It was the year 2001. Capcom had brought out a game that turned out to be the first installment of a series that took the world by storm. Its wild mess of gameplay, the blood, the gore, and the sheer sass. It began with the story of two brothers. One of whom would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. The other merely wishing to eat his pizza in peace. Since then, these brothers have come a long way. Here is my review of Devil May Cry 5.
What is different?
New characters with cooler weapons and style of attacks have been introduced. Dante’s hair has greyed; Vergil’s is split into two. The world is even crazier; demons are stronger and more fun to slaughter. Dante grows sassier by the day. The series held on to that one factor that unites it all. It is not about how many you slaughter. It is about how cool you look while doing it. And Devil May Cry 5 will give you ample opportunities to do just that.
Devil May Cry 5 Review
We take a look at the following aspects of the game:
- Weapons
- Storyline
- Combat Style
- Characters.
The Weapons
The first thing anyone will notice while playing any of the DMC games is the sheer artistry of the fight sequences. The campaigns are perfectly designed with three completely different playstyles. Each playstyle brings the opportunity to go for the choicest range of weapons. Right from guns to swords to even icy nunchakus. In this Devil May Cry 5 is no different. It is one of the most fun storylines in any Devil May Cry game till date. The latest installment in the series will offer you one of the most refreshing combat systems you might hope to find in any videogame.
The storyline
The game begins shrouded in the aura of familiarity. You are thrown right into the middle of a bloody, losing battle with a monster boss of epic proportions. After the fight, Dante goes missing. Nero, frustrated and generally very angry, embarks on a quest through a world ravaged by the demonic forces of Urizen.
The gameplay is interspersed with scenes will take you slowly but surely through the twisting alleys in the lives of the protagonists aka Dante, Nero and V, the gaunt and raven-haired new arrival. It is also pretty much when you find out how Urizen rose to power.
The tale itself unfolds in a way that allows suspicion to build against V. He who looks like every lead singer of all the goth-punk bands ever. This suspicious yet deliciously sassy Kylo Ren lookalike does not inspire trust in either Nero or perhaps even the gamer themselves. And while you will soon come to respect the guy’s style, you will maybe also know always to stay 100 meters away from him. V’s story unfolds in a slow, but with confident pace. Every new piece of info adding to the overall intrigue and air of mystery around him. Even after the end of the intense 12 to 14 hours campaign, you will be left losing sleep over some questions about him that the game chooses not to answer. And that makes it all the more fun.
Combat Styles
Overall everything sounds and looks pretty much sublime. The combat styles of each of the main characters are pretty stellar, with ample space for depth, variety, and creativity. Through the game, you are allowed the choice of at least three sets of tools, each one cooler than the last. Nero has his sword, the grapple, and hook with which he can trap and slaughter with ease and a gun.
In this game, Nero seems to have a lot to prove through this game. Especially, after losing his arm to Urizen and Dante tauntingly referring to him as ‘dead weight.’ The combos are as crazy, if not more insane than the ones before. Some allow you to fly through the air on a rocket launcher moments before it crashes into a pile of your enemies.
The characters
Where Nero’s style is familiar even in its intense dauntlessness, V works in a way different from all the characters with whom we are familiar. It is mainly because he rarely does any of the fightings himself. He lets his three beastly familiars do the dirty work while he merely works on defense, taunts or chooses to read a book. Once his familiars effectively incapacitate a demon, he uses his powers to teleport right up to them to deliver the killing blow. Where the other characters in this game are all about on your face slaughter, V’s campaigns make him feel more like a map you need to navigate – placing him in the perfect position to defend himself and to deliver the final blow when need be.
So, players need to follow pretty steep learning, even by Devil May Cry’s usual standards. Perhaps it is precisely because of this that V’s missions seem to feel more comfortable than the others. The ease of movement is limited. The missions feel a lot more fun as you go up a few levels and return to the lower level with fantastic new sets of skills. The creators are also smart enough to use this unique style of gaming rarely sufficient so it never really outstays its welcome.
But where V is subtle in his dealings, right old Dante is as bold and in your face as before. His fighting skills pretty much resemble a swiss knife. A few additional sets of tools and skills he has collected over the years. It not only includes a projectile cowboy hat but a nunchaku. It can turn into Sun Wukong’s staff (if you remember to switch to Swordmaster mode in time). He can switch between four distinct styles, four melee and four range weapons all in real time.
Conclusion
If battling is a dance, Devil May Cry 5 is a waltz. Each press of button perfectly balanced, so every attack seems astoundingly well-timed, planned and only then implemented. Players can go to hack the wretched demons to sub-atomic bits. Capoeira kicks them till they go dazed or blow them up with the fiery grace of a rocket launcher.
Perhaps the best part about Devil May Cry 5 lies not in its style and mindless slaughter. It’s in the chance to feel completely in control of who you are, your character’s personality flowing through each vein of your body, be it V’s subtle, nerdy cunning.
Nero’s desperation with his revved-up sword and prosthetic arms that are as likely to throw you into the air or summon down lightning on some poor soul or just Dante’s age-old frustration at not being able to finish his pizza. And, as the fighting reaches pretty much biblical proportions of sheer carnage, pause and smoke a cigarette, the game’s theme music “Devil Trigger” ringing through your blood.
Check more about the game on its official website here. Download for Xbox from here.
