gamescom 2018 - Devil May Cry 5 Preview

The return of Devil May Cry has finally come, and reboots aside, we’re going back to the original story. Join with Nero and his new weapon-specialist, Nico at his side. Don’t worry, though, Dante gets to come along for the ride too.

Capcom released a playable demo of Devil May Cry 5 for the gamescom floor as well as a 15 minute video of the game play on YouTube. That way everyone can get a feel for the game, whether you got to go to Cologne, Germany for the event or not! As a person who was both excited and nervous for this announcement, I’m relieved to be allowed to get an idea of what’s to come.

The gameplay starts with presumably the opening level of the game, or thereabouts. It’s the 15 of June at 5:32 AM, and I have the feeling that Nero isn’t up early, more he hasn’t gone to bed yet probably. We see a van blocked by caution tape and a literal end of the road, looking like the ground on the other side of the tape just dropped out of sight. Nero appears to have lost the bottom half of his right arm, the part that had been in permanent Devil Trigger or stuck in a demonic state. He doesn’t seem to have lost his abilities, though, and even appears to have new ones we haven’t seen before.

On the controls page, we’re shown two mechanical prosthetics, Overture which is blue, and Gerbera, which is green. Overture apparently has a demolishing shockwave and Gerbera gives superior aerial agility. These are Devil Breakers, and at the start of the game Nero can carry four at a time. Each time he uses one, though, he loses it, so it’s best to use them carefully or you’ll have to wait for supply drops from Nico.

Oh man the old menu sounds! Honestly, as nervous as I am about Devil May Cry 5, the sounds and some of the other aspects give me some semblance of cautious optimism. The info screens with the controls and whatnot appear to be in Morrison’s manifesto, bringing in a character that had appeared in the short-lived anime of the videogame series. In addition, the town you’re in is called Red Grave City, a nod to one of Dante’s alias’ from the novels where Dante spends some time calling himself Tony Redgrave. This alias was also used in the anime, and it’s a great nod to the lore of the series that was largely thrown out in the remake or never addressed.

Sadly, the controls have not improved since Devil May Cry 4. This means that those of us who play FPS or any game where you’re used to using the triggers more than the YXBA buttons, be prepared to reconfigure. Another drawback for me is the art style. While beautiful for any other game, Dante and Nero look a little bit… off… in the face from when we saw them last time. Truthfully, their faces are the only real issue I have with the look of the game. Thankfully, for Nero at least, his voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch is back. Hopefully that’s true for Dante’s always and forever VA, Reuben Langdon.

When you get into the gameplay, the style and action is very much DMC. This was a huge relief as the action has always been a big drawing point for this game series, for me at least. It also appears that Nero will be able to switch weapons and have different Devil Arms. This is in addition to the ones he already has as his double barrel six shooter, Blue Rose, and his sword related to a motorcycle, Red Queen, appear to have come along for the ride. The music is there too, a wonderful hard rock soundtrack to a gritty yet beautiful game.

All in all, I’m starting to be more hopeful about DMC 5 the more I see. Slated for release the 9 of March, 2019, I think we’ll be in for a good one. I’m hoping for some answers that many DMC fans have been waiting a long time for. Whose head-canon is right? Those who say Nero is Dante’s son or those (me) who say he’s Vergil’s. Who’s Vergil, you might ask? Ahh, he’s my personal favorite of the Sparda family, Dante’s darker twin brother. He’s always kind of gotten the short end of the stick, but maybe this time we’ll find out where he’s been and why his sword was found broken in DMC 4… And before I embarrass myself any further with my proudly waving DMC nerd flag, I’ll sign off. Definitely looking forward to March of next year, that’s for damn sure.