[ENG] Devil May Cry 5 - Review

(I think I don't have to tell this but - review contains my feelings and thoughts about the game, and after reading this - reader should decide if the game sounds cool or not really)

(Minor spoilers ahead, any major will be marked)

Devil May Cry 5. Where do I even start on this one? People have waited almost 11 years for another numerical part of the critically acclaimed franchise (excluding the DmC Devil May Cry released in 2013 by Ninja Theory which was... A bit controversial, but overall it was pretty good game). It was released by Capcom in 2019 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. This game brought the entire franchise back into the mainstream spotlight, just as Resident Evil 7 did with it's franchise. RE Engine was used here once more, showing that this engine is not only good in creating climatic horrors, but it had no problems handling various beautiful locations and barrage of effects caused by the player. But I'm going a bit too far here...

I haven't played the old DMCs (except the part released in 2013), so all I knew about this franchise was that - it's a quick paced hack'n'slash with bad-ass protagonist called Dante. But here's why I want to give a credit where credit is due - in main menu you can select a brief recap of entire Devil May Cry franchise - and it was really helpful, as I managed to somehow get a grip on some characters and recognize them back during my playthrough. DMC inserts a lost of jokes and humor into itself, many jokes and just random texts during exploration or the fight are introduced seamlessly, like - they really fit the characters so the player doesn't feel like they are forced upon him. The story follows a legendary demon slayer Dante, but this time there is one character that steals the spotlight...

The game is divided into relatively short-missions (each one of them can be finished on 20 to 30 minutes on average), they are semi-linear - technically you can always see the path you should follow, but there's often nothing restraining you from walking around the mission, looking for various bonuses or optional paths.

There are 3 playable characters in this game, each one has a unique playstyle and 'hardness' to playing it. There is aforementioned legendary Dante, a mysterious stranger called simply V and the boy who stole the spotlight - Nero. Depending on the chapter you will control one of them (Although there are some chapters where you can choose who do you want to play)

Nero is a character that you will be spending majority of first half of the game, his attacks consist of swordplay, shooting pistols and... Here's the kicker - prosthetic arms (called Devil Breakers). Nero can find a lot of various Devil Breakers in the game, each one having a different properties and capabilities. One can fire a long laser beam, other can buff your weapons and other can help you manage the enemies by slowing the time in certain area. Each DB has a 'special' move (just like I mentioned the laser beam) that destroys it after using it. Of course you can get rid of unwanted arm in other ways - you can press a button to drop the arm, causing it to detonate (which can help you get out of trouble) or... It will destroy itself if you get hit when using it.

Dante is... I think the hardest character to play, due to his immense variety of weapons and styles. Dante can cycle through at least 4 different weapons (two melee and two ranged) and 4 different fighting styles (Trickster, Royalguard, Swordmaster, Gunslinger) - each one offering a new range of attacks. Combining various weapons and styles is the key to mastering Dante's arsenal and... Suffice it to say I wasn't very good at it, I usually used either Royalguard or Swordmaster and tried to keep to one ranged and two melee weapons and... This is more than enough to finish the game on normal difficulty, although it may be significantly harder with such playstyle on higher ones.

V. He's... The most 'spamming' one as I would call, but also with the most unique fighting style because... You see, V doesn't fight by himself. He uses 'familiars' to fight instead - a Griffon, a Shadow and a Nightmare. Shadow is used to melee fight, Griffon as a ranged one and Nightmare... Nightmare just basically decimates everything that it sees (although due to it's power, usage of Nightmare is limited). But familiars cannot kill enemies by themselves, you have to drain their health using them and then you will be able to approach enemies and finish them off a V himself.

The game offers a very high repetitive value due to several difficulty settings and grading system. When you complete the game on 'Devil Hunter' you unlock 'Son of Sparda', after 'SoS' you get another and... And so on and so on until the "Hell or Hell" difficulty. I completed the game only on normal (Devil Hunter) - I didn't feel as good to play on higher ones plus... It would probably finish off my PC. About grading system - depending on how well you perform, how varied and complicated combos you use and how you avoid damage you get ranks increasing from D to SSS (Dismal/Crazy/Badass/Apocalyptic/Savage/Sick Skills/Smokin' Sexy Style) - I managed to get myself a Triple S a few times and... playing V is the easiest way to get Triple S for the first time (Dante is pretty easy to get it too when you get a grip on how to play him a bit). But, as the ranks goes higher, the music gets louder and more powerful... Which brings me to another point...

Soundtrack in this game is brilliant, lead by the widely recognizable 'Devil Trigger' which is Nero's battle theme, but it was very well known and appreciated long before the game was officially out. Although Devil Trigger is amazing, the whole OST of DMC5 deserves a frickin' medal for how amazing it is. Not mentioning the DT remix during the final boss fight!

I love what this game does during the credits. Playable credits. As the creators roll by, you get to fight various waves of enemies as the powerful OST plays in the background. It's simply amazing!

There are a lot of enemies in this game, some really weak and some quite strong and sometimes even annoying - each one has a weak point that... Sometimes isn't easily exploitable and requires a little trickery or skill to find it, but it's easy to get lost in careless slashing around.

Bosses are amazing. Of course there are some really weak ones that shouldn't be called a 'boss', but they are mostly in the early game while you're still learning how to play so... Each boss has a different attacks which you should learn for a second to have a chance of fighting it perfectly (without losing health)... Suffice it to say I wasn't very good at it. There are even some chapters that are solely boss fights - which is amazing, as these levels/bosses tend to be the most requiring to beat.

I absolutely love the final boss design, it's predictable, yet fast attacks, the arena, soundtrack, twists... Everything is combined in beautiful way to give you satisfying conclusion of your long (Average playthrough takes around 15 hours) journey!

You can buy upgrades (You have to buy each thing separately to each character) to all characters (or specific Devil Breakers for Nero) from the shop, you use Red Orbs for it which you receive by killing enemies (but you can find some loosely in the missions). There are also Golden Orbs and... I want to stop here for a second. If you lose all your HP in a fight, you get few options. Either revive yourself using Red or Golden Orbs or give up and start from the checkpoint. I restrained myself from reviving for a huge majority of the game, there was only one exception - during one of the boss fights, I was entering the fight while having barely any HP left and after around an hour of desperate trying, I gave up and used a Golden Orb to revive myself and finish off the boss... As much as I understand why something like this was given to the players, I really think it shouldn't be a common part of gaming. But it's just my personal opinion and... After all nothing forces you to revive, it's your own will to use one!

Devil May Cry 5 is an amazing, long-awaited sequel to a pretty dormant franchise. It seems like Capcom really wanted to revive their franchises - firstly Resident Evil, now Devil May Cry - it's quite heartwarming to see a big corporation giving their audience what they deserve. I am not sure there will be any more entries to this franchise as DMC5 seemed to conclude everything - but I think no one would be angry about another part... I just say I don't see how they could do it.

If killing demons in a stylish way while following a story which has begun several years ago sounds at least a bit interesting - I really recommend you play this when you have the opportunity, I highly doubt that you will regret it (and who knows, maybe it will encourage you to play older parts!)

Keep your Smokin' Sexy Style and slay demons while fluidly avoiding their attacks!

Kind Regards,

Wing.