god. GOD!!!! this is just the best character action game of all time. i have so much i love here but man it just blew me away. after having played every game in the franchise i had built this game up in my head a LOT. i finally beat the dmc reboot and my reward was playing this game... the only problem was this game did NOT click right away. it's not really any fault of the game, it's actually entirely on me for playing the reboot right before this and having the muscle memory of that game fresh in my mind. that coupled with nero being pretty significantly different out the gate and i felt so fucking sluggish and clunky and weird for the first couple missions. i ended up taking a break from the game for a day or two to wash away that damned muscle memory and when i finally came back everything connected how i thought it would and i couldn't have been more in love
before i get into the obvious biggest high point in the gameplay let me just say this game is absolutely GORGEOUS. i know 2019 isn't THAT long ago but the environments are gorgeous, the combat looks better than it ever has with insane and exciting effects and particles. the cutscenes stood out as really well done especially, it feels like they didn't really need to put this much effort into them but they're beautifully animated. the soundtrack is great as well, nero's theme especially stood out as super exciting and blood pumping.
speaking of the cutscenes the story was solid here! it jumps around a lot and i don't think is winning any awards, but it's saved by the return of insane over the top action sequences in most cutscenes! i don't know if they quite reach the absurdity and fun of DMC 3 but it's so much more true to what i loved compared to 4 and they were so exciting to watch. nero as a character becomes so much more likable and fun, nico is an amazing addition and the way she interacts with nero was great. her fan girling over dante when they first meet was amazing as well. i wasn't that big into V as a character but i did like griffon! i got way too excited for vergil after dealing with how much i didn't like him in the reboot. lady and trish don't really do much unfortunately but i was happy to see them regardless. dante of course is still a standout and as wonderful as ever, him getting dr. faust was amazing.
okay this section might be a bit all over the place but i just have to kind of gush about the gameplay here. nero starts out pretty different and it was a bit awkward but once you start unlocking more variation in the devil breakers and understanding what each one does it's unbelievably fun. there's so much love put into each other, but being a huge mega man nerd i loved the mega buster, not only it just literally being a mega buster but nero doing the mega man jump animation and doing the teleport at the start of stages whenever he's using it made me smile a lot. some of my other favorites were punch line namely for it's charge attack being you get to ride on it like a hoverboard, the tomboy for the entirely new moveset that felt super weighty and fun to use, the buster arm because it was a great throwback, and gerbera for it's giant kamehameha charge attack and juggling enemies with the aerial dash was super fun. none of this is to mention how nero changes by the end of the game which i won't spoil but really just takes him up to 11 and makes him so insanely badass and fun.
V was okay, but easily my least favorite of the main 3. i don't hate the idea they were going for, and it did feel pretty badass ocassionally i wasn't miserable playing him by any means. he just felt much less involved, since you're controlling the summons and not attacking with V himself. i also maybe was just not fully understanding how he worked, but i found that the summons, shadow especially just whiffed his attacks constantly. griffon didn't feel particularly satisfying to use, and especially on a first playthrough since he wasn't clicking with me i didn't really wanna use my red orbs on him and opted to generally save them for nero and dante which didn't help. he's not terrible but i would have just preferred more nero/dante missions really lol.
