I’ll be honest when I say that I never really got into the original Devil May Cry series, only making my way into the series with the apparently sacrilegious DmC: Devil May Cry back in 2013. Since then I have gone back and played the original Playstation 2 games and I can safely say that their blend of hard to learn, hard to master game play is so difficult that sometimes I want to be the one crying.
First off lets address the Gajasura in the room in that Devil May Cry 5 is a return to the original series and its chronology, with DMC: Devil May Cry being non canon to the series as a whole. So 5 continues from 4 and all is right with the world as we go back to the story of Dante, Nero, Virgil, Trish and all the other well known faces as well as adding in newcomer V to complete a trio of now playable characters.
Gameplay wise you’re looking at traditional Devil May Cry action, chaining together reams of “Hack N Slash” combos forever boosting your style ranking as you improve the speed and precision as pull off said combos…or mashing buttons until everything disappears. Of course when you have three playable characters the way in which you perform said combos is going to be different as each demon slayer has their own unique way of hacking and slashing through the myriad of familiar, and not so familiar, beasties.
Dante, the central protagonist, plays as he’s always played utilising the well-known Ebony and Ivory firearms and Rebellion sword as well as skill categories Swordmaster, Gunslinger, Royal Guard and Trickster. As always he is a combo creating machine switching between swords and dual guns to create some truly mind blowing attacks once you get into the hang of it.
Nero; having lost his Devil Bringer arm, utilises a combination of gun play, swordplay and his new Devil Breaker mechanical arm. The Devil Breaker itself is the defining attribute of Nero’s arsenal giving you abilities such as damaging electrical bursts or powerful energy shock-waves as well as a host of others depending on the type of Devil Breaker you use. Also if you really want you can explode the Devil Breaker right into an enemy’s face, this new mechanic combined with Nero’s other weapons is in my opinion the easiest way to gain some much needed style points.
V, the new boy in the series, is completely different to both Nero and Dante being a weaker character who relies on summoning a trio of savage monsters to fight for him. These three act like living weapons for you to control and change the dynamic between attack and defence making you play a little more reserved so as not to lose one into the other. Its a unique approach to combat but one that for me isn’t as fun as the other two on offer.
In respect to graphics it looks better than any of the previous entries utilising Capcom’s RE Engine, the engine used for both Resident Evil 7 and 2 remake, meaning the locations and characters look outstanding but also meaning that all of the fast paced action runs fluid and steady meaning you can’t blame the graphics engine for any times that you lose that “Stylish” Combo.
With all this Devil May Cry 5 is a stylish and exciting game to play that ticks all the boxes if you’re a fan of either Hack N Slash games or the Devil May Cry series itself, and hopefully is the beginning of a resurgence for the series on modern day consoles.
Author: Hal, Plymouth store
