DmC: Devil May Cry

The Story may not be good but gameplay dude HOLY SHIT

Dante's Inferno
Devil May Cry series reboot was announced as early as 2010 to the world’s highly mixed reception. Now loosing the capital M for a rather silly full title - DmC: Devil may Cry was but a tip of the iceberg. Both Dante’s redesign and game straying away from its anime and classic horror influences drew the fanbase’s ire. Despite certain adjustments made in following two years in response to the criticism, Capcom pushed for as different DmC game as possible. The publisher wanted to try and refresh the series by giving it a western angle, while also making it more appealing to “new generation”. Admittedly, a decision to push for a western take on the game that previously conquered said western audience with its anime influences seems like a counterproductive idea, and if we don’t put it so charitably – outright asking for trouble. I went into the game recalling primarily the backlash regarding early designs, thus I had my expectations exceedingly low when I launched Devil may Cry.
And then my initial scepticism was corrected, almost immediately. Devil may Cry starts very strong with over-the-top cutscenes, a powerful music score, a creepily atmospheric amusement park and a tasty bossfight. Such an opening was more than enough to get me on board. Just don’t get too excited, as the game is by no means all demon ichor, guns and roses. Nonetheless, despite being inherently different from the rest of the series, this is still at core a Devil May Cry title, and one far easier to approach at that. With this in mind, let’s see what are the virtues and vices of emperor’s new clothes (and a haircut).
It's crowded in Limbo
Probably biggest novelty introduced by reboot is Limbo. The demons no longer breach the fabric of reality to trap and attack the player. Now they have a warped reflection of the real world, named Limbo, to call home and it is Dante invading their turf instead. Lore aside, the concept of Limbo allowed the developers of the game a lot of creative freedom. Coming in and out of Limbo not only makes for enticing visual theme – Ninja Theory also got infinite space to fill as they please and their creative vision cannot be understated. Level design is arguably the biggest strength of DmC, as many of them have stunning and unique visuals in store for the player. A story exposition cutscene played in a tunnel with graffiti on the walls illustrating the narrative, an upside-down train station, a bossfight in a news broadcast, a nightclub-themed level that feels like fighting through a music track and the list doesn’t end there. Another aspect of the game worth mentioning is that the antagonist controls the world of Limbo to a degree, with several sections where the city itself moves, trying to trap or kill Dante.
For all its visual creativity, the vastness of Limbo seemingly proved a bit much for the developers too. There are numerous sections of the game composed of traversing great empty spaces by jumping from one floating platform to another. I do understand that they wanted to put the grappling hook mechanics to extensive use, but an abundance of semi-platformer sections start to get simply tedious towards the end of the game.
You are all SSSensational
Along with new world, comes a twist on the combat system. Dante’s iconic sword Rebellion and his twin guns make a reappearance in DmC, with but a slight redesign. From there though, things get quite different. Reboot has changed Dante’s heritage making him a son of a demon and an angel. His dual nature is complimented by a matching arsenal. There are two angelic weapons that allow a selection of light, albeit fast and wide strikes, and two demon ones that are slow but can deal devastating damage to a single foe. All of the above stem from Rebellion that now swiftly changes shape under Dante’s will. In practice, that means that not only you have your entire arsenal available at all times, you can also instantly switch between the weapons for complex and satisfying combos. New combat system of DmC is in fact much more welcoming to the new players, as achieving a high ranking is far easier in reboot, which in turn encourages experimentation and rewards extra effort put into the fights. New score system means that cracking up the best SSS rating is essentially possible for everyone. That said, there is still room for “true” combo mastery for those seeking an arcade challenge, while there is nothing above SSS rank, you may have your overall score exceed the threshold by 3 extra digits.
Devil may Cry is successful at making excessive application of sharp objects a fun experience to casuals and pros alike. Unfortunately, I personally find the meat for the grinder quite underwhelming. Most prevalent theme among monsters in the game is that of broken marble statues, held together by black goo flowing out of the cracks. They don’t look demonic at all, rather appearing as some kind of twisted church ornament. There are few exceptions such as masked assassin or death knights, then again overgrown rats and a mech with sawblades for arms, doesn’t seem particularly diabolical as well. Frankly, reception of the monster designs is a matter of taste. What cannot be written off as a matter of preference are the boss fights. You may recall that cliché when you fight a large boss that pounds its fists at the platform you are standing on, making you wait until it becomes exposed. If you have ever played an action game before, you probably do and in 7 bossfights of DmC it happens twice. Sadly, that also includes the fight against the main antagonist, which is simply a shame.
F*** you, Dante
That leaves the true elephant in the room to address – a foul creature with bad breath, tattered clothes and profanities tattooed on its forehead. Namely, the game’s story. Truth be told, Devil May Cry series was never a pinnacle of narrative but in the case of DmC the overall plot is downright stupid. Admittedly, I cannot delve too far into the subject without making major spoilers, hopefully, saying that demons govern the human populace via mass media and a soft drink is enough. And in both cases DmC smears it quite thick. The story is also mostly devoid of any character development with Dante and supporting character of Kat only establishing anything that could be called a relationship. Any other secondary character just pops up mostly for plot conveniences’ sake. As a rotten cherry on top of a putrid cake, there is also a matter of expletives. Dante was always something I envisioned as a prime example of a 12 years-old definition of “cool”. In DmC the developers decided to use swearing as means of giving characters that little extra edge. Alas, everyone uses language that would make your run of the mill construction worker blush. As far as I am concerned, this is where the game crosses the line of juvenile humour of previous DMCs and makes its characters throw temper tantrums. With world’s fate at hand, having your heroes seemingly struggle with puberty is just in a bad taste.
All things considered, DmC: Devil may Cry proved to be a much better game than I anticipated. It is a quite quirky title, that nonetheless drew me in enough to replay levels for a better score and to hunt collectibles. DmC is first and foremost a fast-paced fun action title, that somehow manages to be both stunningly beautiful and downright embarrassing at times. Its welcoming approach to the new players is commendable and if you have never played DMC franchise before, this might be a decent gateway to the main series. On the other hand, despite its certain virtues, it would appear as if DmC lost spirit of the franchise somewhere along the way. Resulting in what I view as the worst Devil May Cry game released on PC yet. It would seem that I am not alone in this opinion, as the series returned to the fold with DMC 5. For the time being, leaving the reboot behind as nothing more than a spin-off.

