Narrative: 2.5 – Gameplay: 3.5 – Visuals: 4 – Soundtrack: 4 – Time: 3.5.
Stars: 3
I like the DMC franchise a lot, mostly because of the amazing – and classics – Devil May Cry 1 and 3. But as a fan of DMC, and a close Capcom consumer, I’m used to deal with some “not that great” games. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that DMC 4 is one of those failures but isn’t one of the astonishing experiences as well. It tries to revive the unique DMC 3 by copying some of the trademarks (20 missions’ structure, sort of badass protagonist, great music), but it fails to seize what was truly unique. The amazing number of weapons, the demoniac design of mobs and bosses and a thrilling story. All of those are missing or dying in the beach here. Anyway, step by step.
First, the story. Generally, DMC games aren’t about unexpected plots, but they are loaded with charisma, coolness and demons. The story may be more or less developed depending on the game, but those are the catches. After the huge success of DMC 3, it’s evident that the following title would have a big show to fill, but I think that even if the expectations were lower our experience wouldn’t change that much. Adding a third Sparda blood heir to the party was a great idea and Nero did have the potential to make it happen, but… He just sounds stupid and silly most of the times. The whole “love is what make humans that powerful” is interesting and it fits the franchise, but the lack of personality of almost every single character (I’m talking to you Kirye, Credo and gang) makes the story very bad. Instead of a new Orpheus striving for his beloved against the devil himself, we have a bad temper mama’s boy in the most pseudo-emo quest ever fighting a fucking priest. They tried to sell us a “love is power story” but they just couldn’t make us believe in anything. Why Nero loves Kirye? No flashbacks, she doesn’t say anything different from “Nero” (and variations), she’s not even that pretty for crying out loud (which is saying a lot in a game that hypersexualize even the former badass Lady).
Second, the gameplay. I won’t say that the gameplay itself is bad, after all we are talking about DMC and Capcom here. But they did make a lot of bad decision concerning phasing and game structure, which did compromise my personal experience. For instance, why introduce new weapons in the 5 last missions? Why couldn’t Nero use them? It’s possible that they would justify that choice using the story as the main pillars game, but where’s that great story to justify an awful decision like that? Other aspects of the game just seem half-baked as well. Have the same boss fights over three times in one campaign it’s just too much. The level of difficult doesn’t even change that much, leaving the terrible lazy aftertaste.
The game does just fine in the other aspects. The visuals are okay for its time of release and the soundtrack keeps the good old-fashioned rock/metal and balances with the clerical atmosphere, which was very neat. Although the story looks like a train rack, there are some good scenes every now and then, especially with Dante being a demon hunter couch of sorts, without even saying the free action scenes – that’s always cool. I wouldn’t recommend that for a regular gamer, but maybe for a hack n’ slash or DMC fan. For the second group, it looks like it’ll depend on how DMC 5 will use those characters in a new story.
Stars: 3
I like the DMC franchise a lot, mostly because of the amazing – and classics – Devil May Cry 1 and 3. But as a fan of DMC, and a close Capcom consumer, I’m used to deal with some “not that great” games. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that DMC 4 is one of those failures but isn’t one of the astonishing experiences as well. It tries to revive the unique DMC 3 by copying some of the trademarks (20 missions’ structure, sort of badass protagonist, great music), but it fails to seize what was truly unique. The amazing number of weapons, the demoniac design of mobs and bosses and a thrilling story. All of those are missing or dying in the beach here. Anyway, step by step.
First, the story. Generally, DMC games aren’t about unexpected plots, but they are loaded with charisma, coolness and demons. The story may be more or less developed depending on the game, but those are the catches. After the huge success of DMC 3, it’s evident that the following title would have a big show to fill, but I think that even if the expectations were lower our experience wouldn’t change that much. Adding a third Sparda blood heir to the party was a great idea and Nero did have the potential to make it happen, but… He just sounds stupid and silly most of the times. The whole “love is what make humans that powerful” is interesting and it fits the franchise, but the lack of personality of almost every single character (I’m talking to you Kirye, Credo and gang) makes the story very bad. Instead of a new Orpheus striving for his beloved against the devil himself, we have a bad temper mama’s boy in the most pseudo-emo quest ever fighting a fucking priest. They tried to sell us a “love is power story” but they just couldn’t make us believe in anything. Why Nero loves Kirye? No flashbacks, she doesn’t say anything different from “Nero” (and variations), she’s not even that pretty for crying out loud (which is saying a lot in a game that hypersexualize even the former badass Lady).
Second, the gameplay. I won’t say that the gameplay itself is bad, after all we are talking about DMC and Capcom here. But they did make a lot of bad decision concerning phasing and game structure, which did compromise my personal experience. For instance, why introduce new weapons in the 5 last missions? Why couldn’t Nero use them? It’s possible that they would justify that choice using the story as the main pillars game, but where’s that great story to justify an awful decision like that? Other aspects of the game just seem half-baked as well. Have the same boss fights over three times in one campaign it’s just too much. The level of difficult doesn’t even change that much, leaving the terrible lazy aftertaste.
The game does just fine in the other aspects. The visuals are okay for its time of release and the soundtrack keeps the good old-fashioned rock/metal and balances with the clerical atmosphere, which was very neat. Although the story looks like a train rack, there are some good scenes every now and then, especially with Dante being a demon hunter couch of sorts, without even saying the free action scenes – that’s always cool. I wouldn’t recommend that for a regular gamer, but maybe for a hack n’ slash or DMC fan. For the second group, it looks like it’ll depend on how DMC 5 will use those characters in a new story.