DMC5 feels like we got time-warped back to TGS 2010 and instead of a reveal trailer showing an edgy reboot of the DMC franchise we got what people actually expected, a sequel to DMC4. I was curious if Capcom would take many cues from DmC when making this, but aside from a few very specific elements (for example, you have an announcer for the style rank and the game goes into slow motion for the last kill in a fight) this feels like Capcom pretended DmC never happened and focused on making the best possible sequel to the previous main-line DMC game.
And they definitely succeeded in that as this is easily the best DMC game so far. Nero’s gameplay has become much deeper. Dante’s moveset is still crazy as ever but somehow feels more managable than DMC4 despite the larger moveset. And then you have V, a new character who is fun to play as in small bursts but, unfortunately, his controls are awkward and it doesn’t feel like there is much to his gameplay. The enemies are all varied and fun to fight. A lengthy but also very replayable campaign thanks to difficulty levels changing up the gameplay in meaningful ways. Bloody Palace returns with a couple of small improvements (you can now replay specific waves).
Any DMC fan would be crazy not to get this as every single part of the game feels like a direct improvement from previous entries with the one big exception being the environmental design, which gets very generic real quick.
There are some other things I would complain about, but they are all minor: I did not like how the story ended, the ranking system has been re-designed in a weird way (if you learn how it works, you can somewhat exploit it), the S rank requirement for missions are poorly balanced (most missions are easy to S rank with a few being a nightmare).
I really hope we’ll get substantial DLC for the game. The game is worth its full price, but there is a lot of untapped potential. Capcom has implemented good coop in the game, but it’s only used in one and half missions. Coop for the full campaign or bloody palace would have been a very fun addition. The ability to select any character for any mission would be another easy way to add even more replayability. And finally, playable Lady, Trish, and Vergil would have been fun to see, taking their DMC4 movesets and expanding upon them.
Recommendation: Thumbs up!
(a few silly mod screenshots)