This isn’t my first foray into Devil May Cry V nor the series as an entirety. I’ve been a massive fan of this series since playing 2 on the PS2 back in like 2003 or so. I was blown away by the action of the game and having two discs with dual protagonists to play as with slightly differing missions taking place at the same time.
Turns out 2 is the worst one and I still kinda like it. The first entry is great, 3 is incredible, 4 is meh at best and then comes 5. What a game. Honestly it’s just so much fun. If you are after an older aesthetic hack ‘n’ slash style game in the modern era, look no further.
It’ll definitely help playing the entire series up until this point unless you played the light reboot DmC that doesn’t matter it isn’t canon to this games universe. As this game has returning characters and overarching lore that if you want to know what’s going on then it’s pretty vital. The game can be played blind and it does give exposition within cutscenes and with information imbedded in the games menu if you search it out.
This game has 3 playable characters as standard, Dante the main character of 1,2,3 and V, the returning Nero from 4 who looks and plays so much better this time round. And, finally the mysterious V. If you get the special edition you also get Vergil, who is one of the main antagonists and twin brother of Dante.
Each character has their own distinct play style, Nero has his gun,sword and devil breaker which arm weaponised arm attachments. Dante has dualling pistols,shotgun,RPG and Dr, Faust hat, plus his devil sword, nun-chucks, demonfied gauntlets and chausses. On top of the best one which is a bladed motorbike that splits in two. Then V fights with his summons, Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare then finishing off the downed foes with his cane. Each play fast and heavy. With separate skills to unlock for each which come with additional, jumps,dodges,attack chains and combos which all flow seamlessly heightening your offence. I wont go into it too much, but Nero is heavier hitter with more methodical combos. Dante is all about very fast paced exploitation, swapping between your available arsenal on the fly to break shields/armour then swapping again to hit as hard as you can. V uses his three familiars to overwhelm with sudden mid range continuous damage. All along with the returning devil trigger for each where you get health replenishment and extra damage for a brief period.
Killing hundreds of demons over the 20 missions couldn’t be more fun and engaging. The combat is a precise flurry of perfectly executed mayhem. This game is very much an arced style game in its increasing difficulties. Where learning to dodge perfectly and execute the right combo on the specific enemy at the right time is highly rewarding. Having a distinct lack of big damage moves or quick time events to help turn the tide. It’s very much skill based. This shouldn’t be a deterrent as the easiest difficulty which is what I started on again isn’t particularly difficult and is still just as fun. The game is designed around all levels of players and re-playability so if you want more of a challenge then those difficulties unlock along the way.
The game is completely linear and lasts for around 11 hours I’d say but it could be less or a bit more depending on how you play. Each area is designed to be followed in one way. Occasionally they divert off to find a branch to cut down blocking a path or to complete a blood puzzle. There’s a few extra rooms with blue, purple orbs in which with 4 increase vitality and the Devil trigger gauge, allong with a secret mission which if you look at the ritual markings at the correct angle unlock. These are mini games comprised of killing waves of enemies or collecting red orbs in a certain time. Red orbs are the main currency of this game, which you use to upgrade the characters and buy items.
For a game that originally came out on PS4 and Xbox One with minor graphically upgrades this game still looks incredible on PS5. The character models are second to none. The world and bigger enemies usually the boss show their age a tad but nothing too glaring. The new ray tracing is used to add more depth to reflections and reflective surfaces. Along with the particles on screen at once. I had no lag or crashes. It was a flawless experience. The blood soaked underworld with pulsating plague like skin looks just as gruesome as ever and when in the Londonesque world it takes place in that looks fully realised.
There’s a healthy amount of enemies to fight with each mission adding a newer nefarious foe to do battle against. Which is normally capped off with a big ol’ boss battle. Something this series has predominantly done right is boss battles and this is no different. They are always engaging and hard hitting as you’d expect.
I don’t think there are too many negatives to this game. A few are I’d say the game moves as fast as the combat which can leave a few key points in the dust along with not necessarily being friendly to new players. It could’ve done with having a tad more cutscenes or the ones they had having just the extra but in them. I feel it’s a bit too short not by a lot though. The red orbs you need to fully complete each character comes in at a might 12 million and that’s hard to farm. I hit about 700 thousand by the end of my first play through. If you want to 100% the game for the platinum or achievements it’s particularly grindy. As it locked between 6-8 full play-throughs along with the bloody palace 101 floors of enemies to defeat. It’s absolutely catered towards a particular sort of play base.
The story isn’t the strongest and is kinda there just to hold the game together which obviously sounds a bit stupid. But I’d argue you could easily have just as much fun hacking your way through thousands of enemies for shits and giggles due to how good the combat is.
Ultimately this game is a score chasing arcade game. With the stylish ranks coming from the way you fight. Starting at D all the way to SSS. The higher damage and chained hits you get the more multiplier for red orbs you receive at the end of a mission. As long as you treat the higher difficulties this way the lack of a strong story doesn’t matter. Just keep on grinding and keep improving that’s the core of this game and series.
I’d rate this game a hefty 9/10, Pure Tasty Gaming.
As a 23+ year long series now, this 2020 entry is peak DMC and if there is never another mainline entry it’s a hell of a way to go out. It so close to being a 10/10 for me. However the drawbacks are it’s a bit short story wise and has an over reliance of people knowing the entirety of the story from the previous entries, even if there is a short recap you can access in game. There is a steep learning curve once you go up in difficulty as well but that’s where the fun really starts I’d argue. But the missions are beyond fun and the combat is an utter masterclass in the genre. It’s never a dull moment and with the constant addition of newer enemies to mix up the predicaments you find yourself in and the many boss battles. The increasing difficulty means the call of a replay is never too far out of reach.
Released November 2020 on Sony Playstation 5.
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