DEVIL MAY CRY 5: Our impressions from Gamescom 2018

Ten long years after the release of Devil May Cry 4, Capcom finally announced the next “canon” iteration of its beloved Hack-n-Slash series at this years E3. After an initial trailer generating lots of hype for the game, Capcom also premiered the game’s first ever playable demo at Gamescom and we had the chance to try it out.

First and foremost: To the delight of many long-time fans of the series,  the game plays much more like DMC4 than the 2013 reboot developed by Ninja Theory, which received generally mixed reviews from fans and critics. The traditional lock-on system and control scheme is back and most actions and combos present in DMC4 still work in Devil May Cry 5, ,meaning that veterans will feel right at home. With that being said:

How does the game look, feel and sound?

The game looks extremely crisp overall; animations, environments and particle effects look fantastic as former DMC4 protagonist Nero slashes his way through Redgrave City, even with the new, much more realistic approach to the artstyle as compared to DMC4‘s “anime” look. Enemy designs also look wonderfully gnarly; most basic enemies in the demo look like deformed insect creatures while the gigantic demon boss “Behemoth” at the end of the demo is an imposing horned giant.

While most of the classic Devil May Cry 4 moves and combos still worked in DMC5, Nero also brought something new to the table: His mechanical “Devil Breaker”-Arm, replacing the classic “Devil Bringer”-Arm Nero used in Devil May Cry 4. After losing the Devil Bringer, Nero’s new partner in crime Nico built him a variety of new, mechanical arms (two of which were usable in the Demo), each with their own unique abilities. The first Devil Breaker, “Overture”, allows Nero to unleash powerful electric shocks on his enemies, while “Gerbera” allows Nero to propel himself forward in the air, making it an effective tool for evading attacks. Allegedly, there will be 8 different Devil Breakers in the full game, all with their own unique abilities.
Capcom also brought back another fan-favorite feature for DMC5: The taunt button. By pressing the “Select”- Button (assuming XBOX ONE controls), Nero can use a variety of taunts to increase his Style-rank and, first and foremost, look cool in the process. Some special taunts are only usable at higher style ranks, like one taunt I stumbled upon while at an “S” combat rank, where Nero counts the remaining enemies that are about the suffer the same fate as their friends.
While in combat, the music also automatically adjusts itself to the player’s “Stylish-rank”: When the player is performing well, the vocal parts and chorus of Nero’s catchy new battle theme “Devil Trigger” will kick in,  making the music feel dynamic and connected to the happenings on screen.

Overall, Devil May Cry 5  is shaping up to be the sequel the fans wanted after the mixed reception of DmC Devil May Cry. We are certainly excited for the full release on PS4, XBOX ONE and PC on March 8th, 2019

Capcom also premiered another gameplay trailer, showing more footage of the now older Dante: