Ninja Theory Gambles and Wins Big
Ninja Theory shows how a reboot is supposed to work. Many fans cried afoul when the announcement of a new Dante was made. Thing is, he isn't so much new as he is slightly different and one could definitely argue that he is much much cooler.
There really doesn't need to be any further discussion on that point. It does not matter one little bit that they redesigned this character and it was a bold step that paid off huge for Ninja Theory. This game was volatile from the start because either way Ninja Theory went with it, it was going to get flak from the gaming community. Either change things completely and actually deliver something memorable in the series for the first time since Devil May Cry 2, or make all of the insatiable fans happy and give them the same cookie cutter, bland experience that will quell their hunger for another few years.
Ninja Theory took the former route and I am here to tell you that they could not have done any better. It has been a great long while since character action beat em ups have been this much fun, looked this good, and told this great of a story. In fact I would venture to say that those three factors have never come together for the character action genre, and definitely have never come together in this great of a package.
Gameplay in DMC is sensational. Playing this, I finally felt like the bad ass demon Dante of yore again. The pull mechanic, where you can pull yourself to, or pull enemies toward Dante, makes combos frantic and pulling off chains of enemy kills is incredibly fluid and intuitive. The slew of weapons you can get in the two categories of basically heavy and light weapons can be switched between on the fly and one simply needs to hold down a trigger and all of the sudden you can experience a completely different combo style, even while in mid combo with your sword.
Ninja Theory uses live action motion capture for it's characters which means the faces that you see are the actual faces of actors in digital form. This, combined with the unreal engine, makes for some of the best looking character models I have ever seen. The effect also makes it easier to relate to the characters and plot points actually feel sound and have a good deal of depth, something that is unprecedented in the Devil May Cry series. That is not to say that the story is necessarily anything other than a fairly engaging and fun little narrative. The plot lacks depth and some of the cooler ideas feel like they are placed to pay off in some later game. That being said, Devil May Cry has always had abhorrent, strange, and most of the time nonsensical plot lines, this game is definitely refreshing in that regard, as it creates characters that you can actually care about even if that may only be because they are well acted and look pretty.
Pros:
+ Best story for Devil May Cry ever.
+ Fast paced and incredibly fun combat
+ Beautiful, complex, and artistic environments and character models
+ Reasonable difficulty that can be seriously ramped up after one playthrough
+ Fun, imaginative and insanely epic boss battles.
Cons:
- Weird lock on that poses some problems with flying foes.
- Best story in Devil May Cry ever (still isn't that great)
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