In terms of refining the gameplay mechanics from DMC 3, DMC 4 does a solid job in terms of picking up where the last game left off. Both playable characters in the base game are fluid, interesting, and offer unique movesets that are a total blast to experiment with. There's an argument out there that 3 is still the overall best of the two in terms of gameplay, and I'm still on the fence on that issue, but overall, 4 is a well-oiled machine of fantastic game fell.
Unfortunately, DMC 4 faulters quite a lot in terms of its level design and repetitive content. DMC 3 had a bit of an issue with reusing bosses towards the end of the game, 1 had you fight the same bosses over and over and over again, and 4 follows that trend by presenting us with mandatory, repetitive boss encounters that are just a chore to go through. Add on top of the lack of boss variety is that when the player finally gets their hands on Dante, his levels are just Nero's, but in reverse... Dante does have some unique enemies and segments to play through, but it obviously feels like a retread of everything we did before.
In terms of Special Edition content, it's solid but nothing too noteworthy. The ability to play as Trish, Lady, and Virgil is great, and they all have super cool movesets to take advantage of (especially within Bloody Palace), yet if you want to play more than just that with those characters, you have to play through the same story levels but with those characters. Considering the fact you basically play all those levels twice over in the Nero/Dante story, it's not appetizing to do that all over again, but with a different set of characters.
DMC 4 is largely a batch of missed potential. Although there's some seriously solid gameplay fundamentals here, and the story is rather okay for a kookie action game such as this, it's still a disappointment that there's a noticeable lack of content in this game compared to 1 and 3.
Unfortunately, DMC 4 faulters quite a lot in terms of its level design and repetitive content. DMC 3 had a bit of an issue with reusing bosses towards the end of the game, 1 had you fight the same bosses over and over and over again, and 4 follows that trend by presenting us with mandatory, repetitive boss encounters that are just a chore to go through. Add on top of the lack of boss variety is that when the player finally gets their hands on Dante, his levels are just Nero's, but in reverse... Dante does have some unique enemies and segments to play through, but it obviously feels like a retread of everything we did before.
In terms of Special Edition content, it's solid but nothing too noteworthy. The ability to play as Trish, Lady, and Virgil is great, and they all have super cool movesets to take advantage of (especially within Bloody Palace), yet if you want to play more than just that with those characters, you have to play through the same story levels but with those characters. Considering the fact you basically play all those levels twice over in the Nero/Dante story, it's not appetizing to do that all over again, but with a different set of characters.
DMC 4 is largely a batch of missed potential. Although there's some seriously solid gameplay fundamentals here, and the story is rather okay for a kookie action game such as this, it's still a disappointment that there's a noticeable lack of content in this game compared to 1 and 3.