spiderslash- Expect nothing, and even less.

I like really stupid shit and Devil May Cry is really stupid shit.

Devil May Cry is one of Capcom’s most prolific IP’s and Dante is one of their most recognizable characters. The series has become synonymous with the action genre and its combination of high octane hack and slash gameplay and stylish combos and gameplay systems have captured the hearts of both players and critics alike. The series has been going on for close to Twenty Years now and with the fifth installment, shows no sign of stopping. People love Devil May Cry to death.

Me?

I only got into this series like two years ago and I only fully enjoyed like…two of the games prior to DMCV.

Now don’t get me wrong I love Devil May Cry. I love how stylish the games are, I love much fun they are to play, I love Dante, I love how BATSHIT insane they are but the actual games themselves? I dunno they always had a bunch of issues that got in the way of me truly loving them. The only games I really enjoyed were DMC3 and DMC4 but even then those games suffer through tremendous level design issues (4 ESPECIALLY good fucking god) and having tedious, uninteresting puzzles but I can at least appreciate what they were going for. Hell, I even saw the value in DmC: Devil May Cry even though it had NONE of what made Devil May Cry fun in a combat sense because it had really fun levels.

no joke I think that game gets too much hate.

Even though I wasn’t over the moon per se with any of the games I could at least see why people loved them and when Capcom announced Devil May Cry V at E3 2018 I become pretty excited as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to play the game at launch until almost a year later and let me tell you something, people.

They did it.

They FUCKING did it.

THIS IS THE DEVIL MAY CRY GAME I’VE ALWAYS WANTED.

Devil May Cry V is fantastic on every level. The gameplay? The best the series has ever felt. The visuals? Absolutely gorgeous even on a standard PlayStation 4. The music? Fucking. Fantastic. The story? Cringe inducing horse shit, it’s all phenomenal. To go into more detail I adored how fluid the gameplay was and how every playable character feels unique from one another. I thought Nero’s “Devil Breaker” mechanic, while frustrating and a tad confusing to use at first really opened up a lot of unique combat opportunities for every fight. I also really enjoyed using V’s monster summon abilities and it was the most fun I ever had getting carpal tunnel. Now Dante…Dante is something special. He is the one character in this game that I not only found to be unequivocally the best out of all of them but also the one I had the most trouble fully utilizing. He is STUPIDLY complex in this game and while that makes him the most rewarding it also makes him the most frustrating just because of the overwhelming amount of moves you have at your disposal.

Now the biggest form of contention  Devil May Cry has always had has been its difficulty and I am here to confirm that yes, Devil May Cry is still hard.

If you suck.
which I do

The enemies and bosses in Devil May Cry V are still just as rough as ever and while they aren’t Devil May Cry 3 bad (I don’t think anything can be, honestly), they still put up a good fight and will really test the abilities of those who challenge them. The punishment doesn’t stop there either as you can unlock additional difficulties with each subsequent playthrough and while that’s cool and all you’ve got me far past fucked if you think I’m ever going to attempt Dante Must Die. I like this game but I don’t like it THAT much, you guys. Truthfully I felt that the games medium difficulty (Devil Hunter) was enough for me and I imagine most players as well. Devil May Cry is a difficult game for casual video game fans but it is by no means impossible.

One more thing I want to commend Devil May Cry V for is its level design as it’s the first game in the main series that not only features almost zero backtracking through areas, but also has fun and interesting locales to explore. The thing I always saw holding Devil May Cry back from true greatness was its bland and annoying level design and to see this game do away with that and provide a much more focused gameplay structure really made me happy. It actually reminds me of DmC in a way which is really funny considering it feels like this game was made to completely erase that from people’s memories. Also, one cute thing this game does is whenever you’re connected online you can see other players traveling the same world as you but on different paths and I just thought that was cute.

Now in terms of presentation? Come on. You’ve seen the screenshots. This game is positively gorgeous. I don’t know what kind of magic Capcom is able to create using the Resident evil engine but it astounds me beyond belief. Even on my older PlayStation 4, this game looks fantastic and exhibits and an amazing amount of detail withing ever frame. Character models show off an amazing amount of detail and exhibit some extremely fluid and precise motion captured animations and for how fantastical and crazy this game is, have some of the most uncomfortably realistic looking faces I have ever seen. The environments also show off the same fidelity as the characters do and exhibit superb lightning ESPECIALLY in the more hellish looking areas. The music as well is just *chef’s kiss* magnificent, giving off the feeling of high octane insanity that I’ve come to expect out of this series. The game also runs at a perfect 60 fps with no slowdown in sight outside of a few cutscenes. Capcom really knocked it out of the park when it came to the technical stuff in this game and it makes me hopeful that they can do the same for some of their other franchise like oh I don’t know Street Fighter maybe Street Fighter can actually look really nice HUH CAN IT CAPCOM IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK CAN YOU GIVE THE SAME BUDGET TO FUCKING STREET FIGHTER FOR GODS SAKE?

Devil May Cry V is pure bliss wrapped in a ribbon of demon blood. If you’re a fan of hack and slash games or just action in general, you are doing a disservice to yourself by not picking this game up. It is by far the best game in the series and if Capcom has plans in continuing the series I will be right here to support them. This game kicks ass.