Devil May Cry 2 is one of the most fascinating missteps I've ever seen. The only thing you ever hear about DMC2 is that it sucks, and it truly does, but the level at which DMC2 utterly butchers everything great about the original DMC1 makes the game feel like a fever dream. Even at the most fundamental level all of Dante's tools from the first game feel incredibly stiff and slow. There's simply no joy to any of his moves.
Somehow this isn't DMC2's biggest shortcoming. That would be the enemies. Sometimes I wonder if the foes in this game were even designed for a game where the player character has firearms, because most enemies don't seem to mind getting mowed down by a hail of gunfire from across the map. This is largely due to two factors. The first is that nearly all enemies lack any kind of a gap-closer. The second is that your guns stun lock most enemies regardless of what they're doing. This means the only challenge combat can give you is from the cheapest methods possible. Enemies attacking offscreen without proper sound cues is quite a popular one. Another is enemies hovering outside of melee range, and having lord-knows how much health. Every enemy encounter is either so trivially short that you'll forget it even happened a minute later, or so painfully drawn out that you'll legitimately start questioning your life choices. I honestly feel like calling the game boring is a massive understatement. I don't think mankind has invented a word strong enough to describe the amount of tedium DMC2 has to offer.
This alternate form of melatonin "only" lasts 4 hours if you're stupid enough to play both Dante and Lucia's campaigns(like me!), but you'll feel like you wasted an eternity on it. Even after all I've said, NOTHING will prepare you for how much of a slog DMC2 is. Most bad games offer some semblance of entertainment, even if it's from unintentional means, but DMC2 offers nothing but regret and absolute bewilderment that this franchise somehow continued after this joyless, aimless mess.
The game's style indicator says "Don't Worry" when you have a D rank, but you should. You really, really should.
Somehow this isn't DMC2's biggest shortcoming. That would be the enemies. Sometimes I wonder if the foes in this game were even designed for a game where the player character has firearms, because most enemies don't seem to mind getting mowed down by a hail of gunfire from across the map. This is largely due to two factors. The first is that nearly all enemies lack any kind of a gap-closer. The second is that your guns stun lock most enemies regardless of what they're doing. This means the only challenge combat can give you is from the cheapest methods possible. Enemies attacking offscreen without proper sound cues is quite a popular one. Another is enemies hovering outside of melee range, and having lord-knows how much health. Every enemy encounter is either so trivially short that you'll forget it even happened a minute later, or so painfully drawn out that you'll legitimately start questioning your life choices. I honestly feel like calling the game boring is a massive understatement. I don't think mankind has invented a word strong enough to describe the amount of tedium DMC2 has to offer.
This alternate form of melatonin "only" lasts 4 hours if you're stupid enough to play both Dante and Lucia's campaigns(like me!), but you'll feel like you wasted an eternity on it. Even after all I've said, NOTHING will prepare you for how much of a slog DMC2 is. Most bad games offer some semblance of entertainment, even if it's from unintentional means, but DMC2 offers nothing but regret and absolute bewilderment that this franchise somehow continued after this joyless, aimless mess.
The game's style indicator says "Don't Worry" when you have a D rank, but you should. You really, really should.
FallenGrace
2 years ago
Evidently I had a degree of self loathing I wasn't aware of at the time.