Developer: Ninja Theory
Producers: Motohide Eshiro, Yohei Uchida, Alex Jones
Writer / Director: Tameem Antoniades
Supervising Director: Hideaki ItsunoDevil May Cry is currently Capcom’s 5th best selling franchise (Resident Evil is #1, of course), but in the early 2010s, they felt it could do better. They decided to reboot the series in an alternate universe with a Western developer. They wanted to create a game that was recognizably part of the series while being distinct (from Bayonetta as well as the older games) and easily accessible to new players. They chose English developers Ninja Theory (Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice) for their work on Heavenly Blade. Capcom closely monitored the development of the game to be sure that the combat fit the series, with Hideaki Itsuno serving as the supervising director. The fanbase was initially outraged to see a radically redesigned Dante without his signature white hair and red jacket (Capcom demanded this change to appeal to a younger demographic, and really he looks more like Nero from DMC4), with Hideki Kamiya leading the charge against it. Honestly, I think this complaint is a bit ridiculous, as Dante had a different look and voice actor in almost every game (or show) in the series so far. His now-signature weapons (the Rebellion sword and Ebony & Ivory pistols) were retained, at least.
The plot borrows a lot of elements from all the past games. Dante teams up with his twin brother Vergil (DMC3), the leader of The Order (DMC4), to hunt Mundus, the demon responsible for killing his mother and imprisoning his father (DMC). Mundus is living on earth in human form in a giant crazy looking skyscraper (DMC2), where he exerts his influence over our world. All of these familiar elements come with a number of twists. Dante and Vergil are nephilim: half demon, half angel (they were half human instead of angel in previous titles), which makes them the only living creatures able to destroy a demon lord. The plot has also been modernized — for the first time in the game series, it really acknowledges the human world and the way demons interact with it and control it (this was, however, covered a bit in the anime). Dante is unaware of his heritage until he meets Vergil. He is, of course, eager to help Vergil take down Mundus once he learns the truth, and thus sets off on a quest to lure out Mundus by destroying the demons who run his two primary methods of control — a popular soda and a media company.
This game has the most creative visual design of any title in this series. It takes place in Limbo (much like Bayonetta’s Purgatorio, but much cooler looking), and as such everything looks hyperstylized and crazy — as if the Silent Hill otherworld were crossed with Inception and splashed with a whole lot of color. Limbo is a living dimension that wants Dante dead. The magical door seals of previous games are replaced here with Limbo sealing off areas to trap Dante — roads explode into the air and buildings move to try to trap or crush him. The level design itself is a bit simpler than that of the first or third games (partially due to the absence of puzzles), but the creative visuals and great ways to traverse them keep them engaging. There’s more platforming than ever in this game, but it’s a bit more fun that it used to be thanks to the angel and devil modifiers, which reflect Dante’s two halves and come with their own weapons and abilities. The angel modifier can act as a grappling hook, pulling you towards enemies and locations, while the devil modifier pulls things and enemies towards you. They’re both contextual actions, so they can’t be used as freely or widely as, say, the grappling hook in the Batman Arkham games, but they do have a similar feel. The platforming is also much easier than in the past since falling respawns you where you left off, removing just a single bar of health. This makes it less frustrating than it used to be, as the older games made you work your way back up from the bottom every time you fell.
The camera is modernized, as well, as it can be moved much more freely. The only issue I had with it was in the final boss fight, where it kept obscuring the boss. The character movement is the most fluid of any game in the series so far, which also makes combat feel fantastic. The combat actually reminds me a bit of DOOM 2016, even though it hadn’t come out yet — the demon designs often look similar, and the explosion of orbs upon killing a demon is quite reminiscent of DOOM. The combat strangely feels a bit more accessible than previous titles, despite having way more combos than the early games and more contexts where only one modifier works. I think the amount of tools available make the gameplay feel more fluid, since you don’t just need to alternate the same 4 combos — you can whip out a whole host of moves at any point. Devil Trigger is maybe a bit too overpowered this time — it freezes the enemies and throws them up in the air in addition to making you faster and more powerful and recharging your health, so the challenge lies in getting to as many enemies as you can before the timer runs out. It also turns your coat red, making Dante look a bit more old school, though this means we don’t get to see what the nonhuman form of the nephilim actually looks like — a missed art design opportunity.