okay this is where i'm just gonna gush like a dork for a little bit BUT OH MY GOD DANTE IN THIS GAME!!!!!! it felt odd going back to dante initially after playing the reboot and doing all the nero/v missions and similarly to the start of this game i had this weird worried feeling they kinda jumped the shark and it wasn't gonna be as fun. this mostly came from general starting awkwardness of having to get back into the groove but especially not super understanding how balrog worked intitially. this was a huge red flag to me, because even in the reboot the gauntlets were easily my favorite weapon archetype throughout the series and they felt so off/confusing initially in this game. it took me like a full mission to understand but holy shit these are the best gaunlets in the entire series. once you fully understand and start swapping between stances and utilizing all of the moves it is so absurdly exhilirating. i do still miss the charge punches a little bit but everything else is so much fucking fun that it didn't matter by the end. on the topic of these being the best gauntlet weapons in the series oh my god is this the best set of weapons in the series. devil sword dante is the best sword in the franchise easily, but even before that rebellion and sparda feel great. this series generally has tried some insane high concept weapons, and while i'm sure they're very satisfying if you learn them they generally felt a bit awkward and hard to justify swapping to for me (nevan in DMC 3, and lucifer in DMC 4) but cavaliere absolutely fucking nailed it. it's an INSANE weapon that's just 2 halves of a motorcycle that absolutely tear enemies up and with the swordmaster style you can combine them and ride the motorcycle to destroy demons. they also brought back the cerberus nunchucks, but not only did they bring them back but they made them even better! they added multiple elements to it, including an electric whip type charge attack, and with swordmaster style equipped a huge flame staff. DMC 3 still has the biggest variety of weapons in the series for dante but this game just absolutely perfected every style of weapon it added and has the best version of them all. the returning guns are fun, but don't really feel any different. dr. faust is the main new gun and it's really cool, but it also uses red orbs (although you can gain a ton back if you utilize it well) and i was too greedy to use it too much. there's just so much fucking depth with dante, it feels like you could play for hundreds of hours and still learn new fun ways to swap between weapons and styles in a satisfying way. i see myself going back to this game a ton to replay missions and just mess around with the combat in bloody palace. there's so much love and passion put into making all of these characters feel absolutely amazing throughout the entire series but it's truly perfected in this game. it's easily the greatest character action game i've played, and i can't imagine any game even comparing that isn't a new devil may cry game. i'm saying all this and i haven't even played as vergil yet!!! god this game rocks!!!
this game was an absolute blast to play. it made me so happy the whole way through. even without having the context of being a devil may cry fan before this year and experencing the lows that led to this, it still just feels like such a beautiful love letter to the franchise as a whole. i'm so glad i didn't start with this game because it made it even more satisfying to finally get here and absolutely understand the love put into this game and why it's so easily one of the best DMC games and character action games as a whole. this series had some highs and lows but 3 and especially this game made the lows so worth it. i'd like to thank all of my friends who hounded me to finally give this series a try, namely my good friend alex who i tortured by refusing to play this series for way too long LOL it was incredibly worth it and i'm a huge fan now :)
by the way, after playing them all my list is as follows
1. Devil May Cry 5
very close 2. Devil May Cry 3
3. Devil May Cry 4 = DmC: Devil May Cry
4. Devil May Cry 1
significantly below the rest 5. Devil May Cry 2
before i get into the obvious biggest high point in the gameplay let me just say this game is absolutely GORGEOUS. i know 2019 isn't THAT long ago but the environments are gorgeous, the combat looks better than it ever has with insane and exciting effects and particles. the cutscenes stood out as really well done especially, it feels like they didn't really need to put this much effort into them but they're beautifully animated. the soundtrack is great as well, nero's theme especially stood out as super exciting and blood pumping.
speaking of the cutscenes the story was solid here! it jumps around a lot and i don't think is winning any awards, but it's saved by the return of insane over the top action sequences in most cutscenes! i don't know if they quite reach the absurdity and fun of DMC 3 but it's so much more true to what i loved compared to 4 and they were so exciting to watch. nero as a character becomes so much more likable and fun, nico is an amazing addition and the way she interacts with nero was great. her fan girling over dante when they first meet was amazing as well. i wasn't that big into V as a character but i did like griffon! i got way too excited for vergil after dealing with how much i didn't like him in the reboot. lady and trish don't really do much unfortunately but i was happy to see them regardless. dante of course is still a standout and as wonderful as ever, him getting dr. faust was amazing.
okay this section might be a bit all over the place but i just have to kind of gush about the gameplay here. nero starts out pretty different and it was a bit awkward but once you start unlocking more variation in the devil breakers and understanding what each one does it's unbelievably fun. there's so much love put into each other, but being a huge mega man nerd i loved the mega buster, not only it just literally being a mega buster but nero doing the mega man jump animation and doing the teleport at the start of stages whenever he's using it made me smile a lot. some of my other favorites were punch line namely for it's charge attack being you get to ride on it like a hoverboard, the tomboy for the entirely new moveset that felt super weighty and fun to use, the buster arm because it was a great throwback, and gerbera for it's giant kamehameha charge attack and juggling enemies with the aerial dash was super fun. none of this is to mention how nero changes by the end of the game which i won't spoil but really just takes him up to 11 and makes him so insanely badass and fun.
