique style few games have ever achieved.
The lead character of Ghost of Tsushima is Jin Sakai, a samurai who lost everything thanks to the attack on Tsushima island by the Mongols. His only chance to take down the Mongols lies in embracing guerilla tactics — leading the locals to call him “the Ghost”. While this doesn’t have the trademark supernatural elements Demon Slayer does, Ghost of Tsushima has intense one-on-one sword duels.
1 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles Captures The Spirit Of The Anime
There aren’t many options for players who want to experience the story of Demon Slayer. Currently, The Hinokami Chronicles is about the best people are going to get. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t cover much more than the first season of the series.
While The Hinokami Chronicles is technically a fighting game, the real enjoyment comes from experiencing the story mode while playing as Tanjiro Kamado. CyberConnect2 does a superb job making the anime come to life in game form, with gorgeous cutscenes and some tense boss battles against some of the series’ most recognizable villains.
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