Devil May Cry V : Why Old and New Fans Need to Play
The Devil May Cry series comes roaring back with it's latest installment DMC 5. A visually stylish and intense experience made all the more possible by the extra grunt now available.
I am Snoogs and welcome to the Aussie Gamers Experience's Review of Devil May Cry 5.
Capcom has once again wowed us with a big name franchise coming back with a bang. Building on the base of Resident Evil 7, DMC 5 shows you it is so much more than just another hack and slash.
Devil May Cry 5 starts off with a bang, series favourites Dante and Nero are working alongside a mysterious newcomer in V thrust into a boss battle that feels somewhat like a climax battle, so needless to say, It doesn't end well with Dante beaten to a pulp by hulking villain Urizen, trapping Dante allowing Nero and V to retreat and fight another day.
Nero's Demon arm is destroyed in the battle leaving him to resort to mechanical Devil Breakers created by his BFF Nico who drives the Devil May Cry team bus.....
Nero's fight style is very similar and feels strong. Brandishing your Devil Breakers, trusty Blue Rose revolver and of course, the Red Queen sword. Give it a rev and let the combos fly. Nero is the up close and personal fighter chaining the weapons together to create some big power plays.
Dante plays very similar to how he has in past DMC games with that stylish flair that we have come to know. Don't worry there is some more tricks up his sleeves but you have to wait till later in the game to try them out.
V is very different to the other characters in style, presence and fighting techniques. He wouldn't look out of place in an EMO music video and feels somewhat weak. The truth is the more you play with V the more he works for you. V doesn't fight, but has 3 demons that he can summon to fight for him. A wise cracking Griffin, a Panther and the huge Nightmare. (Think Hulk without features) V doesn't do the fighting but he is needed to finish the enemies off.
Getting the mix of defense and attack is where you'll struggle to begin with but comes to you very quickly. V is definitely the hardest to master as you have to get out of that in your face mind set and take on a more tactical approach.
Visually Devil May Cry 5 is stunning. Playing on the PS4 Pro I have been in amazement of the sheer scope of battles, even in close quarters and the visual impact of the environment. Particle effects are on plentiful and on point, character models are crisp and really use the power of the new gen to its advantage.
Chaining together combos is visually pleasing, I may have cheered more than once, and the scoring system makes sure you are always striving for a few more. Trying the get that SSS rank on each level is a challenge. Be careful not to overreach as a hit will send your scores tumbling. For those of us not at the forefront of the Devil May Cry series or this type of gameplay in general there is help. You can choose to play on two different modes Human or Demon Hunter, essentially easy and normal, and you can set combos to auto. While this doesn't put the combos on complete auto it does make them considerably easier to pull off. I have to admit, I was thankful for it.
Whenever I have played Devil May Cry in the past it has been very unforgiving to someone like me. Controller twisting type of unforgiving. Devil May Cry 5 however feels much more open to a wider audience. I played on both Human and Demon Hunter difficulty and while there is a difference in the two I wouldn't go as far as saying Demon Hunter difficulty is too hard for most. I am sure hardcore fans of the series will be asking for more down the track.
Of course there is no point making it too easy so the enemies need to have some variety to them and we have that. You have your run of the mill grunt type enemies that you can use any variation of style upon to build up your combo to get ready for the harder enemies and bosses.
It is not all blood covered goodness however, and let me tell you, there is plenty of blood.
Levels are very linear and after time start to feel like you're doing the same thing over and over again. Levels are also relatively short. Not such a bad thing, but when you factor in the amount of cutscenes you have to sit through it can be a little tedious.
Overall Devil May Cry is a good and faithful entry into the series. One that fans of the series will be happy to play through numerous times to master the full potential of each character and is welcoming enough that new fans won't be frightened away. The story and progression is paced and rewarded well. In the later levels you start to feel almost god like. The huge number of techniques to unlock and upcoming free DLC will have me coming back for more.
Snoogs
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