This is a really incredible half of a game. The gameplay itself is fantastic, it feels like the series finally hit its full stride here. It takes everything that was established for dante in 3 and tweaks it to further prioritize fluidity and experimentation; letting the player change dante's style on the fly in combat rather than at a divinity statue might be one of, if not the best, design decision the devil may cry series has ever made. That focus on making player options more open applies to the ability to refund and rearrange skills (which, even if I never used because it's pretty easy to get enough souls to buy just about everything, is pretty cool). Nero doesn't feel too different to play but it's just enough to make him interesting, especially how the devil bringer offers a totally new toolset to create combos with a unique rhythm.

It's too bad that halfway through the game you realize you've actually seen basically the whole game and now you're just going to be doing it all again in reverse. The bosses, on the whole, are pretty good: maybe a little too easy at times, but still fun to fight. I didn't think they were quite as good after learning that there's only, like, six of them, and you fight almost all of them twice. Not to mention, they're all pretty much pushovers when you get dante's bigger moveset. A really odd choice that must have been because of time constraints, because otherwise I just don't get it.

It's just not the complete package that dmc 3 is. It feels amazing, it looks amazing, it's really good, it just seems a little... underbaked in the mission count and boss designs. I'm not sure how well it'll lend itself to replays, since one playthrough already felt like two. Still a good entry, solid follow-up to 3, makes me even more excited to start 5.