DMC 5 Special Edition Review

Now that everyone’s had the weekend to get used to Dante again, let’s have a chat about Devil May Cry 5.

Dante’s latest adventure, which officially launched on Friday across all platforms, focuses on the demon invasion by wannabe king Urizen. With the support of V, novice demon hunter Nero, gunsmith and all-around engineer Nico, as well as a couple of other characters, the game introduces you to the various methods of slicing and dicing before letting you do your thing.

I’ve just about finished the game, and all in all I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Heather had a similar good time, although she noted that the game doesn’t do a great job of communicating a lot of its backstory – in a lot of ways, this is really a game for fans first and foremost, and it’s on you to understand all the backstories and characters involved beforehand, because DMC 5 doesn’t spend a lot of time reflecting.

That was something I rather enjoyed from Ninja Theory’s DmC reboot – they fleshed out the world surprisingly well, and when I mean that, I mean in a deeper and more logical manner than you’d expect from a Devil May Cry game. Side characters like Kat and some of the demons were even fleshed out a little more, whereas DMC 5 predominately focuses on V, Nero and Dante, with a little time left over for Nico and Griffon, V’s pet crow.

But those are smaller gripes, if anything. DMC 5 is still fun as hell, thanks to the fluidity of the combat and some truly over-the-top, hilariously absurd set pieces. It’s not as tight or as neatly put together as Ninja Theory’s reboot, for my money. But you’ll be doing yourself a disservice by not giving the game a go: sure, it’s definitely style over substance, but that style is still a welcome breath of fresh air.

Even if the level design could really use some updating.