Devil May Cry 5 is Capcom’s latest installment to this notorious Devil May Cry franchise that fans have long anticipated. This game has sold over 2 million copies within a month after its release, which could be saying something about how much fans –new or old– are appreciating this game. So let’s take a closer look at what this game has to offer and what my thoughts are on it.
Introduction
I’ve played every single Devil May Cry game released to date (yes, even the mobile one on iOS) including anime, so seeing the announcements and the release of Devil May Cry 5 brings me a lot of joy. The ending of Devil May Cry 4 left many fans in mystery wondering who Nero was, where he came from, and what happens next. After going through Devil May Cry 5, Capcom did a wonderful job answering these questions, and even revealing a bit more beyond that. If you pay close enough attention, you’ll also notice the motifs found throughout the game that allude back to the first Devil May Cry as well as the anime, which pays tribute to all the die-hard fans that have long anticipated the release of this game.
This game features both new and old characters with the devil hunters known as Dante (the franchise’s main character), Nero (introduced in Devil May Cry 4), as well as a new protagonist, V. The game progression will slowly reveal this character’s true identity. The setting takes place in Red Grave City, where the human inhabitants as well as the city itself are under attack from Urizen, a powerful demon from the underworld, as the game’s featured antagonist. The premise of the game is for the player to go through a series of missions using Dante, Nero, and V to stop Urizen and his minions, while also discovering who he is and his purpose along the way.
Devil May Cry 5 is a hack-and-slash game that Capcom identifies as “stylish action”, which is unique to other hack-and-slash games on the market. Players will go through various scenarios that tell a story while defeating enemies and bosses as well as solving environmental puzzles or platforming in order to progress. Progression performance is graded on a letter scale (D being the worst to A being the best, and S beyond rank A (typical to all other Devil May Cry games). The player’s scores are dependent on how well they are able to chain together combos using each respective character’s weaponry and move set to defeat enemies.
Graphic and Visual Improvements
As with any new game that releases, Devil May Cry 5 has tremendously noticeable graphical improvements. This specific release uses real models that each character’s looks are based off of. This release also utilizes facial motion capture from each character’s voice actor for an added touch of realism and bringing life to each facial expression. Each cut scene throughout the game is also aesthetically appealing with an emphasis on fast and fluid action sequences. Getting the deluxe edition of this game will allow you to see the live-action versions of each cut scene (which happens to be hilarious, by the way). The character designs also reflect the current decade’s fashion trends. You’ll see Dante and Nero sporting their signature jackets, however, you’ll also see them both in regular jeans and boots to follow modern society’s fashion taste.
New Features
Devil May Cry 4 introduced a new game-play mechanic when they introduced Nero with his devil arm as a grapple. This game further expands on that mechanic by featuring various consumable ‘Devil Breakers’ that Nero is able to equip and use. Each arm serves a different purpose and can change the way players chain their combos together during enemy and boss fights. Various arms are picked up throughout each mission or bought from Divinity Statues. Dante is also given new ‘devil arms’ that are able to be unlocked throughout the game’s progression.
When playing as V, his kit is distinctly different than that of Nero’s or Dante’s in regards to using guns or swords. V’s character isn’t involved in combat like Nero and Dante. Instead, he summons familiars to fight for him. V’s only involvement in combat is executing enemies after his summoned familiars have weakened them. Players will learn and familiarize themselves to this unique and refreshing style of combat that isn’t in any other Devil May Cry game. Of course, each familiar has their own unique move set that players will have to learn the combo inputs for as well. New abilities for each familiar are unlock-able just like Nero’s and Dante’s ability upgrades.
The method for consumable item shopping has been consistent throughout the entire Devil May Cry franchise by featuring a ‘Divinity Statue’ with the distinct look of a woman’s body with a lion’s head holding an hourglass located at checkpoints in each mission. This game still retains that feature, however, it also adds a new twist to it by introducing a new character named Nico. Nico acts as a shop keeper and drives a motor-home, following Nero around during his missions. Players will encounter various phone booths throughout the game to call Nico for buying ability upgrades or new arms.
Secret missions also have a new added twist in this game by making players look for specific environmental markings that serve as a hint to the location of where to access it. These specific markings are characterized by blood stains or streaks in various locations that piece together into certain pictures or diagrams. Players have to figure out where to stand and how to decisively tilt their camera angle to piece together each environmental bloodstain in order to form a whole picture to access the secret mission. Completing Secret Missions rewards players with ‘Blue orbs’, which increases the player’s permanent health bar.
