Well, I'm 8 missions in with Nero. I played some with Dante earlier on and I like what I like what I played. It had variety, yes, but I still couldn't get into it. Nero, he's okay to use but his move list is really boring to me. I don't like using the same weapon I've had since the beginning of the game, and doing nothing but combos gets old fast. On top of that, I don't like how so many of his moves are upgrades. That said, the past few missions are much better than the ones before it, but still have the occasional game design flaw. I particularly liked the dice game, and the section on Mission 7 where you had to stand on the disappearing platforms. I really enjoy the platforming the game has, but whenever you fall you have to fight a group of enemies and it becomes tedious. For every single good thing I enjoy about the game, there's something else in the way that pushes my enjoyment two steps back.
The combos and combo stringing is wonderful. Pulling off a rev while in mid combo and then unleashing a powerful move for a lot of red orbs and style points is rewarding. But I want more than that. I've been mostly fighting Marionettes the entire game so far. And fucking dudes in armor that can fly. Now the game is spamming the reaper enemies (who I'm glad are back, I missed them in DMC3), and even more marionettes. In DMC1 and 3, by mission 8 you not only had plenty of weapons to choose from, there was a new type of enemy on every new mission, particularly in DMC1.
I just find the whole emphasis on combos appealing any more. I want some thing more to it is all. But for what it's worth, I'm still continuing the game.
Thank you for posting an informative post, Drohne. I guess I'll continue the game, but at this point I'm assuming I just don't "get" DMC combat any longer. Believe me, I'm trying my hardest to enjoy and be impressed by the game, but it's not clicking.