this entire game feels like a yabujin song or music video
dmc rides the line between being very streamlined and a little bloated, weirdly enough. the missions are mostly quick and focused on simple objectives, which guarantees a level of replayability. however, a lot of the progression is based on "puzzles" that are all about dull, resident evil-ish exploration without any of the tension that old RE tried to evoke in those situations. some missions are also MUCH shorter than the rest, making the pacing feel very odd, and feature certain gimmicks that are both unnecessary and unfun, especially underwater sections.
perhaps most streamlined of all is the combat. dante's moveset is really restrained and you don't have a ton of options to pull off those epic youtube montage combos (unless you are an exceptional gamer, which i'm not). but that's kind of what makes this game stand out. it's more about meticulously picking the right actions to handle enemies and managing your devil trigger and health meters, than it is about flashy combat. that idea grew on me as i kept playing, but i still think it's a bit counterintuitive when you have a style system. due to the limitations of the movement and combat mechanics, not only did i find it pretty damn hard to keep my style high, but i also rarely thought that what i was doing looked stylish, regardless of what it said at the top-right corner.
when it comes to difficulty, i guess this is a pretty hard game, but the balancing is surprisingly good and it never really seemed unfair. there's always a way to counter just about everything, so mechanical skill and creativity are greatly rewarded. the one thing that makes this game harder than it should be though, and annoyed me a ton, is the fucking camera. this is a hack and slash with fixed camera angles that are extremely unreliable during boss fights. it's pretty much the reason why i rated this so low, my biggest issues stem from the camera sucking ass.
to close this on a good note though, let it be known that this game is aesthetically undefeated. i love the designs: from the weapons to the monsters, everything is super cool-looking as well as memorable. the environments are also top-notch, with a gothic castle that becomes more and more surreal as you progress, and a fleshy take on "hell" that has an awesome color palette. this game embraces its extreme corniness to the point where it loops back to being cool again and i love that
dmc rides the line between being very streamlined and a little bloated, weirdly enough. the missions are mostly quick and focused on simple objectives, which guarantees a level of replayability. however, a lot of the progression is based on "puzzles" that are all about dull, resident evil-ish exploration without any of the tension that old RE tried to evoke in those situations. some missions are also MUCH shorter than the rest, making the pacing feel very odd, and feature certain gimmicks that are both unnecessary and unfun, especially underwater sections.
perhaps most streamlined of all is the combat. dante's moveset is really restrained and you don't have a ton of options to pull off those epic youtube montage combos (unless you are an exceptional gamer, which i'm not). but that's kind of what makes this game stand out. it's more about meticulously picking the right actions to handle enemies and managing your devil trigger and health meters, than it is about flashy combat. that idea grew on me as i kept playing, but i still think it's a bit counterintuitive when you have a style system. due to the limitations of the movement and combat mechanics, not only did i find it pretty damn hard to keep my style high, but i also rarely thought that what i was doing looked stylish, regardless of what it said at the top-right corner.
when it comes to difficulty, i guess this is a pretty hard game, but the balancing is surprisingly good and it never really seemed unfair. there's always a way to counter just about everything, so mechanical skill and creativity are greatly rewarded. the one thing that makes this game harder than it should be though, and annoyed me a ton, is the fucking camera. this is a hack and slash with fixed camera angles that are extremely unreliable during boss fights. it's pretty much the reason why i rated this so low, my biggest issues stem from the camera sucking ass.
to close this on a good note though, let it be known that this game is aesthetically undefeated. i love the designs: from the weapons to the monsters, everything is super cool-looking as well as memorable. the environments are also top-notch, with a gothic castle that becomes more and more surreal as you progress, and a fleshy take on "hell" that has an awesome color palette. this game embraces its extreme corniness to the point where it loops back to being cool again and i love that