Devil May Cry 5 Review
DEVIL MAY CRY 5 TAKES US TO PARADISE IN HELL TRAINAfter spending a few hours in the company of the three heroes of Devil May Cry 5 a few weeks ago, we were rather impatient to put our faces on the final version of the title. Already to check if our enthusiasm was deserved but, above all, to see if the title holds the length without losing steam. With this fifth "canonical" episode, the series offers a welcome boost and remembers our good memories with losses and noise.
Three dirty, three atmospheres
It was quite a while since we hadn't heard from the Devil May Cry series. If, like many boors (including most of the executives at Capcom), we do not count the DmC developed by Ninja Theory, it took eleven years for the editor to increment the figure at the end of his series. An expectation that has not been in vain, as this episode returns more beautiful, bigger, stronger, and full of ideas. The city of Red Grave (imagine a fictional London) has been invaded by an evil tree whose roots amuse themselves by impaling and shredding civilians who have asked nothing. The opportunity for the Devil May Cry company to resume service and to kick some more or less imposing demonic asses.The big news, you probably know it already, is the presence of three playable characters with very distinct abilities and specificities. We obviously find Dante, main hero of the series and last fighter to offer himself over the script, but also Nero (straight from the fourth episode) and V, a brand new character like a frontman of screamo group - with sandals, because life is about contrasts. Each of these characters will share the same adventure and cross from time to time the path of his little comrades, sometimes allowing the player to choose his avatar, even if most of the missions are assigned to only one of them.
Arm wrestling
Okay so here is the paragraph where you may not learn much if you follow the development of Devil May Cry 5 with interest. However, a small point is more than necessary as this "triality" is at the center of this new episode.
The first playable character is therefore Nero, the dirty white-haired kid with a mechanical arm. He can attack with his sword, his gun or his being shotgun, but it is obviously in his right arm that he will find his most interesting mechanics. First there is the "wire snatch", a grapple allowing him to attract to him the small enemies or to throw himself on a big beast. Whether to gather minor demons, avoid a big attack at the last moment or maximize an aerial combo, wire snatch quickly becomes essential during clashes.
We also find the Exceed mechanics allowing to spin his sword to charge it and make it more powerful as in Devil May Cry 4. But the master asset of Nero remains undoubtedly the Devil Breaker, this mechanical arm capable of '' welcome several variants, each one having at least two attacks (one normal and one charged). We can only take a limited number of them for each mission and, although we can sometimes find them on the ground, it is better to take great care of them since they can easily break - when we take a hit during their use, when we use certain loaded attacks or simply if we destroy one to get out of a bad step.
Many and varied, the Devil Breakers are as many crutches to use depending on the situation - although you cannot change them on the fly, hence the tactical importance of properly preparing your equipment before going to fight. If the gallery begins nicely with Overture, an arm capable of invoking a large electric hand which repels the adversaries (or, by charging it, to place a bomb to detonate by shooting at it), the other arms obtained quickly become more exotic. Between the Rawhide which makes it possible to create a cloud of lashes around you, the Punchline which makes it possible to send a mechanical fist to occupy an enemy for a few seconds (or to fire an uppercut from all the devils by breaking it), the Ragtime that creates a bubble of stasis or the Tomboy that can improve Nero's weapons, there is plenty to do - and again, this list is not exhaustive.
Let’s just frown in concert when we learn that four arms (Mega Man’s Mega Buster, a healing arm, another allowing to choose them during a mission and a last one which is an improved version of an appendix already present in the game) are barricaded behind the collector's version of the title, along with a few other treats that should have been accessible to everyone. Apart from this ugly annoyance, Nero is a real pleasure to play and, after acclimatization to the functioning of the Devil Breakers, we have fun like a little crazy trying to optimize the attacks according to the situations, even sometimes destroying one voluntarily to go to the next one.
This is not rocket science
The new character, V, is clearly the most original of the lot. You see, in terms of muscle mass, our hero is more like a kite than a Norman wardrobe. Fortunately for him, he has a grimoire and some magical powers allowing him to summon Shadow and Griffon, a protean panther and an electric raptor who will fight in his place while he is content to avoid the blows and complete the adversaries in bad shape with his cane.The real interest of V is that by assigning his animals to the keys of classic attacks (melee for Shadow, guns for Griffon), we find ourselves using them like Nero or Dante with precise manipulations or presses on the keys, as well as the possibility of improving or buying new capacities for each of them. In fact, we direct V with the left stick, while playing with directions, the lock button and attacks to fight with the other two characters simultaneously. So we look for synergies, we juggle with Shadow while we load a laser with Griffon, we go to finish a monster while Shadow cracks another on his side and Griffon releases a field of keraunic force around V to protect it . And it's absolutely enjoyable.
