Devil May Cry 5 - A Game Review
Starting
from waiting for fans for more than a decade, Capcom finally succeeded in
fulfilling their mission to revive Devil May Cry, an iconic hack and slash
franchise that has had a big influence on its genre. Through Devil May Cry 5,
they are trying to bring a lot of new, more ambitious overhaul to be able to
stand in line with the giant AAA game on the market, but at the same time
retain all the classic elements that are loved by the fans. Although not easy,
the creator Hideaki Itsuno and his development team have dedicated almost 5
years to concoct this fifth series. At this time, maybe some of you have
already played and even finished Devil May Cry 5, but the KotGa Crew is trying
to take a few more days to dig into the game deeper, both enjoying the extra
content offered to observe the overall quality. The time for a few days is not
in vain, because this game has many surprises that are easily overlooked and
can be an additional plus point in the KotGa Crew review this time. So if you
haven't played it and are curious about the quality offered, this time the
KotGa Crew has summarized the full review that you can immediately see below.
Storyline
The
plot is indeed not the main strength of this franchise, but Devil May Cry still
comes with an interesting drama story to follow and memorable characters. For
Devil May Cry 5, this game comes as a direct sequel that takes a setting of
several years after Devil May Cry 4. The story begins when the demon invasion
takes place again and this time gives a big impact to the real world. The
invasion led by the demon king Urizen was unfortunately too strong and could
not even be stopped by Dante and even the Devil May Cry team. Nero who is still
the main character in this game also cannot do much, because the demon hand or
Devil Bringer he possessed has been stolen by Urizen. The prologue to the story
also introduces a new character named V, a mysterious youth figure with tattoos
all over his body and has the ability to summon demons in the form of animals.
The
storyline itself moves pretty quickly at the beginning and might make you
confused, but over time you will be thrown in a number of flashback scenarios
that will fill the holland plot. Starting from here the storyline will move
forward for a month, where Nero gets help from a new colleague named Nico who
serves as an artisan weapon as well as a replacement hand maker called Devil
Breaker. Armed with his new strength, Nero ambitioned to save Dante and stop
the demon invasion from the Urizen leadership. At least this is a brief summary
of the story plot presented by Devil May Cry 5.
If
it has to be compared to other series, KotGa Crew can see that Itsuno and his
team have thought of a carefully constructed plot here. Although there are some
questionable gaps such as how Nero was able to meet Nico or V until he joined
him as a member of Devil May Cry, at least a number of important plot holes
were successfully covered and provided a clear picture that this franchise
might get a new sequel in the future . Yup right, without giving a spoiler
about the ending, KotGa Crew and many fans can see the potential for a strong
sequel thanks to the conclusion of the story. Then what about the discussion
about the end of the story of Son of Sparda? Even though an arc in a game or
anime is not a sign of the end of a franchise, so it can be in the Devil May
Cry game then we can see the adventures of Nero and Dante with even bigger
conflicts.
Still
a matter of story, KotGa Crew also has a small complaint related to the role of
the side character. For example, like Kyrie, this character who became the main
heroine in Devil May Cry 4 is unfortunately not shown along the game and is
only "present" in sound form. The same thing applies to Lady and
Trish who also did not have a major impact on the development of the story.
Instead of giving a role, they only seem to be a complement or fanservice for
the fans.
3 Stylish Heroes
Utilizing
the presence of unique new and old characters, this time Devil May Cry 5 makes
Nero, Dante and V a playable character that drives the story. Now let's look
deeper and review each character. First is Nero, the main character that was
introduced in the Devil May Cry 4 series is a demon hunter who has little
resemblance to Dante. Not only in terms of appearance like just white hair, he
also used a large sword and gun as his main weapon. The big sword itself is
called the Red Queen, which has a unique way of working like a motorcycle
engine (can be gassed to increase its strength and speed). While the Blue Rose
is a flower-shaped double barrel revolver with a large crushed power.
In
addition to relying on its main weaponry, Nero was initially also blessed with
the Devil Devil Bringer's hand which has great power to throw down an enemy of
any size like a toy. This power has unfortunately been stolen by Urizen and
forced Nero to use Nico's artificially made mechanical hand called Devil
Breaker. There are 8 types of Devil Breakers that you can access from Overture,
Gerbera, Punch Line, Helter Skelter, Raw Hide, Tomboy, Rag Time and Buster Arm.
Each Devil Breaker has a variety of different strengths such as Punch Line, for
example, which works like a rocket-powered boxing or flying hoverboard. Even
though the strength it possesses is strong enough, Devil Breaker is
unfortunately easily destroyed and must often be replaced with a new one.
