At this past weekend’s Tokyo Game Show, Anime Corner had an exciting opportunity to experience a twenty-minute demo of the highly anticipated upcoming Demon Slayer video game, published by Sega. Demon Slayer – Sweep the Board is a party board video game featuring your favorite characters such as Tanjiro and Nezuko as you battle it out in a 4-player board game match.
During character selection, I chose to play as Mitsuri Kanroji, and ended up battling against Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu. Like most board game titles, your turn starts off by rolling a die to determine how many steps you may take on the map. There are spaces on the board that give and take away currency, manipulate the board, and trigger events. I also got to access the shop on the board which sells power up items to be used in future rounds, one featured item in the demo being a rice ball.
At the end of each player’s turn, the round will end with a mini-game that rewards the winner with the in-game currency. The first mini-game I played featured Nezuko hiding in her box, just like in the anime. There are duplicate boxes that switch places quickly and the player must keep an eye on the correct box in which Nezuko is hiding in to win the round. Each round increases in difficulty, but I somehow managed to barely beat Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu.
After each computer player and myself had the chance to take our second turn, I played my final mini-game of the demo. This one featured Tengen’s mice setting up fireworks that had to be activated by the player with quick timing. Sometimes instead of a firework, a bomb would be placed that forces the player to knock it away with a different button. This mini-game tests the player’s focus and timing.
Although I haven’t been following Demon Slayer closely in recent years, I found it truly thrilling how the game remains faithful to its characters, lore, and universe. Demon Slayer – Sweep the Board will most likely be a major pick-up for hardcore fans.
The game is slated for 2024 on the Nintendo Switch with an official English release.
©Koyoharu Gotoge / SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable ©DEMON SLAYER KIMETSU NO YAIBA SWEEP THE BOARD COMMITTEE
Published by SEGA. SEGA and the SEGA logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA CORPORATION.