Devil May Cry 5 Review

The pinnacle of the character action game genre makes its triumphant return this year, placing itself once again firmly at the top of the food chain

I think I can speak for most of us when I say that 2013’s Ninja Theory DMC: Devil May Cry didn’t really meet the expectations set by the rest of the games that came before it, and since the game was presented as a reboot and didn’t tie into the rest of the established mythos, it’s become a bit of an unspoken rule to pretend it never happened. How refreshing it was then to see Devil May Cry 5 do a complete 180 and made an incredible return to form. Capcom have had a wonderful, (non-Street Fighter related), year, what with outstanding titles like Monster Hunter: World and the Resident Evil 2 remake, and the release of DMC5 has only compounded this idea.

If for whatever reason you didn’t already know, Devil May Cry is an over the top, incredibly stylish action game series in which you mostly play as a badass half-demon, half-human hybrid demon hunter who utilises a wide variety of weapons, supernatural powers and snarky quips to effortlessly dispose of thousands of terrifying hellspawn. Essentially if you’ve played Bayonetta you should fully understand how this game presents itself, which makes sense since they are both creations of former Capcom employee and founder of PlatinumGames Hideki Kamiya. This of course is to say that style is far more important to those that developed these games than substance. The stories are often considered weak and flimsy, and characters and their motivations can be seen as flat or one dimensional. However, if you are of the opinion that these criticisms make for a bad experience then you really don’t understand the point of these creations, and while Kamiya hasn’t been involved with the development of a Devil May Cry game for many years, his legacy lives on in every fibre of this franchise.

While the story isn’t the real reason you’re here this is still one to talk about, and I’d hardly call it flimsy or anything, it just knows not to take itself too seriously. Set after both Devil May Cry 4 and the anime, (which is only alluded to with the presence of Morrison, who changed his race since then), the story revolves around Red Grave City once again being invaded by demons. The Qliphoth Tree, a colossal plant native to the underworld, grows up from the centre of the city and the demons spend their time murdering innocents and extracting their blood, leaving only hollow shells of whoever they once were, and this is about as dark and grim of a plot point you can expect here. Dante is hired by newcomer and one of three playable characters, V, to defeat Urizen, the so called Demon King leading the invasion. Unbeknownst to Dante, V also invites Nero, the punk kid demon hunter from DMC4 who lost his killer demon right arm to a strange hooded figure before the game begins and is now looking for a little payback. Long story short Dante, Trish, Lady and Nero all get their asses handed to them by Urizen, who is absorbing power from the Qliphoth and seems nigh on unstoppable for the majority of the game. It takes Dante unlocking his true Ultra-Mega-Powerful-Super-Saiyan-Devil Trigger mode, (actually called Sin Devil Trigger), to defeat the usurper. In a twist that shocked all three people that have never heard of these characters, Urizen turns out to be Dante’s brother Virgil, who discarded his humanity in an attempt to become more powerful than his twin brother and finally defeat him. This humanity manifested as V, who swoops in before Dante can finish Urizen for good and fuses back with him, once again forming Vergil. Oh, and Vergil is Nero’s dad, but a lot of people already suspected that. The final battle has Dante and Vergil on the brink of killing one another before Nero steps in, awakening his own Devil Trigger power and stopping the fight without any casualties. The two brothers then agree to leave their rematch for another time while they deal with the demon invasion, venturing on their on into the underworld to cut the Qliphoth off at the root and seal the connection between both worlds, leaving Nero to look after the human world until they inevitably return.

Gameplay is split up into three unique styles spread across each character of Nero, V and Dante. Nero replaces his missing right arm with different assorted bionic arms, Metal Gear Solid V style, built by Nico, another new side character who acts as Nero’s mechanic and companion. Some arms discharge large amounts of electricity to attack, some can fire a self-guided rocket punch and some can even slow down time for a few crucial seconds. Nero’s sword also, for some reason, has an engine installed in it, and revving the hilt activates the Exceed system, drastically powering up his next few swings. Revving the sword the instant you hit an enemy maxes out the Exceed gauge instantly, making Nero’s combat revolve around strict timing and long, brutal aerial combos.

V is a far cry from the other two, as he doesn’t actually fight himself. He commands three separate demons, all of whom can act independently of V and each other, however these demons cannot actually finish any enemies and V himself is forced to impale them with his only weapon; a sharpened cane. Each demon covers its own part of the combat: Griffon is a bird-like demon who specialises in ranged electric attacks, Shadow primarily takes the form of a panther but can morph parts of his body into weapons for close combat, and Nightmare is a hulking golem that, while slow, can dish out immense damage over a wide area. Nightmare can also only be summoned when V is in Devil Trigger, and mostly acts of his own accord while the player continues to control Griffon and Shadow. With three, sometimes four different entities to keep track of V’s combat does not often come naturally, but the fact that they can act independently can set up for many stylish combos.