Once his devil trigger gauge is full, V can finally summon Nightmare - a gigantic golem capable of breaking down the antagonists like adorable little cockroaches. Like his two boyfriends, Nightmare can also offer new attacks in the store, with the possibility for V to climb on his golem to take shelter once summoned. By the way, invoking Nightmare in certain specific places will trigger a new animation that can even open secret passages - by knocking down a wall that hid some surprises, for example.
Although technically V and his comrades play as a "normal" character, the feeling controller in hand is completely different. It's very simple: after many years of beat'em up and action games of all kinds, it is the first time or almost that we feel such an impression of embodying a summoning mage. Instead of sending fireballs or healing spells at the touch of a button, you almost seem to be drawing cabalistic signs with your fingertips to send your pets to swoop down on enemies. A brilliant character and perhaps a little easy to play in the first run, but there is no doubt that the following difficulties will give him a hard time.
Descent to amphetas
Last but not least, Dante remains the daron and wants this to be known. He is quite simply the most complete and versatile character in Devil May Cry 5, with his gigantic arsenal that he will happily take with him over the adventure. If he starts at the bottom of the ladder with his Rebellion sword and his Ebony & Ivory guns, he will quickly fill his equipment with weapons as curious as an infernal armor to fight with bare hands, a bazooka, a nunchaku elemental or a motorcycle cut in half (which does more damage if you touch the wheels). And again, it is without mentioning this hat which "bets" money with each blow carried and can bring big or make everything lose in a second. A plethora of arsenal, therefore, which takes on its full meaning when we realize that Dante can embark four firearms and four hand-to-hand on the same mission, which we can change on the fly with a simple trigger pressure.If it's already been some good ways to castigate the demonic gluteus, that's without counting the fighting styles, which are also making their comeback. Arrived in the third episode of the series, the styles are as many mechanics grouped under a button (the same one which is used for the arm of Nero and the killings of V), allowing to vary even more the pleasures. There are four of them here: first there are Swordmaster and Gunslinger who offer an additional - and often impressive - attack for each type of weapon. Next are Trickster, based on mobility, and my little darling, Royalguard, which allows to take attacks to raise a gauge in order to send back a torrent of damage on an enemy.
So you can not only choose your weapons from eight in the blink of an eye, but also change your style on the fly (using the directional cross), which allows a number of combinations ... well Dantesque, fact. If an average player like your servant was able to have fun and feel powerful in the waders of the demon hunter, no doubt a more experienced person could end up leading the trends in YouTube with a well-felt video combo. Using the bazooka in Gunslinger then rushing on an opponent with the Trickster before taking an attack in Royalguard then changing weapons to finish the nuisance on the ground with motorbike and hat shots, this is what five seconds of Devil could give May Cry 5 in good hands. Suffice to say that the learning curve promises to be vertiginous and that an impressive mastery of this whole panoply will be necessary to survive in higher difficulties.
Precision mechanics
Devil May Cry 5 is practically unassailable on its combat mechanics. Finesse, precision and execution are the watchwords of his confrontations and the wait for the Bloody Palace (a succession of increasingly difficult confrontations, in free DLC during the month of April) becomes untenable after having finished the game a first time, as the first run seems to serve as a tutorial. Indeed, the difficulty is rather nice and the game very generous in resurrection objects. It will be necessary to complete the adventure a first time to unlock new difficulties which, in addition to giving more trouble, change the disposition of the enemies to spice up the progression.Speaking of mechanics, hard not to mention that, despite its many tutorials and other training mode, the game continues to hide part of its systems. It will not be rare, by dint of experimentation and errors, to find attacks or subtleties which are not registered anywhere in the menus of the game. It goes from the small point of detail (the alternative functioning of certain arms of Nero) across the entire gameplay (Dante's Royalguard style attacks, for example). Nothing very serious, since we can already imagine that finding all this info on wikis or at Youtubers a few days after the release. But it does not care in such a generous and well finished game.
Finally, it will not have escaped your notice that the title is adorned with a multiplayer mode for three. These are actually specific moments in the adventure where the heroes meet and where you can cross paths with another player doing it in the distance - or, in very rare cases, by his side. A bonus more than an accessory, which will ultimately serve more to collect objects (by receiving a "Stylish" rating from another player) than to have the impression of carrying out epic clashes between friends. Once again, it may be from Bloody Palace that salvation will come, with - we hope - real cooperation with three players.
