DmC has been out a couple weeks now, and I am genuinely excited to play it, but first I wanted to get a taste for the older games. Partly to try and see what some people were complaining about with the reboot and partly to see why so many people hold them up as the pinnacle of action games. I asked around and it seemed that Devil May Cry 4 would be the best point of entry for me and so that's what I'd like to look at here.

Devil May Cry 4 is a game riddled with problems, but brightened by two immaculate strengths. Before I get to those strengths though, I really need to discuss the awful in this game. After playing this game with all the free time I've had these past few days, my tolerance for idiocy has reached it's peak.

The story is often associated with the words terrible or stupid, but I'd argue that non-existent is a better word to describe it. The game establishes a crises at the start, provides an innocuous twist five or so hours in, then an hour later reveals the final boss, and then another few hours later, allows you to confront it. There is no character development to speak of. The player is sent to find “the assassin in red” and after this commission, starts walking in a direction. Transitions to various locations in the story happen, not because of narrative purposes, but simply because that's where the path leads. Nero, the player character, just simply goes with a psychic ability allowing him to know where all the worlds problems are happening. And Nero, the character, is probably my least favorite thing in this game.

Nero is a new character that, I think, was designed for new players. He isn't privy to all of the history of the last three games and gives fresh eyes for fresh players. That is a completely fine reason to create a new character, what makes it troublesome is that Nero feels like a character from a different universe. One where an introduction to melodramatics is taught along side English, where live journals became more popular than facebook, and where heavy metal is the only genre sold in Walmart. Nero is too serious and whiny for the player to find sympathetic, and not humours or bold enough to find charming. As a person new to the series it was unbelievable to me how much the tone changed once the player switches to Dante in the second half. I had heard so much of DMC's “cu-razy” antics, but had failed to see them until the series protagonist started getting screen time. I can't imagine the frustration of adoring the series and being coupled to such an unlikeable character in this latest outing. It's almost like another beloved series.

The game also has a gamete of more minor problems. Animations that aren't tied to combat look stiff, awkward, and even alien at times. When utilizing Nero, the same song is used for nearly every fight outside boss battles (The time has come, and so have I...), and beyond that song I can't remember any of the other tracks. Level design is nothing more than flat plains, often lacking in even destructible objects to help populate the rooms. The art in the game, with a few exceptions, is terribly bland, usually featuring horizontal terrain with a specific season or gothic inspired rooms and hallways. Half way through the game, you get to replay every you just played, including the boss fights found within. I will admit, I have a suspicion that this is a result of the publisher trying to rush the game out. In the back of the game, only one new enemy is introduced. Now with all these complaints finally out, I have to confess something. Devil May Cry 4 is the best action game I've played in years and has actually gotten my heart pumping, something usually reserved for only the most intense multiplayer fights. And it's simply because of the pure combat and Dante's charm, both which are intrinsically linked. Let's start with Dante.

As any DMC fan will tell you, Dante has an arrogant charm about him. He talks smack in nearly every encounter, but saying that doesn't do the character justice. Often it's often not particularly creative (though some really do shine), but sometimes it's terribly translated to the point where it just feels like someone put the Japanese text through babelfish. So what makes it work?

First, I do have to give the voice actor credit. He imbues a level of carelessness into every preposterous line that helps sell it, but really what prevents the character from unravelling is his actions within the cutscenes. A lot of people will site his interactions with the world. Though I do agree that the scenes where Dante fights are entertaining and full of bravado it's Dante's self awareness that pushes it past any video game character I can think of. Dante is almost comparable to Deadpool in this regard. He'll almost break the rules of the game's universe just to deliver a level of style that other characters can't touch. He looks at the camera. He pulls out roses and confetti from nowhere. He teleports to various locations, all to create a persona of effortless cool.

Not only does the man have this level of flash, but he backs it up with a heart that seems to care for others. He never explicitly states it, but it's the small actions that really display this. The way he catches a dying man who had just previously been hunting him to kill him, how instead of getting help to take on one of the largest foes faced in the game, he tells that help to protect the citizens fleeing the city. How he recognizes the good in Nero and even when the logical choice is to just kill him, Dante encourages him to keep fighting. It's these two faces combined that make Dante such a likeable character for me. The game could easily destroy this image though with gameplay that feels so far removed from the cutscenes, but DMC is one game that manages to line the two up as close as possible, so let's move to that.

Devil May Cry 4 does a remarkable job of making you feel like the hero in the cutscene. Part of this is the animations are stunning to look at.. Nero can give a couple of slices in the air and then spin three times allowing him to rise higher, or dodge attacks with such speed that only a few black streaks are left behind. The animations all help to make every attack feel like it's full of force. That said, it's not just because the animations for the various attacks are really flashy. Whenever the games are discussed, the matter of difficulty comes up. Though the game is by no means impossible. It is a series committed to a methodical combat. Where you have to learn to read enemy attacks, where you can't just spam one combo an entire fight, and where learning when to go all out and when to hold back are vital skills. The game even gives the player the message “guess your not some casual gamer” when you beat the game. All of these decisions in combat give an impeccable sense of accomplishment when you do overcome your adversaries. This, combined with the stunning animations, and the characters presented in the cutscenes, blends together to form a concoction that allows a person to become Dante or Nero, both of who are characters that take on impossible odds with unbelievable grace. And in the grand scheme of things, that's a fantastic way to create player empowerment. Where a lot of games feel hollow because the gameplay can easily fall into a malaise of handling the same or similar situations over and over, Devil May Cry keeps pushing the player and reminds them of the peek they can achieve. And it amazes me that the game can actually do this in spite of all the problems I mentioned just earlier. Whether you enjoyed the new DmC, or are looking to play a title outside of your zone of comfortable. I highly recommend giving Devil May Cry 4 a chance.