Devil May Cry 5 is not only a much needed return to form for a series that’s been standing on shaky grounds for the previous eleven years but is mainly a victory lap that encompasses everything that made the series special in the first place.

The amount of love poured into Devil May Cry 5 is undeniable from its highly detailed character models to its beautiful environments to the fine-tuned gameplay. The jump in quality is as impressive as the jump between Uncharted 3 and 4. The world is presented in beautiful stylized realism that is a great fit for the series. The gameplay takes the best parts of what made DMC3’s gameplay so good and adds welcome quality of life improvements to deliver the best combat system in the series. It might have a new coat of paint but it’s definitely DMC and better than ever!

Aside from a couple of characters getting mishandled and a few minor quirks, I actually don’t have any major criticisms to give to Devil May Cry 5. It pretty much excels on everything it’s trying to do and delivers a fun and campy action-filled experience with loving callbacks to the previous installments.

It might be a celebration of the series but i don’t think it’s a culmination in any way. Devil May Cry 5 feels more like a powerful revival that also lays solid groundwork for a supposed future of the series. I’m not gonna lie, seeing DMC get an entry like this has made me feel increasingly bitter that Bayonetta, my preferred action hack-and-slash series, got an installment like Bayonetta 3 instead of one like DMC5. To fans of Devil May Cry, I can’t express how happy I am for you to get a celebration like this for a series you cherish.

This game kicks some serious ass. Some of the best combat in gaming. The humor is very self-aware and still indulges in its ridiculousness in all the right ways. After 11 years, this is what the franchise needed. This version adds in Vergil and Legendary Dark Knight difficulty, which gives this game even more replay value than before (it already had six difficulty modes and Bloody Palace). Only complaints I have is that I found the ending to be kinda weak and the game does get a little repetitive around towards the middle. I also think Lady and Trish do absolutely nothing in this game and that's a real shame. They completely get sidelined. But other than that, this game is absolutely amazing. I love how varied each of the three characters feel and the amount of enemy variety in the game. The overall level design is simple but effective, which works in the game's benefit. This should be the blueprint for future DMC games to come, which, after this one, have the potential to be some of the best games of all time. I highly recommend checking this one out if you're into over-the-top hack-and-slash combat or even want to get into the genre or series. This was my first DMC game and it was super accessible. For newcomers, I do recommend seeing a recap on Youtube. The game itself has a recap but its mostly meant for people who have played the older games before, as it just kinda bombards you with information and not everyone is gonna retain it all. Can't wait to see where Capcom takes this series next, especially with what the ending set up. DMC6 when?