Devil May Cry 5

Devil May Cry 5 is a great game, one that successfully recaptures the magic of the series classic Devil May Cry...

Devil May Cry is back with a new look, an expanded combat system, and a beefy assortment of enemies to slay. Slashing and styling on demons has never looked as good or played as...

Devil May Cry 5 is a game that delights in setting the bar high up front and then continually one-upping itself with ever-more-ludicrous cutscenes and some of the most stylish combat in the business.

For all of its pacing issues, Devil May Cry 5 is still a lot of fun to play. Combat is a blast, and the cutscenes are delightfully absurd; fans of Devil May Cry 3 and 4 should feel right at home here. Capcom goes back to the baseline action I’ve always enjoyed, and executes that with the series’ signature over-the-top style. However, this entry’s changes and additions to that core experience don’t enhance what the series does well; they feel more like roadblocks than steps forward.

Rarely does the game stumble, consistently leveraging its spectacle and mechanical depth to push aside any small frustrations. All the while, the story exudes a charismatic charm that keeps you constantly intrigued as you’re refining your skills. DMC5 proves the series can still be brilliant and imaginative without compromising its longest-held traditions.

Is it the measure of the action titles that come out of that other studio in Osaka? At times it feels a little too retrograde to be the best in class, but I'm certain it's the best Devil May Cry there's been yet - which is still quite the claim to be able to make. This is a more vintage type of action, though that ends up serving Devil May Cry 5 incredibly well. Style like this never really goes out of fashion, after all.

The question of which Devil May Cry game is the best has gotten much easier with Devil May Cry 5. The combat is the strongest the series has seen to date, the story does a great job of balancing all three of its main characters and doling out rewarding bits of its mysterious story at an enticing pace, and the unlockable difficulties, sheer number of techniques to earn, and the upcoming free Bloody Palace DLC will provide a ton of incentive for replayability. It’s good to have you back, Dante and Nero.

While the story feels rushed, and a couple missions could have been compressed into a singular one, Capcom has crafted a well-designed and finely-tuned structure that encourages exploration and experimentation. I do wish that the coop-esque mechanics were better implemented and the visual design leaves a lot to be desired, but there’s just something about cutting through so many deadly demons in such a fashionable manner that has me coming back for more. It’s slick, it’s stylish, it’s sensational. It’s Devil May Cry 5.