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Devil May Cry 5 (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Review

4/27/19

Developed by Capcom, released March 8th, 2019

Devil May Cry is the series that ushered in the hack ‘n slash genre to the 6th generation of consoles (PS2/Xbox/Gamecube), effectively bringing the format to 3D with flying colors. Many other series have tried to emulate the success and style of DMC, but hardly ever matched its character and style. Even my friends and I referred to the original God of War as a “DMC clone,” despite it being the best series to mimic the DMC formula. Devil Macy Cry 5 is the incredibly long awaited sequel to Devil May Cry 4, which released a whopping 11 years ago. Luckily, it was worth the wait, and DMC5 isn’t a disappointment like so many other long awaited titles to release recently. 

In the city of Red Grave, devil hunter Nero (Johnny Yong Bosch) has started his off-shoot of the Devil May Cry business, in the form of a workshop on wheels driven by Nico, a brand new character to the series played by Faye Kingslee. Nero has his devil arm ripped from his body and the Yamato sword stolen by a mysterious figure. A demon king named “Urizen” is drawing power from the “Qilphoth,” a demonic tree growing and destroying the city, feeding off human blood for power. Nero and Dante (Reuben Langdon) have Urizen in their sights, but after a battle, Dante saves Nero’s life, and is temporarily defeated by the demon king. A month later, Dante reawakens, and is out to try again. It’s the fomulaic DMC plot: a new demon king or leader has found yet another new and unheard of way to open the demon realm to the human world, hell bent on power and destruction.

DMC5 uses the same engine as Resident Evil 7, and it shows. The graphical detail, lighting, animation, texture, and everything visual looks amazing. The game also runs at a smooth 60fps, rarely failing except under the most flashy and high processing moments of combat. I am so happy Nero and Dante’s fighting style and traits have remained intact. It gives a sense of continuity and consistency to fans of the series who are revisiting these characters. We spend red orbs from defeated enemies on an expansive skill list, slowly unlocking more combos and special moves for each of the three heroes. Now that Nero has a missing arm, Nico has manufactured a variety of new mechanical arms we can buy and equip. Each one of these arms adds something unique to combat, including a shocker, missile, grappler, drill, and so on. Nero is still a blast to play as, and while I miss his original devil arm, I can see why the devs went this direction in order to expand and add even more depth to Nero’s combat. 

Dante is still a total powerhouse. Not only does he have his iconic twin pistols, shotgun, gauntlets, and sword, he is still equipped with 4 separate fighting styles to keep the combat fresh (e.g. Trickster, Royal Guard, Gunslinger, and Swordmaster). It’s almost overwhelming what the combat options are, as you constantly want to switch between fighting styles, as well as mixing up melee and ranged weapons. Even at their base, Dante and Nero could carry an entire game with the moveset at their default. This makes the combat in DMC5 the best I’ve seen for the genre in years. No player will play the same, especially in the case of Dante. Some missions are specific to one character, but others let you chose who you want to play as. Red orbs transfer seamlessly between characters, keeping you from having to acquire the orbs individually.

The third main character, and most unique aspect of DMC5, is “V,” who happens to be voice acted by a good friend of mine, Brian Handford. He brings an entirely new type of combat to the series, in the form of summoning demonic creatures to do most of the fighting for him. The player can move V during combat, but your corresponding melee or ranged attack face buttons now affect the panther and bird respectively. During V’s devil trigger mode, he summons a giant golem to deal extra damage. V is like the spellcaster of the series, and getting used to his fighting style does involve a small learning curve. But once you get good at managing him, the bird, and the panther all at once, it gives us satisfying scenes of controlled chaos. He may not be my favorite of the three protagonists to play as, but I certainly think his fighting style and character was designed very well, and feels innovative for the series.

Like the other games, DMC5 is a strictly linear offline experience, something I’ve always liked more than the massive online competitive and multiplayer games of which the industry is full of. The devs at Capcom have stuck to their guns and I’m ecstatic DMC5 resembles its brethren so closely. The storytelling however, does not innovate or feel like anything special for the series. I would say this is one of the better stories, especially near the end, but I still think they could do better. The world in which these games take place are always isolated to just the experience of the heroes. I have no idea where Red Grave is compared to the other cities or locations in the other games, or have any reference of how prolific the destruction is outside of our perspective from the protagonists. I’d like to see regular people’s take on all these demon gates constantly opening, or simply for the main characters to recognize a bit of the bigger picture. 

DMC5 has the perfect level of difficulty, if you play on Devil Hunter mode (hard mode). The game recommends this mode for veterans of the series, of which I am, and I found it perfectly balanced. I can imagine how much easier it would be on the default difficulty, and seeing players not really taking advantage of the deep combat if enemies are so easy. In other words, play on Devil Hunter mode no matter what! Another problem I have with the game is the yellow orb mechanic. You find yellow orbs in the environments (at least one per mission), and they act like continues for when your die. A yellow orb can be spent, restoring your health & devil trigger gauges fully, picking your right back up, and the enemies get no health back. Personally, I had yellow orbs in the double digits, so when I did struggle with a boss fight, some engagement and tension was lost when I realized I could just keep spending yellow orbs until I defeated the boss, instead of having to play closer attention to their attacks and simply fight better.

DMC5 is one of the stronger games in the series, but it doesn’t beat DMC3 in my opinion, mostly because that game’s story, cinematics, combat, and challenge were so excellent. DMC5 certainly tries to elevate its level of storytelling, but the plot and characters still have a few too many conveniences and oddities (although it does get better near the end). V is a fantastic addition to the game, and his style of combat is one of the most unique I’ve seen in a game of this genre. Dante and Nero are still an absolute blast to play as, and their depth of combat is hard to comprehend, let alone learn fully. DMC5 is basically exactly what I could have hoped for and expected from these devs. This is a great game with excellent enemy design, fantastic combat, great graphics, lots to unlock, and is hugely entertaining. Recommended highly for fans of the series, or fantasy action games with swords, guns, combos, special moves, skill trees, and things of the like. 

8/10