Players are now able to play “co-op” with other players during some missions.This feature in the game is not a true live co-op experience where you play with another player side by side at the same time. Instead, this feature works by having your play-through of a specific character of a specific mission simultaneously running as the counterpart to somebody else’s mission during their play-through. There are some missions where you can choose which character you want to play as, however, the mission progression will be different for each character despite the mission being the same. You will fight alongside the character that you didn’t choose. At the end of those missions, you can rate your “co-op partner” on whether they played well or badly. Positive ratings will reward that party with a ‘Gold orb’.
If you don’t have an internet connection on whatever platform you choose to play this game on, then you’ll end up with an NPC’s play-through in place of your mission’s counterpart. You will also miss many opportunities for free Gold orbs from login bonuses.
Pros or Cons? You Decide
This game features both new and old enemies in addition to boss fights. As with every Devil May Cry installment to date, Capcom introduces new enemies with their own unique features. Original Devil May Cry fans will notice some old enemies from previous games throughout their play through. This can serve as a good or bad thing depending on whether players are wanting to see something completely fresh and new or wanting a touch of nostalgia from previous games.
The previous Devil May Cry installments are characteristic of having a specific environment that players have to gain a lot of familiarity with. This means having to run through the same area forwards and backwards, left and right, and all around in order to solve puzzles and unlock new doors or locations. This game does NOT include that redundant feature as players will not have to go through any specific environment more than once to progress in each mission, even when using different characters for the same mission. Although this is nice that players will always be able to look for something new, it also makes for a linear game play experience as there is only one direction that players are able to progress forward through, rather than leaving players to figure out where to go or what to do as seen in the previous games.
This game no longer features the franchise’s unique consumable items as seen in all other previous games. Namely, all Vital Stars, Devil Stars, Untouchables, Holy Waters, etc. are no longer in this game. It seems that Capcom has put a new twist on the consumable item mechanic by giving players an abundance of gold orbs instead. Gold orbs were rare to come across in the previous games. Gold orbs still revive in this game, however, they are the only consumable items available with many free opportunities for attainment. This can be a bad thing if you’re trying your best to stay alive mid-battle as there are no items to aid you in doing so. Using Gold orbs still count against a player’s overall rank scored at the end of each mission (just as the other items did in the previous games).
Final Thoughts
Overall, Devil May Cry 5 is an amazing game, and makes it to one of my top most recommended games to play. This game has one of the most fluid and creative combat systems to date with more added abilities and weapons. Chaining combos is seamless and as easy as ever with many different fighting styles and weapons to choose from among a variety of characters to play with. The story is engaging and doesn’t happen in a linear fashion as it already starts out at a climax with a boss battle that you’re meant to lose. From there, the story proceeds to reveal all the events that lead up to that point as well as everything that happens after from different points of view with each character.
There is a lot of replay value with this game that could rack up at least 50 hours, which definitely earns its money’s worth. Not everything can be completed on just the first play through as there are some missions that can be run by different characters. Unlocking every single ability for each character also takes a considerable amount of time. Unlocking abilities is something you want to do so that you can add to your endless repertoire of stylish combos.
There are 6 different difficulty settings to go through as well as a free DLC ‘Bloody Palace’ for players to complete. Bloody Palace is a mode with 101 stages of fighting monsters and bosses with increasing difficulty at each stage. For me personally, I’ve already racked up 130 hours on this game playing through every single difficulty and I know there’s still more for me to complete.
The Devil May Cry series isn’t just like any other action game out on the market. This franchise excels in having the most stylish and creative combat systems–and this game does it the best. Chaining together combos has endless possibilities as it can be seen as an art form for the expert players. You get a variety of characters to choose from with their own fighting style and unique lore. Not to mention the enemies and bosses also range in a variety of difficulties and attack patterns as an added opportunity for players to execute diverse combos. Players can practice and conjure up their own combos in the ‘Void mode’ before attempting to execute them in the actual missions.
Devil May Cry 5 has many appealing traits that can all be appreciated. There are almost no qualities to dislike about this game, so there’s nothing I can say to improve it. Capcom has put a lot of ingenuity and effort into making this game what it is and many fans can appreciate that. I’d highly recommend picking up this game and giving it a try as you will not be disappointed.
