Without a doubt, I feel like this is a perfect videogame. Everything that this game does, it does perfectly, and at times it feels like it does more than it needs to, but it all just adds together into something amazing. Years ago, I was planning to play this as my first entry into the series, and I’m so glad that never happened, and I started at the beginning instead. The build up and improvement of each subsequent game made Devil May Cry 5 an absolute masterpiece.
Of course I’m already a bit biased here, I love Hack’n’Slashes. They’re easily one of my favorite videogame genres, what on the surface looks like thoughtless slaughter of enemies is actually thought out, rhythmic, all to counter each enemy and raise that combo rank even higher. I’d be lying to say that this gameplay loop isn’t addictive. DMC5 may just be the pinnacle of this, it’s ridiculously stylish in presentation, and I’m left in awe at the end of each and every battle. I think this was the DMC title where I got the most S ranks in normal battle. And the fact that the music builds and changes as your rank increases from D all the way to S is immaculate. I absolutely adore this feature, and it makes each of the main music tracks so memorable because of it.
And I adore the main playable characters of the game. I didn’t play as Vergil so I can’t really say what he plays like, but Nero, V, and Dante are super fun characters. Nero is both mostly the same as how he plays in DMC4, and also drastically different. His main shtick, Devil Bringer, is completely replaced with Devil Breakers and they’re amazing. Being able to switch between different arms that can have unique effects is really fun. Though I’ll be honest, while playing I barely lost any of my Devil Breakers, so for 90% of the game, I just had 3 of the basic ones, too afraid to destroy them as I’m afraid of losing resources. The fact that Nero can just grapple enemies to force them into the air, or just bring them closer to him is really fun.
And much like Nero, Dante is about the same as DMC4 too. He has his styles, and he has his weapons which you can switch with the triggers (I don’t remember if switching weapons like this is new to DMC5 or if it was introduced in a prior game, but if it is new, I adore this change). Dante is sort of the gold standard of hack’n’slash combat to me, no matter what he’s always ridiculously fun to play as, and he was my favorite character to play as in this game generally.
And V is really unique compared to the other 2. He’s more of a summoner, conjuring spirits to attack enemies for him, but he has to be the one to finish enemies off. There’s a sort of balancing act, where he can’t stay far away from enemies forever, either to help recharge his summons, or get in for the finishing blow. He was the character I got the most S ranks with, without a doubt, though he’s not my favorite to play as. That being said though, whenever they do a DMC6, I really hope they have a character that plays like V, his playstyle is refreshing compared to the likes of Nero and Dante.
There’s also just so many nice little things in the game. Practically every level in the game has a boss for it, which is always one of the highlights of a hack’n’slash. And the fact that nearly every boss is completely unique is amazing, and I’m so glad they were able to pull something like this off. As well, the game features a sort of multiplayer, where you can see other people playing a different character’s perspective if there’s an overlap. One level someone’s playing as V when you play as Nero, but when you play the same events as V, someone else is playing Nero. Sometimes even, the game will record you inputs and play that back instead, which is really cool.
But of course because of the multiple playable characters, and how perfect they feel to play, I already think gameplay-wise 5 is the best of the series. But where I think DMC5 goes to propel it to being a perfect videogame is its story. It’s the grand culmination of 4 games before it, all leading up to this grand sort of conclusion to this arc, and showing us what comes next for each and every character. I know that’s a bit grandiose and vague, but there’s of course reason to my madness. I don’t want to spoil a game that I love, so why would I say exact events or plot beats for a story here, even if it’s pretty well known what happens in it. The journey to get from Devil May Cry 1 all the way to 5 may be rough in the beginning, but it is no doubt worth it.
Yet again, I must reiterate, I think Devil May Cry 5 is a perfect video game. There is zero wrong with it, and every moment I played of it, I was absolutely amazed. I don’t know how many times I said, “Dante is so cool”, but it’s true, in every single instance. I’m so glad I finally got to experience this game, and the entire story with it, it was so worth the wait.
Of course I’m already a bit biased here, I love Hack’n’Slashes. They’re easily one of my favorite videogame genres, what on the surface looks like thoughtless slaughter of enemies is actually thought out, rhythmic, all to counter each enemy and raise that combo rank even higher. I’d be lying to say that this gameplay loop isn’t addictive. DMC5 may just be the pinnacle of this, it’s ridiculously stylish in presentation, and I’m left in awe at the end of each and every battle. I think this was the DMC title where I got the most S ranks in normal battle. And the fact that the music builds and changes as your rank increases from D all the way to S is immaculate. I absolutely adore this feature, and it makes each of the main music tracks so memorable because of it.
And I adore the main playable characters of the game. I didn’t play as Vergil so I can’t really say what he plays like, but Nero, V, and Dante are super fun characters. Nero is both mostly the same as how he plays in DMC4, and also drastically different. His main shtick, Devil Bringer, is completely replaced with Devil Breakers and they’re amazing. Being able to switch between different arms that can have unique effects is really fun. Though I’ll be honest, while playing I barely lost any of my Devil Breakers, so for 90% of the game, I just had 3 of the basic ones, too afraid to destroy them as I’m afraid of losing resources. The fact that Nero can just grapple enemies to force them into the air, or just bring them closer to him is really fun.
And much like Nero, Dante is about the same as DMC4 too. He has his styles, and he has his weapons which you can switch with the triggers (I don’t remember if switching weapons like this is new to DMC5 or if it was introduced in a prior game, but if it is new, I adore this change). Dante is sort of the gold standard of hack’n’slash combat to me, no matter what he’s always ridiculously fun to play as, and he was my favorite character to play as in this game generally.
And V is really unique compared to the other 2. He’s more of a summoner, conjuring spirits to attack enemies for him, but he has to be the one to finish enemies off. There’s a sort of balancing act, where he can’t stay far away from enemies forever, either to help recharge his summons, or get in for the finishing blow. He was the character I got the most S ranks with, without a doubt, though he’s not my favorite to play as. That being said though, whenever they do a DMC6, I really hope they have a character that plays like V, his playstyle is refreshing compared to the likes of Nero and Dante.
There’s also just so many nice little things in the game. Practically every level in the game has a boss for it, which is always one of the highlights of a hack’n’slash. And the fact that nearly every boss is completely unique is amazing, and I’m so glad they were able to pull something like this off. As well, the game features a sort of multiplayer, where you can see other people playing a different character’s perspective if there’s an overlap. One level someone’s playing as V when you play as Nero, but when you play the same events as V, someone else is playing Nero. Sometimes even, the game will record you inputs and play that back instead, which is really cool.
But of course because of the multiple playable characters, and how perfect they feel to play, I already think gameplay-wise 5 is the best of the series. But where I think DMC5 goes to propel it to being a perfect videogame is its story. It’s the grand culmination of 4 games before it, all leading up to this grand sort of conclusion to this arc, and showing us what comes next for each and every character. I know that’s a bit grandiose and vague, but there’s of course reason to my madness. I don’t want to spoil a game that I love, so why would I say exact events or plot beats for a story here, even if it’s pretty well known what happens in it. The journey to get from Devil May Cry 1 all the way to 5 may be rough in the beginning, but it is no doubt worth it.
Yet again, I must reiterate, I think Devil May Cry 5 is a perfect video game. There is zero wrong with it, and every moment I played of it, I was absolutely amazed. I don’t know how many times I said, “Dante is so cool”, but it’s true, in every single instance. I’m so glad I finally got to experience this game, and the entire story with it, it was so worth the wait.