As soon as I finished DMC 5 I had to sit down and comprehend what I played… and to catch my breath after the intensity that was the final boss. To me, DMC 5 is the best game in the franchise. First off this is the most gorgeous looking game in the series and one of the best looking games of the PS4/XBOX ONE generation. Photorealism was the right call and it shows that the RE Engine can handle action games. It’s quite fitting that it did use the engine from Resident Evil 7 since DMC was supposed to be a Resident Evil game.
The story may not be strong, I mean these games aren’t exactly known for their stories, but it does have a lot of memorable moments like Rebellion being destroyed, Neros Devil Trigger awakening, the resurrection of Vergil, and the greatest moment of all: Dante doing the moonwalk.
What this series is known for is gameplay and boy does DMC 5 have it. To no surprise everyone has their own playstyle, Nero being my favorite because of his sword base moves. His new abilities the Devil Breakers all have their powers like a chain whip, electricity, time stop, and the literal Mega Buster (my personal favorite next to Punch Line). They are fun, but their drawback is that the only way to switch between them is to self-destruct the one you are currently using, so you better make sure you equip your favorites in a specific order. The decision to not switch them up is puzzling, that would be like if Dante threw away his guns. You could argue that equipping 8 Devil Breakers would make combat easier, but why not just leave it at 4 or 3? Dante has fewer sword moves compared to Nero in favor of more weapons like the Cavaliere (the coolest motorcycle/sword hybrid ever created), the King Cerberus, and Sin Devil Trigger (which is like the Super Sayan God form). Then there’s V who ironically stays away from the action from a distance and lets his demons do the fighting for him. This is so drastically different from other characters yet it doesn’t feel out of place. Lastly, there is Vergil who’s playstyle is as smooth as butter, Pulling off Judgement Cut End is never not satisfying. Everyone is fun in their way and I never got bored with any of them.
Acting-wise everyone is on point. Ruben Langdon (who can probably play Dante in his sleep at this point) portrays a more mature, but still fun-loving protagonist in Dante. While Johnny Yong Bosch (a personal favorite of mine) delivers his sarcasm and swagger to Nero. Most of JYB’s best roles are considered to be Ichigo, Vash, Lelouch, and Izaya, but I would put Nero up there as some of his best work especially during the final mission. Brian Hanford gives V an ominous and tranquil tone which helps add to the mystery of who V is. And Wendee Lee as Trish who sadly does not get a lot of screen time, but does a serviceable job with what she is given, a shame Trish wasn’t in the game that much because this was perfect casting. (I would also like to point out that including Daniel Southworth makes four actors in here who were on Power Rangers… just a fun fact).
Other than the devil arms my other gripe was that there was no playable Trish of Lady. Last time we got a Special Edition of a DMC game Vergil, Trish, and Lady were all included as playable characters yet this time we only got Vergil. I know they didn’t get enough screen time in the game but they didn’t in DMC4 either and they became playable. If they were I honestly would have called DMC5 the magnum opus of the series.
Overall DMC5 is my favorite game in the franchise and I recommend playing it.
The story may not be strong, I mean these games aren’t exactly known for their stories, but it does have a lot of memorable moments like Rebellion being destroyed, Neros Devil Trigger awakening, the resurrection of Vergil, and the greatest moment of all: Dante doing the moonwalk.
What this series is known for is gameplay and boy does DMC 5 have it. To no surprise everyone has their own playstyle, Nero being my favorite because of his sword base moves. His new abilities the Devil Breakers all have their powers like a chain whip, electricity, time stop, and the literal Mega Buster (my personal favorite next to Punch Line). They are fun, but their drawback is that the only way to switch between them is to self-destruct the one you are currently using, so you better make sure you equip your favorites in a specific order. The decision to not switch them up is puzzling, that would be like if Dante threw away his guns. You could argue that equipping 8 Devil Breakers would make combat easier, but why not just leave it at 4 or 3? Dante has fewer sword moves compared to Nero in favor of more weapons like the Cavaliere (the coolest motorcycle/sword hybrid ever created), the King Cerberus, and Sin Devil Trigger (which is like the Super Sayan God form). Then there’s V who ironically stays away from the action from a distance and lets his demons do the fighting for him. This is so drastically different from other characters yet it doesn’t feel out of place. Lastly, there is Vergil who’s playstyle is as smooth as butter, Pulling off Judgement Cut End is never not satisfying. Everyone is fun in their way and I never got bored with any of them.
Acting-wise everyone is on point. Ruben Langdon (who can probably play Dante in his sleep at this point) portrays a more mature, but still fun-loving protagonist in Dante. While Johnny Yong Bosch (a personal favorite of mine) delivers his sarcasm and swagger to Nero. Most of JYB’s best roles are considered to be Ichigo, Vash, Lelouch, and Izaya, but I would put Nero up there as some of his best work especially during the final mission. Brian Hanford gives V an ominous and tranquil tone which helps add to the mystery of who V is. And Wendee Lee as Trish who sadly does not get a lot of screen time, but does a serviceable job with what she is given, a shame Trish wasn’t in the game that much because this was perfect casting. (I would also like to point out that including Daniel Southworth makes four actors in here who were on Power Rangers… just a fun fact).
Other than the devil arms my other gripe was that there was no playable Trish of Lady. Last time we got a Special Edition of a DMC game Vergil, Trish, and Lady were all included as playable characters yet this time we only got Vergil. I know they didn’t get enough screen time in the game but they didn’t in DMC4 either and they became playable. If they were I honestly would have called DMC5 the magnum opus of the series.
Overall DMC5 is my favorite game in the franchise and I recommend playing it.