V was okay, but easily my least favorite of the main 3. i don't hate the idea they were going for, and it did feel pretty badass ocassionally i wasn't miserable playing him by any means. he just felt much less involved, since you're controlling the summons and not attacking with V himself. i also maybe was just not fully understanding how he worked, but i found that the summons, shadow especially just whiffed his attacks constantly. griffon didn't feel particularly satisfying to use, and especially on a first playthrough since he wasn't clicking with me i didn't really wanna use my red orbs on him and opted to generally save them for nero and dante which didn't help. he's not terrible but i would have just preferred more nero/dante missions really lol.
okay this is where i'm just gonna gush like a dork for a little bit BUT OH MY GOD DANTE IN THIS GAME!!!!!! it felt odd going back to dante initially after playing the reboot and doing all the nero/v missions and similarly to the start of this game i had this weird worried feeling they kinda jumped the shark and it wasn't gonna be as fun. this mostly came from general starting awkwardness of having to get back into the groove but especially not super understanding how balrog worked intitially. this was a huge red flag to me, because even in the reboot the gauntlets were easily my favorite weapon archetype throughout the series and they felt so off/confusing initially in this game. it took me like a full mission to understand but holy shit these are the best gaunlets in the entire series. once you fully understand and start swapping between stances and utilizing all of the moves it is so absurdly exhilirating. i do still miss the charge punches a little bit but everything else is so much fucking fun that it didn't matter by the end. on the topic of these being the best gauntlet weapons in the series oh my god is this the best set of weapons in the series. devil sword dante is the best sword in the franchise easily, but even before that rebellion and sparda feel great. this series generally has tried some insane high concept weapons, and while i'm sure they're very satisfying if you learn them they generally felt a bit awkward and hard to justify swapping to for me (nevan in DMC 3, and lucifer in DMC 4) but cavaliere absolutely fucking nailed it. it's an INSANE weapon that's just 2 halves of a motorcycle that absolutely tear enemies up and with the swordmaster style you can combine them and ride the motorcycle to destroy demons. they also brought back the cerberus nunchucks, but not only did they bring them back but they made them even better! they added multiple elements to it, including an electric whip type charge attack, and with swordmaster style equipped a huge flame staff. DMC 3 still has the biggest variety of weapons in the series for dante but this game just absolutely perfected every style of weapon it added and has the best version of them all. the returning guns are fun, but don't really feel any different. dr. faust is the main new gun and it's really cool, but it also uses red orbs (although you can gain a ton back if you utilize it well) and i was too greedy to use it too much. there's just so much fucking depth with dante, it feels like you could play for hundreds of hours and still learn new fun ways to swap between weapons and styles in a satisfying way. i see myself going back to this game a ton to replay missions and just mess around with the combat in bloody palace. there's so much love and passion put into making all of these characters feel absolutely amazing throughout the entire series but it's truly perfected in this game. it's easily the greatest character action game i've played, and i can't imagine any game even comparing that isn't a new devil may cry game. i'm saying all this and i haven't even played as vergil yet!!! god this game rocks!!!
this game was an absolute blast to play. it made me so happy the whole way through. even without having the context of being a devil may cry fan before this year and experencing the lows that led to this, it still just feels like such a beautiful love letter to the franchise as a whole. i'm so glad i didn't start with this game because it made it even more satisfying to finally get here and absolutely understand the love put into this game and why it's so easily one of the best DMC games and character action games as a whole. this series had some highs and lows but 3 and especially this game made the lows so worth it. i'd like to thank all of my friends who hounded me to finally give this series a try, namely my good friend alex who i tortured by refusing to play this series for way too long LOL it was incredibly worth it and i'm a huge fan now :)
by the way, after playing them all my list is as follows
1. Devil May Cry 5
very close 2. Devil May Cry 3
3. Devil May Cry 4 = DmC: Devil May Cry
4. Devil May Cry 1
significantly below the rest 5. Devil May Cry 2