REVIEW: Devil May Cry V

There aren’t so many franchises with the heartbeat of Devil May Cry, with high spikes of awesomeness and flatline beats for Devil May Cry 2 (damn, I still can’t get over how bad that one was) it is something you either love or hate. Personally I really, really adored the reboot DmC from Ninja Theory but many seem to disagree with that. So for those, Devil May Cry 5 is another mainline game with Dante, Nero and all the other familiar faces you may know and love. They even created a new fascinating playable protagonist named V that totally fits the world and brings more mystery. Honestly, I’m pretty sure that this game will be one of the best and most fun games that you’ll play in 2019. So I was thrilled to write this review and share my opinion about this fantastic game from Capcom!

• RE Engine, made by aliens: Extraterrestrials are on Earth and they want to conquer humanity with the RE Engine, how and why is still unclear to me but this engine is truly something else. The visuals are jaw-dropping and to speak in Devil May Cry terms deserve an SSS-rating. Smokin’ Sexy Style!! From smooth animations, facial expressions, flashy effects, and exceedingly high detailed characters models, I often stood still and tried to comprehend how beautiful the game was. This brings me to my next positive:
  • Photo mode: The photo mode, the visuals are even more impressive when you start to explore the photo mode. At any moment you can decide to enter it, here you’ll notice all the small details. From facial expressions, clothing that realistically forms, backgrounds that are sharp and detailed. It has been since Metal Gear Solid 2 on PS2 that I have been so impressed by the visuals.
• Interesting and mysterious story: Completely over-the-top and so unrealistic that it becomes fascinating. Devil May Cry V isn’t afraid to take some risks and drop the players into a mystery. Throughout the storyline you will keep on guessing who or rather what V is or what Urizen (main boss) did with Dante. More than once I was laughing with the dialogue and more importantly more than once I had a “what the hell is happening”-feeling, something that doesn’t happen a lot while playing a videogame.
• Linear but fascinating world, with many collectibles! Despite the A to B level design you still have many secret passages or hidden red orbs that encourage you to discover every inch of the game world. They used some clever tricks so finding everything isn’t easy, to give you one example: at one part in a level, the floor will break if you have enough enemies on it, revealing a Gold orb and red orbs. Most players will likely never find this one out, pretty much happened by accident for me because I was trying some stuff out. I was happy to see less focus on environment puzzles too, previous Devil May Cry games have some slower moments because of some puzzle solving or confusing level design but this one remains fast-paced and full of action.
• Pure combat joy and addictive with Style Points: I have never had such a satisfying and rewarding kickass combat system experience. Almost with every fight I learned something new and was awarded some insane visuals and a high adrenaline rush. The controls are easy enough, even for beginners to do some impressive combos, it simply never gets old. Fresh and old gameplay ideas work hand in hand and deliver a deep, smooth and fantastic combat mechanic.
  • The new V character: Gosh, this poetry dude is one of the best characters I’ve seen in a game! And even better, it completely transforms DMCV into something entirely different. As V you are hardly fighting yourself but control two creatures, a black cat and a bird (that tastes like chicken, according to Nero) linked to the close and ranged attack-button. When you have enough power you can summon a third and incredibly powerful beast, trust me it will wreck your enemies and is very satisfying to watch! There is a catch, the three creatures aren’t allowed to kill demons, only weaken them. When they received enough damage V can finish them off with a fancy finishing move. If the developers would explain to me this mechanic I would have told them that they are crazy and that it would never work. Oh boy, I am so wrong. Oh, and while pressing the attack buttons you can start to read your poetry book to fill your meter more quickly, a totally normal thing to do with monsters around you… This new character V also brings a lot of mystery to the story. So nothing but positives!
• Headbanging soundtrack: In general the sound is fantastic, one thing that really deserves some praise is how the music gets more epic when you get higher style points. It is a fine example that music can make a game more fun and rewarding. The original soundtrack has over 100 tracks on Spotify, I hope you realize how impressive that is.
• Enemy design variety and epic boss fights: Each enemy is introduced with a short cutscene, giving you that little moment to really appreciate the design. Coming straight out of someone’s nightmare these monsters look entirely different but also require different fighting tactics to bring down. A fine horrific example: the Death Scissors, nightmare looking and nightmarish to beat.
• Replay value: Playing some missions with different characters and the extra difficulty modes will be enough to keep playing this game for many hours. There is also free content in April that will bring Bloody Palace. Here you have limited time to defeat all enemies and you’ll try to reach the ending floor.
• Astonishing Xbox One X support: As I said before, the Capcom developers created something otherworldly with the RE Engine. Incredible visuals and they managed to reach native 4K and constant 60FPS. Absolutely crazy what they achieved here, the Xbox One X isn’t the monster here but the game. This is the absolute must buy game if you want to see what the X is capable of doing.

• Weird “forced” online mechanic: This isn’t a bad thing in any way but DMCV features an underutilized online mechanic. An example: you see Nero or V in the distance fighting against monsters, well this isn’t an AI but an actual real player. This is cool on paper but hardly benefits the game in any way… besides one particular level where you finally battle the same boss together. I guess this feature will be used in the fan favorite Bloody Palace mode that will arrive in April, hopefully battling waves of enemies together. Another thing I should mention is that there isn’t a performance drop or disconnects while the online mechanic is working, it only benefits you because the other online player can rate you and give you a gift.
• The first playthrough is surprisingly easy, considering the Devil May Cry standards: Yeah, weird. That was my first thought when I started this game because I’m used to having some sweaty times while playing a hack and slash game. Devil May Cry is shockingly easy in the beginning, even on the hardest difficulty that you can pick while playing it for the first time. More challenging difficulties unlock when you finish the game, those will require lots of skill! I believe that Son of Sparda should have been available from the ghetto though because only the last couple of missions were a little difficult for me on Devil Hunter.

Difficulties:
Human: Very easy, enemies die quickly (available from start)
Devil Hunter: The hardest difficulty you can pick from the start but still really easy (available from start)
Son of Sparda: Enemies have bigger health and attack faster (unlocked by completing the game)
Dante Must Die: Very hard, enemies have new attack tactics and are harder to defeat (unlocked by completing Son of Sparda)
Heaven or Hell: Enemies and you die with one hit, you have a limited amount of lives per playthrough. 
Hell and Hell: Almost impossible to complete, you die in one hit and only have three lives, the enemies are equally difficult to beat as Dante Must Die. Good luck if you want to finish this…

• Performance issues on the regular Xbox One: When you aren’t playing on Xbox One X you’ll face quite a few performance issues. The cutscenes and more heavy fighting are plagued by some frame rate drop below 20FPS. The difference between the Xbox One X version and the normal Xbox One version is very obvious, I honestly can’t blame the developers for going for the best possible game on the more expensive Xbox, and yes, I know that this might not be the thing you want to read from me. I do respect people that still play on the original Xbox One (and S) that’s why I’m including this part at the negatives.

Developer: Capcom   Publisher: Capcom
Played on: Xbox One X Also available on: PS4
Achievement difficulty for 1000 Gamerscore: Finishing every mission on the S-ranking isn’t something every gamer will be able to do,
Time to finish: Main Story: around 10 hours Finishing everything: 60+ hours
Perfect for: Adrenaline seekers, hack and slash fans, a graphics whore.
Xbox Game Store link:Click here