This title is very different from the previous version
The difference between this title and the previous version can be described with a quick, fluid, and emotional motive
+ Excellent music
+ Excellent graphics
+ Excellent gameplay
+ Excellent story
+ Excellent DLCs
I recommend this game to all lovers of style hack and slash ❤️
10/10

I've become a fan of the franchise after playing this game.
Definitely should try it out for once

It's a genuinely fun game that suffers from taking on a gigantic IP. Story-wise, they'd have been better off just making their own thing. No one would have complained about the new story, they would have had more freedom with lore, there wouldn't have been that ridiculously stupid wig scene, etc.
Old controversy aside, now that things have blown over, the game's worth a shot. Dante's a sarcastic idiot who spews one-liners like an 80s action hero, and it's great. It's not so much a masterpiece of social commentary as it is campy fun. So, since I like campy fun, I like this game.
Gameplay-wise, it's an odd mix of 3D platformer and hack 'n' slash. I've played it on console and PC and had a much easier time with a keyboard. You'll do a lot of jumping around, even in fights, and these two aspects aren't always the most complimentary. Frankly, falling off a stage for the 10 millionth time can get aggravating. (But maybe I should give up on being fancy.) Luckily, this is somewhat made up for by the environments, which can be genuinely interesting. The stages feel like they belong in another, twisted version of reality, which is always a good time. The soundtrack is also perfect for wreaking havoc, being half the reason why this is going to become my new stress-relief game. Turns out heavy metal is a great backer for violence.
Basically, the game has entertaining ideas, some cool moments, and an interesting vibe. It probably shouldn't make anyone's Top Ten Best Games Ever list, but it doesn't deserve to fall into obscurity either. Give it a try, especially if it goes on sale. (I'm pretty sure I got the game and all its DLC for like $10. Maybe a bit more. Basically, it was dirt cheap.)

I think Ninja Theory has done a great job capturing the action of the Devil May Cry games

An Alternate Version of Devil May Cry, some people loved it. Other People didnt. But regardless its still a great game