Now
switch to the next character, The Mysterious One - V. As the name implies, this
new character has a mysterious background and air that envelops it, but when
talking about gameplay Capcom has managed to implement a very unique and
different mechanism for this character. So like the KotGa Crew mentioned
before, V is a character that relies on the ability of demon summon when
fighting, whether in beating enemies or maneuvering to avoid attacks. There are
3 demons that are owned by V, namely Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare. The Griffon
is a demon that has the form of a bird with effective long and near magic
abilities. Different from Shadow and Nightmare, this demon can speak and has a
character that is hilarious. Turning to Shadow, the demon that has the form of
a black panther relies on physical attack abilities that are very strong and
cover a wide area. As for Nightmare, the strongest demon that can only be
summoned by executing Devil Trigger has a terrible combination of physical and
magic attacks.
The
three demons possessed by V did have reliable fighting abilities, but they
could not kill the enemy and only put them in a dying position. It was at this
moment that V acted as an executioner to kill every demon that was weak and
marked with pale violet colors. In addition to playing a role in launching the
final attack, V can also give direct orders to the Griffon and Shadow to attack
the enemy according to the attack command, launch magic such as bombarding the
enemy with cane attacks, or activate Devil Trigger to his chosen demon who
wants buff effects or automatic attacks. As an extra challenge besides
maneuvering to avoid the attacks, players must also pay attention to the
Griffon and Shadow health bars that can be used up if they receive too many
attacks. If one of them is in the "dead" position, you can wait for a
while to respawn or bring the V closer to the position when they are dying to
speed up the regeneration process. Overall, V is a very unique character and
forces you to use a more strategic playing style.
Now
turning to the most iconic character in this franchise which is none other than
Dante. For this legendary demon hunter figure, the KotGa crew managed to be
astonished by the amount of weaponry that it can carry. Just imagine, Dante has
5 ranged weapons (Ebony & Ivory, Coyote-A, Dr. Faust, Kalina Ann, Kalina
Ann II) and 6 melle weapons (Rebellion, Balrog, Sparda Sword, Cavaliere, King
Cerberus, Dante Devil Sword). Not only does it have different moveset and skill
variations, each weapon can also be accumulated with more diverse skills
through the "Style" used by Dante. For those of you who are still
unfamiliar with the name, Style is a mechanism that Dante can use to change his
fighting style. There are 4 styles that can be used by Dante and can be
replaced at any time in the battle, namely Trickster (skill to move quickly
both in closing the gap with enemies and avoiding attacks), Gunslinger (skill
to strengthen the power of destroyed firearms and provide new variations of
movement), Swordmaster (skill to provide stronger and more stylish combo access
when using melee weapons) and Royalguard (skill to block enemy attacks or
deflect them with destructive counter-attack effects).
If
the weapons and style variations are still incomplete, Dante is also equipped
with a Devil Trigger that can transform his form into a demon and strengthen
his strength in a limited time. Later Dante can also get access to a stronger
form with the name Sin Devil Trigger, the form marked with this red bar is very
strong and is the ultimate weapon to fight even the toughest bosses. With this
incredible arsenal power, you can say Dante is the most complex character you
can meet in any hack and slash game. The point of introducing the KotGa Crew
summarizes this time is indeed quite long, but this kind of discussion is
sometimes needed to understand the characteristics and style of play that each
character has.
Modern with a Classic
Taste
To
keep the game relevant to veteran fans and newcomers, Capcom has made a lot of
changes and new features that make the whole mechanism in Devil May Cry 5 feel
more perfect. First, let's discuss the gameplay design that it offers. Like
several previous series, Devil May Cry 5 is still summarized in the format of
20 story missions that move linearly and place the three main characters in
different scenarios. Do not miss, there are also some secret missions hidden in
several places and you can access for extra challenges and rewards. When
starting a mission, you only need to follow the flow of maps that will take
your character in several battle segments. When entering in a special battle,
usually the area around your character will be locked with a red barrier and
can only be reopened if you manage to finish off all the enemies. Casual players
will usually finish off the enemy in a normal way and use skills that they
master repeatedly, but Devil May Cry fans will definitely use each segment to
fight combo variations and "stylish" playing styles.