Finally there’s the legendary demon hunter himself, Dante, whose combat revolves around switching between his four unique combat styles as well as his melee and ranged weapons. Trickster style is fast and allows Dante to dodge around the arena at high speed to avoid damage, Swordmaster gives him many new powerful tools for close quarters combat, Gunslinger powers up his ranged weapons in various ways and Royal Guard gives him access to a block and parry system, rewarding high skill and patient play. The ability to swap between these styles and weapons on the fly is the key to Dante’s combat, but since each option has a fully fleshed out moveset associated with it, it can be difficult to remember what all your options are, and being overwhelmed in the beginning is very likely. However, this also makes Dante’s combat potentially the deepest, and utilising all those options to their fullest really makes you feel like the badass demon killer he is.

One word that I’ve already mentioned a few times that is crucial to Devil May Cry is style; if you had to try and explain what the series is built around in one word this would definitely be your best bet. Everything you do in these games is governed by how stylishly you do it, whether this be varying your attack patterns to make flashy and over the top combos or even pausing mid-fight to taunt your enemies, leaving yourself wide open to damage. There are no extra points earned for efficiency or safe play, ignoring the no damage score bonus you can receive at the end of each chapter, so your main goal is to take as long as you need to really show off to the non-existent crowd cheering you on and earn as many points as possible and aim for the highest grade you can at the end of the chapter. Yes, this game grades your combat ability, and for some that can be somewhat stressful or even, in cases like mine, bring out an ugly perfectionist side that restarts every checkpoint whenever they take any damage. This can impact how much fun you’re actually having when you’re playing DMC5 like it’s more of a chore than a joyful gaming experience, but this is less of a nit-pick and more of a cautious warning. If the satisfaction you get from action games comes from flawlessly taking down the toughest bosses without a scratch on the hardest difficulty then you might have a long road ahead of you.

Speaking of difficulty, everything I’ve said so far would probably have most people under the assumption that style is the ONLY thing that matters, and the enemies pose no threat to your health bar in of themselves. This could not be further from the truth on anything other than Human difficulty, (this game’s version of Easy mode), in which most foes will die before you can even pull off your flashier combos that you spent two hours in the training room learning. Definitely not what happened to me. The higher difficulties turn tougher enemies and all bosses into a terrifying amalgamation of HP sponge and 50 ton steam locomotive capable of running through your health bar and cocky attitude like a knife through hot butter. DO NOT assume that this game will hold your hand and allow you the time to learn how to consistently wipe the floor with every enemy variety, although the addition of the aforementioned training room, known here as “The Void”, offers you the chance to do just that outside of the main story. Returning difficulty modes like Heaven or Hell and Hell or Hell reduce the game to a panic induced rush of spamming the jump and shoot buttons, as in the former both you and your enemies, (including every boss), will go down in a single hit. Hell or Hell is a little less forgiving, as each enemy retains the health, damage and ability to activate their own Devil Trigger power up from the hardest base difficulty mode, Dante Must Die, but you as the player are still knocked down by a light breeze.

There have been many people criticising this game, its predecessors and its competitors for having no replayability and for being simple button mashers, and once again I must point out that these people are missing the entire point. Replayability comes from the desire to improve and learn every tiny quirk of the incredibly deep and nuanced combat system, and with three unique characters, some of which possess multiple movesets for different weapons, there will be no shortage of new things to learn. Challenging yourself to beat the game on difficulties that initially seem impossible, and doing it in a way that makes it look like it came straight from a cinematic trailer of the game, is what DMC5, and indeed any character action game, is attempting to goad you into trying. For some, this just creates hours of never ending frustration and leads to turning on the Auto-Combo Assist setting that allows you to press a single button and breeze through the game. DMC5 is rewarding because you spent the time learning how to pull off those Smokin’ Sexy Style combos and laugh in the face of every enemy being able to immediately one shot you, so make like the old school Counter-Strike tryhards and “get good” before you start crying out for change.

Devil May Cry 5, while seemingly shallow on the surface, conceals its greatest features and true experience for only the dedicated to discover. The satisfaction of finally overcoming a block in the game that held you back for so long is where the real experience lies, and the game demands that you not be weak of heart to reach it. Put in the time and effort that the developers expect of their fans and you’ll truly be able to reap the rewards and see DMC5 for what it is; a truly off the wall, batshit insane romp through the best the genre has to offer.