Now that I've finished watching a
full playthrough, I want to share my thoughts. Everything I say here regarding DmC's gameplay should be taken with a grain of salt, since my only hands-on experience is with the demo. When I get to the plot I'll speak in general terms. No major spoilers here.
As an action game, DmC is solid. Certainly below par for a Devil May Cry title, but above average for its overall genre. The combat has many issues that you probably won't notice unless you're used to playing top-shelf action games like DMC3, Bayonetta, and Ninja Gaiden Black. The one thing most players will struggle with is the soft lock-on system, which is OK for attacking groups but annoyingly inconsistent when you want to aim at a particular enemy or latch onto a specific grapple point with other targets nearby. This becomes more of an annoyance as the game progresses, because you'll have to deal with enemies that are immune to certain weapons. In these cases it's really easy to get stunned by accidentally hitting the wrong demon. The targeting also makes a nuisance of itself when you're trying to run past enemies during timed platforming sequences. Otherwise, the basic mechanics are solid and the weapons complement each other well. Positioning is the name of the game here. You'll have moves that can pull, push, juggle, slam, stun, or freeze individuals or groups, setting them up for the next hit, then the next, and beyond, as long you can keep the string going. For all that, DmC is still a diminished imitation of earlier DMC games. Its tradeoff is less depth for more accessibility. Ironically, casual players might credit DmC with superior combat since they'll be able to unpack more of the system with much less effort than stylish action games typically demand.
The missions offer great visual variety. I was particularly impressed with a certain boss inspired by a notorious American pundit. The dance club mission everyone has seen in the trailers is a marvelous audiovisual achievement. DmC's level structure is very linear, however, despite the many nooks and side rooms that conceal collectibles and secret mission doors. There is a great deal of platforming. Much, much more than I care to have in my action games. More on this later.
I noticed several technical issues. Sometimes enemies fail to spawn immediately, leaving you to run around an empty sealed-off area with the battle music blasting. Sometimes enemies stop attacking for no apparent reason, or never start. The camera is pretty bad at giving you a view of all the enemies when you're fighting in confined areas or when the camera angle is high. The camera also tends to get blocked by pieces of the environment if it tries to rotate when it's pulled back too far. Like I mentioned before, the soft lock-on system is kind of janky. An actual lock-on button would have done this game wonders. In terms of general polish, DmC feels somewhat rough around the edges. I have very little doubt that players will uncover game-breaking glitches and serious combat exploits within the next few months.
DmC's voice acting is oddly inconsistent. Dino (humor me here) is kind of endearing when he's not trying to seem edgy by saying "fuck" to everybody. I can sort of get on board with his insolent ragamuffin schtick when I don't think about his connection to classic Dante, because he has a kind of scruffy appeal that works on its own level. But sometimes he and the rest of cast do this thing where there's a really urgent moment and they sound totally chilled out, like they're just commenting on the weather or something. It's distracting. It doesn't fit. And it's especially problematic when you consider the following.
One of the weakest aspects of the DmC is its story. Yes, it's more fully developed than the plots of previous DMC titles, and yes, it's more integrated with the gameplay, but there are a number of reasons it doesn't work. The themes are too heavy handed: corporations trying to make everyone docile consumers, demons controlling people through debt, subliminal messaging used to brainwash the public, and so on. It's what you'd get if you asked the average high school student to write a story about the perverse side of capitalism in modern society, with a supernatural twist. This material is juvenile, yet it's presented so earnestly that it makes you want to squirm.
DmC fails to impress as an adaptation or reimagination of the classic Devil May Cry story. Without exception, the characters are walking cliches that wear their personalities on their sleeves. The plot discloses no real revelations and contains no surprises you won't see coming a mile away. The ending has to be one of the flattest and clumsiest anticlimaxes of the generation. These shortcomings are difficult to overlook if you recall how much Capcom and Ninja Theory talked up the plot. We were told one of the main reasons NT was commissioned for this reboot was that their storytelling skills would allow them to make a well-rounded DMC game with a quality plot to draw in a wider audience. It has to be said that they've failed to live up to their own hype. DmC probably has greater mass market appeal than the likes of Bayonetta, but that's because it's not a clever artistic statement so much as a conventional recipe that is self-conscious in its aim to appear fashionable to young people. Bad attitudes, hard rock, coarse language, casual violence, perfunctory sleaze, ham-fisted humor. Kids eat this stuff up. It's just so...cool.
The emphasis on storytelling has consequences for the gameplay. Kat's character is a poorly disguised hand-holding device, and thorough to a fault. You have to put up with her talking at you almost constantly. Even worse, well over half of the progress-oriented actions you perform in DmCwhether it's winning a battle, taking a good chunk from a boss's life bar, or entering a new areaare interrupted by a cutscene. And only the longer ones can be skipped. This is excessive. A game's story should never be an obstacle to the player.
My biggest issue with DmC is that it was quite plainly designed to cater to players who will go through the missions once to enjoy the spectacle and then toss the game onto the shelf or trade it in. DmC is filled with platforming sequences, grappling sequences, and escape sequences. All of this traversal is linear and simplistic. In effect, most of the game's urgency and drama is front-loaded to ensure that your first playthrough has maximum impact. It's as though replay value doesn't even matter. Sure, you'll have a good first experience, but after that you can only expect sharply diminishing returns. Between the platforming and the constant cutscenes, DmC is just short of openly hostile to players who approach it with a mindset of long term dedication. That's a shame, because Devil May Cry used to be all about the long haul.
For comparison's sake, here's how I'd rank the full DMC series:
Devil May Cry: 9/10
Devil May Cry 2: 3/10
Devil May Cry 3: 9/10
Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition: 10/10
Devil May Cry 4: 8/10
DmC: Devil May Cry: 6/10
As a standalone title, I'd give DmC an 8/10.
Tl;dr: DmC is a below average Devil May Cry game yet an above average action game. The basic mechanics are solid and the barrier to entry is low: you'll be able to do cool stuff almost right away. The presentation and visual variety are excellent. However, between the linear platforming and frequent interruptions by cutscenes, this game's replay value is much less than it could have been. The plot is a big disappointment. You'd never guess storytelling is supposed to be Ninja Theory's specialty. Play DmC for a great spectacle with limited staying power.