The house of style
At Capcom we certainly pamper its game mechanics, but we also worked quite a technical level, thanks to a house engine (RE Engine) which has done wonders lately. Technically very clean and mostly tested on a PC so unfortunate that it is equipped with a Radeon from five years ago, our version will have coughed only twice below the sacrosanct 60fps, while remaining particularly pleasant for the retina with almost all options to the maximum. For its part, the beautiful Puyo launched the title on PlayStation 4, where the game shows some ugly loading times (even on Pro), as well as some very slight drops in framerate on not-Pro.Always technical, the camera is still able to fall in love with a wall in the middle of combat, but we can generally replace it in a jiffy, and rare have been the really annoying or annoying occurrences on the big dozen hours that lasted the adventure. Note however the small detail that does it all: the possibility of changing the zoom level of the camera for those who would like a slightly more airy view of the battlefield.
But if technical direction is one thing, art is another. And there it is almost flawless. Aside from the terribly repetitive sets in the second half of the game - before a breath of fresh air at the very end - Devil May Cry 5 throws up style as soon as it has the opportunity. Heroes and monsters benefit from a neat design (which will inevitably recall the simili-realism of Ninja Theory), the cutscenes take pleasure in always doing too much and the small idle + zoom at the end of each fight also adds its small not unpleasant touch.
But if there was only one performance to be credited to the artistic teams, it would be the entertainment. Whether it's during cutscenes, on the faces of the characters or at any second of the fighting, the game is moving wildly well. You have to see Nero whip an opponent on the ground, V walk while reading while his critters are doing the job or Dante unroll his movelist without it lacking in naturalness or fluidity to understand the work done by the animators. All that remains is this concern for nunul decor, which repeats itself a little too much (unless you like pink and blue caves and tunnels, but here, we quickly got our slap) and, perhaps, a lack of really memorable sequences - we will find a few of them throughout the adventure and their lack quickly disappears behind the quality of the combat. But what do you want, we love nitpicking.
Beautiful and stupid at the same time
The other aspect on which we can expect a lot from the Capcom series is the dialogues. With its gallery of big-mouthed heroes who take malicious pleasure in insulting millennial demons before farting their teeth, there is usually plenty to do. Nero and Dante are obviously the little idiots that we could hope for and, even if V is a little more quiet than his comrades, it's Griffon who takes over by insulting almost everyone, all the time.But let's not forget Nico, pilot emeritus of the van of our heroes and genius gunsmith who will manufacture Nero's Devil Breakers and some weapons for Dante. As vulgar and inside as touching, it is one of the sun rays of this episode and highlights all the more the role of green plant of the two other female characters, Trish and Lady, who will only be used overall chasing after the male trio shouting for attention. It is all the more unfortunate that the two characters have already been playable in the past and that, even if it is to under-exploit them, we come to say that they could simply not have been there.
As for the scenario, which struggles to find a rhythm with its diesel start, it gradually shonenizes itself in the last hours of play. Its almost linear structure, which allows itself a few jumps in time, follows without displeasure, even if the rare touching moments often fall short of the mark. Once again, it is above all the exchanges between the characters that make up most of the show. By the way, special mention to the translation teams who take pleasure in the slightest line of the game, even in the gallery which presents heroes, enemies or weapons under the pen of Nico - who even takes himself for Julien Lepers for the time of an entry where she speaks for herself.
Let’s finish with these famous bonuses reserved for the collector’s version of the game. So there are the four bonus arms for Nero, but also a jukebox for modifying the (too rare) combat music for heroes as well as the wonderful possibility of replacing the game's cutscenes with live-action storyboard versions, with cosplayed actors and actresses brandishing foam swords and plastic pistols. Small gifts which, a long time ago, would have been integrated into the basic game. A little mean on the part of the editor who, we hope, will make all of this available for less-than-not-expensive as quickly as possible.
However, this should not prevent fans of action games to be interested in this Devil May Cry 5. After the first run which is used to take its marks with the three characters, the title of Capcom becomes a game for esthetes, for lovers of beat 'em up who will undoubtedly find its purest sap in higher difficulty levels, which will force them to play with elegance, method, caution and variety. One of the best representatives of the genre since Metal Gear Rising and Bayonetta 2.
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