The game’s stylization can feel a little too Hitman: Absolution meets Hot Topic at times. It all just feels a bit more gratuitous than previous titles — for instance, the opening cinematic features a bunch of scantily clad women with angel wings followed by Dante sleeping with them in his trailer — I’d hardly consider this Game of Thrones-level sexposition. Dante’s dialogue leaves a lot to be be desired — his catchphrase is ‘fuck you’, he really loves repeating things that people just said in a slightly reworded way (do they think the audience can’t keep up?), and he makes lots of bad puns. Big, all-caps words pop up in the environment displaying its intentions in a weird combination of Alan Wake and They Live, which bash you over the head with whatever the game wants to convey. It’s still the best writing in the series — I mean, come on, good writing isn’t what these games are known for. The industrial nu metal soundtrack by Noisia and Combichrist doesn’t help, either — it isn’t necessarily any worse than the music from DMC3, but it still feels a bit too generic, which is a shame, as the ambient music is great. Thankfully, the movement and combat feel so good and the visuals look so pretty that it’s easy to overlook these flaws.
The game length is just about right at around 11hrs — more substantial than the early titles, but not quite as drawn out as 3&4. The game is certainly easier than its predecessors (DMC2 aside, of course), and a big part of the reason for that is that it has a real checkpoint system in the missions now. You can pick up mid-mission whenever you want now — you no longer have to play whole missions in a single sitting. There are some difficult enemies in the late stages, but what made the older DMC games so hard was the bosses, which are both less frequent and less difficult here. The final two bosses are reimagined final bosses from earlier games, and while they did present a small challenge, they were basically a joke compared to the ragingly difficult originals. The strategies needed to beat them just don’t feel as involved, for some reason, maybe because they’re easier to execute. There’s still some creativity in the boss designs, though — I especially enjoyed fighting what was basically a demonic fox news talking head.
The store works the same as it did in DMC2 onwards — the more of an item you purchase, the more expensive it becomes. Permanent health and devil trigger upgrades are no longer orbs — they’ve been replaced by crosses, which make things a bit clearer from the start for newcomers. As in DMC4, upgrades are no longer purchased using red orbs. White orbs serve that purpose instead of refilling your devil trigger — collect a certain number, and you’ll get an upgrade point. There are way too many upgrades available to get them all in one playthrough between the 5 melee weapons and 3 guns, and I usually ended up with just 1–2 upgrade points per level. Beating the game unlocks several difficulty tiers, as always — there are 7 tiers of difficulty, with only 3 available at the start. There are even two tiers of difficulty beyond Dante Must Die this time — in the highest one, ‘Hell or Hell’, Dante dies with just a single hit. As usual now, beating the game also unlocks Bloody Palace mode if you’re feeling a bit of grinding. I found this to be surprisingly fun this time around. There are also a number of locked doors which lead to secret levels. While the levels I played were a bit easier than in the earlier games (and also available from the main menu, so there’s no pressure to complete them in the moment as with those titles), finding the keys to unlock the doors is pretty damn hard. I came across very few during my time with the game, and thus only managed to complete a few of these levels.
Many gamers harbor a lot of vitriol towards this game and seem to believe it’s not only not worthy of the series, but bad in its own right. I simply can’t agree with that at all. It isn’t a flawless title, but its merits are too great to dismiss. As the first western entry in the series, it’s FAR more successful than, say, Silent Hill: Homecoming or Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Itsuno liked it so much that he wanted to direct the sequel himself, though he realized that Ninja Theory should be the ones to do it, so he developed DMC5 instead. Yes, it’s a more casual game than the others in the series on the highest difficulty available at the start — but fear not, because some wickedly difficult modes are unlockable. Unfortunately, the souped-up Definitive Edition (featuring all DLC, balance alterations, and many new modes) is not available for PC. That version features some especially hard modes, like ‘Must’ mode where enemies can only be damaged once at an S-rank combat rating. It’s a lot easier to reach that rating than in previous titles, but that would still be wickedly difficult! I guess I can’t complain, though, since the PC port was great and ran very smoothly. It may even have workable PC controls this time, though I got so used to playing with a controller in the early games that I stuck with it here — it just works better for combos.
On the other hand, the story DLC, Vergil’s Downfall, is deserving of ire. It’s a brief, 6-mission episode which can be easily completed in an hour or two. It’s got a couple new enemies and delivers more of the excellent gameplay, and it’s certainly harder than the main game, but that feels more due to ability imbalance than increased difficulty. Vergil’s new dash ability feels redundant with angel and devil modes, so the new abilities aren’t much to speak of (and are pretty similar to his abilities in the last two games, anyway). The level design isn’t very interesting, as the devs were content to recycle bits of the game in a single area of limbo, and there isn’t even a real new boss. The main problem with this DLC is the writing. It’s delivered in lazily animated cutscenes, which feel jarring interspersed with the in-game cutscenes, as if it was done to save money. The story tries to explain why Vergil became so power-hungry by following him through a limbo sequence where he fights images of Dante and himself after the main game, but it doesn’t make a lick of sense. It tries to humanize him in a way that’s inconsistent with his previous characterization and has the unfortunate side effect of making him less interesting. Give this episode a pass.
Rating: 7.5/10 butchers
[Originally posted in 2019]