Although
optional, playing styles where you can chase SSS ranks by executing creative
combos can give them rewards in the form of S scores for each mission, extra
Red Orb, and even musical tones that change in the middle of a fight. Every
mission that you live doesn't always have a long duration, because there are
some of them that only put you in a boss fight. If assessed in terms of level
design, KotGa Crew feels quite amazed by the world presentation that looks
charming and detailed. Starting from the urban setting that moves from night to
morning with a dramatic atmosphere, until the atmosphere is gripping while in
the den of demons that look like hell, every setting presented in this game is
truly dynamic. The elimination of puzzle elements might make some players
disappointed, but the KotGa Crew actually welcomed this decision openly. The
reason itself is because the focus of gameplay will be more dominant on the
side of the action which is indeed the main attraction of hack and slash games,
something that is honest over the top priority crew.
Other
classic elements that are still maintained can also be seen from the
customization feature that relies on Divinity Statue services to unlock new
skills, buy Blue Orb to add Vitality gauge, Purple Orb to add Devil Trigger
gauge, and Gold Orb to awaken your character when dying in battle. The Red Orb
is still the main currency in this game, and you can also use it to buy stock
of Devil Breakers from Nico. Before buying a skill, you can try and even train
it first by accessing Void. Void is an empty place that acts as a free
playground, whether it's trying skills or concocting new combo variations when
fighting one to many types of powerful demons simultaneously, this feature that
is obviously very useful for veteran players and newcomers who want to hone
their skills.
Another
interesting feature is the implementation of Photo Mode which is usually only
found in exclusive PlayStation games. The way it works itself is not much
different from the usual Photo Mode feature, it's just that you can only stop
the game running while in gameplay and change the position of the camera. There
are no additional photo effects, camera viewpoints and other editing options
provided. Although impressed as it is, the KotGa crew can still take some cool
scenes more easily thanks to this feature. Besides Photo Mode, you can also
access the gallery feature that summarizes story records, bestiaries and
character models, monsters, and weapons that look very detailed thanks to the
implementation of RE Engine.
Speaking
of RE Engine, its role in handling the quality of graphics in Devil May Cry 5
is also worth getting two thumbs up. Besides producing the most captivating
graphics compared to most action games on the market today, their performance
in presenting characters with motion capture models also looks very high
quality. Here you will be presented with in-game graphic quality and top-class
cutscene that will spoil your eyes. With this, hopefully the RE Engine can be
used as the basis for all AAA-made Capcom games in the future.
Outstanding
Replayability
Not
Devil May Cry games, of course, if you don't have good replayability, and for
this one aspect, Devil May Cry 5 managed to mix it perfectly. The presence of
only 3 playable characters is a plus point, but Capcom here provides a lot of
additional content that can be pursued when you successfully complete the game.
Examples such as mission designs can be played again with different character
perspectives, access to a variety of new skills that can be pursued by grinding
Red Orb intensely, playing the game in a higher difficulty level, and joining
other players to hunt demons through system access Cameo. The new system
introduced in the fifth series allows you to play with other players online on
a mission involving more than one playable character. If you play offline, then
the role of the empty character will be filled by AI.
If
a variety of additional content is still not enough, Capcom plans to release a
Bloody Palace update that can be downloaded for free starting next month.
Bloody Palace itself is a hardcore mode where players must pass various stages
from one level to another with their chosen character. Each level will be
inhabited by many enemies who will grow stronger, so you could say this is a mode
that is perfect for you to practice playing skills and only want to feel the
challenging gameplay sensation.
Conclusion
Present
as a true sequel that fans have been waiting for for 11 years, Devil May Cry 5
managed to answer all expectations with the best quality. The dedication of
creator Hideaki Itsuno and his team in concocting this game for almost 5 years
can be seen clearly, where they are able to combine all the classic elements
loved by loyal fans and implement many new changes to become one of the best
hack and slash games you can meet on the market.
Maybe
some gamers consider the gameplay mechanism outdated and feel
"lacking," but Devil May Cry 5 is a hack and slash game that gives
access to many playing styles and relies entirely on skills. The KotGa crew
does not deny the existence of deficiencies in some places such as the role of
the core characters that end up as fanservice or the elimination of puzzle
elements favored by many fans. But thanks to the quality of the solid game,
some of these shortcomings have no significant impact on the playing
experience.
If
you have to look for shortcomings that can really be felt clearly, maybe the
easier level of difficulty at the beginning of the game, "Devil
Hunter" is something that enough KotGa crew is sorry. Of course the same
sensation will not be felt by all players, especially for newcomers who know Devil
May Cry through this fifth series. In the end if you are loyal fans or gamers
who are hungry for the best quality hack and slash experience, Devil May Cry 5
is definitely a game that must be included on your radar.
Reference:
- Yahoo.com
- Google.com
- https://www.kotakgame.com/review/detail_review/3508/3906/Devil-May-Cry-5-SSStylish-Comeback/0/4/
