Now Playing: Devil May Cry 5

Devil May Cry 5 is the first game in the DMC series I’ve played, but I doubt it will be my last. It’s a series I’ve always wanted to try but never quite got around to. If you’ve followed my blog you’ll know I’m a fan of fast paced, third person action games so I was pretty excited to get stuck into DMC 5.

The game comes with a helpful little recap video for new players to bring them up to speed on the ongoing story and characters. And although the story of DMC 5 may not be the most important aspect, it’s a decent – if predicable – tale that helps string the missions along from one to the next. But honestly, once you’ve seen the story scenes once, you’ll likely just skip them on repeat play – aside from (maybe) that Dante dance number.

You begin the game by playing as Nero, but within a few short missions you’ll switch to playing as V. Both characters play very differently – Nero attacks directly with a sword and gun, whereas V has demonic ‘pets’ that do the fighting for him. Nero also has a mechanical arm which, as you progress, you will unlock multiple variations of, each with its own unique attack style and ultimate ability. But I must say, my initial impressions of DMC 5, based upon these two characters, were a little mixed.

 

When you begin you only have a very basic level of abilities available to you – you can’t even double jump or perform a proper dodge, for example. And Nero only has a single, sword based combo. Combat during these early missions, at least on your first run, will feel very limited. To be fair, the cost of many of your more basic skills is quite cheap, so you won’t have to grind too many ‘orbs’ in order to unlock them.

The ‘orb’ system is a point of contention that must be addressed. Pretty much every skill in the game for every character and weapon type can only be unlocked by spending red orbs at an ever increasing cost. I don’t know the total cost of all skills in the game because – even though I’ve now completed it twice – I’ve still not unlocked them all. Most, but not all. And I doubt I’ll ever grind the NINE MILLION orbs required to unlock each character’s final ‘taunt’ move.

I can understand wanting to give players a goal to strive for through repeat play, but I do feel that the cost of many of these skills is too damn high. I really shouldn’t need to play through the game 3-4 times (maybe more) to unlock everything. And like I said, it does make a good portion of your initial run feel very limited because there’s so much you haven’t yet unlocked.

And those unlocks are very important, particularly for Nero and V. Nero becomes far more fun to play once you’ve unlocked the majority of his skills. And V? Well, V does get better, but he’s still, by far, the weakest component of DMC 5. But let’s focus on Nero first, shall we?

 

Nero’s mechanical arm is what really sets him apart and I love the notion of each arm you unlock having different styles of attack. That said, when I unlocked my second arm I must have spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to switch between them . . . before I realised that I couldn’t. This is one aspect of DMC 5 I really don’t like. I understand the intention behind this design choice – to make switching your arms a tactical choice – you can only switch by destroying your currently equipped arm which will then automatically equip the next arm you’ve ‘queued’ in your inventory.

But frankly, I prefer games that give me creative flexibility – I wanted to be able to quickly switch between arm types as and when I pleased, to switch to whatever arm felt the most appropriate for that particular moment. I don’t hate the system they have, it just feels needlessly restrictive to me – as if Nero (if you’ll excuse the pun) is fighting with one arm tied behind his back.

As for V, it’s a little strange playing as him after playing Astral Chain – a game built around a combat system in which you summon and control a ‘pet’. And maybe it’s not fair to compare them considering that V is only one part of DMC 5, whereas Astral Chain is entirely designed for that style of play. But fair or not, V is the weakest part of DMC 5. He’s just not – at least to me – all that fun to actually play as. He gets better with new skills, but during my first run through the game, I can’t say I particularly enjoyed his missions.

In fact, I was a little concerned as I progressed. Considering all the ‘overwhelmingly positive’ reviews on Steam, I wasn’t exactly loving what I was playing. Nero was fun, but felt limited, and V was . . . kinda crap, to be perfectly honest. But then I unlocked Dante and Dante is f**king amazing.

 

Dante is fantastic to play as right from the very start, before you’ve even unlocked any of his (extensive) skills. Not only is he my favourite character to play as, but in terms of the story and characters, he’s just a fun lad who you can’t help but love. And once you do unlock new skills and weapons with Dante – including a chainsaw motorcycle – he just keeps getting better and better. Hell, the entire game could have just been playing as Dante and I think I would have liked it even more because the amount of combo options Dante has, the sheer amount of attack styles and weapon types is absolutely crazy.

And that’s what I love about Dante – he’s great to play as regardless of if you’re new to the game, or a veteran of the series. He’s instantly accessible but there’s so much depth to his gameplay to master. Playing as Dante was what really turned the game from being good to great for me. It’s just a shame he doesn’t show up until about half way through.

But DMC 5 is certainly a game that you’ll enjoy more on repeat play. I know it’s a strange recommendation – it gets really good once you’ve finished the game – but it’s true. I enjoyed DMC 5 far more on my second run with all the new skills I’d unlocked.

The game has a good selection of enemy types and some enjoyable bosses, but what it really lacks is environmental variety. This is probably my primary criticism of the game and why it doesn’t get a higher score – the environments kind of suck. The early levels are pretty decent as you traverse a city amidst a demonic invasion. But roughly half way through the game, pretty much every level becomes the same – you’re traversing the interior of a ‘demonic tree’.

 

I got f**king sick of that tree, I’m not going to lie. Every mission just looked the same. Don’t get me wrong, visually speaking, DMC 5 looks great – including the levels set within the demon tree – but I really didn’t need half the game to be set there. It kind of reminded me of the Hell levels in Bayonetta 2.

They were, visually, a great change of pace, but the game knew when to kick you back to reality. DMC 5, unfortunately, doesn’t and you’re stuck traversing that bloody tree until the end of the game. I also would have liked to see Nico, Trish or Lady play more of a role within the game – they just kind of disappear half way through.

I’m suddenly realising that this review is probably sounding more negative than positive, but I’m just laying out why DMC 5 didn’t quite manage to hit that higher score for me – why, as good as it is, it ain’t no Bayonetta, baby!

Overall, Devil May Cry 5 is a great game that’s worth checking out even if, like me, you’re new to the series. And – if I can find the time – I’m certainly going to check out the earlier games in the series to see how they compare.

8/10